Breaking the Limit

My level hadn't changed, but there was that unfamiliar line: Freely Allocatable Stats (Rare). It was the same point I'd seen after clearing the gate solo for the first time.

I hurriedly checked the swarm of notification windows floating nearby.

It was the same special achievement I'd gotten from clearing the F-rank gate solo before.... Following this pattern, it seemed like you could earn these special achievements by successfully soloing gates in certain rank intervals before hitting specific level milestones.

I quickly dismissed all notifications except those related to the Status Window and took a mental snapshot. I was certain this info would prove invaluable later.

Without hesitation, I reached out to allocate the Stats (Rare) point to my Luck stat.

I furrowed my brow. The system was rejecting my will, claiming the value exceeded the human vessel's capacity. The flashing red error message cluttered my vision. It was trying to cram my precious rare point into some other stat against my wishes.

The letters on the red notification twisted grotesquely, as if the data was being forcibly rewritten. The red text shattered into fragments and reformed.

Static noise crackled as the error text crumbled pathetically. It felt like sparks were flying from the clash between the system's authority and my unique trait. A splitting headache pounded my skull.

I was stunned by the unfamiliar message. The first to surpass it? Before my shock could fade, more notifications rang out.

Dazed, I examined the new skill.

"This is insane...."

A hollow laugh escaped my lips. Even before, my high Luck had given me critical hits far more often than average hunters—3 or 4 out of 10 shots. But now, with 55% critical chance, it was overwhelming. Items that boosted crit rates sold for billions, and hunters clamored for them. Yet here I was, achieving it just by pumping Luck—with an out-of-spec skill, no less.

I turned to the Gray Wolf King's corpse, still warm. I wasn't sure if the last effect of Fate Interference had triggered, but it seemed plausible. And sure enough, the mana stone between its eyes began to glow brilliantly.

I couldn't believe my eyes. Mana stones were just energy sources or alchemy materials—valuable loot for hunters to sell, nothing more. But what was happening defied common sense.

The mana stone embedded in the Gray Wolf King's forehead deepened to a dark crimson, then rippled like liquid, reconstructing into a new form. It wasn't merely condensed mana. My out-of-spec Luck of 11, combined with the Status Window, had twisted the system's processes, elevating the loot's very essence.

"Unique grade?!"

My heart pounded. I'd read countless high-level hunter testimonials, but never once had a Unique item dropped from an E-rank gate. Items tied to "action speed" were especially rare. Unlike raw Agility boosts, this affected everything—skill casting speed and more.

With trembling hands, I picked up the glowing crimson crystal. Just slipping it into my pocket made my body feel lighter. No—the world seemed to slow a fraction.

"Wooowoooowoo―!"

Then, dozens of glowing blue eyes emerged from the forest shadows. The wolf pack, bereft of their boss, closed in for revenge or a new meal, surrounding me.

Normally, cold sweat would have trickled down my spine, but not now. The heavy pulse from my pocket accelerated my entire body.

"Perfect for a test."

I grinned wickedly and murmured.

"Lightning Arrow."

The blue bolt of electricity left my fingertips, slicing through the air. By its original trajectory, it should have merely grazed a wolf's shoulder. But in that instant, its path twisted unnaturally—as if an invisible hand snatched the projectile and slammed it into the wolf's forehead.

Then another notification flashed.

The crystal in my pocket vibrated intensely. Time, already passing slower, dragged even more. The wolves' charges, which I'd normally struggle to react to, approached like a video at 0.5x speed.

"Lightning Arrow. Lightning Arrow. Lightning Arrow."

With every murmur, blue lightning poured from my fingertips like rain. Normally, my chant speed couldn't keep up, but the crystal forcibly advanced my body's time.

The lightning arcs were crude. With Agility 2, precisely hitting moving targets was tough. But my will wasn't what compensated—it was Luck manipulating "fate."

The arrows bent, curved, and leaped mid-air, magnetically finding the wolves' foreheads. Not a single shot missed. The pack that filled the forest—over a dozen predators—turned to scattered black ash in less than a minute after a mere ten bursts of fire.