Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: The All Master Who Returned to Bronze
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Trait: Late Bloomer.
A trait more than worthy of being called the one that shaped the pre-regression Choi Shin-hyeok.
Upon promotion to Platinum, it dramatically boosted the proficiency of every skill he'd used up to that point. Thanks to this trait, Shin-hyeok had been able to skyrocket the grades of the diverse skills at his command.
But there was a world of difference between the Shin-hyeok of back then and the one now.
Pre-regression, around this time, he had a lot of skills, sure—but their grades were low, and so was their proficiency.
Current Shin-hyeok, by contrast?
Not only did he wield incomparably more skills with far greater variety, but their grades were high as well.
Skill grades were always easier to raise when low and brutally tough when high. That made a single step from B to A far more valuable than jumping from F to B.
In that light, unlocking Late Bloomer right now was perfectly timed.
"......This is no joke."
A cascade of message windows scrolled up.
The War God's Heaven-Destroying Annihilation Style and the Heavenly Demon's Heavenly Demon Divine Art were a bit iffy to classify strictly as "skills," so they'd been excluded from Late Bloomer's effects.
But every other skill had leaped several ranks thanks to it.
Bottom line: the Shin-hyeok of right now was more than twice as powerful as the one from moments ago. It wasn't hyperbole.
And the changes weren't over yet.
"Huuuuuuh...!"
The Colosseum champion rewards settled in belatedly, and on top of that, achieving the impossible feat boosted his Spiritual Force even further.
The end result—1,000 across all stats plus 158 Spiritual Force—was so staggering that even Shin-hyeok reeled for a moment.
Especially surprising was—
"......What the hell is Spiritual Force to yield efficiency like this?"
The +1,000 to all stats was one thing, but digesting +158 Spiritual Force felt even harder.
Sure, the other stats were ones he'd pushed to higher realms pre-regression, so they were easier to handle.
Even accounting for that, Spiritual Force stood apart from the rest.
"Gonna need to experiment with this slowly."
It had only been 1 before, so he'd never really used it. But at 158, the quantity was substantial—and the quality was top-notch, promising big returns even from small amounts.
Shin-hyeok finished his thoughts while feeling out the Spiritual Force coiled within him, then checked his status window, now perfected by Late Bloomer.
Name:Choi Shin-hyeok
Job:All Master
Titles:Disciple of the War God (Temporary), Little Heavenly Demon Candidate, Owner of the Colosseum
(Body)
(Stats)
(Traits)
(Skills)
"......Perfect. At this level, no one in the human realm can touch me anymore."
His status window was dazzling.
Six full A-rank skills—Diamond-grade by any measure—and three B-ranks besides. And those B-ranks? Gifts from the Heavenly Demon and War God, easily S-grade in truth. Utterly dazzling.
That wasn't all.
Every single trait was a powerhouse.
Versatile, letting him master any skill.
Predation, devouring anything for stats and skills.
Insight, piercing through all illusions.
Invisible Hand, breaking the limit of two hands.
And capping it off, Late Bloomer, a one-time massive skill grade booster.
Plus stats over 2,000 mere moments after hitting Platinum.
Platinum's limit was 5,000. This was insane.
Thus, Shin-hyeok could confidently claim no equal in the human realm.
No Diamond player below the Three Emperors and Five Kings could match him.
"Time to join the National Representative War."
Setting the ultimate goal of all players as his next target, Shin-hyeok dismissed Tarkhan and logged out of the game.
Of course—
The world was once again dyed in Shin-hyeok.
"Ah, I'm beat. Time to crash."
-Caw!
"Kkama, you too. Night."
-Caw! Caw caw caw!!!
"......Use your words. Here, food."
Shin-hyeok couldn't care less, of course.
He was too busy dodging the pecks of Kkama, who was demanding dinner, and dumping pet food into its bowl.
After the Integrated League wrapped up successfully.
Korea was in full festival mode.
Following Shin-hyeok, Su-ah snagged MVP too. Korea swept MVPs from both Silver and Gold sides.
An unprecedented feat. Everyone erupted in cheers.
Choi Shin-hyeok is a god, Han Su-ah is a goddess.
Disagree? You're wrong, I'm right ㅇㅇ
Sir, Sword King might come for your neck lol
Online and offline, talk of Shin-hyeok was inescapable. He stood at the center of every topic.
His daily life remained peaceful.
Well, "peaceful" didn't quite fit his situation.
"Shinwa Workshop, send twelve Unique-grade gear pieces to Distribution by end of day."
"Got it. Just finishing up—should be there in a few hours."
"Cool. Oh, and Legend-grade stuff?"
"Not tough at all. Holding back to make 'em unremarkable is harder, honestly."
"Sorry. Asking a master craftsman to nerf his work."
"Nah, it's fine. Good experience, even. Teaches how gear breaks or loses performance—sparks ideas on countering that."
"Glad to hear it."
He had to play middleman, handing off Shinwa Workshop's prepped stock from last month to Shinwa Distribution.
"Baek Hyo-rin!!! You said you'd hit the Paracelsus' Tears quota!"
"Uh-huh? But something way more fun popped up?"
"Effective immediately, Paracelsus funding cut in half—"
"But Daddy said so, and a good daughter can't disobey. Jumping right on it~"
She was brilliant, but the second something more interesting than her tasks appeared, she'd bolt. Tuning Hyo-rin was a must.
No one else in All Mighty Guild could handle her but Shin-hyeok.
And it didn't end there.
Clang! Clang! Claaang! Clang! Clang!
"Opening."
"......Urk!"
"Reckless charges trusting holy magic and not sparing your body? Bold, sure—but rushing in like that gets you eaten alive. Watch it."
"Never happened once in Dimension Arena..."
"'Cause it's Gold tier. Sigh, this is why Gold scrubs..."
"Hey! You were Gold last month too!"
"And what's my tier now?"
"......Plat."
"Su-ah, your tier?"
"......Gold."
"There, answered. Gold scrub?"
"Uwaaaaaah!!! I'll kill you!!!"
"Slow. Even your swings..."
"You're so annoying I could die!!!"
Su-ah, proudly Gold after Integrated Silver MVP, needed looking after too.
Gold was where players got taken seriously.
Competition spiked hard.
Su-ah's talent would carry her, but Shin-hyeok had no intention of letting her grow solely through live combat.
Real fights were great XP, and he'd grown that way himself—but he wouldn't recommend it to others.
(Not that he didn't enjoy teasing her in the process. He just didn't say it.)
Shinwa Workshop, Paracelsus, Su-ah spars, plus Dimension Arena sessions on the side—his body was stretched thin.
"Still haven't used those rewards."
Even the haul from this run sat unused.
Legendary Trait Creation Ticket.
Myth-grade Material Draw Ticket.
And that wasn't all.
"Bow and sword need handing off to bro soonish."
He had to use the piled-up Legendary Material Selection Tickets to upgrade Chungmugong's Bow and the Holy Sword.
But as his main weapons, he couldn't just leave them. Carving out time was tricky.
Living his days in frantic fragments like that, Shin-hyeok paused mid-play with Su-ah and stood.
"That's it for today."
"Huh? We usually go another hour?"
"Yeah, but got an appointment."
Su-ah panted, head tilted at the early end. Shin-hyeok shrugged, unequipping his gear.
Back in casual clothes, he bid Su-ah goodbye and headed to the meetup spot, murmuring low.
"Figured it'd be soon, but already?"
He'd anticipated their move based on his growth and assets.
But this was way faster than expected. Face hardening, he pictured his destination.
"China. Wonder what choice they'll make."
China.
Specifically, the Player Affairs Minister dispatched from there.
They'd crossed paths once before. This meet was about their custom gear production status, delivery schedules, and Paracelsus elixir distribution talks.
But Shin-hyeok was certain.
This wouldn't go smoothly.
Still, his steps to the venue were light.
"Whatever they pull, doesn't matter. Cross the line? Smash 'em."
Whatever offer they made, he had the power to shatter it all.
Even if China's Twin Emperors—Sword Emperor and Martial Emperor—showed, he could protect himself.
Shin-hyeok smirked instead.
"Nah. Better if they do cross it. Then I can smash without guilt."
Hoping deep down they'd oblige, Shin-hyeok headed to the cafe in Gangnam.
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