Turns Out I'm a One-on-One Genius - Chapter 41: Manager (4)

For now, he had no intention of buying Future Sight, and it was impossible to purchase anyway, so he'd set that aside. There were two powers that truly tempted him: Skill Synthesis ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and Evolution.

He'd once held strong negative preconceptions about Evolution, but after hearing Elle say that it had given her an extra heart and boosted her primary stat, Magic, by +6, he'd changed his mind. A +6 stat increase was nothing to scoff at—especially for stats you'd been meticulously prioritizing and raising one by one.

For example, raising his current C- rank Agility by another six levels would cost 1.44 million AP. Considering the total AP he'd earned climbing the tower so far barely exceeded 1 million, it really drove home just how absurd Evolution was.

Well, both are pretty much gambles in the end.

Evolution's unpredictable results. Skill Synthesis, which synergized well with Predation. Neither let you know what you'd get. And yet, Yun-seok felt a massive pull toward them.

High risk, high return... Nah, since the bid amount I saved is several times what others have anyway, it's not even that big a risk.

He made his decision right then: acquire Skill Synthesis.

The reason was simple. Evolution couldn't be used until its gauge filled up—and for Elle, that had taken a full half-year. But Skill Synthesis had immediate uses he could think of right now. Plus, the allure of obtaining original skills unavailable in the shop was huge.

That left him with a total of 1.3 million WP. With his biggest dilemma resolved, Yun-seok unhesitatingly bought the powers he'd already decided on.

Given the circular arena's confined space, Shaman's Law seemed like it'd synergize well, so he'd chosen that. With 300,000 WP left, he considered holding onto it but ended up picking a magic-type power from his initial rejects that seemed somewhat usable. The candidates he'd shortlisted were all so unique they'd been pricey, but these active powers were relatively cheap.

Instant activation, sure, but the cooldown was pretty long. It'd be perfect for desperate moments or the decisive instant that turned the tide, so he'd bought it.

Without Evolution, even if I get more WP, there's nothing worth buying.

As he skimmed the list one last time with that thought, something suddenly occurred to him, and he asked.

"You said we can earn WP by getting closer to our wishes—so what about me?"

Elle's wish lacked a clear proposition. It made him wonder if his WP supply would dry up from now on.

"Actually, the extra WP based on wish fulfillment rate is up to the manager's discretion."

Discretion. In other words, if a manager felt like it, they could arbitrarily grant WP to their contractor.

"So you could give me more WP right now?"

It was just a factual question. But apparently misinterpreting it, Elle's face went pale.

"S-sorry... I used up a ton of WP on those extra powers earlier. Even this probably won't buy a single power."

It almost felt like he was shaking her down. Recalling how she'd faced the Heavenly Demon without flinching and even sneered at him, Yun-seok couldn't help chuckling at the mood shift.

But did she misread that too? Elle waved her hands frantically, emphasizing her value.

"D-don't be disappointed! Managers get a base stipend. Wait a year and it's about 1.5 million WP... No, take on extra work and it'll be half a year!"

He suddenly felt like a freeloading, unemployed husband.

"......"

He had no idea what "extra work" entailed, but Yun-seok wasn't about to tell her not to do it.

* * *

After exchanging a few more words with Elle, time was up, and Yun-seok entered the 6th Floor Waiting Room. It felt like he'd been through a lot and that the 5th floor had been a major turning point, but the waiting room itself showed no major changes. The statues and tablet were the same. Only the timer for the next duel was gone—frozen at zero, not entirely removed.

Since Elle had warned him, Yun-seok wasn't surprised.

So now the real thing begins...

Calmly operating the tablet, he first checked out the new additions. Starting with powers.

Now I get why they aren't called skills.

Unlike skills, they didn't activate via command. Testing it out, Yun-seok tried High-Speed Short-Range Spatial Movement inside the waiting room.

It felt incredibly strange.

Taking some getting used to...

Did it respond to his will? It was like suddenly sprouting wings on his back. Awkward, sure, but moving them wasn't hard. The moment he'd acquired the power, he'd instinctively known how.

Alright, let's try Skill Synthesis first. Like this...?

Concentrating his will, the power responded again. A list of all his skills appeared before his eyes like a system message, blocking his view.

"Up to" implied two was also possible. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Not knowing the outcome, Yun-seok picked low-importance skills: War Stomp and Detection.

Detection was F-, War Stomp F+, so he drank a potion to match ranks... Rewards were now in the hundreds of thousands of AP, so blowing 3,000 AP like this was fine. And it wasn't a waste anyway.

A much more plausible skill name than Detection or War Stomp. Yun-seok quickly checked its info.

A bizarre skill. No details on heal amount or stun duration, but they'd likely scale with the caster's Magic or the target's resistance—like War Stomp had.

It's... iffy.

The effects made it obvious how Detection and War Stomp had merged. The problem was he couldn't have predicted this outcome beforehand. Plus, with War Stomp seemingly dominant, Detection's unique effect was gone entirely.

This makes synthesizing Predation tricky.

In terms of importance, not even Heavenly Demon Body or Blood Pact compared to Predation. It was the foundation of his being. This one thing he had to preserve unchanged.

Still, synthesizing everything else would be smart.

Same-rank unique skill potions were even pricier. But merging two or three into one cut upgrade costs. And synthesized skills probably wouldn't vanish on defeat like Predation-looted ones.

Yun-seok ran a few more experiments, learning more about Skill Synthesis. As Elle had said, unique and common skills couldn't mix. And rank-ups on synthesized skills still offered trait choices.

—Trait 1: Range Increase — Dawn's Quake range doubles.

—Trait 2: Price of Recovery — Ally healing effect +1.5x.

No need for ally effects, so he picked Range Increase.

But the real point was you could resynthesize already synthesized skills.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Dawn's Quake + Eye of Truth. Yun-seok's eyes widened at the info. Even more unpredictable than before.

The Judge descends? What the hell? He tried it, and a massive foot dropped from above, smashing the ground.

Boom!

Luckily the waiting room was fine, and Yun-seok took no damage.

Another weird one...

Like opening random boxes? Not super useful yet, but creating brand-new skills was fun.

Can I repurchase, though?

With plenty of people-meetings ahead, he repurchased Eye of Truth. He'd doubted until the acquisition message...

It worked. His expression brightened. Limited to shop-buyable common skills, sure, but the risk was way lower now. Emboldened, Yun-seok went bolder.

This time, Advent + Iron Mastery. Metal armor defense +2.25x. Decent passive, but no hesitation.

It could've wasted Iron Mastery for nothing, but results spoke for themselves. Yun-seok smiled in satisfaction.

This is good...?

Not Durability boost, but straight damage reduction via resistance. Arena radius about 50m? With enough Magic, it'd buff physical resistance entire duel. No allies here meant no real penalty.

Stop here.

Anyone who's crafted properly in games knows: quit while ahead.

Leaving Steel Executor alone, he synthesized others: his core common skills, Mana Resistance and Sword Mastery.

D-rank, so he checked info tensely.

Actives made actives; passives made passives. He'd planned to raise others to D- and retry if bad, but no need.

I can repurchase Sword Mastery and Mana Resistance later...

Staring at his suddenly thinned common skill list, Yun-seok turned elsewhere. Done adapting to synthesis and revisiting old skills—it was time for the main course.

Heavenly Demon Body, Blood Pact, Shadowless Chant. The combo he'd learned via Skill Synthesis and begging Elle for another Future Sight peek. She couldn't detail due to restrictions but guaranteed no regrets.

But what if the foresight was wrong...?

Maybe the 65,000 AP to match ranks for unique synthesis? Or no take-backs like common skills? Or insufficient trust in Elle?

Too late now. Dice rolled.