Grade Increase
Grade Increase
Channel 3.
Pop―
Ice Queen, Han Soo-yeon, led her group members toward the group in Busan.
Currently, the largest group in Korea was the Incheon Alliance, but the group based in Busan was no less significant than the Incheon Alliance.
"Whoa~ You came just as I mentioned you."
And as soon as Han Soo-yeon crossed over to Busan, a man waiting there welcomed her.
The man, who appeared to be in his mid-to-late 30s and clearly had bodybuilding as a hobby, was none other than the leader of the Busan group, Sea Guardian, Jang Seong-ho.
"This is our first time meeting in person."
Han Soo-yeon spoke lightly to Jang Seong-ho.
Both knew about each other through the Gallery, but this was their first time meeting in reality.
"It's definitely our first time. But you're much prettier than you looked in the videos?"
"......."
If it were the usual Han Soo-yeon, she would have shown her displeasure, but now she just smiled.
This was because she believed that successfully completing the Survivor's trade was more important than her own feelings.
"Thank you. But I have a schedule to keep. Can we start with the trade talk?"
"Trade? Trade sounds good. I need many things, but the most important ones are bullets and high-explosive shells."
Jang Seong-ho, seemingly having no desire to chat, went straight to the point.
"Fortunately, it's said that those two can also be traded. Though there is a price."
"Didn't I hear before that you buy them for 20 points per Bloodstone?"
"That's right."
"I plan to use 8,000 Bloodstones for this trade, so that's 160,000 points. How many bullets can I buy with this amount?"
8,000 Bloodstones was a considerable amount at this time.
"They said it's 3 points per bullet."
"One bullet?"
Hearing the price of the bullets, Jang Seong-ho frowned.
"That's roughly 50,000 rounds. That's much less than I thought."
If it were 50,000 bullets, that would only be 100 rounds per person for 500 people.
It was too wasteful to trade the 8,000 Bloodstones he had collected so far, so he entered into negotiations.
"How about 500,000 points, including a High-grade Awakening Stone?"
"Hasn't the price jumped up too much?"
"High-grade Awakening Stones are worth whatever you ask for them right now. I wouldn't have traded this if it weren't for the bullets."
As Jang Seong-ho said, High-grade Awakening Stones were hard to find before, but they were even harder to find now.
Therefore, Jang Seong-ho valued one High-grade Awakening Stone at 170,000 points, which could be considered roughly in line with the current market price.
"I'll ask right now."
"You can ask, or you can introduce me."
Naturally, the value of the Survivor, who can now even purchase military supplies, is incomparable to before.
Moreover, if this trade is successful, a post will appear on the Gallery, and it was certain that everyone would look for the Survivor.
'No, someone might be posting about it right now.'
There was a possibility that someone had posted on the Gallery from the moment Han Soo-yeon crossed into Busan.
However, since that was practically a scheduled event, Han Soo-yeon brushed it off and contacted the Survivor.
〈Survivor★*(2ch)：500,000 points?〉
〈Ice Queen☆(3ch)：Yes. If it's too expensive, I'll try to negotiate it down somehow.〉
The Survivor has to use their own points to obtain the bullets and high-explosive shells.
It's essentially buying Awakening Stones and Bloodstones with points, so if those points are insufficient, the trade cannot happen.
'Though I'll receive it at the selling price.'
Han Soo-yeon had a relatively accurate grasp of the Survivor's Modern Item Purchase ability.
Since she had previously said bullets were 3 points, she thought the actual purchase price was probably 1~2 points.
〈Survivor★*(2ch)：It's fine. Tell them we'll trade for 500,000 points.〉
However, the Survivor said they would use 500,000 points without much concern.
'They must have used points with the Sub-administrator function.'
Han Soo-yeon thought of the surveillance camera and nickname verification functions that were unlocked this time.
Still, seeing that they said they would use 500,000 points, it seemed they had more points than she thought.
〈Ice Queen☆(3ch)：Are you sure? That's a significant amount of points.〉
〈Survivor★*(2ch)：That's true, but I'm earning more than that right now, so it's fine.〉
This was about the Channel 6 exchange.
Currently, the Survivor was earning hundreds of thousands of points through the Channel 6 exchange.
〈Ice Queen☆(3ch)：I understand for now. Then I will proceed with the trade like that.〉
Han Soo-yeon also moved to proceed with this trade because she wanted the Ability Orb that much.
'The Survivor must have also thought this trade was worth it, considering the Ability Orb.'
Anyway, having finished the conversation, Han Soo-yeon immediately told Jang Seong-ho the result.
"Fortunately, they said they would trade."
"Oh. This easily? They must have been in a hurry too."
"It's more about not wanting to be targeted by Raiders."
"Raiders, my ass. Raiders wouldn't even dare look this way."
Jang Seong-ho answered confidently, and understandably so, as Jang Seong-ho was also an S-grade Awakener.
"Anyway, since they said they'd trade... Ah. I forgot to ask the price for the high-explosive shells."
"I don't know the types, but I heard they cost about 400~900 points."
"Bullets are 3 points. High-explosive shells are 400 points."
Hearing the prices, Jang Seong-ho pondered how to divide the 500,000 points to make the purchase.
"Jang Seong-ho-nim!"
"......?"
At that moment, Han Soo-yeon and Jang Seong-ho turned their heads at the same time to see someone running toward them in a hurry.
"Is that a person from Jang Seong-ho-ssi's group?"
"That's right."
Jang Seong-ho looked at the man running toward them and asked what was wrong.
"Hey, Shin Ji-hoon. What's going on? What about the guys who went with you?"
"I'm sorry. We were attacked."
At the word that they were attacked, Jang Seong-ho's expression hardened.
"Attacked? The rest of the guys? By whom?"
"Hey, it looked like Raiders."
"What do you mean 'looked like Raiders'? Can't you speak properly?"
Then, the man called Shin Ji-hoon immediately corrected his words.
"It's Raiders. But those bastards are controlling zombies."
At the mention of controlling zombies, Han Soo-yeon thought of the Zombie Queen's Essence she had consumed, but she soon shook her head.
'It won't be the Zombie Queen's Essence.'
There have been two Zombie Queens that appeared so far.
Among them, the Zombie Queen's Essence was consumed by herself and Kang Mu-hyun.
'So it's correct that they are controlling zombies by another method.'
When Han Soo-yeon thought that, Jang Seong-ho was slightly surprised, but on the other hand, that was all.
"Zombies? So what if they have zombies? Do we only kill zombies once or twice?"
"No. They were controlling a 4th-stage Deadeye."
"......."
The 4th-stage variant zombie, Deadeye, was an evolved entity of the 3rd-stage Sniper.
Also, Han Soo-yeon was not a little surprised by that story, because she couldn't control 4th-stage zombies either.
'Even I have to kill an S-grade Awakener to control 4th-stage zombies.'
Yet, Shin Ji-hoon was saying that Raiders were controlling that 4th-stage variant zombie.
"Deadeye? Raiders?"
"Yes. That's right."
"Then are they planning to attack this place with that Deadeye in the lead?"
Jang Seong-ho guessed the Raiders' movements, but Han Soo-yeon's thoughts were different.
"It would be difficult to attack this place with a Deadeye. They'll probably target Awakeners who are hunting zombies."
"Ha. Fuck."
As a new problem arose, Jang Seong-ho spat out a short curse and fell into thought.
Likewise, Han Soo-yeon was curious about how the Raiders were controlling zombies, but she couldn't know for now.
'It would be nice if they bragged about it on the Gallery.'
With the Survivor's surveillance camera and grenade-throwing broadcast, no Raiders used the Gallery anymore.
There is the nickname verification function now, but that came with the condition of having to see the actual face, whether in a photo or video.
"Jang Seong-ho-ssi. Let's finish the trade first."
Han Soo-yeon decided to finish the trade first, thinking they should do what they could first.
Transaction complete.
'Finally got it.'
I was satisfied in many ways after obtaining two High-grade Awakening Stones through this trade.
At the request of the Busan group, I spent points purchasing all sorts of things like bullets, high-explosive shells, oil, etc., but it was fine.
'Now I have some leeway with points too.'
Points: 4,776,640
'With this much, couldn't I open a Meeting Shelter myself?'
The Meeting Shelter is 1.5 million points, so I could easily open it with the points I currently have.
However, since Yoo Hyun-min-hyung from Channel 7 said he would give me points for this Meeting Shelter, I decided to wait.
'It feels a bit wasteful to buy it when I could get it for free.'
Personally, I was curious about what the Meeting Shelter was, but I moved on, thinking I would find out later.
Anyway, having obtained two High-grade Awakening Stones from this trade, I immediately took them out of my inventory and handed them to Tipina.
"Tipina-ssi. These are the High-grade Awakening Stones I obtained this time."
"Are you trying to raise the grade of the [Ability Orb]?"
"Yes. Because I need to raise it to at least A-grade."
Tipina, the fox-tribe beastkin, also understood what I meant and received the High-grade Awakening Stones.
'Please, I hope it succeeds in one go.'
I heard from Ice Queen that it was a 50% chance.
Since I have to succeed at this twice in a row, the probability could be said to be 25%.
"Survivor-nim. If I eat this, the grade goes up with a 50% chance, right?"
"Yes. To succeed both times, it's 25%, but that's practically a 100% chance."
"......What do you mean by that?"
"It means that's how it is in the world of Gacha."
In the Gacha world, even a 5% probability was called a total steal.
But a 25% probability, which is five times higher than that, was practically a freebie.
"I don't understand, but... I'll try eating it first."
Then, Tipina ate one High-grade Awakening Stone.
Naturally, the entire Hero Party, including me, watched Tipina and waited for the result.
"Ah. It went up. It's B-grade now."
"That's a relief."
As expected, a 50% chance.
Success was practically a given.
"Now I just need to succeed one more time."
"I'll try."
Tipina immediately ate the second High-grade Awakening Stone, but.
"Ah... I failed."
Unfortunately, the second one failed.
Considering the value of a High-grade Awakening Stone, it was a painful result.
'I'll have to find Awakening Stones again.'
Still, since I had brought out bullets and high-explosive shells for this trade, it seemed I would be able to find them soon if the rumors spread.
I decided to be satisfied with B-grade, brushing off the disappointment, thinking I would be able to find them within a week at the latest.
"You worked hard. It's something that it went up to B-grade."
"Apart from that, you seem very disappointed, are you okay?"
"It's unavoidable to be disappointed, but I'm fine. It's not Tipina-ssi's fault."
This was all because the probability was applied to the Awakening Stone, not Tipina's fault.
Your friend, 'Ice Queen☆', has requested a 1:1 chat.
'Huh?'
What is it this time?
I immediately accepted the request as I got another contact from Ice Queen, who had finished the trade in Busan.
〈Ice Queen☆*(3ch)：Did you raise the Ability Orb grade?〉
〈Survivor★(2ch)：It failed once, so I could only raise it to B-grade.〉
〈Ice Queen☆*(3ch)：Is that so? The Assault Captain just contacted me. He said he obtained a High-grade Awakening Stone.〉
〈Survivor★(2ch)：Assault Captain-nim?〉
It seemed he had finally caught the 4th-stage variant zombie with the Explosive Crusher I lent him.
For reference, since I had blocked Channel 3, I could tell that he had contacted Ice Queen instead of contacting me directly.
'Should I register the Assault Captain as a friend too?'
It seemed I would continue to use the Assault Captain's infinite bullet ability in the future.
So, I thought it wouldn't be bad to register him as a friend in advance.
〈Survivor★(2ch)：Thank you for letting me know. I'll contact him right away.〉
〈Ice Queen☆*(3ch)：Yes. Ah, by any chance, is there a function among the Sub-administrator functions to check the opponent's abilities?〉
A function to check the opponent's abilities?
〈Survivor★(2ch)：As far as I know, there isn't. Checking abilities is something that only applies to Channel 3, right?〉
In other words, it meant that it was a useless function for channels other than Channel 3.
Therefore, it didn't exist in the Sub-administrator functions either, but apart from that, I was curious why she was asking.
〈Survivor★(2ch)：But why are you asking that?〉
〈Ice Queen☆*(3ch)：......I heard that Raiders are controlling zombies. It's probably an ability, so I was curious what kind of ability it is.〉
Raiders and zombies?
〈Survivor★(2ch)：Is it the Zombie Queen?〉
〈Ice Queen☆*(3ch)：No. They aren't controlling them on a large scale, so it's highly likely to be an ability.〉
'An ability, huh....'
〈Survivor★(2ch)：Wouldn't there be someone among the Awakeners who can check the opponent's abilities?〉
〈Ice Queen☆*(3ch)：I've never heard of anyone having such an ability. But it's not important, so you don't have to worry about it.〉
〈Survivor★(2ch)：Yes.〉
Even if they control zombies, they're just zombies.
Except for the fact that Raiders are controlling them, it won't be a big threat.
'Unless they are controlling 3rd~4th-stage variant zombies.'
But I wonder if it's possible to control 3rd~4th-stage zombies unless it's the Zombie Queen.
'No, wait. Maybe it's possible if they obtain a [Zombie Control] ability and reach level 30 or 40.'
Anyway, having finished the 1:1 chat with Ice Queen, I immediately contacted the Assault Captain and received the High-grade Awakening Stone.
And when I gave the High-grade Awakening Stone to Tipina once more, fortunately, it succeeded this time, and I was able to raise it to A-grade.