Chapter 28
#28. Gambling
I stripped off the clothes drenched in blood and doused myself with a recovery potion.
Ugh.
When the potion went straight into the wound, it burned like crazy. It felt like pouring lava into me instead of a potion.
But what else could I do? If I just stood still like this, I was going to bleed out and die.
At my feet was the corpse of the high-ranking lizardman warrior I'd just finished off. These guys took especially long to disappear after death.
I don't know if that's because they're elite or named monsters, or because it varies depending on monster level.
Anyway, I really nearly died this time.
I got so thrilled by how much I was growing that I got way too cocky. Taking on four high-ranking warriors with junk gear... I really was crazy.
Lizardmen are normally strong monsters you need a party to take on one by one.
High-ranking warrior lizardmen were especially monstrous among them, and their raw stats as well as their skill were far superior.
There were two spear users, one who fought with a shield and axe, and one armored in heavy gear wielding twin swords.
Every one of them handled their weapon more freely than their own body. And then they all came at me as a coordinated unit.
After only a few exchanges, I immediately got the feeling I was screwed, so I had to switch back to my original equipment midway through.
They kept pressing me so hard they didn't even give me time to change gear, so I could only swap out a few pieces.
“Still, I won, so I guess that's something.”
In the end, there were several moments when I really thought I was going to die, but I pulled through alive.
And because I'd overcome such a huge crisis, the reward that came back was deliciously sweet.
“Status Window.”
Seo Jin-hyuk Lv.50 (Warrior)
HP : 750/750
MP : 360/360
Strength : 74 (60+14)
Agility : 60 (56+4)
Endurance : 61 (55+6)
Intelligence : 52 (50+2)
Because I'd beaten so many lizardmen, my level went up quite a bit too.
Honestly, I expected it to go up a little more than that, but I guess I was in one of those ranges where the required EXP jumps sharply, because it stopped right at 50.
But defeating the high-ranking lizardman warrior unlocked the [Stalwart Warrior] achievement, which boosted my stats quite a lot.
My Agility and Endurance, which lagged a bit behind my Strength, each rose by 5, and my HP also jumped significantly to 750.
Now, even without items, my stats are on par with a level-55 character.
“But why did Agility go up more?”
The stats raised by the achievement were definitely 5 each, but my Agility was weirdly 1 point higher.
Could stats also increase when certain conditions are met, like skills?
There are so many changed parts that it's hard to pinpoint the exact cause.
“Well, I'm stronger now, so that's good enough...”
I closed the status window and opened the skill window. Before I knew it, my skill list had become quite long.
[Combat Awakening Lv.9]
[Combat Persistence Lv.9]
For one thing, the two skills I got on the second floor had already reached level 9 in no time. They're the highest-level skills I have.
[Bleeding Resistance Lv.5]
[Stun Resistance Lv.3]
[Combat Healing Lv.3]
[Paralysis Resistance Lv.3]
[Poison Resistance Lv.3]
And the resistance skill lineup is incredible. The paralysis resistance and poison resistance were skills I only just got this time, and they're already level 3.
At the same time, it makes me wonder just how insane the poison that NPC bastard used really was.
At least I had plenty of recovery potions; a normal challenger would have been at death's door without an antidote potion.
No, a normal challenger wouldn't have had any reason to get stabbed in the back by those NPCs in the first place.
Anyway, the other skills were Sword Mastery and Earth Spirit's Blessing, which hadn't changed, plus [Indomitable] and [Intuition], both now at level 4.
Besides the resistance skills, there were also two newly obtained skills.
[Basic Swordsmanship Lv.2]
[Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat Lv.1]
Both are simple passive skills that warrior classes can obtain by clearing certain quests. The exact effects are unknown because there's no description.
But the community has already verified that the higher the level of swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat, the greater the actual skill.
Does that mean my swordsmanship has now reached beginner level?
“That's... impressive, I guess?”
Even if it's only beginner level, I went from zero experience to having something that could honestly be called swordsmanship.
Maybe these two skills were the biggest gains from this time around.
**
After fully healing my wounds, I returned to town for maintenance.
Almost all of the town's NPCs belonged to the expedition, but none of them asked after the expedition captain who'd left with me.
I guess an NPC is still just an NPC. If I ended up hostile with them over something like this, it'd only make things harder for me too, so if anything, that's a relief.
[Trial Tower#2661 (1/1)]
I checked the Trial Tower chat room for the first time in a while. I didn't have much attachment left, but there still wasn't a single newbie.
First I repaired my damaged gear, then I immediately went to find the NPC who served as the general goods merchant.
[Low-Grade Antidote Potion]
When used, cures low-level poison status.
The effect varies depending on the type of poison.
And since I'd been thoroughly messed up by poison, I splurged and bought antidote potions in bulk.
I was already monopolizing the Tower's resources, so gold was practically overflowing.
Lastly, I went to another NPC I'd been eyeing and bought a somewhat special item.
[Poisoned Steel Arrow (Paralysis)]
Has a chance to inflict a status ailment on the target when it hits.
The effect changes depending on the hit location and resistance value.
They're poison arrows meant for archers, but they're so cost-inefficient that nobody actually uses them.
I spent my overflowing gold and bought several of each type.
Of course, I wasn't an archer class, so there wasn't much use for something like this.
Ah, I suppose I could stab a monster from close range with an arrow to poison it.
But most of the time, by then I'd be much better off just stabbing it once with a blade. Honestly, even punching it would probably be stronger.
I didn't buy this to use on monsters.
I learned a lot from fighting the lizardmen like my life depended on it while poisoned.
To survive in a body that was slowly dying, I needed to move that efficiently, and my survival instinct made it happen.
Combat in extreme conditions, where not a single motion can be wasted, brings about dramatic growth.
Honestly, I got far more out of this than out of the dozens of scrappy fights I'd had while trying to improve my skill.
Just like I pulled myself together after my mother's death, dramatic change needs that kind of strong stimulus.
Of course, I don't think all the effort I'd put in so far was wrong. This is just a matter of efficiency.
And then there was the new resistance skill I gained this time.
By forcing myself to endure the poison while gulping recovery potions like water, I acquired a level 3 resistance skill in one shot.
If that's the case, couldn't I artificially recreate that situation and make my resistance skills grow even more?
[Poisoned Steel Arrow (Paralysis)]
[Poisoned Steel Arrow (Bleeding)]
[Poisoned Steel Arrow (Decay)]
[Poisoned Steel Arrow (Poison)]
What if I drove these different poisons directly into my own body, then forced my way through it with a ton of recovery potions?
Maybe this is a growth method only I can use, with my absurd amount of gold and potions.
And if I fought lizardmen while poisoned, I could put myself in an even more extreme situation.
Of course, I might die if I slip up, but if I overcome it, I should be able to grow that much more dramatically.
“A gamble, huh.”
If I fail, I die. If I succeed, I get stronger. A gamble with clear risk and return.
And it's a little funny to say this myself, but I was a shut-in, deadbeat dopamine addict from the very beginning.
Now I've come out of my room, but I don't think that nature has gone anywhere.
So, isn't it obvious?
That I'd end up getting hooked on gambling.
“Alright, let's go.”
I smiled and shoved the poison arrow into my thigh.
-Thunk!
**
-Welcome to the Trial Tower Open Community!
[Author : Kim Jung-hyun#1921]
[Title : Why Haven't We Seen Jin-hyuk Lately]
(Photo)
Didn't he ask about spirit affinity or something last time?
Then why hasn't he posted anything since then? Did he die or something?
Anyone still in contact with Jin-hyuk?
- Yeah, come to think of it, what has Jin-hyuk been up to lately?
- I heard that bastard quit the community, so isn't that why?
- Who the hell is Jin-hyuk, you shut-in weeb? Quit talking about someone only you know.
- ㄴ How can you be on the community and not know Jin-hyuk?
- ㄴ You don't know the Open Community's number-one favorite regular, Jin-hyuk?
- ㄴ You don't know Jin-hyuk, the 2661 show-off?
- ㄴ Clearing the first floor solo was miracle enough, so he might actually be dead.
- I've messaged him before, but he didn't reply.
[Author : Lee Ji-hoon#1554]
[Title : Looks Like 2661 Is Dead]
(Photo)
I've sent him over a hundred messages, but there's no reply.
He could be off the community and clearing the Tower, but at this point that's a little strange.
Looks like he had some kind of accident while trying to clear the boss solo.
- Still no newbie in 2661? Is that tower bugged or something?
- ㄴ If even one person had come in, he'd definitely have posted about it on the community.
- Another challenger dies like this. Fucking shitty tower.
- What server is 2661 on?
- ㄴ There's a weird server with only one challenger on it, called Seo Jin-hyuk.
[Author : Seo Jin-hyuk#2661]
[Title : I'm Not Dead, You Bastards]
Stop sending me messages, for fuck's sake.