Chapter 70: Result of the Bet (3)
TL: Haku
Editor: Hungry Panda
Sponsors: ZW and Fullmetalj4cket
Even at first glance, it was a good skill.
'Now that I look at it, I remember seeing a skill like this on the Black Magician Class' bulletin board.'
Because the Black Magician was also a class that commanded numerous Familiars, there were also users that had similar class skills to Summoners.
Ian nodded his head.
It was a skill that would make hunting more stable for him.
But he could see there was a part he didn't really understand.
'But what does it exactly mean when it says the first time Link is casted, the Health of the two Linked individuals will be adjusted to the same ratio?'
In order for Ian to understand the skill exactly, he decided to use the skill immediately.
'Just in time, my Familiars' Vitalities are uneven as they just finished fighting…'
After Ian checked Ly and Ddukdae's Vitality, he invoked the skill.
"Ly, Ddukdae. Link!"
As he did so, a red light circled around Ly and Ddukdae, and something like a hazy and translucent chain appeared in between the two Familiars.
And Ddukdae's Vitality, which he only had about 30% left of, began to fill up.
"Huh?"
On the other hand, the Vitality of Ly, who maintained an almost full Health thanks to Health Absorption, had dropped to around 60%.
Once Ian saw that, he immediately understood the skill's explanation.
'Ah-ha, so that's what they meant by it matches to be the same ratio. Regardless of what the max Vitality is, it takes the average based on the percentage value.'
In a more simple explanation, the average of the remaining Vitality ratios of the two linked Familiars was given to each of them.
The cooldown time was a whopping 3 hours and the effect could only be applied the first time Link was casted, but depending on how it was used, he felt he could truly make good use of it.
'But, it is a double-edged sword. It was only beneficial now as the Vitality of Ddukdae, whose max Vitality was higher than Ly's, was currently lower than Ly's from a relative perspective, but on the other hand, if Ly's Vitality was hitting the floor and Ddukdae's Vitality was at max, the situation could turn out bad if I Linked them.'
Ian carefully checked the points he should consider before using the skill, and turned to the next skill.
'I wonder what the Assimilation skill is.'
And the skill's information window popped up.
AssimilationClassification - Active Skill
Skill Level - lv 0
Proficiency - 0%
Cooldown Time - 60 minutes
Duration - 30 minutes
Conditions for Use - Only applicable to a Familiar currently summoned. If the Familiar is recalled or Summon Released, the Assimilation skill will be released as well.
The Summoner is Assimilated with their Familiar.
If 'Assimilation' is applied, the ratio of the Summoner's combat stats will become equal to the ratio of the relevant Familiar's combat stats, and additionally, they will gain 20% of the highest stat of the Familiar.
*The higher the Proficiency, the shorter the Cooldown Time and the bigger the ratio of the stats gained.
Ian, who read all of the skill's information, wore an interested expression.
'So, the ratio of my stats will be equally matched to the ratio of my Familiar's?'
As expected, he couldn't just move on without trying it out.
After momentarily thinking, Ian chose Bbookbbook as his target to use his Assimilation skill on.
'Since Bbookbbook's stats lean abnormally to one side the most.'
Ian let down Bbookbbook, who was hanging on his back.
"Bbookbbook."
And at Ian's calling, Bbookbbook poked out of his shell and lifted his head.
Bbookbbook-?
At the image that always looked cute, Ian laughed.
"Stay there for a moment. I want to try a skill out."
Bbookbbook nodded his head.
Bbook-.
Ian, who received consent from Bbookbbook, placed his hand on top of Bbookbbook's shell and casted the Assimilation skill.
"Assimilation!"
As he did so, a blue light was sucked out of Bbookbbook and was absorbed into Ian.
And as the skill invocation was finished, Ian opened his stat window and checked his stats.
And he let out a forced laugh.
"Kuck. My stats actually became like Bbookbbook's."
Including the extra Defensive Power from his equipment, he had received a Defensive Power that was close to 1500.
'I'm almost at Ddukdae's level like this.'
However, on the other hand, his Offensive Power and reflexes dropped almost to the floor.
Just then.
Bbook- Bboobbook-!
Bbookbbook laughed out of enjoyment and began to crawl around Ian.
"What is it, Bbookbbook. What's wrong?"
Bbook-!
While watching Bbookbbook, who looked thoroughly entertained, Ian was suddenly nervous.
'What the hell? He's enjoying it more than when he eats meatballs.'
And while he was nervous watching Bbookbbook's mysterious reaction, his hologram that was next to his stat window caught his eyes.
"What the hell is this?!"
He let out a shout before he even realized.
This was because the holographic image of him was incredibly shocking.
'Even if the carapace-looking thing on my back is taken into consideration, why did my head grow so big? On top of that, though, I've shrunken in height…!'
Stats weren't the only thing that he Assimilated from Bbookbbook.
Bbookbbook's visuals were also Assimilated, so Ian's physical appearance had changed like Bbookbbook, the big-headed turtle.
'My excellent visuals…!'
Ian urgently cleared the Assimilation skill.
"Clear!"
Hoo-oong-
And Ian, who returned to his original form, let out a sigh of relief.
"Whew… I need to refrain as much as I can from using this skill on Bbookbbook…"
Because he felt like he would his Assimilation skill on Ly or Lake when fighting normally, it didn't matter.
He couldn't get a sense of what changes would be made to his outer appearance, but he felt it would at least be better than the shocking visual he saw just now.
However, he felt there would be situations where he would be forced to use the Assimilation skill on Bbookbbook.
'No matter how much I don't want to die, I'd rather use Assimilation on Ddukdae, I just won't use it on Bbookbbook.'
Meanwhile, Bbookbbook, who was entertained after seeing his owner's ridiculous form, seemed to have lost his interest as Ian returned to his original form, as he turned sullen.
Ian glared at Bbookbbook.
"What are you laughing at, kid."
Bbook-!
At Bbookbbook's gaze, which was filled with hope that his owner would transform(?) once again, Ian frowned.
"Do you think this is funny?"
Bbookbbook nodded his head without a moment of hesitation.
Bbookbbook!
Ian shook his head.
"Do you know why hyung[1] transformed like that?"
Ian told the uncomfortable truth to Bbookbbook, who was staring at Ian as if he was curious.
"I took after you, you idiot."
Bbookbbook's pupils began to shake.
There was no way a handsome turtle like him would have such a ridiculous outer appearance.
Bbook-!
Bbookbbook denied the reality.
Ian, who momentarily played around with Bbookbbook, suddenly felt exhaustion wash over him.
"Hoo, should I shut my eyes for a couple hours now…?"
Looking at the time he was logged on for, it was approaching 60 hours.
And Ian was now reaching a limit to his mental strength.
"Still, in the end, I reached lv 90."
Ian knew how difficult it was to raise 3 levels from lv 90, but it was a different feeling from when he was at lv 89.
Still, he felt like he gained some strength after changing the front number.
"I'll come back after I sleep about five hours."
Ian Summon Released all of his Familiars, including a disheartened Bbookbbook, before logging off.
'Hm, I'm sure Yoohyun told me that the VR department was in this building…'
After entering Lotus guild, Harin got even closer with the guild members.
Even Jinsung and Yoohyun spoke a lot with Harin, especially since they went to the same school.
Harin was one year above them, but because she was technically the same age as them as she was just born early[2], they were on friendly terms with each other.
And she and Jinsung were at a stage where they comfortably spoke with each other after persuading him even though he flatly refused.
'Speaking of which, why is this Jinsung not even looking at his messages? Is he in class?'
The first day of classes.
It seemed because of the class changing period, Harin had some time to spare thanks to her first class ending early.
That's why she had come to the VR department that Jinsung and Yoohyun were in.
And many students glanced at her as she looked around the hallway of the VR department.
'Since when did we have a girl that pretty in our department?'
'What the hell, is she a student from the Theatre and Film department? Or a celebrity aspirant?'
As she looked through the hallway while receiving attention from here and there, a familiar face caught her eyes.
"Oh, Yoohyun! Yoohyun, right?"
Yoohyun, who was returning to the department room with Sewon after finishing his classes, turned his head, startled at the unfamiliar voice that called him.
And once he discovered the owner of the voice, he was even more flustered.
"Uh… Huh?"
The voice of the opposite party that seemed like they definitely knew them.
Yoohyun fell into a state of confusion as he met the incredibly hopeless situation where the other party knew them, but they didn't know the other party.
'But, there's no way that I know such a pretty girl…'
He opened his mouth thinking that way, but suddenly there was something that popped up inside Yoohyun's head.
'By any chance, is it Harin?'
And as she approached him, Yoohyun carefully asked.
"By any chance… Harin?"
At Yoohyun's voice that recognized her, Harin was delighted.
"Wow, Yoohyun, you recognized me right away!"
And she seemed to be mumbling about a specific person.
"Tsk, as expected, it was weird that he didn't recognize me when I didn't even fix that much."
Truthfully, Yoohyun didn't recognize Harin by her face.
He had just guessed as Harin had sent a message beforehand in the morning that she would visit the VR department.
And separate from that, Yoohyun and Sewon were in a baffled state.
This was because Harin was much more beautiful close up than when she was far away.
Yoohyun, who pulled himself together from his surprised state, barely opened his mouth.
"You said you'd come when your classes were done, are you already done with them?"
At Yoohyun's question, Harin shook her head.
"No, my classes aren't done yet. I had quite a bit of time between my classes, so I decided to come."
After Harin responded, she looked around and spoke again.
"But, Yoohyun, what about Jinsung?"
"Jinsung didn't come to school today?"
"Huh?"
Harin was about to ask why, but she discovered the reason herself shortly after and shook her head.
"He must be gaming instead of coming to school since it's the class changing period."
At Harin, who had a good grasp on Jinsung, Yoohyun couldn't help but force out a laugh.
A dark and somber grey robe, a black cone hat and a ridiculous image of one holding a staff larger than themselves.
In some snowy field of the northern continent, Black Magician 'Kanjihoonie' was diligently leveling up.
"Judgment of Darkness!"
Along with his order, the pitch-black beam that spread from his hands exploded against the body of a lv 90 White Ogre.
Bang-!
Along with the clear sound of impact, his prominent Offensive Power was displayed as it sliced through the Ogre's Vitality.
The black skeletons that surrounded the Ogre moved altogether as if on que.
Hoonie's fight was incredibly clean and systematic.
Although his outer appearance may have been a little ridiculous, his control was admirable no matter who saw it.
"Alright, I should be able to level up soon enough."
Hoonie, who had cleanly killed three White Ogres, completely recovered his Vitality by sacrificing one of his skeletons using 'Spirit Absorption'.
And with one hand, he grabbed his hat and tilted it onto an angle.
"Ian, where is this jerk?"
Hoonie hadn't forgotten, the sorrowful memory of the out-of-bounds situation during the rookie league.
Bboo-deuk-.
And he also remembered the turtle that he had caught his foot on and caused him to fall.
Hoonie, who had clenched his fist tightly, continued to feed his fighting spirit.
"As this great Hoonie has reached lv 85, he's probably hit over lv 80 now, too, right?"
And then he shook his head.
"No, he's a dirty Summoner. He possibly could have used a foul method and passed lv 85."
Hoonie, who was mumbling to himself, fished around for something in his chest and pulled something out.
It was a doll that looked like a human.
Hoonie glared at the doll as he gritted his teeth.
"Cowardly Ian jerk!"
Puck-
Hoonie, who had hit the doll with his fist, casted a curse skill as it seemed he wasn't satisfied.
"Curse of the Dead!"
However, there was no way that the skill would be invoked onto a doll.
Hoonie, who momentarily panted, put the doll back within his chest shortly after and started moving to hunt.
'In order to properly beat this cowardly Ian jerk, I need to get a little stronger.'
Hoonie moved his feet with a resolutely determined expression.
His leveling-up speed had slowed down significantly since his break ended.
'I need to try harder.'
If he could not beat Ian, the time he spent hunting instead of even doing his vacation homework would have been spent in vain.
Hoonie's footsteps grew a little faster.
[1] hyung = what a younger male calls a close, older male[2] In Korea, the new school year starts several weeks after the new year, so people born before the start of the new school year tend to enter school with students that were born in the year before them
*Kanjihoonie is the Black Magician that Ian went up against in the semi-finals for the rookie league. For reference, he appears in Chapter 54 and 55!