Chapter 80 - What's Hidden in the Tournament Arena (2)
"Yes, is there a possibility that TarrTarr is Hyun?"
Berard thought for a little while, but it didn't take him long to come up with an answer.
"I think that probability is low. If Hyun were playing Asrian, he would have probably started from day one. If he's at level 70 at this point, he isn't Hyun."
"Yeah. Not only that, but he also seems very young. Just because he's wearing a mask doesn't mean he can hide his age. Hyun played the previous game for eight years, right?"
"Yes. That's why we must bring him to our side."
"TarrTarr? But he wasn't an Asra user."
"That doesn't matter."
Berard and Steel Rock were part of a guild that had gathered old Asra users.
It was a guild you couldn't join if you had no experience in Asra.
Although, at the moment, they were moving quietly while maintaining a low profile, Berard thought that even the number one guild, Darkness, was below them.
But what if they could incorporate TarrTarr?
Even in the previous game, those two were the biggest obstacle.
With TarrTarr, maybe they would be able to face them.
* * *
'Are they going to be okay?'
Hyun looked at the users with worrying eyes.
After he established a new record in the 'Virtual Historical Battle' with undead as the theme, the number of users that picked the same mission increased significantly.
'The missions that have undead as enemies are especially bothersome...'
He had chosen undead because it was the best way to use TarrTarr's skill at its fullest, not because it was easy.
The fact they weren't afraid of dying was great to stack combos.
But that was also what was scary about them.
He was sure there wouldn't be many users capable of dealing with a horde of skeletons attacking aggressively.
'Well, I guess that isn't something I should be worried about.'
He currently had a hundred thousand points.
He was ranked first.
But he had no intentions of being satisfied with that.
'I guess I can move on to the next stage of my plan.'
Because the tournament was created with a casino as a theme, there were a wide variety of installations.
Hyun went to a bar that was in the corner of the room.
There wasn't anyone except for the bartender inside the shop.
It was obvious.
There probably weren't many people willing to spend the time drinking alcohol in the middle of a tournament with a time limit.
'What are you going to order?' The bartender asked him as soon as he took a seat.
Despite TarrTarr's young look, the bartender offered him a drink without doubting for a moment.
"Give me the most expensive one."
"If it's the most expensive... I recommend the 'Pitch Black Frenzy.' It costs 500 points."
"Give me that."
While TarrTarr was looking dumbfounded, Hyun had finished ordering.
After the drink came out, he drank it at once.
"One more..."
「What are you doing? Just because we've earned some points, we mustn't waste them!」
「Who said it was over? We're just getting started.」
「That's what I'm saying! It isn't even tasty... No, that's not the issue here...」
«Assimilation» made you share the senses, so they could also taste what the other person was eating or drinking.
From a certain point of view, it was as if Hyun was forcing TarrTarr to drink alcohol.
「I can't believe one cup is 500 points... You remember that we only had 1100 points at the beginning, right?」
「Be quiet. These are the points I earned.」
Hyun brushed off TarrTarr's complaints.
Because what Hyun said was true, TarrTarr kept watching quietly.
'How much is he planning to drink?'
In just an instant, he'd spent 2000 points.
As expected, was gambling all about earning a lot and spending it as if it were nothing?
The number of points was a lot, but TarrTarr felt tortured because he also had to feel the bitter taste of alcohol.
'This isn't even tasty...'
「Ugh... It really tastes horrible.」
「Then why did you...!」
It was at that moment…
Ting-!
After Hyun had drunk five cups, he received a system message.
[You've spent 2500 points!]
[You've become the 21st VIP member of the 'Darkness's Rest Area.']
'Huh? VIP?'
While TarrTarr was confused by the sudden message that had appeared, he could hear the bartender's voice.
"It seems like you really like this place. I'd like to present other items if you're okay with it."
"Ugh... Of course, cough."
"Oh, then I'll get you the list!"
Tap!
As the bartender flicked his finger, a shop interface appeared in front of Hyun.
Amazingly, the items that appeared on the list weren't alcohol or food.
They were items.
Although they had a duration of three hours, there were even uniques!
At first glance, one may think that the user's specs would determine the results of the survival test, but that wasn't exactly the truth.
In that place, there were many ways to reduce the gap in the specs.
Secret market, auction place, gambling, etc.
That bar was also one of the hidden secrets of this tournament arena.
The bartender had said that TarrTarr had become the 21 VIP member, which meant that there were other users who knew about that place through the previous game.
「Woah... So they sell these types of weapons.」
TarrTarr's mouth was agape.
「They're all unique items! The price is also very cheap!」
「But you can't take them outside.」
It was just as Hyun said.
All items here were single-use only.
Once the tournament ended, they would be destroyed.
TarrTarr was disappointed after hearing that you could only use the items in the tournament.
「Do we need to buy them? As long as we get into the top 10, we're going to be able to receive the recognition of the Dukes. I believe that we already have enough points.」
「Yeah, that's true. We're not going to buy any of these things.」
It was just as TarrTarr said.
But that place had another secret.
One that not even Asra veterans knew about.
Hyun took out the lucky coin and gave it to the bartender.
"Oh, that?!"
The bartender's eyes shook after looking at the rainbow light emanating from the chip.
More than surprise, in his expression, there was happiness and expectations.
"Lucky Chip...! Are you going to give me this?"
"Yes, it's a tip."
The bartender seemed worried for a moment, but soon, his expression changed for a smile.
"Then I just can't stay still while doing nothing. I promise to give you the best possible treatment I can."
[You've become the first VVIP client of Darkness's Rest Area!]
[You've received 50000p as a bonus for being the first member!]
[Exclusive VVIP items had been added to the list!]
A smile appeared on TarrTarr's face.
It was Hyun's smile, who was using «Assimilation».
Translator - Daniel Shin
Proofreader - ilafy
* * *
'There was no way another user knew about the conditions of becoming a VVIP member.'
After all, that was information he'd gotten from the Heaven's 'Interloop'!
The only user in Asra who had access to that place was him.
'I'm glad I searched before coming.'
Before Asrian opened, Hyun had spent many hours in the Interloop.
It was a place that had lots of information about Asrian's vast world and history.
There was so much information in the Interloop that, even if you had many years, you wouldn't be able to read it all.
But he only had five days.
Hyun had taken a screenshot of all the information he considered as important.
Luckily, among those, there was information about the tournament.
The Darkness's Rest Area and VVIP members were among those.
TarrTarr's eyes widened after reading the new items that had appeared.
「What's this. There's a legendary category?」
「What are you talking about? It's obviously the next category after unique. Although it doesn't change the fact that they're single-use only.」
On the VVIP member list, there weren't only weapons. There was also a wide variety of items.
There were also some items that could be useful if used correctly.
[Point Bag (XL)]
- There's a random amount of points between 10 ~ and 5000.
- They'll get destroyed 10 minutes after the 4th tournament ends.
- The probability of getting a high number of points is low! Maybe the more you buy, the more you'll lose?
(Price: 50 points)
[Free Usage of Darkness's Rest Area]
- You can order any drink or food within the Darkness's Rest Area.
(Price: 10000 points)
[Trick]
- You can manipulate the points and positions shown in the rankings.
- You won't be able to influence the real positions.
(Price: 2000 points)
While looking at the list, TarrTarr took a deep breath.
'What's this?!'
[Reversal of Potential]
- Except for the awakening skill, you can reset all the skills and points invested.
(Price: 100 thousand points)
'Skill reset?!'
TarrTarr had mixed feelings from the moment he heard that his skill tree was ruined.
Since there was no way to reset the skill points, he had given up. But now, he'd seen a way to do it.
After reading TarrTarr's thoughts, Hyun quickly said.
「Don't even think of asking me to buy that.」
「R... Right?」
「Obviously, we still have many things to buy.」
TarrTarr tilted his head.
「Is there a need to buy something? We're already ranked 1st.」
「Look at this.」
Hyun used TarrTarr's fingers to go down through the interface.
The lower they went, the more expensive things became.
The moment they reached the bottom, an item with golden letters appeared.
「At the bottom of the VVIP shop, there's this item…」
「Soul Replication Elixir」
- You can generate a 2nd skill tree slot permanently.
- Each slot consumes skill points separately.
(Price: 2.5 million points)
'Hmm?'
TarrTarr thought he'd seen wrong.
After coming back to his senses, more than surprised, he seemed annoyed.
「There's a weird item at the bottom.」
「A weird item?」
「They've placed an item that one won't be able to buy. As if they were bragging about it. The effect also is just too much.」
「Who said that you can't buy it?」
Fufu... After noticing that Hyun was smiling, TarrTarr asked.
「Are you really thinking of buying it?」
「Although it's a lot... Maybe I'll be able to do it before the tournament ends.」
Before starting to play Asrian, Hyun had thought of a few things he had to get no matter what.
In this game, there were some items, titles, and skills with an outstanding effect.
When should he obtain what?
If the title 'heavenly being' was the first one, that elixir was the second.
'If, with the same points, I can have two different skill sets... The possible skill combinations increase by more than ten times!'
Its worth was probably more than a legendary or epic item.
2.5 million points may seem unreasonable for an average user. But for him, it wasn't.
'Should I get going?'
Hyun bought ‘Trick’ and modified the points so it would look like he had just around 100 thousand.
From then on, he had to move carefully.
Then he began spending the rest of the points as he had originally planned.
[Hell Difficulty Ticket]
- You can unlock a new difficulty of the Virtual Historical Battle.
(Price: 3000 points)
He bought three copies of that item.
He still had many points left.
The next step was getting the best items possible.
After all, challenging the hell difficulty with TarrTarr's specs was like committing suicide.
[Dagger of a Mythical Assassin]
[Armor of a Mythical Assassin]
[Ring of a Mythical Assassin]
...
Hyun used all the points to buy the legendary set item of the Mythical Assassin.
They were automatically placed on TarrTarr's body the moment he bought them.
Individually, the set items of the Mythical Assassin weren't impressive. But once you gathered all 6 pieces, it had an effect so great that it went against common sense.
A dark energy surrounded TarrTarr and then entered his body.
He felt his body getting lighter.
—It was because his stats had increased a lot.
'Let's get started.'
A smile appeared on Hyun's face.
