CHAPTER 49
“Uncle. Were you playing a different game?”
When they returned home, Yoon Seah was the first to bring up the story.
“Martial Power… Force… What are these?”
“They are unique stats.”
“There are unique stats?! I know about rare stats… like Dad’s, no, Ito’s ‘Twin Swords’.”
Rare stats were widely known even among the public because, when a player reached Diamond League, a new stat was added to their stat window that was tailored to each player and provided even greater effects than the existing ones.
That was what a rare stat was.
“How could your stats be like this when you aren’t in the Diamond League?”
But Seong Jihan, despite being a Bronze League player, had not one but two unique stats.
“There’s a way.”
“Can I do this too?”
Yoon Seah asked with a glimmer of hope.
Even though she received a low-rank gift, with these special stats, she could play her role properly in the league just like her uncle.
No, if she became like her uncle, she could even conquer the league by herself.
“Well, not these two.”
Seong Jihan shook his head.
His unique stat, Martial Power, required Dongfang Shuo’s brush, and on top of that, you needed to have the Gift ‘Wanderer’s Insight’. As for Force, you need two classes, Mage and Support.
She met none of those conditions.
“That’s too bad…”
“Instead, I know how to obtain another unique stat.”
“Really?!”
“Yeah. If you get that, you’ll become a great player too.”
Seong Jihan said nonchalantly, “But it will be a little tough.”
“Only a little? I can manage that much.”
“Well, let me clarify. It’s ‘a little’ by my standards. It’s going to be quite tough for you.”
“Is that so? Given that it’s by your standards, it will probably be extremely challenging.”
Jihan chuckled at the worried Seah.
Although she’d said that, he knew that his niece had an impressive determination.
“You can do it, so don’t worry. And… What is your gift?”
Just then Jihan realized that he hadn’t seen Yoon Seah’s Gift until now.
He had pretended not to know until now, but it was time to find out.
“…This is it.”
In response to Seong Jihan’s question, Yoon Seah showed her Gift.
[Gift – Late Bloomer (Rank F)
[Great potential takes time to manifest.]
“Is that all for the explanation?”
“Yeah, that’s it. I thought it was a proverb or something.”
“Hmm…”
Seong Jihan pretended to think deeply but he already knew what that Gift meant.
‘It’s hard to see the true value of ‘Late Bloomer’ with such an uninspiring description.’
That’s why he had prepared something in advance.
“Here.”
“What’s this?”
“Your real birthday present.”
Without any fancy packaging, Seong Jihan took out an item from his inventory and handed it to Yoon Seah.
What Seong Jihan gave her was a golden-eyed pair of glasses that glowed.
[Hermes’ Monocle]
Grade: A
– The Monocle of Olympus’s God, Hermes.
– Allows you to identify the essence of a Gift.
– One-time use item.
It was an item that could be obtained by repairing the ‘Messenger’s Broken Monocle’, which was a C-rank item sold on the BattleNet market for 100 GP.
He’d repaired the monocle using the Achievement Shop’s Emergency Recovery.
In fact, he could have obtained it without using Emergency Recovery. After all, once the Tutorial was over, a repair kit dropped inside Diamond League dungeons, but…
‘I can’t wait until then.’
It was a birthday present for his niece, so he was okay with spending 10,000 achievement points.
“But… What is this?”
“It’s your birthday present.”
Yoon Seah looked at the glasses with a puzzled expression.
The lenses of the glasses shone in a golden hue, not something you’d expect from a regular item.
“Now that you have your status window and have awakened as a player, you can use your inventory, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Put it in your inventory and check the item description.”
“Inventory.”
Following Seong Jihan’s instructions, Yoon Seah put Hermes’ Monocle in her inventory and her eyes widened as she read the item description.
“Wow. There was an item like this?”
“Yeah, it’s a one-time use though.”
“Wow… It’s a Grade A item ?! Isn’t it expensive?”
Yoon Seah felt that using this item on her useless Gift was a waste.
“It’s not like that, so don’t worry and use it.”
When Seong Jihan said that with a calm expression, Yoon Seah nodded her head.
She knew that an A-grade item was extraordinary, but honestly, She was curious about the essence of this Gift. As soon as she used Hermes’ Spectacles…”
“Uh…?”
The description of the Gift, [Late Bloomer] completely changed.
[Gift – Late Bloomer (Rank-F – Participate 50 times in the game to upgrade)]
[Upgrades the basic BattleNet system.
To upgrade it, you must participate in BattleNet games.]
[F-rank Effect: Increases daily game participation by 1.]
[100% increase in natural stat growth.]
“What’s this…?” Yoon Seah blinked her eyes.
A Gift… that could be upgraded?
So far, all the Gifts that had appeared had fixed ranks that didn’t go up or down.
The fact that it could be upgraded was unimaginable.
“What happened? What gift did you get?”
“Look at this…!”
She quickly shared her status window and showed the gift section.
“Woah… a Gift that can be upgraded? And the F-rank Gift’s effect is also good!”
Seong Jihan recalled Xin Youhwa, a Chinese ranker who had this gift in his previous life.
No wonder he could participate in the games twice a day.
‘And the fact that the natural stat growth rate increases by 100%…’
Strength, stamina, agility, and, etc. Even without investing unused points, it meant that the stats that could be raised through training would increase even faster. Perhaps this was the effect befitting the name ‘Late Bloomer’.
“It has good effects.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. And with the increased natural stat growth rate, it’ll be easier to obtain rare stats too.”
“Really? Is that true?!”
“It’s true. Well, my niece, you received a good Gift.”
At those words, Yoon Seah fell to the floor, her expression overcome with emotion.
Even though she had received an F-rank Gift, she hadn’t cried, but now, with improved results, tears welled up in her eyes.
Swoosh!
Several tissues automatically came out, floating in front of Yoon Seah.
“Thank you… Uncle.”
“It’s the least I could do. Anyway… so, are you going to be a player?”
“With a Gift like this, of course!”
Now that she had a growing Gift, there was no need to study for the college entrance exam.
Seong Jihan nodded lightly at her response.
“Alright. Let’s go eat.”
“Food…”
“Yeah. You’ve been in the Gift Hall all day. You haven’t eaten anything, right?”
“I’m oka-.”
Growl!
However, before she could finish speaking, a loud growl echoed from her stomach.
Yoon Seah’s face turned red.
“Your body is more honest than you.”
Seong Jihan brought bread and soup.
“Last time, You said you wanted to eat a Full-course meal, right?”
“…Ah.”
“I’m going to grill a steak, so fill your stomach with this for now.”
“Since when were you cooking?!”
The utensils and cutlery, including forks and spoons, flew in by themselves and the empty dining table was instantly set.
It was like magic.
Yoon Seah had an astonished expression.
She had thought her birthday would be the worst when she received the Gift at the academy.
But the situation had completely changed.
‘Did Uncle know this would happen?’
Before receiving the Gift, he had repeatedly told her not to expect too much from it.
Yet, after receiving an F-rank Gift, he gave her Hermes’ Monocle as if he had been waiting for it.
No matter how much she thought about it, it seemed like her uncle knew everything.
‘Is he able to see the future?’
Seah thought about it for a brief moment but decided to let such thoughts go.
If her uncle wanted to tell her, he would. All she could do for the moment was be grateful.
“Uncle, this is really delicious!”
She smiled brightly as she tasted the soup.
It wasn’t the forced smile she had been putting on but a genuine one. It was a smile that came from her heart.
Seong Jihan watched her with a slight smile on his face. He hadn’t seen that smile since the Sword King left Korea.
‘Let’s see it more often.’
* * * * *
Morning on the 22nd.
As soon as Seong Jihan woke up, he logged into BattleNet.
– 1st place again.
– What’s up with the obvious comment?
– He must go to Silver quickly.
– When’s the promotion match?
Securing first place in Defense maps had become a daily occurrence for Seong Jihan.
After the game ended, he received a notification message.
[You’ve reached level 25.]
[You’ve reached the level cap for the Bronze League. Your level will no longer increase.]
[You can now participate in the League Promotion Match.]
“Oh, everyone? I’ve reached level 25.”
– Woah, really?
– Congrats!
– Woah… You’re finally going to get to Silver League!
– Already? Is he going to participate in the promotion after less than a month?
– Congrats, congrats!
– (surprised emoticons).
Seeing the news that Seong Jihan had reached the promotion match level, a flood of congratulations filled the chat. And with that, another system message popped out in front of him.
[You’ve achieved 1st place in the Bronze League with the highest win rate. ]
[You’ve earned the title of ‘Dominator of the Bronze League’.]
[You are eligible to participate in the ‘Top 100’ promotion match.]
“Everyone, I can also participate in the ‘Top 100’ promotion match.”
– Top 100? Woah!!
– Does that mean Jihan is within the ‘Top 100’ Bronze players?
– Of course… 100? At this point, he’s probably 1st.
– For real. Didn’t he take the 1st place in every game?
The ‘Top 100’ promotion match was a particularly special match among promotion matches.
Unlike regular promotion matches, which were played among players from the same country, the ‘Top 100’ matches were selected by the system from among the top 100 players in the world.
The ‘Top 100’ promotion match, held on the 25th of each month, garnered immense popularity worldwide.
Although no one paid much attention to Bronze League promotion matches due to their lower ranking, the Top 100 matches were different.
– Is Bronze the first to broadcast?
– I always skipped Bronze and watched from the Top 100 Silver, but I’ll have to see it this time.
– Woah… when was the last time a player from our country participated in a Top 100 promotion match?
– It’s been four years, hahaha.
– Four years? Is K- BattleNet’s level for real?
– By the way, if you participate in the Top 100 promotion match, isn’t promotion guaranteed?
– Yes. Just by being among the Top 100, you’re guaranteed a promotion.
Unlike other, regular promotion matches, in the ‘Top 100’, your promotion was guaranteed just by participating.
However, the match wasn’t like the regular BattleNet games that ended when half the players were still alive. Instead, it went on until only one person remained.
That was, after all, a clear way to determine the rankings from 1st to 100th.
[Would you like to participate in the ‘Top 100’ promotion match?]
“I’ll participate.”
As Seong Jihan made his decision to participate, he thought, ‘Finally, it’s time to clear the Epic Quest.’
Since the promotion match map was a survival map like Colosseum, he was going to clear the Epic Quest, which required him to provoke the Shadows Queen, in a promotion match that attracted worldwide attention.
‘To do that, I need to learn Nameless Divine Arts.’
Now that he had reached level 25, all he had to do was raise his Martial Power to 30, and he would meet the conditions to learn Nameless Divine Arts.
‘Finally…’
With a smile on his lips, Seong Jihan logged out to prepare for his final preparations.
It was time to register Nameless Divine Arts in his Skill Window.
