Chapter 65: Tori - (1)
As always, Nietzsche logged into the Predation Network and opened a chat from the user with the nickna 'Tory.'
Since they had previously exchanged sentints about targeting Sanghyun, the two had continued to stay in contact.
▶ Tory: When are we going?
▶ Nietzsche: It's too soon. Didn't you see what happened at Unseo Station last ti? You can't underestimate him.
▶ Tory: Sothing seems off. Are you delaying on purpose to take him for yourself?
▶ Nietzsche: What are you talking about? Besides, though it's unofficial information, I heard that Shin Sanghyun participated in a field subjugation operation in North Korea.
▶ Tory: Such high-level information? Who are you? Are you a Player Union employee or sothing? How do you know such insider details?
▶ Nietzsche: There are ways to find out. Anyway, now is not a good ti to target Shin Sanghyun. Let's wait and see.
▶ Tory: Hm, no matter how I think about it, you're way too cautious. Sorry, but I'll be the one to take him.
▶ Nietzsche: I'm telling you, be careful.
▶ Tory: Enough. If you wait too long, the al goes cold. I'll be the one to take the first bite.
After that, the conversation ended.
Nietzsche sent a few more ssages, but there was no indication that Tory had seen them.
"Even a predator carefully calculates before going in for the kill. Tsk."
Nietzsche clicked his tongue.
Every update he received about Sanghyun was related to his growth.
According to Nietzsche’s gathered information, Sanghyun had participated in the Kaeseong subjugation operation and had received quite a bit of praise.
In particular, he had caught the attention of Lee Sehwa, one of the main damage dealers from the Player Union's Team 3.
Nietzsche had seen many promising players before, but none like Sanghyun.
What made Sanghyun special to Nietzsche was his skill versatility. He had far too many skills.
If they were all useless, low-grade skills, they wouldn’t be a threat at all.
However, every skill Sanghyun acquired had practical combat applications.
The well-known skill, Demon Bash, which caused stiffness, was just one of many options in his arsenal.
According to sources close to Lee Sehwa, Sanghyun even possessed a skill that reset cooldown tis.
The mont Nietzsche heard that, he swore out loud. How could a swordsman-type player have such a skill?
There was no record of him purchasing skill books, yet his skills kept appearing like water from an endless spring.
"Predation isn’t that easy, my friend."
Nietzsche blocked and deleted Tory from his friends list.
Would they reconnect? Unlikely.
An impatient predator would eventually fall victim to its own greed and perish.
"No matter where you look, Seoul is truly beautiful. And the current Seoul is more so than ever."
anwhile, Sanghyun stood at Namsan Tower, gazing down at the entire city of Seoul while taking a leisurely drive up.
The wind was cool, and the sky was clear without a trace of fine dust, making it a perfect view to take in.
The era of players that began with the ergence of the system had led to an age of great prosperity.
Like all major cities, Seoul was evolving rapidly.
Facilities utilizing magic stones were increasing everywhere, and industries were swiftly shifting to using magic stones as fuel.
Magic stones had more than enough value to justify this shift.
More importantly, they were a perfect source of eco-friendly energy, free from pollution and environntal destruction.
Thanks to magic stones, dicine and science were also making remarkable progress.
Everyone was optimistic about this era of prosperity, enjoying its benefits.
"……"
At that mont, the view of Seoul overlapped with his mories of 2040. It was an interference from his past mories.
The Seoul of 2040 was far from the utopia that people were now envisioning.
It was a battlefield where constellations and divine beings, good and evil, black and white, red and blue, were constantly at odds.
'We already saw the sparks of this conflict in the last vote.'
Sanghyun recalled how the Goddess of Luck had proposed a dinsional vote to expel the Dark Hunter.
[With 62% in favor and 38% against, the Dark Hunter could not be expelled from the constellations.]
Sanghyun rembered the exact wording of the ssage.
The percentage of approvals represented constellations with a good alignnt, while the opposition represented the evil-aligned constellations and divine beings.
Right now, evil-aligned constellations were still a minority, but the gap was narrowing.
And by 2040, the balance would completely shift.
"Abundance amidst poverty. The monopolization of victory by a few fuels the despair of the many. It was a disaster waiting to happen."
Sanghyun muttered a quote from a historian that would later be recorded in the Player Chronicles.
Even now, the situation was the sa.
The benefits of rapid growth and artifact acquisition were monopolized by a select few strong players.
Players like Sanghyun himself.
anwhile, the majority remained stuck in the position of soone like Yoon Daekyung, his forr team captain.
They worked hard but saw little growth, making it difficult to obtain decent artifacts or rewards.
"Maybe the balance between good and evil has already begun to crumble."
Sanghyun had no desire to act as a hero or move with a sense of duty to change the future.
However, knowing what was to co, he believed it was necessary to stay aware and prepared.
"It's best to strengthen my skills now."
Sanghyun made his decision.
He had considered saving the skill enhancent privilege he gained at level 100, but he changed his mind.
The longer he delayed, the slower his growth montum would beco.
If he ended up in danger or stagnated due to unenhanced skills, it would be an even greater loss.
The skill he chose to enhance was Psychedelic.
He had considered Demon Bash, but with his current skill build, it was already strong enough.
Psychedelic was his only buff skill at the mont.
Moreover, since it was the best way to exponentially boost his combat power, enhancing it would provide a much greater synergy.
[Would you like to select the skill 『Psychedelic』 for enhancent?]
[Once the enhancent is perford, the skill enhancent privilege granted at level 100 will be permanently consud.]
[The next privilege will be available at level 200.]
"Begin enhancent."
The mont Sanghyun made his choice, a violet glow rippled across his skill window.
It enveloped the na and description of the Psychedelic skill, changing its colors entirely.
It was reminiscent of enhancent effects seen in gas. The system had many such similarities.
[The enhancent of the Psychedelic skill is complete. The new na of the enhanced skill is 『Over Psychedelic』.]
Sanghyun's eyes widened.
At a glance, the skill’s strengths had been greatly improved, while its weaknesses had been significantly reduced.
//s_win
//win_h 『Over Psychedelic』
■ Skill Level: Stage 1 (0.0%)
■ Skill Description: Upon activation, all health is instantly restored, and the user enters an awakened state for 480 seconds.
(……omitted)
After the Psychedelic effect ends, instead of exhaustion or health loss, the user's health is fully restored again.
Additionally, while Over Psychedelic is active, if the user's health drops below 10%, Overdrive will be triggered.
When Overdrive activates, a perfect invincible state is maintained for 3 seconds.
For each use of Psychedelic, Overdrive can activate once.
Cooldown ti: 30 minutes.
//e_win
"The enhancent high is insane."
Sanghyun expressed his joy over the changed skill in a straightforward manner.
A lot had changed.
The penalty was completely removed, and the duration had doubled compared to before.
480 seconds ant 8 minutes.
If he utilized skill reset on top of this, he could maintain the Over-Psychedelic state for a total of 16 minutes.
Moreover, the perfect health recovery increased from once to twice.
Overdrive was an excellent gift.
If he could make good use of the invincibility state, he could create various variables.
The invincibility implented by the system was essentially 'absolute invincibility.'
It couldn't be nullified.
"Now that this happened, I want to reach level 200 even faster. Yeah, this is the thrill of growth."
The system definitely rewarded players who grew properly.
In his past life, he had thought the system was unfair, but looking back now, it seed like re inferiority complex.
The system gave certain privileges to those who deserved them.
Just like now.
In the skill window, the Over-Psychedelic skill wasn't displayed in ordinary white text but was glowing purple.
It felt like motivation.
Before long, he wanted to see his other skills turn purple just like this one.
After finishing his drive and returning to Player Town, Sanghyun received a call from Kim Miso in front of the elevator.
"Oh, Miso."
"Already?"
"Are they planning to break through the Plains of Rest?"
"A four-player raid?"
"Okay. I'll join that too. Just make sure to prepare solid pre-raid materials. I don’t do reckless raids."
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