Chapter 293: Because I Feel Like It

While Seo Ye-in slept soundly, I took some time to check through things on my own.

First, the side quest.

[Side Questt: 16th Week Duel Battles] (Completed)

? Objective: Complete 2 duel matches (2/2)

? Reward: Stamp Coupon (C+)

I had finished both matches in first place and received the best possible reward.

The C-rank stamp coupon I had earned previously allowed for a maximum of 10 stamps, but the C+ rank coupon increased that to 15.

Naturally, the rewards improved by an additional tier as well.

I saved these just for this.

I had four unused random rank ups saved up.

I decided to save those for later.

Next, I pulled up the skill and trait windows for review.

[Skills]

? Chillwind (D+)

? Wind Force (C+)

? Wind Barrier (C+)

? Spiral Explosion (C+)

? Inferno Fist (B)

? Mysterious Yin Jade Demon Finger (B)

? Ghost Dance

? Amplification (B)

? Enchantment (C)

? Hardship New!

? Copy-Skill [3/3]

1. Thief’s Step (B+)

2. Overheat (C)

3. Ice Wall (B)

[Traits]

? Core (B+)

? Monarch (B)

? Blessing of the West Wind

? Distortion

? Elemental Resistance (S)

? Poison Immunity

? Copy-Trait [2/2]

1. Retrocovery (S) New!

2. Crown of the Wise King

[Equipment]

? Deep Root Sapling

? Storm Cloud Bracelet

? Cloudstepper

Based on all of this, if I had to set a direction moving forward...

The first priority is strengthening my foundation.

Achieving a B-rank Core had only been a relatively recent development for me.

For now, I believe it is more efficient to raise the skills I already possess to B-rank rather than increasing the variety of my skills.

After all, if I tried learning something new, I would have had to start from F-rank, which would inevitably be weaker than focusing on bringing Wind Force or Spiral Explosion up to B-rank.

It probably won’t take too long.”

Since I used Wind-type skills often, my proficiency with them was already quite high.

In particular, the lower-tier versions of Wind Force and Spiral Explosion were my core combat techniques, so I figured they would soon break through their stagnation period and reach B-rank.

The second priority is utility.

Among utilities, I needed to secure skills or traits that helped manage penalties.

With just an S-rank Elemental Resistance, the highest level of elemental penalty I could neutralize was B-rank. Anything higher than that would inflict some amount of damage.

Even though B-rank Inferno Fist or Mysterious Yin Jade Demon Finger were already formidable, the enemies I would face were only going to grow stronger.

In those cases, I would need to amplify them to S-rank, much like I did when I fought the Witch of Corruption. But I couldn’t rely on basic elixirs indefinitely.

At least I got Retrocovery.

Even if I amplified Inferno Fist or the Demon Finger to S-rank and used them, Retrocovery would at least heal me thoroughly once. Of course, that alone didn’t solve all the problems.

Moreover, there was another penalty I had to watch out for:

The cooldowns keep getting longer.

When my C-rank [Enchantment] had a reuse cooldown of about 35 minutes, it wasn’t a big deal until I used it 30 times in a row with Octopus Limbs.

Thanks to that, I managed to pummel the Witch of Corruption into submission, but the cooldown soared to a whopping three weeks.

Essentially, it was sealed away until the end of the first semester.

On top of that, [Retrocovery] had a cooldown of three days, and [Hardship] was seven days. If I linked those with Octopus Limbs again?

It wouldn’t be strange if it stretched to a few weeks or even months.

Hence, it became increasingly important to manage these penalties. That was the situation I found myself in.

Apparently, the passive sloth mode can be toggled ON or OFF.

And from Seo Ye-in’s perspective, it’s probably much more comfortable to sleep without doing any Mana Cultivation.

Because she would train off and on like that, the Future Strategy Office had predicted she wouldn’t reach a B-rank Core until well into the second semester.

Ahn Jeong-mi continued,

“So it’s thanks to you, Kim Ho-nim that she achieved it sooner. You also willingly shared the Illusion Demon’s formation and we owe you a great deal for that. If there’s anything you need, please let us know.”

“Actually, there is something I need these days.”

I then relayed the item list I had organized in my mind.

The items I needed were related to penalty-reduction skills or traits or materials necessary for crafting equipment using the Crow Branch.

Even for the Hye-seong Group, these weren’t things that could be easily acquired. Ahn Jeong-mi remained silent for a moment before making a suggestion.

“How about you check out the shops in the downtown area first? We’ll cover all the expenses.”

In other words, I’d essentially been handed a blank check.

If I could find what I wanted, great. If not, there was always the chance I’d stumble upon something unexpected.

And if I found nothing at all, Ahn Jeong-mi would figure out another way to procure the items, so there was no real loss.

I nodded my head readily.

“I’ll give it a try.”

“When were you thinking of going?”

“Next weekend seems like the right time.”

The weekend before the strategy battle week. Essentially, the weekend just before finals week.

Since it was right before a big test, students would flock to the downtown area to blow off steam or stock up on items.

This also meant that the shops in the downtown area would stock up heavily during this time.

But just then, Seo Ye-in suddenly jumped into the conversation.

“This weekend.”

“You heard me. It’ll be more fun next weekend.”

I calmly tried to reason with her, but for some reason, Seo Ye-in was unusually stubborn.

“This weekend.”

“Why are you so set on going this weekend?”

If she had a good enough reason, moving it up by a week wouldn’t be a big deal.

But Seo Ye-in answered confidently,

“Because I feel like it.”

“Wow, look at you being all talkative for once. Still, no.”

I was firm. No meant no.

Caving in to every whim would only have a negative impact on our long-term relationship.

That said, attaching a condition could change the situation.

“It’s Monday today, right?”

“Mhmm.”

“If you can hit B-rank for Magic Bullets by Friday, I’ll consider it.”

I intentionally set an absurd condition.

Partly to encourage her to train harder and partly to ensure we’d end up going next weekend as originally planned.

But whether she saw through my intentions or not, Seo Ye-in stared at me quietly for a moment before nodding her head.

“I’ll do it.”

No way she pulls this off.

Magic Bullets were one of the core skills for a Marksman.

It had been a while since Seo Ye-in achieved C-rank in it, so her proficiency must have grown considerably during that time.

But no matter how I looked at it, jumping to B-rank in just a few days was an impossible feat.

***

Thursday.

I had been training in wind magic, sending the iron dummies flying around the training room.

In the middle of it, Seo Ye-in sent me a message, so I checked it.

[Seo Ye-in: Done.]

[Kim Ho: ?]

[Seo Ye-in: Magic Bullets.]

[Seo Ye-in: B.]

[Seo Ye-in: (victorious cat emoji)]

[Kim Ho: ??]

[Kim Ho: (shocked cat emoji)]

[Seo Ye-in: (victorious cat emoji)]

[Seo Ye-in: (majestic cat emoji)]

[Seo Ye-in: Let’s go to the downtown area.]

She really managed to hit B-rank?

And not even on Friday. On Thursday?

This is totally cheating.

***

TN: You’re one to talk...