Back in reality, I looked around before stretching my neck to loosen my muscles.
The body in the Plum Blossom Sword Saint World was too weak. My real body felt oddly foreign.
I stayed in the Plum Blossom Sword Saint World too long because I loved the situation there.
The current state of the Plum Blossom Sword Saint World was paradise for me. It was the peaceful period in the early part of the original story when the protagonist, Kyle, was still growing up a time when I could focus entirely on internal affairs without external interference.
Open my eyes, have sex. Eat, have sex. Sleep, have sex... It's heaven, pure heaven.
I was the master of Tevra. No one dared defy me. Yuria had assassinated all the rebellious local power brokers.
I can't just keep lazing around. It's time to start interfering with Kyle.
I can't let Kyle grow unchecked. If he becomes too powerful, he'll be difficult to manipulate and might even become a hindrance.
I sat on the sofa, pulled out my smartphone, and started tapping away. I hadn't needed to spend any Points lately, so they had accumulated quite a bit.
[Sung Yujin]
[Level: 44]
[Strength: 23 Stamina: 23 Agility: 22 Intelligence: 20 Vitality: 30 Mana: 27]
[Available Points: 441]
441 Points.
That's an astonishingly large amount.
The Affinity Level achievement bonus Points must have been substantial.
I had plenty of companions, including dwarves. By interacting with them moderately, I could easily reach Affinity Level 1.
Plus, my daily romps with the willing women in the mansion yielded a steady stream of Affinity Level bonus Points.
And for some reason, my Affinity Level seems to be increasing faster than before. Maybe it's because the higher my level gets, the faster my Affinity Level increases.
I can't be certain since I don't know exactly how much Affinity Level experience I'm gaining. It could just be my imagination.
My current level is 44. When I reached 40 last time, I gained another Inventory slot and an additional Game World to choose from.
I have no intention of entering a Game World right now.
For the time being, I plan to focus on reality. The Plum Blossom Sword Saint World suits me too well. If I keep this up, I might lose my sense of modernity and start living like a medieval nobleman even in the modern world.
The important thing is Points. Now, where should I spend them?
Just as I was about to use them, I felt a wave of depression.
It would cost a staggering 150 Points to raise my Yeongcheon Ryu Skill Level to 8.
"There's no need to immediately raise Yeongcheon Ryu."
While mastering Yeongcheon Ryu was important, my mentor, Jin Seyoung, had advised me to focus on mastering Mana manipulation for the time being.
"I agree. For now, it's more crucial to become proficient with Mana than Yeongcheon Ryu."
I leveled up my Shooting and Thunderbolt attributes, excluding Yeongcheon Ryu. I spent 50 points on Shooting, raising it to Level 2, and 120 points on Thunderbolt, also reaching Level 2.
Use 200 points to increase Thunderbolt Lv.2 to Lv.3?
"200 points just to reach Level 3? Well, Thunderbolt is an immensely powerful ability. I can understand the cost."
Shooting, on the other hand, required 100 points to reach Level 3.
"I absolutely need to focus on Shooting."
Shooting affects both lightning strikes and dagger throws, making it a valuable skill in practical combat.
Remaining Points: 271. Hmm...
[Use 5 Points to increase Acceleration Lv.5 to the next level?]
My gaze drifted to the Acceleration skill.
This skill is surprisingly useful.
A sudden burst of speed can catch opponents off guard, making it a valuable trump card. It's also useful for escaping.
Plus, it doesn't require many Points.
Use 10 Points to increase Acceleration Lv.7 to the next level?
Reaching Acceleration Lv.10 cost a total of 40 Points.
The Acceleration skill has reached Master Level, and its effects have changed.
[Acceleration Lv. Master]
[Acceleration]
[Accelerates the body for 10 minutes.]
[Momentary]
[Grants a burst of instantaneous acceleration.]
[Current Charge Stacks: 5]
[You can use stacks to activate Acceleration or Momentary. Stacks regenerate at a rate of one per hour, up to a maximum of five.]
"Ooh."
Momentary.
The name alone made the skill sound impressive.
I glanced around. Naturally, I wanted to test it out immediately.
Acceleration is ultimately useless if I'm not moving.
So I immediately activated Momentary. Instantly, I understood how to use it.
I moved my hand as if swinging a sword through the air.
Momentary activated. Remaining stacks: 4
My hand moved with incredible speed the fastest I'd ever swung it.
"..."
My mouth hung open. The sheer speed of Momentary was astonishing, but that wasn't the only reason for my shock.
When I activated Momentary, I felt time slow down. This meant Momentary affected not just my body but also my perception of time.
"This is insane!"
I set a timer on my smartphone and activated Momentary again.
This time, I remained completely still.
[Momentary activated. Remaining stacks: 3]
[Five seconds later, the stack decreased. Momentary had deactivated even though I hadn't moved at all.]
Damn it. To me, it felt like 35 seconds had passed.
Time is relative, so this wasn't entirely surprising.
If used properly, this could be incredibly useful. If I'd known it was such an OP skill, I would have mastered it ages ago!
The problem was that Momentary deactivated instantly whenever I moved my body.
"It's a drawback, but the advantages far outweigh it, so I don't really mind."
Though I tried to remain calm, I was actually quite excited. With this, I might be able to land a blow on Jin Seyoung, a B-Class Hunter.
Wait a minute. Since reaching Master Level, Acceleration's effects have become incredible. Does that mean even this seemingly useless Gill Breathing skill... might have potential?
I had 231 Points remaining. That should be more than enough to cover Gill Breathing.
[Gill Breathing Lv.1]
[Allows you to breathe underwater. Lasts for 1 hour.]
[Cooldown: 24 hours.]
No matter how I looked at it, this skill seemed utterly useless.
I have an Inventory, after all. If I need to stay underwater for a long time, I can just bring an oxygen tank.
Total Points spent: 32.
This is the total number of Points consumed to reach Gill Breathing Skill Level 10.
[Gill Breathing Lv.10 has met the requirements and evolved into Water's Blessing Lv.1.]
[Water's Blessing Lv.1]
[Gill Breathing]
[Allows you to breathe underwater.]
[Gradually consumes Vitality.]
[Aquatic Life]
[Enables freer movement underwater.]
[Gradually consumes Vitality.]
[Waterwalking]
[Allows you to walk on water.]
[Consumes Mana and Vitality.]
[Underwater Recovery]
[Slightly regenerates Health while submerged.]
"...Whoa."
This far exceeded my expectations.
I never dreamed that such a trash skill could evolve like this.
The description mentions that the cooldown has been removed, but it now consumes Mana and Vitality. This means I can activate the skill simply by thinking about it.
Gill Breathing, Aquatic Life, and Waterwalking were toggleable skills. Underwater Recovery, requiring no mana consumption, seemed to be a passive ability.
I don't know when I'll use this, but Waterwalking is going to be absolutely amazing.
Walking on water. I could probably even run on it.
Heh... With this, I could enter some suitably primitive Game World, become a saint, and establish my own church.
Despite my grand pronouncements, walking on water isn't particularly remarkable. Any Magician can achieve it using magic. Even Hunters with exceptional Mana control can walk on water without magic.
Even among A-Class Hunters, very few can walk on water.
Perhaps this falls under the category of talent. There are cases where a C-Class Hunter can accomplish something an A-Class Hunter cannot. It's not about the quantity of Mana, but the ability to control extremely fine, minute currents of Mana.
"Remaining Points: 199. Time to upgrade my attributes."
[Sung Yujin]
[Level: 44]
[Strength: 23 Stamina: 23 Agility: 22 Intelligence: 20 Vitality: 30 Mana: 27]
[Available Points: 199]
"First, Vitality."
I've been keenly aware of my Vitality deficiency in the Plum Blossom Sword Saint World. With so many women to handle, I'm starting to feel the strain.
"A man's greatest asset is his Vitality. It needs to be my highest attribute."
I spent 50 Points to raise my Vitality by 5. Requiring 10 Points per attribute point feels excessive.
[Sung Yujin]
[Level: 44]
[Strength: 30 Stamina: 30 Agility: 28 Intelligence: 25 Vitality: 35 Mana: 30]
[Available Points: 4]
These are the attributes I've raised. I'm satisfied with how evenly they've increased. To be honest, I still don't see much use for Intelligence, but I raised it anyway to avoid looking too weak.
The remaining 4 points are for the lottery!
[Spirit Orb]
[A gem imbued with the pure power of nature.]
[Spirits would adore this.]
[Price: 20 points.]
[ Caution]
[Only effective on Spirits.]
[All-Grind Mixer]
[Grinds everything.]
[Price: 1 point]
[Caution]
[Contains exaggerated advertising.]
[Magnifying Glass]
[An ordinary magnifying glass.]
[Price: 1 point]
...Not a complete loss.
The Spirit Orb had appeared before. It wasn't a total bust. And I still had one more chance.
Let's goooo! Skill, come on out!
[Absolute Hypnosis Sticker]
[Write the hypnosis command on the sticker and apply it to the target's skin to induce absolute hypnosis.]
[Price: 3,000 Points]
[Caution]
[Hypnosis may fail depending on the target's mental fortitude. Once hypnotized, the effect can only be broken by the "Absolute Hypnosis Sticker.]
You are not limited to writing only one hypnotic suggestion. However, if two contradictory suggestions are written, neither will take effect.
"Jackpot! Jackpot! Jackpot!"
I screamed, jumping around my room, unable to contain my excitement. I had hoped for hypnosis-related items in the random draw, but I never expected one to appear so soon!
However, after reading the caution notes, I frowned.
"Hypnosis may fail depending on the target's mental fortitude...? Shit. What's the threshold for that?!"
I wouldn't know until I tested it myself. And I couldn't think of a suitable test subject.
"Hah."
I don't know. I'll put it on hold for now.
I retrieved a box from my Inventory. I'd named it "Special-Grade Box" a container for storing particularly valuable or dangerous items. Since keeping such things in my room felt too risky, I stored them in this box and kept it in my Inventory.
The Inventory is the ultimate vault. There's no safer place.
Let's see... I'll rest today and go to university tomorrow... Damn. I've been in the Game World for so long that I've lost track of my real-world schedule. Should I write it down on a calendar?
While checking the calendar, I idly stepped out onto the balcony.
A torrential downpour was raging. I stared blankly at the cascading rain before activating Momentary.
[Momentary.]
My perception sharpened, and the raindrops falling from the sky seemed to slow down considerably.
If I use Momentary, I might be able to dodge the rain... No, that might be too difficult.
[Momentary deactivated.]
[Momentary activated. Remaining stacks: 2]
"Hmm?"
I tilted my head in confusion.
When I used Momentary indoors earlier, it lasted about 35 seconds. Now, the perceived duration had increased to around 40 seconds.
My Skill Level is already at Master, so it can't improve further. If this sudden increase isn't due to that... it must be because of my Attributes.
This difference must be due to the change in my Attributes before and after leveling them up.
Is it because of my Intelligence Attribute?
Acceleration and Momentary are skills that don't consume Mana or Vitality, so they aren't affected by the Mana or Vitality Attributes. However, Intelligence is an Attribute that directly influences the effectiveness of skills.
The Intelligence Attribute is proving quite useful.
Of course, it's still far less valuable than the Vitality Attribute.