I looked at the Abilities I got from the merge line by line .
[Crimson Quantum Surge]
[Description : The user activates Crimson Quantum Surge, entering a Volatile Rhythm that grants minor resistance to movement restrictions (15 seconds) and accumulates Kinetic Crimson Pulse, which increases the next attack's power by 2−10% per stack. Releasing the fully charged Pulse momentum instantly triggers the Shadow Ember Singularity, a singular distortion that simultaneously creates a Shadow Echo dealing 25% damage and emits a Thermal Imprint which increases total fire damage output by 5% for 10 seconds.]
"Whoa, with this I don't have to worry anymore about getting hits and my attack level being weak," I said with a happy expression.
Back to the present.
The atmosphere in the arena was still heated and I blocked Beom Seok's attack using my hand.
Jong Jun and Hyuri watched my match in the stands with great anticipation.
"Huh, maybe that guy is about to run out of energy," said Jong Jun.
"Why hasn't he countered yet? That position is already so comfortable," Hyuri said in a worried tone.
"Maybe he's already scared after he took one hit from the Boss," Dae-gil said, pushing up his glasses a little.
No one knows the real conditions inside the arena.
In the arena, Beom Seok was sweating with fear.
"H-How could you block my Ability -enhanced fist with a smiling expression like that?"
I tilted my head slightly. "Guess why?"
Then, I started by hitting his stomach, then his face, and continued on. Each blow landed on his weak spot without mercy, aided by Instinct guiding my hands.
"Of course! Do you think I'm just watching boxing? I'm practicing getting your abs to move!" I claimed, landing a quick punch to his stomach.
"That's the first count... Listen carefully, don't lose the rhythm!"
DUG!
"Two! Huh ... Did you know, Mr. Beom Seok? You're like a very loud alarm. I just need to turn off your snooze button!"
My punch to the face made him stagger.
SRAK! "Three! Looks like your muscular Ability is only good for making you a big punching bag. Come on, give me another 0.5% stack !" I grinned.
(In my mind: Good job, Mr. Beom Seok, your body is really helpful! )
My Ability usage system message kept pinging. Each hit I hit added 0.5% to my stack and increased my Instinct stat by 0.001%, eventually accumulating to 10%.
[Stacks reach 10% Kinetic Crimson Pulse ready]
I delivered a final blow right to his heart to end the match.
In the end, the match was won by me because Beom Seok finally fainted and was unable to continue the match.
Jong Jun and Hyuri approached me after the match was over.
Jong Jun came and punched me in the stomach.
"It's great that you were able to defeat Beom Seok."
"Of course, I've improved a bit now. If I were to evaluate Ability User Ranks , I'd definitely be a D-Rank Ability User !" I replied arrogantly, pointing to myself.
"You could have," Hyuri denied while kicking my leg.
Because the sparring had gone on for quite some time, there was no gym time. We returned to our respective classes.
When we got home, the three of us went home together and waited for each other in front of the Academy gate .
On the way, Hyuri suddenly groaned in pain.
"Ack!" His body fell slightly.
I was worried and then asked, "What's wrong with you, Hyuri?" Hyuri then got up.
"It's okay, this sidewalk is uneven, I tripped."
As Hyuri was tidying up her shoes, she suddenly smiled and cheered. "Yayyy!"
Jong Jun and I were surprised and immediately asked, "What's wrong with you again?"
Hyuri, who was still happy, finally answered, "I finally Awakened !"
Jong Jun and I were shocked. "WHAT?"
Jong Jun then asked, " What ability did you get?"
"Heart Attack," Hyuri answered cheerfully.
I was interested in the Ability that Hyuri got and finally asked, "Then what about the effect?"
"Secret," Hyuri teased me with her cuteness.
I put on a disappointed face and finally the three of us continued our journey home.
Because I was still curious, I finally copied Hyuri's Ability .
[Heart Attack]
[Description: Each heartbeat of the user creates an area of effect (Passive). Allies and monsters considered allies within a 5-meter radius will receive a 1% increase to all general stats. Conversely, enemies or entities considered threats will experience a 1% decrease in stats. The magnitude of the buff or debuff effect increases according to the user's heartbeat speed.]
[Heart Attack (Copy)]
[Description: Each heartbeat of the user creates an area of effect (Passive). Allies or monsters within a 2.5 meter radius will receive a 1% decrease to all general stats . The magnitude of the debuff effect increases with the user's heartbeat speed.]
I studied every line of the Ability description .
"Whoa, with this Ability I can weaken my enemies. If I add my Instinct Stats and Crimson Quantum Surge, the result will make the enemy like living paper," I said to myself.
After I finished reading the Ability description , Jong Jun asked me,
"Hey Ryumin, are you free tomorrow?"
"Why indeed?" I asked curiously.
With a cheerful smile he said, "Let's enter the Green Gate to test Hyuri's abilities, it just so happens that tomorrow is a holiday."
"Okay," I closed my eyes and lowered my face slightly.
"I also have to create a new Ability again," I said to myself and my gaze was sharp ahead.
The three of us finally separated and returned to our respective homes.
The next day.
The city was bustling and bustling with daily activities as usual in the morning. I walked to meet up with my friends around the Yeongdeungpo district.
Upon arriving at the location, Hyuri waved her hand at me. "Ryumin, here!"
The three of us immediately headed to the Gate location .
In front of the Gate , we looked at each other to confirm our determination and finally entered.
Inside the Gate .
The system displays a message.
[Entering the Gate]
[Dimension #0103 : White Howler Plain]
We entered a dimension where the terrain was snowy and stormy. Luckily, we were wearing cold-resistant clothing.
Before starting, I planned to take Jong Jun's Ability first.
[Starfall Greedy]
[List of Devourable Abilities]
[1. Gale Maniac (Na Jong-Jun)]
[2. Echolex Paradox (???)]
[3. Nulltrace Requiem (???)]
I was shocked by what I saw.
"Three? There are only three of us here, and I've already taken Hyuri's Ability," I said to myself.
I looked around but didn't see anything. "You nuisances, where are you hiding?"
I ended up choosing Jong Jun's Ability so that it wouldn't be obvious that I noticed them.
From a distance, Cool and Yapper were still watching, hidden behind the snow-covered ice cliffs.
Yapper panic.
"What's this, Mas Cool? We almost got caught! My Echolex Paradox skill glitched and made me say 'banana'! I hate bananas!"
Cool calmly said, "Just relax, Yapper. Focus on my Nulltrace Requiem .
He only detected the presence of anomalous energy. He doesn't yet know we're operators. Besides, you're a nuisance."
Back to mc..
We finally met this dimensional monster.
Normal monsters here have a body size 3x that of a normal human and have great destructive power.
They have thick white fur and hold what looks like a wooden stick in their hands.
His name is Frost Clubber.
To test Hyuri's abilities, the three of us finally attacked.
Jong Jun and I were in front and Hyuri was behind with her arrow.
We both suggested arrows for Hyuri to use because her Ability relies on her breath, and arrows can make the user's breath much sharper with minimal physical contact with monsters.
I activated Lycanbound Overdrive and Crimson Quantum Surge simultaneously to match the monster's power.
Jong Jun was surprised and laughed out loud. "
Wow, since when did I have a monster friend like this?" he said as he attacked the monster and was intoxicated by the effect of his Ability .
Even though we only encountered 2 monsters so far, we finally managed to defeat them and also managed to test Hyuri's abilities.
Before I finished off the monster I was fighting earlier, I activated Starfall Greedy again.
[Starfall Greedy]
[List of Devourable Abilities]
[1. Frost Skin (Frost Clubber)]
[2. Snow Blind (Frost Clubber)]
[3. Enduring Step (Frost Clubber)]
[4. Echolex Paradox (???)]
[5. Nulltrace Requiem (???)]
[Select one to devour]
"Are they still following me?" I muttered to myself. I ignored them and continued selecting the monster's abilities .
I chose Frost Skin for basic defense.
[Frost Skin]
[Description : The user's body generates a thick, ice-hardened layer of skin, granting +25% resistance to cold and minor physical damage reduction.]
[Frost Skin (Copy)]
[Description : The user's skin hardens briefly upon contact with cold air, granting +5% resistance to cold and +3% physical damage reduction for 5 seconds.]
We continued our journey.
Since we didn't encounter many monsters during the trip, Jong Jun complained.
"Why are there so few monsters in this Gate ? I know they are bigger and stronger than the average Green Gate monster, but how can there be so few?"
"Never mind, the most important thing is that we have also tested Hyuri's Ability and also got the data," I said while patting his shoulder.
We continued walking until we finally met Boss Gate .
The boss monster, Rime Shaman, isn't as large as the Alpha King in the previous Gate . Instead, it's the same size as a normal monster.
I don't know what specialty he has.
Because a lot of time had passed due to going around in circles earlier, I finally managed to collect all three of the normal monster's Abilities .
And lastly is this Boss monster.
[Starfall Greedy]
[List of Devourable Abilities]
[1. Frost Skin (Rime Shaman)]
[2. Snow Blind (Rime Shaman)]
[3. Enduring Step (Rime Shaman)]
[4. Glacier Fortitude (Rime Shaman)]
[5. Freezing Call (Rime Shaman)]
[6. Echolex Paradox (???)]
[7. Nulltrace Requiem (???)]
[Select one to devour]
I chose Skill No. 4 from that list , Glacier Fortitude, because I needed extreme defense.
[Glacier Fortitude]
[Description : The user's body converts surrounding atmospheric moisture into solid ice armor, granting a temporary 70% damage reduction against the next 5 physical attacks or until the user moves more than 10 meters.]
[Glacier Fortitude (Copy)]
[Description : The user generates a fleeting layer of ice over the skin, granting a temporary 15% damage reduction against the next 2 physical attacks. Cannot be used while moving quickly.]
And the system gives a notification again.
[Detected that the user has collected more than 4 abilities previously but has not fused them yet]
[Ability Subspace]
[1. Heart Attack (Copy)]
[2. Gale Maniac (Copy)]
[3. Frost Skin (Copy)]
[4. Snow Blind (Copy)]
[5. Enduring Step (Copy)]
[6. Glacier Fortitude (Copy)]
[Because there are more than 4 abilities in the subspace, the user can choose the desired composition to be fused]
I didn't realize that I had devoured more than 4 abilities that I had previously fused directly, but now I just kept them.
"Hmm...what combination should I use?"
[1. Heart Attack]
[2. Glacier Fortitude]
[3. Snow Blind]
[4. Gale Maniac]
"Maybe a combination like this is enough to create a good ability"
then i press the confirm button and the system continues.
[Confirmed]
[Creating New Ability]
[Frostbite Rhapsody]
[Description: Each heartbeat of the user has a 3% chance to be immune to all debuffs and provides a buff of 5 - 30% resistance to ice depending on the speed of the user's heartbeat. For a 1% increase in resistance to ice, the user experiences a 1% decrease in vision (Not affected by the effect of debuff immunity because this is a debuff from this skill itself)]
"Okay, this ability is pretty good. If I utilize the instinct stat as well, then this vision debuff is nothing," I said to myself confidently.
I organized my party "Bro, it's time to act" I held Jong Jun's shoulder
Hyuri is also ready behind with her arrows and abilities.
We started to advance, I activated lycanbound overdrive along with Crimson Quantum Charge.
We worked together to make the monster's HP half first.
30 minutes passed.
Finally when the monster's HP is half it starts phase two .
His body became thicker than before and also triggered a heavier blizzard effect around us.
Maybe these effects didn't affect me or Jong Jun, but Hyuri must have fainted by now.
"Hyuri" I looked back to see how Hyuri was.
BRAK!
Hyuri was lying on the snowy ground, she had fainted first.
I rushed to check on his condition.
Luckily he was okay and his abilities were still active even though he fainted.
Jongjun and I finally worked together to defeat the monster.
Our fight was fierce
KRRING! SREET!
DUG! CRACK!
The sound of the monster's sword and wooden stick striking each other was heard.
The sound of my fists also rained down on him.
After 25 minutes his HP was finally down to a quarter, but he showed no signs of the third phase.
We continued again "Keep going, don't let Hyuri freeze to death here" Jong Jun shouted
Finally, after 15 minutes of doing it again, the monster's HP was only left with one more slash.
BRAK!
The monster was helpless and had nowhere to run.
I wanted to finish the monster with my final charge.
"I'll end this"
When I was about to end it, suddenly someone spoke.
"Yo, you 're not going to kill him, are you?"
My body suddenly couldn't move and my hand hit the ground which caused the snow around me to be blown away by the effect of my last charge.
"Who are you guys?" Jongjun quickly retreated to Hyuri's area.
The two people walked leisurely.
"Relax, friends, we are only here to introduce ourselves to you, we will not hurt you or take your loot," Cool said with authority.
He started to introduce himself "Let me introduce myself, I'm Cool and my partner who spoke earlier is called Yapper"
"What are you guys doing here? Following us?" Jong-Jun asked.
"50% correct 50% wrong from your guess, bro," answered Yapper.
"Did your friend realize we were following you earlier?" Cool asked, pointing at me.
I chuckled and finally answered "Yes"
"Sorry, we didn't mean to follow you, but this is our superior's order to continue monitoring your progress," Cool continued.
"Seeing my progress?" I'm surprised.
Jongjun got impatient and started trying to attack them "Nonsense, you guys want to loot, right?"
He started to advance and attack.
" Just relax, bro. Put downyour weapon," Yapper started to speak.
Jongjun, who was attacking, suddenly dropped his weapon and sat down casually.
"What's wrong with my body? Why doesn't it suddenly want to listen to me?" Jong Jun was surprised.
"You are becoming more and more like what was previously predicted, Ryumin," Cool continued the conversation.
I was shocked " He knows my name? ".
"Okay, we won't bother you anymore, just introduce ourselves, see you later" they slowly retreated.
Yapper spoke as well before retreating "You know who's been bothering you at the gates lately, right?" he retreated as he said that and laughed.
Jong Jun, who couldn't accept it because he felt he was being followed, was still provoked by his emotions, "Come back here, you're a nuisance."
I immediately stopped him before anything happened, "Come on, let's just end it, they didn't take anything from us, Hyuri is safe and our prey wasn't taken by them."
Jong Jun finally calmed down his anger "Okay".
When they retreated until they finally disappeared and the duration of my greedy starfall also ran out after copying Freezing Call in the middle of the Rime Saman fought the battle earlier, I finally decided to copy Yapper's skill.
[Echolex Paradox]
[Description: Users are free to say any words and determine which words are used as commands, the arrangement of words that become commands will make the affected person follow the command].
[Echolex Paradox (Copy)]
[Description: Each utterance has a 45% chance of randomly arranging command words and the order of command words will make the affected person follow the command]
I was shocked "No wonder he was able to stop my last attack and also made Jong Jun drop his weapon earlier".
Finally I finished the gate boss and the system gave a notification.
[Congratulations! You have completed Dimension Gate #0103: White Howler Plain]
[Contribution Ranking]
[1. Kang Ryumin +3357 Points | Reward: +15 All Stats]
[2. Na Jong Jun +2670 Points | Reward: +10 All Stats]
[3. Kang Hyu Ri +2669 Points | Reward: +5 All Stats]
[4. Yapper +2115 Points | Reward: +3 All Stats]
[5. Cool +1970 Points | Reward: +3 All Stats]
//For the sake of the development of the contribution ranking panel story, I am still using the code names of Cool and Yapper, which should be their real names.
The three of us finally went home after clearing the dungeon.
I arrived home and went into the room
BROKE! I dropped my body roughly onto the bed.
A few minutes passed, after I told Jong-Jun and Hyuri that I had arrived home and still couldn't sleep.
I'm still thinking about the words from Cool before.
"Just as predicted, huh?" I raised my hand and looked at the back of my hand.
I got up from my bed again.
"Keep your spirits up, I'll find out later"
"Oh yeah, I already have four more abilities in my subspace."
[1. Frost Skin]
[2. Enduring Step]
[3. Freezing Call]
[4. Echolex Paradox]
[Want to do Fusion?]
[Y/N]
I muttered, "With this composition, will it produce good abilities?"
"Okay, just try it" I pressed the 'yes' button.
[Creating Ability]
[Frigid Orator]
[Description: Each word from the user contains a random command word 'Cold'. Anyone who hears the user's words will have the person or monster experience a debuff reducing their movement speed and resistance to ice by 25% and if they hear the word 'cold' more than 5 times it will make the person or monster freeze for 0.5 seconds. This ability reflects its effect to the user by 5%.].
I shouted excitedly, even jumping up and down, "Yep, finally a control skill that not only causes debuffs, but can also freeze enemies."
"Plus Frostbite Rhapsody is always passively active, meaning I'll barely experience any side effects from this debuff," I continued.
When I was happy, my mother shouted, "It's late, don't make any noise."
I lowered my voice and scratched my face "Y-yes mom".
To Be Continued...