"Come on, come on...no! Damn it, I was so close!" I groaned in dismay, setting the holographic controller down as I let out a strained sigh.
No, I'm not giving up...I'll keep going at it until I clear this mission!
Not now, Ai, I need to lock in!
Today's the 20th of May, 2169, four days since my raid in that Irregular Dungeon.
Not a whole lot has happened since then, I've just been chilling at home after we submitted the report to the Union regarding the raid.
I was currently playing a game from my previous era, I was feeling nostalgic a couple of days ago and decided to try out some old games I really enjoyed in my first life.
And I really got into one that was among my favorites when I was a kid, but I never got to complete it since my mother confiscated it after noticing that I was way too young to be playing it.
So, I figured I might as well give it another go and try to complete the main story this time, and I'd been making pretty good progress.
But this stupid fucking helicopter mission, the smallest slip up and I have to start it all over again, how the hell am I supposed to-...?!
Okay, calm down. Everything's fine, I'm an adult.
I can do this, I'm getting closer and closer to clearing it, a few more tries and I should get there. I just need to keep my cool towards the end, I keep messing up in the last stretch.
I've got five days left before the Hunters Championship Clash, the participants and match-ups will be announced to the public tonight.
There are definitely going to be a lot of eyebrows raised when people see my name in the roster, or more specifically, my rank.
I'm still registered as a J-Rank in the Union's Registry, after all, and it's pretty rare to see anyone below K-Rank participating in this tournament.
Even Q-Ranks are rare, and J-Ranked participants are completely unheard of.
I'm planning to get some last minute training in tomorrow and on the 23rd as well. I'll be meeting with the party I've been working with on the 22nd at a bar, sort of a farewell dinner since I'll probably never work with them again after this.
I'll use the 24th to rest and make sure I'm in top form for the competition. It's a simple knockout-style tournament, with thirty-two participants, seven from each Guild and four Freelance Hunters chosen by the Union.
Besides myself and Ariella, I have no idea who else is going to be participating, I wonder if any of my other former classmates will be there?
Only that Lancer guy and the Healer during my final exam decided to go through with becoming Hunters, not counting me and Ariella, of course.
Of the rest, most dropped out, a couple died and the few remaining opted not to become Hunters despite graduating.
I wonder how many Aces will participate?
While this year will have a lot of rookies, a few of the more experienced Hunters will also be in the competition, since there's likely to be less public interest if all the participants are unknowns.
At my base stats, I'm still weaker than most Aces, but it's a different story when I use Enrage, or even Arouse. Not to mention the passive ten percent boost from Desecrator.
While I can't stack Enrage and Arouse at the same time, Desecrator's boost is constantly active.
Combined with either of the two Skills, my overall boost becomes sixty percent or thirty percent.
These boosts apply to my physical stats, and HP since it's directly derived from the average of my Stenfrh and Vitality stats, but they don't increase my MP. But that's fine, my MP's pretty high now, giving me a lot more flexibility and versatility with my Skills.
My current stats after the last three raids, in comparison to what they were after I defeated the Water Wyvern, are:
HP: 418 -> 435
MP: 552 -> 600
Strength: 425 -> 440
Agility: 560 -> 590
Vitality: 412 -> 430
Perception: 556 -> 580
Power Level: 487,200 -> 512,500
So, yeah, I've crossed past a Power Level of 500,000, stepping over the threshold into Ace territory, and naturally, I'm feeling pretty good about myself.
My Agility and Perception, in particular, are really getting up there, and while Strength and Vitality are a fair bit lower, I can still generate a decent amount of brute force when I exert my strength and I'm sturdy enough for the most part, thanks to the additional ten percent passive boosts to my offense and defense from my Wrath and Sloth Classes.
Like I already mentioned, HP is determined by the average between Strength and Vitality, but those ten percent passive boosts aren't included in that average, so while my HP isn't super high, I'm content with where it is at the moment.
I do want to get it higher though, since higher HP means my body's natural healing will improve in proportion.
And my MP is now my highest stat, despite being the lowest of all my stats when I first reincarnated in this era.
This tournament will be the perfect stage to test out how far I've come, it should be fun. I've killed countless Monsters at this point, including a Critical Level Threat, all by myself.
But a human opponent will be a different kind of challenge, and besides the sparring sessions I had against Rex, I haven't really fought another person in a while.
And I wouldn't really count those sparring bouts, except for the first and last ones, since he mainly just ran away from me the whole time during the other sessions we had.
Alright, time to focus up...I'm almost at the end of this mission, I've got this...
"Yes...yes, yes, yes-...! N-No...no, no, no, no, no! Damn it, NOOO!!!" I exclaimed in dismay, as I crashed right as the finish line came into sight, the dreaded 'Mission Failed' displaying across the screen as I let out a strained, frustrated groan.
Goddammit, I had that!
Yeah, that's real helpful! Just what I needed to hear! Damn it...one more try!