Chapter 204

Chapter 204

About ten minutes ago.

Chiellini (Salvatore) and I used Conductor’s Hymn simultaneously, which made the Conductor of Sound very happy.

[The ‘Conductor of Sound’ is very satisfied.]

It wasn’t clear yet who was the favorite and who was the second-favorite, but I knew the Conductor of Sound was surely delighted to see his two most favored Players joining forces to clear the Predator Colony with Conductor’s Hymn. More than anything, the Guardian was probably relishing his sense of superiority over the White Hunter. After all, a famous Italian Player and I were using the same ability given by the Conductor of Sound.

‘Nice.’

It was good to stimulate the two rivals like this. I was very pleased with this situation. But there was something else I was happy about.

As I was casting Conductor’s Hymn, I came up with a new way to use it. If you knew 1+1, you knew 1+2.

‘It can be stacked with the title effect of Pure Person of Fire.’

That was because the target I was strengthening was the Flame Lord Choi Sung-gu, though of course, ‘Flame Lord’ was an exaggerated title for the current Sung-gu.

“Fudge. Can I light it up?”

“Wait a moment.”

Rot Water had been sprinkled in every corner. While doing so, we’d hunted the insect mobs in the area and scattered them around. If used in combination with Rot Water, we could create a powerful explosion.

I recalled the specifics of the Pure Person of Fire title.

[Pure Person of Fire]

A glorious title that greatly increases one’s affinity and ability to utilize the fire attribute. Only those who create a pure attribute Ring of Fire can acquire this title, which elevates all abilities related to the fire attribute by one level.

*Special skill: Can use ‘Flame of Purification’.

I grinned.

‘A title that greatly increases affinity and ability to utilize the fire attribute.’

I activated Observer’s Eye.

[Using the innate ability Unique Ability Fusion.]

I used the innate power of an ‘Observer’ to join two unique abilities and amplify their effects, stacking my Pure Person of Fire title onto Conductor’s Hymn.

‘And—’

This wasn’t the end. Having used Unique Ability Fusion a few times, I could see the path. If you knew 1+1 and 1+2, then it was now time to learn 1×2.

‘If I fuse them like this…’

Could I fuse another thing, bringing up the total fused abilities to three? Of course, that process was far more difficult, just like how a cubic equation was far harder than a quadratic one.

‘It’s doable though?’

I guided the energy in my body with ease. Eye of Perception and Observer’s Eye precisely read the ‘flow of power’.

[Using the innate ability Unique Ability Fusion.]

Magicians had a thing called simulcasting. If you prepared and used two spells at once, it was called double casting, and for three spells, triple casting. 

‘If magicians can do it, so can I.’

And in the end, I pulled it off.

[Stacking the title effect of ‘Excellent Player’ onto ‘Modified Conductor’s Hymn’.]

[Unique Ability Fusion was successful.]

My head hurt. My eyes throbbed. It certainly wasn’t a walk in the park. But I managed it.

Conductor’s Hymn.

Pure Person of Fire.

Excellent Player.

I buffed my teammates with Conductor’s Hymn, greatly strengthened Sung-gu with Pure Person of Fire, and applied the effects of Excellent Player on top.

[+20% additional damage]

[+20% movement speed]

[+10% EXP]

I gave the signal.

“Now.”

* * *

Translator – Lei

Proofreader – Ash

* * *

At Hyukjin’s signal, Sung-gu lit a ‘firestorm’ that he’d had plenty of time to prepare without any enemies nearby.

Fwoooosh–!

Powerful flames and heat began to billow up. As he watched under Sunhwa’s protection, Salvatore felt himself swallow.

‘This…’

Was this the power of a Korean fire magician?

‘I knew they tended to have particularly exceptional individuals, but…’

He had heard that Korean Players tended to have more outstanding individual combat prowess in comparison to Italy.

‘These are crazy flames.’

He had no idea they would be this strong. The firestorm that raged was far too strong—he’d never seen a fire spell so powerful and thought it was all Sung-gu.

[Predator Tree has been killed.]

As Hyukjin promised, he didn’t directly hunt. Chiellini, Sung-gu, and Sunhwa moved together to finish off the Predator Trees on the verge of death.

Sung-gu himself was just as shocked as Chiellini—no, he was more shocked.

‘Was my magic this hella strong?’

No, it wasn’t this level. He was well aware of that. He might have also had Chiellini (Salvatore)’s help, but Hyukjin must have given him a huge push.

‘As I thought, I gotta Play with Hyukjin.’

His bewilderment quickly dissipated. This was how it always was when you Played with Hyukjin. Time and time again, he would show you a new world you hadn’t even begun to imagine. This was how Playing should be; Sung-gu really couldn’t stand working with other guys.

In any case, the party finished hunting the Predator Trees with great ease.

[This is a special field with a ‘reward acquisition based on clear time’ condition.]

[Determining contribution of Players in the ‘Predator Tree Colony’ clear.]

Chiellini inwardly anticipated his coming victory. He acknowledged that Kim Hyukjin was a jack of all trades, but being a jack of all trades meant they were lacking in comprehension and focus in certain areas, right? It was already hard enough to dig one well in this world. If you tried to dig more than one, they were bound to be shallow.

Chiellini was sure of it.

‘My buff was surely way stronger.’

Chiellini didn’t just use Conductor’s Hymn. He brought out every sovereign ability he had in his arsenal. Hyukjin’s words were still ringing in his ears.

–Because at least at this point in time, my ability as a sovereign exceeds yours.

He hadn’t forgotten those words. The contribution would prove it. That Kim Hyukjin was arrogant.

[Contribution allocation has been concluded.]

The System determined the contribution and shared it.

Kim Hyukjin: 38%

Choi Sung-gu: 25%

Chiellini: 25%

Kim Sunhwa: 11%

Darongi: 1%

Chiellini couldn’t accept it. He and Sung-gu were tied for 2nd place. To make things worse, Hyukjin in 1st place had a 13% lead.

But something even more shocking happened.

[The special reward condition of the Predator Tree Colony, ‘Clear Time’, is in effect.]

[The special reward condition allows contribution to be conceded to another Player.]

[The grade of the reward increases with higher contribution.]

[If one’s contribution exceeds 50%, the grade of the reward will increase markedly.]

That much was fine, but then Kim Sunhwa shouted with not a single second of hesitation, “All my contribution is Oppa’s!”

…which instantly brought Hyukjin’s contribution to 49%. Sung-gu thought hard for a moment.

“Yeah, I’d be a traitor if I didn’t give this, right?”

Sung-gu was confident he was someone who could draw the big picture. This small sacrifice now would surely come back as a bigger return. The clear today had only confirmed his belief—Kim Hyukjin was someone he had to cling to as a companion for life. Only then would Sung-gu be set for life.

“I’ll give you my contribution, too.”

And so, Hyukjin’s contribution ended up reaching a whopping 74%.

[If one’s contribution exceeds 70%, the grade of the reward will once again increase markedly.]

In the end, Hyukjin took 74% of the contribution. Chiellini felt bitter.

‘What’s with these guys?’

It was scary. At this point, it was scary. The Predator Tree Colony was undoubtedly a fairly high level hunting ground, and the rewards would naturally be good, too. But he had just witnessed the two Players give all their rewards to Hyukjin without hesitation.

‘Koreans…’ he thought honestly, ‘are scary.’

It was obvious from this one situation. This young girl’s tanking ability seemed better than Italy’s cream of the crop tanks, and the fire magician was powerful beyond imagination. Kim Hyukjin was an archer/martial artist/swordsman/Precognitive Dreamer/sovereign, but each and every one of his abilities exceeded that of top Rankers.

‘But they’re not famous.’

How was it that Players of this level were basically unknown? Most people would say the most famous guilds in Korea were Taeguk Shield and Wings. In Chiellini’s opinion, ‘fame’ and ‘capability’ were, to some extent, proportional.

‘These guys are nameless.’

In which case—

‘Just how strong are Taeguk Shield and Wings?’

After witnessing Giantgod in action, he could understand how the purported number 1 tamer in China, Lao Yu, was repelled by Wings. If Giantgod was this strong, how much stronger were the more famous guilds?

‘There’s also their fearsome unity to consider.’

It wasn’t easy to foster such resolve and courage in teammates to give everything to their leader. It was only possible because the leader had proven themselves and had earned their teammates’ trust.

‘And that’s not all.’

He remembered what Hyukjin said before coming in here.

–Of course, there’s nothing I can do about the EXP I get indirectly or any rewards given directly to me, but… I want to concede as much of the rewards as I can to you.

He had the feeling he was tricked. Hyukjin had laid out the justification of not being able to do anything about ‘rewards given directly’ in advance. Chiellini couldn’t even refute this situation. He realized that Hyukjin hadn’t taken a step back because he ‘wanted to concede the rewards’.

‘This is why…’

Was this why Hyukjin said to watch and learn?

‘It’s not… unpleasant.’

This was a virtue that a sovereign naturally required. What Hyukjin had just shown him was an excellent tactic. Technically, Hyukjin made good on his promise, while securing all the profit he could at the same time. A sovereign could not always take the flowery, ideal path. Sometimes, they had to use slander and less-than-savory tricks, and sometimes, they even had to resort to coercion. Chiellini was well aware of that.

‘How shocking.’

It was shocking that there was a sovereign like this in Korea. While Chiellini was briefly stunned, Hyukjin heard a new notice.

[Choose a reward.]

Predator Tree Seed Bag

Predator Tree Leaves Bag

‘Predator Tree Colony’ Dungeon Title

These rewards had been upgraded two times. Hyukjin could tell that no matter what he chose, profit was guaranteed.

‘Choosing the seed bag is correct.’

That way, he could fulfill his side of the deal with CEO Song and would gain access to CEO Song’s full prowess. But Observer’s Eye was edging towards number 3. It wasn’t really sparkling, but the ‘Predator Tree Colony Dungeon Title’ letters seemed to be shining brightly.

‘My head says number 1. And my eyes say number 3.’

Hyukjin’s eyes were basically his ‘intuition’. And he trusted his intuition.

“I…”

He intentionally spoke aloud, conveying the situation to the Guardians watching above.

‘The majority of Guardians probably think I’ll choose number 1.’

That was natural. After all, he had come this far for that result. Hyukjin purposefully drew out his words for dramatic effect, which Chiellini also noticed. The Italian quickly realized why Hyukjin was pausing.

‘So that’s how you do it.’

It felt like he had gained a new enlightenment, like he had truly gained a lot from today’s clear. Salvatore got a reward as well.

[Your contribution is 25%.]

[‘Predator Tree Seed Bundle’ received.]

Chiellini was more focused on what Hyukjin was doing than his notices. Each and every one of Hyukjin’s actions was a lesson for Chiellini.

Hyukjin finally spoke. Trusting his intuition, he totally shattered the expectations of the Guardians.

“I choose the dungeon title.”

Hyukjin was given the dungeon title.

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