CH 163

Ep.163 Buff

“Ah!”

In the forest in front of their house, I sat in a camping chair and watched the kids train.

Electra was shooting electricity in all directions, and Eun-wol was blocking it all with magic.

After a few rounds of exchanges, Electra – played by Choi Sehee – declared surrender and the battle in Daejeon was over.

“Okay, that’s enough for today. You both did well.”

“Unni, come here. I’ll heal you.”

“Okay. Thanks, Ha-yul.”

“No, I’m sorry I can only help you this way.”

I watched Ha-yul, with her long brown hair flowing behind her, step forward to heal Choi Sehee’s wounds.

Choi Sehee let out a satisfied sigh and exclaimed, “Aigoo, I’m so happy!”

This is Ha-yul, also known as the evil princess in the original story, whose main ability is healing. In the original story, she turned into a villain after losing her younger brother to enemies, but I saved her and joined her on our team in Ego Stream.

Unlike in the original story, Ha-yul has become a very kind and caring person. She is currently a medical doctor in our Ego Stream team.

“Hey, everything’s okay now. Thank you.”

“Yes.”

Choi Sehee smiled and thanked Ha-yul. As I watched them conversing cheerfully, I couldn’t help but smile too. After all, Choi Sehee and Ha-yul have always been the closest friends, even in the original story.

But then, my expression turned serious. The real problem is not the current situation, but something else.

Ha-yul left to attend to Eun-wol, and Choi Sehee sat alone on a rock. I watched her stretch and yawn, feeling a mix of emotions.

… There’s actually a bit of a problem.

It’s about Choi Sehee and her abilities in Electra.

Choi Sehee’s problem is not anything else but…

The fact that she’s just weaker than in the original work. That’s the problem.

“…It sounds strange, doesn’t it?”

Of course, there are plenty of others weaker than Electra.

Even Seo-eun could make many more suits, but she’s still weaker than Se-hee. Death Knight could also be considered weaker in reality. However, both of them have hacking and resurrection as their main strengths, so they don’t stand out as much.

But with Electra, having just one electric ability makes it more noticeable that she’s weaker.

That doesn’t mean she’s completely weak, though. She’s originally much stronger than me.

It’s just that she’s weaker than expected.

Even looking at Ice Cool, who has the same elemental power, he’s an A-class hero on par with Stadus and Shadow Walker with just his freezing ability. Elemental powers are that good.

Especially in the original work, she was definitely stronger than she is now. She could even summon lightning from the sky.

…So I thought that with some training, she could get better, and I’ve been training her hard until now, but…

Her fighting sense has improved, but the fundamental problem of her firepower hasn’t been resolved.

That’s why I’ve been worried lately.

Ah, this can’t be right. There must be something I’m missing. What is it?

Is it just a matter of time? Or is it because Se-hee didn’t go to prison as in the original work?

What’s the difference between the original and now?

As I racked my brain with these worries…

“Da-in Da-in, are you okay?”

I naturally raised my head at the voice coming from above.

Ha Yul was standing in front of me with a worried expression, looking at me with concerned eyes.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just thinking for a moment.”

I reassured her by waving my hand.

But Ha Yul, who still seemed worried, soon stood behind me and put her hand on my back.

“Da-in seems to be going through a hard time lately. Let me help you relieve some of your fatigue.”

And without me even having a chance to respond, she immediately infused power.

I felt my fatigue, which had unknowingly accumulated, gradually dissipating.

“Is it good?”

“Um… yeah, it’s good…”

I answered in a voice that was unconsciously becoming more relaxed.

It was definitely good. It felt like ten syringes of solution were flowing through my veins all at once. The warm energy I felt in my back spread throughout my body, making me feel like I had just taken some herbal medicine.

As expected, there was a reason why I had recruited Ha-yul right after Seo-eun.

Not only did her basic healing ability greatly increase the safety of our Ego Stream, but she was also able to help with small recoveries like this.

And after we defeated Wolgwanggyo, she could once again play an active role…

She could even dispel debuffs like she did for Eun-wol’s curse.

As I sat on a rocky surface, enjoying Ha-yul’s telepathic healing, something came to mind.

Ha-yul was capable of anything related to healing, fatigue recovery, and debuff removal. I didn’t know she could recover from fatigue, but I knew she had removed curses from other villains like Choi Sehee.

But wait a minute.

Isn’t healing a kind of buff when you think about it?

As this thought flashed through my mind, I immediately got up from my seat.

“Eek!”

“Ha-yul. Come here for a moment.”

“Yes? Oh… okay!”

I grabbed the bewildered Ha-yul and approached Choi Sehee.

“What is it? Why are you doing this?”

As expected, Se-hee was also bewildered.

I explained to Ha-yul while standing in front of her.

“Ha-yul, healing is essentially about strengthening your health, right?”

“Yes? Um… that’s right?”

“Well, then think of it as strengthening your ability instead of your health. Do you think that’s possible?”

“Um… I’m not sure…”

“Try it once. You can do it!”

“…Okay. I’ll give it a try!”

With a determined nod to my request, Ha-yul raised her hand to Sehee’s back.

As Ha-yul worked up a sweat, I wondered how much time had passed.

Suddenly, a blue lightning bolt fell from the sky and struck the forest with a loud crash.

With a deafening roar, a huge hole was created in the middle of the forest as if a meteor had hit it.

“….Uh…”

Sehee stood there, her mouth agape at the sight before her that Ha-yul had brought about. I too stood there, speechless, watching as she struggled to catch her breath.

I mean, honestly, I just took a picture of it.

…Why is this real?

That day, Ha-yul evolved from a simple healer to a versatile buffer who could enhance the performance of an ability of a superhuman.

***

“Haa… It doesn’t work on me.”

“Wow…this is amazing.”

That night, after conducting various experiments with Ha-yul, I learned a lot.

First, buffs enhance the performance of a superhuman’s unique abilities, and the strength and duration of the buff can be roughly determined by Ha-yul. Of course, the more buffing that is done, the more strain it puts on Ha-yul’s body. Even if it lasts for several hours, if it’s enhanced more than twice as much as it is now, it might only last for an hour.

Second, buffs don’t work on me and Eun-wol.

“….”

Well, that was expected.

From the beginning, Eun-wol and I are different from others in terms of our abilities. Maybe that “buff” enhances “superpowers” rather than magic.

But that doesn’t mean Eun-wol and I have the same source. It’s obvious from the fact that I can’t use magic.

“…If I can’t do it, then it’s obvious that Stardus can’t either.”

It can be useful in an inconvenient situation, but it’s a pity.

Anyway, there were various difficulties, but it was definitely a good thing. If I hadn’t thought about it, I wouldn’t have known that Ha-yul had this kind of buff ability. It’s embarrassing to think about it.

…Of course, if you look at the original work, it seems like this buff ability enhanced Choi Sehee, so maybe she could have acquired it on her own at some point.

Anyway, it was a pleasant sight to see Choi Sehee’s abilities more than doubled. Yes, this is it. It’s like what I saw Electra do in the original work. It’s Choi Sehee who shoots lightning bolts that split the night sky like that.

Oh, and if there are other beneficiaries of this ability…

“Wow…look at this…”

It’s Seo Jayoung.

She’s already been spitting out some kind of flame-like thing on her finger for a while.

Seo Jayoung, who opened her eyes as if she couldn’t believe what she had made, and Choi Sehee, who was excitedly shooting electricity.

And Seo-eun, who was whining about why the robot couldn’t get buffed.

It’s confusing.

“Da-in, Da-in…I’m going to die…”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go rest now. It was tough, right?”

“Yes. But…I’m glad I could be of help.”

Despite the fact that she’s about to collapse from overusing her new abilities and that self-healing is meaningless, Ha-yul smiled with pride on her face.

I supported her and took her to the sofa to rest.

…Everything’s fine, but come to think of it, if Ha-yul gets tired from using her abilities too much, there’s no one to heal her. And self-healing is useless if it’s due to abusing her abilities.

As soon as she lay down on the sofa, I covered her with a blanket, sensing how tired she was, and I went back outside.

The night sky, with the moon as a backdrop, was very yellow and purple, and in a state of chaos.

Looking at the two who suddenly became twice as strong and appeared happy, I couldn’t help but smile.

…It was really an unexpected harvest.

Of course, it won’t last long, and Ha-yul will tire easily, so she can’t be called all-powerful.

However, it is an undeniable fact that the power has significantly increased.

It feels like winning the lottery overnight. Moreover, with the newcomers who will come in the future, they can almost all receive buffs, so it’s a good thing in the long run.

“…Yes. Since the problem I was thinking about has been resolved.”

Should I train Ha-yul and take a break?

It wouldn’t be bad for everyone to go out and have some fun together. Yeah, should we go to an amusement park or make a reservation as I mentioned last time? Rest well, and then turn on the broadcast and cause some terror.

That’s how I was dreaming happily.

“Da-in, Da-in!”

“Why?”

“I just heard, but the American association sent S, S-class heroes to capture you!”

“…What?”

Until I heard the news from Lee Seola.

“Ah…um.”

So, S-class heroes are coming to Korea, not even A-class heroes, and from America?

…This is fucked up.

I muttered briefly.

No. Why can’t I be happy?