To be precise, acquiring 『Random Other Skills』 was indeed the most rational choice.
It did cost a whopping 500,000 points to use once, but the fact that the effect of the skill applied simultaneously to all avatars, including the main body, was simply absurd in terms of efficiency.
‘Right, a new skill for less than 50,000? How can I resist? Not doing it would be a loss!’
Wasn’t the 「Xenoglossy」 I got through that quite useful?
Of course, the 「Sturdiness」 I drew just before disappeared the moment it was acquired, absorbed by higher skills like Harley’s 「Ultimate Evolutionary Being」, Heinz II’s 「Blood Sovereign」, and Horus’ 「Gold Dragon」…
But it became nourishment for the growth of those abilities, so it can’t be considered a completely meaningless loss.
The gap between those higher skills was so enormous that there wasn’t actually any noticeable change, which was the problem.
Still, thinking about the karma points that were accumulating in real time at this moment, it didn’t seem like such a bad decision.
‘Yeah, so this isn’t my fault. You could say…’
It was almost like a kind of accident.
Having finished my self-affirmation, I silently stared at the message that appeared before me.
《Forcibly opens the possibility of randomness. Acquired skill: 「Water Breathing」.》
「Water Breathing」.
A survival skill that prevents drowning due to the environmental factor of water.
If I analyze the mechanism more precisely through the knowledge imprinted in my head, it can be said that it’s the ability to forcibly extract oxygen from water using skin respiration.
“Ah…”
I unknowingly closed my eyes and tilted my head back to the ceiling.
The utility itself wasn’t that bad.
The risk of drowning in environments where it could happen was eliminated, and the affinity for the water element included would surely be helpful in some way.
But if you ask whether this is such a useful ability that it feels like a jackpot… well, I honestly have nothing to say.
‘Hans, being undead, doesn’t even count.’
No, even the other transcendent avatars were long past being bound by such constraints.
Alongside that, the dragon Horus, who survives by using mana as an energy source, was in the same boat.
‘So it’s just me, the merchant Hubert, the dwarf Howard, Hesperon of the Imperial Palace, and finally, Hugo from the Ganghwan Realm remaining…’
That already inflated the expectations for the skill from below 50,000 to 100,000.
Moreover, the other avatars were not really in environments that necessitated 「Water Breathing」.
‘… The owner of a mega trading firm, a craftsman holed up in his workshop, and guests from the Imperial Palace, one of the safest places on the continent, drowning… Well, I won’t have to worry about slipping and drowning in the bathtub moving forward.’
The one who would have the highest possibility of using this would probably be Hugo, who was alone in the Ganghwan Realm.
It was quite a helpful ability for dealing with water-based creatures that surrounded rivers and lakes.
‘Though Harris has already wreaked havoc there.’
I wondered how the area dominated by those water creatures was now after the storm had passed…
While recalling the heads of the Dongjeong Eighteen and the Changjiang River tribe, which now felt faintly familiar, I shook my head heavily.
In fact, the heads of the water creature tribes buried in the back of my memory were already out of sight.
There were more important issues to focus on right now.
‘This time, it must be the last. Just one more time.’
My past results had gone from plus-minus zero to negative.
If this continues, I really wouldn’t be able to back out now!
‘Yeah, after all, I still have more than 5 million points left. …Using them once or twice will be easily recoverable.’
Besides, I hadn’t fully settled my accounts with the head of the Buncheon Society yet.
Just like before, the aftermath of this incident would be calculated separately and additional karma would be steadily accumulated.
So right now—
‘Let’s get one good thing and then leave clean.’
Investing this much for myself should be alright.
I stared hard at 『Random Other Skills Acquisition』 with a peculiar heat in my eyes.
Honestly speaking.
I was starting to not see anything at all.
*
Not long after that.
“Hmm. Almost lost my composure there.”
Fortunately, Seong-hyun Han managed to come to his senses before squandering all his points.
Not only that, but he prided himself that he had come out of it relatively early.
And rightly so… including the first time he acquired 「Water Breathing」, the total number of draws had only been four!
‘Yeah, this is pretty good.’
Of course, the memory of repeating ‘the last time for real’ numerous times had completely vanished from his mind.
“Still, not bad.”
That wasn’t just empty words.
As he muttered to himself softly and reached slightly forward, his fingertips disappeared into thin air, as if it were CG.
Suuuu—
Waves shimmered in the air around the place where his wrist had vanished.
And when he pulled his arm back again, the body part that had disappeared had returned intact.
Clutching a pen that hadn’t been there just a moment ago.
It was undoubtedly an abnormal phenomenon caused by spatial interference.
‘Wow, I can’t believe I actually got an inventory.’
Throwing the pen he fiddled with on the table, he let out a chuckle.
The official name of the skill he obtained on his second attempt was 「Spatial Dimension Storage」, affectionately referred to as ‘Inventory’.
Literally, he could now implement the ability to manipulate spatial dimensions as a skill.
However, even with this very useful and seemingly impressive ability, he wasn’t satisfied.
‘Honestly, I hadn’t felt any particular inconvenience without an inventory until now.’
Thanks to the 「Avatar Cloud」 that allowed avatars to share items with one another and a combination of magical equipment based on abundant capital, it had already effectively replaced spatial dimensions.
This newly acquired amazing skill was even perceived as just something nice to have.
‘But it seems like it will make things quite convenient. If each avatar can use spatial dimensions directly, it will give us more leeway in the future.’
In the end, his total evaluation of 「Spatial Dimension Storage」 was slightly positive.
However, his ambition was far too great to be merely satisfied with that.
‘I’m glad I didn’t give up. The next draw was the real deal.’
Seong-hyun Han, smiling with satisfaction, thought back to what had just occurred.
He recalled the outcome of the random draw, which had yielded the ‘real jackpot’ for the previous results.
《Forcibly opens the possibility of randomness. Acquired skill: 「Limit Break」.》
The third skill after 「Water Breathing」 and 「Spatial Dimension Storage」, 「Limit Break」.
It was a self-enhancing type buff and awakening mechanism that could be used by all avatars.
No matter how high or low the level— it was a trump card that allowed one to temporarily transcend their own limits.
Although its side effects could be severe, making it easy to abuse, it was a lifesaving ability that would be helpful in the most crucial situations.
“Nice, nice. Very good.”
As everything seemed to wrap up.
Satisfied that the balance scale had tipped into the black enough, he reached for the ‘real jackpot’… for no particular reason.
‘This is definitely on the rise, right? Something feels good today? This time is the real last one?’
He simply couldn’t control the boiling greed within him.
And fully possessed by the gambler’s mindset, he boldly jumped on the rising tide…
“Cough, I’ll stop here.”
As if trying to balance himself, he received yet another ambiguous skill and suddenly came to his senses.
That was the background that allowed him to escape the clutches of ‘random draw’ right after pulling the fourth skill.
And once he had somewhat organized the multiple abilities he had just acquired, he glanced at his karma points as if checking again.
『Current Karma – 3,641,965』
The digits had noticeably dropped.
It was still a vast amount unimaginable to ordinary people, but in comparison to just moments ago when it had wildly exceeded 5 million, it felt lacking— it couldn’t be helped.
“……”
Fortunately, it was better than having completely squandered all of it, but reflecting on it, he definitely had been too engrossed and had burned through more karma than he had expected.
Even if using it once costs 500,000, if repeated four times, it would be a staggering 2 million!
‘There’s no helping the past. There’s about 3.6 million left… Still, leaving this much isn’t bad.’
Even while he focused on this, time in the other world flowed swiftly, and naturally, his karma points increased accordingly.
At this rate, it probably wouldn’t take long to exceed 5 million and reach 6 million.
‘But…’
If there was a way to shorten that time, it would be wise to use it to the fullest.
Now, thinking about the Buncheon Society, which had been lurking all over Earth, and the leader of Auterica who had been forcibly chased out and was currently simmering mad, it became even more clear.
“I definitely need to earn more karma. No matter how much I earn, it’s still not enough.”
A sigh escaped his lips, followed by lamentation.
In the traditional stronghold of Auterica, karma was already being extracted close to its limit.
Since the aftermath of the ‘Foreign News Apostle Invasion Incident’ was currently ongoing, it was hard to stir up trouble here.
‘For now, I need to take a breather. I guess I’ll have a look at other places in the meantime? Seems like it’s time to start planting seeds…’
With that thought, his consciousness shifted away from the majority of entities clustered in Auterica and focused on a lone entity that was isolated.
The pioneer, Hugo, who was dispatched to cultivate a new stronghold.
He was spending time alone in the Ganghwan Realm under the alias Ha Seung-hoon.
*
Zhuge Family in Hubei Province, Yungjung Mountain.
The mountain where they had established their base wasn’t very tall, but the buildings, including ancestral halls steeped in history, exuded an overwhelming aura that left spectators in awe.
That came from the symbolic authority of being the base of a ruling force, as well as the influence of the dense energy that arose from the foundational plans, which integrated formation techniques and magic from the outset.
There had once been a time when an unidentifiable master suddenly appeared and destroyed all the formations in the vicinity, but a considerable time had passed since then, and now there was no trace of that scene left.
Rather, the Zhuge Family had thoroughly analyzed the reasons behind the failures at that time and transformed into an even more fortified stronghold capable of countering such threats.
“Oh, this could come in handy if used well, huh?”
Inside that impregnable stronghold was a private training room.
In the center, the young man, Hugo, held a sword, furrowing his brow as he rubbed his chin slowly.
As an avatar, he was naturally receiving real-time updates about the newly added skills.
The useful skill of 「Water Breathing」 for combat near water, the convenience brought by 「Spatial Dimension Storage」, and the emergency rescue skill known as 「Limit Break」.
And the fourth skill he obtained…
‘「Imitation」. This might not be as bad as I thought? In Auterica, maybe not, but here in Ganghwan Realm, it might have more utility than the others.’
「Imitation」 was a skill that allowed someone to mimic the techniques of opponents observed visually.
At face value, it could certainly sound like an overpowered ability, but naturally, there were all sorts of conditions attached, making it not so easy to execute.
‘To mimic someone else’s magic, not only must you be a wizard yourself, but you also need to reach the level of understanding and being able to trigger that magic.’
Every skill was a special ability that touched upon the realm of the supernatural, but this 「Imitation」 did not allow one to surpass their own limits.
One couldn’t imitate the techniques of entirely different species due to differing physical structures, nor could they replicate any mysteries without proper training.
‘In the end, it means I can only imitate techniques from individuals with similar conditions.’
In that sense, the situation in Ganghwan Realm differed from Auterica, where various races and mysteries intertwined.
The presence of non-human races was at best questionable, and the category of ‘martial arts’ dominated as absolute mainstream.
It goes without saying that even the Zhuge Family, considered among the best in formations and magic, saw martial arts as not an option, but a necessity.
‘So…’
On the premise that his understanding of martial arts was established—
‘In this world, all the martial arts…’
He could steal simply by just watching.
