Episode 114:
The old man who checked Taehyeon’s license.
Bang Chae-su, the first man in New Korea to awaken the ability called ‘skill fusion’.
He looked back and forth between the player license and Taehyun’s face with trembling eyes.
S-rank player.
He was treated well wherever he went in the world, and it was difficult for ordinary people to meet him even once in his life.
Among them, the man who was attracting the most attention in Asia appeared in front of him.
“Are you really…”
“Yes. “This is Taehyun Kim.”
“Huh… But why someone like me…”
His voice trembled as he asked.
“Like I said. “It’s because of skill fusion.”
“How…did you know?”
Realizing that Taehyun’s intelligence was extraordinary, he no longer denied it.
This is because if the other person makes up their mind, their lies will soon be discovered.
‘Is this how you will be arrested in the end?’
I sighed.
I looked back on my short awakened life.
It has been less than two years since I awakened the skill.
S-rank skill ‘Fragments of the World’.
I am approaching 80 years old this year.
The life he passed through was a world where it was possible to make a living without awakening.
Awakening is something that only special people do.
With that in mind, I concentrated on my main job, the brewery.
Even if you become an awakened person or something.
Even if you have skills, where can you use them at this age?
But my only son thought differently.
He was a child who divorced his wife and lived from day to day.
He learned of Bang Chae-su’s awakening and visited the brewery every day.
An S-rank skill that fuses skills with other skills.
With that power, you can live comfortably in the new Korea.
They say that you can make a living just by joining one of the four major guilds or associations.
The son soon brought a multi-skill awakened person.
He was a man in his 30s who was active in a small guild.
An awakened player who has awakened the D-grade skill ‘Addiction’ and the D-grade skill ‘Entrapment’ but has not even acquired a license.
Bang Chae-su could not resist his son’s urging and combined the man’s skills.
It was my first use of the skill, and the results were terrible.
Two D-grade skills were fused to create a C-grade skill, but the man ended up becoming a wreck.
Bang Chae-su felt guilty and did not want to do skill fusion anymore.
But my son thought differently.
He continued to bring in new subjects.
“How long are you going to live like this? “Now let’s live comfortably!!”
That’s because my son was an E-class awakened person.
It was an angry complaint about having to live as a member of the lower class of society.
That is why Bang Chae-soo attempted skill fusion dozens of times thereafter.
Among them, there were A-rank awakeners and players from promising associations and the four major guilds.
But there was no such thing as complete success.
Even if the skills were fused, there were always aftereffects, whether physical or mental.
Disabilities occurred, people became incapacitated, and eventually the last subject lost his life.
Bang Chae-su became a criminal.
I wanted to turn myself in, but if I did that, there was a high chance that my son would also become an accomplice.
“Why does my father always think only about himself?”
“If you were born with that skill, why don’t you hone it?”
The son was soon jailed for fraud.
Bang Chae-su quietly retired to a liquor store and killed time.
Since it doesn’t take a lot of money to buy an old man, the liquor store is also closed.
For over a year, I waited for the day to die.
At that moment, Taehyun appeared before my eyes.
Bang Chae-soo thought Tae-hyun had come to arrest him.
“I’m already mentally prepared.”
“…?”
“If I committed a crime, I will have to pay for it.”
“teacher. “I think you’re misunderstanding something, but…”
“No. “I am fully aware of the sin of using this cursed power carelessly.”
“I came here to ask for skill fusion.”
Stand tall.
Bang Chae-soo’s body stiffened at Tae-hyun’s words.
His eyes began to twitch.
“Go back!! “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it!!”
“Are you afraid?”
Taehyun already knew about Bang Chae-soo’s story.
So I had no intention of going back like this.
“It doesn’t matter who you are!!”
“I’m afraid even S-rank players won’t be able to withstand your skills. “Are you afraid that you might become Pain?”
“Even if you don’t talk nonsense!!”
Despite Bang Chae-soo’s anger, Tae-hyun did not back down.
Rather, he had a smile on his face and showed off his dark red magic power.
“That won’t happen.”
“…!!”
“Because I won’t be defeated by your ‘skills.’”
Taehyun’s confident attitude.
Bang Chae-soo was speechless.
* * *
Taehyun entered the workshop and looked around.
The smell of all kinds of alcohol mixed together gave off a foul smell.
Bang Chae-su drank alcohol from one of them.
His face turned red.
“Hehe. Kim Tae-hyun, the future player of our new Korea, is still a teenager, right? “Don’t even dream about drinking it.”
“It is unacceptable to be treated like a child.”
“They say you are precocious, unlike your age. “It was true.”
“….”
Thinking that Taehyun’s reaction was true, he raised the corners of his mouth with a smirk.
It was with the thought that I had finally dealt a blow to this child who was about my grandson’s age.
“Now sit here.”
Taehyun sat down in the spacious pavilion without saying a word.
After drinking another glass of alcohol, Bang Chae-soo sat down across from Tae-hyun.
“I will ask. “How many skills do you have?”
“Please check it out.”
Taehyun said, suppressing the magical energy filling his body as much as possible.
This was to prevent the predatory force from instinctively defending itself.
Tiring.
[Skill use has been detected. I was caught in a fragment of the world (S).]
It felt like an unfamiliar magical power was running through my body.
Taehyun looked at the old man.
His expression began to change every moment.
“This is… unbelievable…”
“How many do you see?”
“Five… no… seven?”
‘Seven.’
It was just as Taehyun expected.
Like ‘Predation’, ‘The Queen’s Man’, ‘Complete Hypnosis’, and ‘Bloody Rush’.
Skills whose origin was not human were not appearing.
Taehyun nodded.
In this case, there was no need to tell me about the remaining skills.
The skills to be fused were already determined anyway.
“I can’t believe it. How can so many skills be expressed in one person’s body? “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“as you see. “There is no problem.”
Taehyun shrugged his shoulders.
“Huh… Although I woke up late. “I understand that you are not normal.”
Bang Chae-soo said, looking at Tae-hyeon curiously.
“What should I do?”
“There’s nothing you can do… the skills will work on their own anyway. “Then let’s get started.”
A wave of magical power rose from Bang Chae-su’s body.
At the same time, three message windows appeared in Taehyun’s eyes.
[Would you like to combine skills Stone Skin (A) and Stealth (A)? Fusion begins when the skill is activated.]
[Do you want to fuse the skills Knight King’s Awe (A) and Paralysis (A)? Fusion begins when the skill is activated.]
[Skill Do you want to fuse the Lord’s Heart (A) and the Silent World (A)? Fusion begins when the skill is activated.]
As many as six skills came to mind at the same time.
It was Bang Chae-soo’s first time seeing this sight.
That’s why I couldn’t help but ask again.
“If you’re afraid, even now…”
“Is that possible? “I was just surprised that it was simpler than I expected.”
“….”
Taehyun unleashed his magic power without hesitation.
I agreed to three messages by activating six skills.
Hwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
A total of seven skills were activated.
Bang Chae-soo and Tae-hyeon’s bodies were engulfed in dark red magic.
* * *
Skill fusion proceeded slowly over 10 minutes.
“Haha… haha… If I try this one more time, I won’t survive.”
Bang Chae-su gasped as the magic power seemed to be on the floor.
The skill was activated a moment ago and the surrounding area was a mess due to the magical power that had leaked out.
The liquor in the liquor store had already been destroyed.
In the middle of it all.
There was Taehyun, clad in dark red magical power.
gulp.
Bang Chae-su swallowed dry saliva.
It’s different from before.
Skill fusion that he had failed to do dozens of times until now.
When I finished them, there was always a scream or groan first.
There has never been a quiet wave of magical power like this before.
“No way…”
Did he dare succeed? Those words were not spoken.
This is because the person’s eyes opened slowly.
Taehyun checked the status window.
Name: Kim Tae-
hyun Age: 19
Grade: AA
Strength: 200 Stamina: 200 Speed: 180 Magic power: 280 Charisma: 150 Fatigue:
30%
Remaining magic power: 280/280
[Skill]
Predation (AA) – Can prey on a desired target. Magic Power: 50
Shadow Skin (AA) – Strengthens the body and hides the body. Magic Power: 15
Lord’s World (AA) – Forms a special field strengthened with magic power. Magic Power: 20
Monarch’s Awe (AA) – Releases a spirit strengthened by magic power. Magic Power: 20
Chain of Binding (AA) – Designates an opponent and binds them. Skill tracking and cancellation are possible. Magic Power: 20
Queen’s Man (AA) – Summons Rosaria, Queen of Dream Demons. Magic Power: 200
Complete Hypnosis (AA) – Specifies an opponent and hypnotizes them. Magic Power: 40
Blood Rush(?) – ?
“That’s amazing.”
Taehyun conveyed his sincerity without any exaggeration.
“Success…?”
“It is a success. “That is absolutely wonderful.”
Taehyun tried to control his magic power.
Quaaaaaaaaa.
The stored magical energy flowed through my entire body.
‘I became stronger.’
It wasn’t an illusion.
Even though it was simply skill fusion, the magic power increased by 10.
The change in grade from A to AA was also an unexpected phenomenon.
Typically, the next grade after A is S.
There is also a grade called A+ between A and S, but it is not an official name.
It was natural that I had never heard of the AA rating.
‘It’s beyond my expectations.’
The fused skills will have to be used in practice, though.
Looking at the magic I felt right away, I could see that it was much stronger than before.
“Haha… Hahaha….”
The old man, who was watching Taehyun’s reaction, burst into laughter.
Unlike his smiling mouth, tears were flowing from his eyes.
“Thank you.”
“….”
“I wasn’t wrong. “I wasn’t cursed… hahahaha!!!”
The old man vented his anger over the past two years.
Taehyun silently watched the process.
It’s a resentment that’s been building up for two years.
It took less than 5 minutes to pour out.
“Haa… Haha… It’s done… It’s done….”
“What do you plan to do from now on? If you wish, we can vouch for your identity.”
In addition, they are willing to pay tens of billions of dollars accumulated in their bank accounts in exchange for skill fusion.
But Bang Chae-su shook his head.
“no. You must pay for your sins. “I’m thinking of turning myself in.”
“Is that so.”
Taehyun did not bother to stop Bang Chae-soo’s choice.
In any case, information about him would soon reach the association president Ji Jin-hee.
If the future goes like it did in the past life.
He is pardoned by a special decree from the president of the association and is issued a special license.
We were destined to meet again at the association in the not too distant future.
“thank you. See you again.”
Taehyun greeted politely.
The old man bowed his head.
Taehyun left the brewery with a light heart.
“Okay then, let’s get ready soon.”
An unexplored dungeon at Beomjinsa Temple in Japan.
It was time to make the next preparations to attack that place.
