Turns Out To Be a Genius Duelist
chapter-24

‘It wasn’t the Unique Skill I was hoping for, but…not bad.’

After returning to the waiting room, Yoon-seok had a smile on his face as he checked his rewards.

*Iron Mastery (Rank E-)

DEF 2.25x when equipped with metal armor.

Lightweight: Reduces the weight of metal armor by half.

Iron Mastery is a skill that was worth 6,000 AP in terms of value. Of course, compared to the equipment he had looted, it was nothing.

*Khan Workshop Magical Engineering Suit No.322 (Rank D+)

A power suit made in the magic era. It is designed by human magic engineering and can be repaired in an emergency using magic power.

Magic Power +3

It cost a whopping 31,000 AP. Yoon-seok felt joyous as he took off his disgusting gray top and tried it on. It fit him as perfectly as if it were custom-made.

‘I thought it would be heavy, but it’s not. Is it because of the Lightweight feature?’

It was full-body armor that covered everything except his head, his hands, and his feet. After moving his body a few times, Yoon-seok nodded with satisfaction. The armor’s surface felt like metal rather than leather, but strangely, it was very flexible at the joints.

‘By the way, he’s not dead, is he?’

Judging from Lee Chang-hoon’s last words, he must be lying when he said he only had one coin left. But perhaps, he was telling the truth. Yoon-seok entered the chat room to check if he was there.

[Enter the chat room on the 4th floor.]

[Currently participating 811/2,912]

There was no need to search for him. As soon as Yoon-seok entered, he immediately saw Kalopa engaged in the chat.

-Kalopa: There. I lost a duel and suddenly one piece of equipment disappeared? Why? Is it a bug?

-Kalopa: What the fuck is this! Give me back my armor!

‘The description says looting, so it must have been stolen from them.’

Skills were acquired, but the equipment was looted. Seeing that Chang-hoon wasn’t talking about Iron Mastery, it seemed that Yoon-seok only received a copy of the skill.

-Nyangnyang Punch: Like me. After losing to some crazy person, my ax disappeared.

As Lee Chang-hoon’s whining continued, another challenger commiserated with him. Soon, more and more people jumped in and joined the conversation.

-Hero A: It seems that there is a unique technique for stealing equipment. I think everyone should be careful.

-May’s Knight: Well, such an unfair technique…if our core equipment is taken away, isn’t it the same as killing us off?

It was definitely as May’s Knight said. Just look at Lee Chang-hoon’s situation. He lost half of the AP he earned when his equipment was taken. Without it, the gap between him and his opponents had widened considerably. Some people who were reading the stream quickly joined in.

-Kalopa: Grape Jam? What are you doing, nominating me all of a sudden?

-Grape Jam: Of course, you dog.

-Kalopa: You asshole, are you making fun of me, too?

-Long Live the Thieves Guild: Damn, I tried to nominate you, but it didn’t work because of the AP difference.

Chang-hoon, who confessed that he lost his armor, became a target for hyenas. There was a high probability that he wouldn’t be able to return to Earth alive.

‘Then, did I kill you?’

However, Yoon-seok decided not to feel guilty.

‘It’s this place, not me.’

The Tower was a place where the weak were just food for the strong. While he didn’t enjoy harassing the weak, he couldn’t sympathize with them either. The Tower of the Sky was where you constantly had to improve yourself and get stronger. No matter who he came up against, he had to do what he had to do so that he didn’t get thrown out.

Leaving the noisy chat room, Yoon-seok opened the shop.

64,000 AP.

When he was on the first floor, 1,000 or 2,000 AP seemed to be a huge amount. However, considering the price of the items rose in proportion to rank, 64,000 didn’t seem like all that much to him now. He was still putting a lot of thought into how to use it effectively.

‘This time, I have to raise the whole thing.’

He took the opportunity to upgrade all his F-rank skills, except for Silent Command. However, not all of them had undergone a visible evolution.

{Weapon Enhancement}

Rank E — Mana cost reduced by half.

The upgrade to b Weapon Enhancement} was a bummer. With b Heavenly Body}, he had no shortage of magic power; hence he didn’t need the reduction. Still, the higher the rank of the weapon, the more magic power was consumed so that it might be helpful later on. On the other hand, b Multiply} was a huge success.

{Multiply}

Rank E — Can radiate energy from a distance.

When Yoon-seok tried it, a crescent-shaped energy blast flew in the direction he swung the sword. It’s damage capability when it came to long-range was incomparable to that of b Blood Pact}. Although the consumption of magic increased rapidly, b Heavenly Body} still had it covered.

‘I got something amazing again.’

Yoon-seok was satisfied that the 5,000 AP he invested in b Multiply} wasn’t wasted. However, the surprise waiting for him when he upgraded {Heavenly Body} was even greater.

{Heavenly Body}

Rank E — +2 to all stats

‘What is this?!’

All stats received a plus two increase. It was a short description, but when applied to his D-rank agility, the difference was enormous. Increasing his stats would cost him around 48,000, but he only spent 5,000 AP for the elixir to upgrade the {Heavenly Body}.

‘I should have upgraded it sooner.’

Yoon-seok, who was planning on investing in his attributes, changed his mind.

‘I should raise my Unique Skills instead.’

The amount required to raise a Unique Skill from E to D costs 30,000. Therefore, he could only choose one.

‘b Predation} or b Heavenly Body}?’

Even at F-rank, the effects of the b Heavenly Body} were monstrous enough. It would only get better if he could raise it to D-rank. However, {Predation} was Yoon-seok’s core skill, and it was what made it possible for him to acquire b Heavenly Body}.

‘Then…’

“The unique skill b Predation} will grow to D rank.”

Yoon-seok suppressed his boiling excitement as he checked the new description.

{Predation}

Rank D — Absorbs the enemy’s highest stats upon winning a duel. After a loss, the user will lose some of the stats absorbed.

Yoon-seok felt slightly ambiguous. It wasn’t as powerful as he thought, but…

‘It’s not bad…no, I like it.’

It would save him AP that he would otherwise use on his stats. Soon after, he let go of his regrets and focused on another part. In the skill description, the word absorb appeared. If skills were acquired and equipment was looted, what did absorb do?

‘It’s highly likely that it’s just like looting.’

After much speculation, Yoon-seok lost interest in b Predation} and wandered through the shop. He was contemplating how to use his remaining 19,000 AP when something caught his eyes in the Miscellaneous section.

*Body Growth Elixir (Rank F) – When taken, your height increases by 1cm according to the ratio. It can be taken up to 10 times.

Selling price: 1,000 AP

Yoon-seok always felt inferior because of his height. Hyung-woo stood at 190cm, while his height remained at 174cm. However, he shouldn’t waste his precious AP for such an egotistical purpose. It wasn’t like being taller would make him stronger. Still….

‘It should be fine.’

Yoon-seok learned martial arts from the Heavenly Demon. Therefore, he learned how important spacing was in a battle between masters.

‘With longer arms and legs, the gap will narrow.’

The distance each step he took would grow farther, and his swings could reach longer.

‘Still, 10,000 AP is a bit burdensome.’

After thinking for a while, Yoon-seok decided to take the potion.

‘Is this the 184cm view?’

His vision seemed a little wider. His armor didn’t feel uncomfortable because it stretched according to its user’s height. But…

“Uh?”

Yoon-seok staggered as he stepped forward to test his upgraded legs. As he grew 10cm tall in an instant, the balance of his body changed drastically.

‘It will take a while to get used to….’

Then, Yoon-seok spent the rest of his AP to grow his magic to E-rank. He wanted to raise his Durability, which was still at F-rank, but he had the D-rank armor anyway. Plus, any injuries he sustained could also be recovered thanks to {Blood Pact}.

‘Now, I can also absorb my opponent’s durability with b Predation}.’

With his AP taken care of, the next thing he needed to do was practice. Yoon-seok walked back and forth around the waiting room to get used to his new height.

‘What do I say when I return to Earth? Would they believe that I got taller while traveling?’

Yoon-seok smiled at the thought before focusing entirely on his task. To make that happen, he must win the next battle first.

“Prepare. The duel will begin soon.”

***

「3. 」

The countdown began as Yoon-seok stared at his opponent. It was a woman in a puffy robe, but there was something strange about her. During the countdown, their bodies were restrained. However, the woman just moved her hand and tucked it into her robe. It looked like she was trying to get something out.

「2. 」

‘Huh? How can she move?’

The woman took out a sphere-shaped object from beneath her robe. Then, she threw it at Yoon-seok. The unknown object arced before landing exactly at Yoon-seok’s feet. Just then.

「1. 」

Bang-!

「START! 」

Before the duel even began, the arena was rocked by a huge explosion.