Chapter 50 – A Plea

Оnсе Аmy’s insults had sеttlеd dоwn, Аsutо returned to sеlеcting his Skill.

(Thеse threе аrе thе Skills I’vе аlways аdmired…)

Thе Вible, Wеароn Мastеry, аnd Natural Неаling (Lаrge) werе the Skills usеd by the threе Нunters who were Rаnkеrs last time.

Asuto had аlsо watched their eхрloits through а scrееn.

‘If I hаd thе same Skills as them, сouldn’t I havе реrformed just аs wеll?’

Тhere wаsn’t a daу he didn’t think that.

But when асtually blеssеd with the сhancе to obtain а Skill, he nоw fоund himself hesitating.

If he aсquired thеsе Skills, thе Huntеrs who werе оriginаlly supрosеd tо оbtаin thеm would bе unаblе to gеt thе Skills.

Because Asuto had his own chances to become stronger continuously crushed last time, his resistance to stealing someone else’s chance was particularly strong.

(I want strong Skills, but I hate the idea of taking them from others…)

Even so, he couldn’t postpone this any further.

Asuto had already died once on the very first day of his journey to Fukuoka.

The purpose of this trip was to obtain the ultimate Item.

He had only just taken the first step toward that, and he was already stumbling.

He should purchase a strong Skill right now.

“…Alright, I’ve decided!”

He slapped his own cheek to psych himself up.

Asuto organized his Cart and purchased one Skill.

Possessed Gold: 100,198 → 50,198

The moment he purchased it, ‘No. 078965’ vanished from the Gold Shop’s Skill list.

When Asuto looked at his Cart, his heart rate visibly soared.

He had spent 50,000 Gold—a fortune so vast he could work his whole life and still struggle to obtain it—to purchase a Legend Skill.

The thought that this might be a Skill different from what he expected sent a chill down his spine.

(Please, don’t let me be wrong.)

With a prayer-like feeling, Asuto used the Skill Scroll for No. 078965.

Acquired Skill 〈Life Steal〉.

“Yes!”

Asuto clenched his fist with force.

With this, he finally owned his long-cherished Legend Skill.

He immediately checked the Skill’s details.

○Life Steal Lv1 (0%)

Effect 1: Absorbs vitality from the target in accordance with damage dealt by the owner.

Effect 2: ??? (Unlocks at Lv5)

Effect 3: ??? (Unlocks at Lv10)

“Huh…”

This was the first time he’d seen a Skill with three Effects.

Normally, Skills only have one Effect.

For it to have three… that’s truly worthy of being called a Legend Skill.

(This information wasn’t even posted online in the future, either.)

Perhaps they didn’t disclose it because they wanted to keep the second and subsequent Effects hidden as trump cards. Or perhaps, they simply couldn’t level it up that far…

(Back then, just saying you owned a Legend Skill made you a pretty big target. Maybe the information didn’t come out because, surprisingly, they didn’t want to become a target for attacks.)

People who acquired Legend Skills were initially respected from all quarters.

But as time passed, the number of people who would spew abuse over actions that were completely harmless increased.

‘That guy bought ice cream at the store!’

‘For a Legend Skill holder, you sure are taking it easy, huh?’

‘Eating ice cream before a Hunt? Must be nice.’

‘This is no time to be eating ice cream!’

‘Since you have a better Skill than others, you should work yourself to the bone!’

Social media erupted in flames in an instant, and the person was driven to hold an apology press conference.

Even though they hadn’t inconvenienced anyone, and no one had suffered any harm—this still happened.

Human hatred is terrifying.

After that incident, no one who acquired a Legend Skill made it public anymore; information was only secretly dropped on the online Skill boards.

The ‘Life Steal’ that Asuto acquired was a Legend Skill whose information was dropped after the flaming incident.

Therefore, Asuto didn’t know who had this Skill last time.

(Sorry, Hunter whose name I don’t even know.)

Anyway, just having this would give him a significant lead over other Hunters.

“How was the Skill Scroll?”

“It was a jackpot.”

“What’s its Name?”

“It’s called Life Steal.”

“Whoa, that’s a Legend Skill, isn’t it? Your gamble paid off!”

“Yeah. It has three Effects. Though I don’t know what the second and onward ones are.”

“…Want me to tell you what Effects they are?”

Amy grinned, a creepy smile spreading across her face.

He was almost impressed she could make such an irritating expression.

“You want me to hit you?”

“Of course not!”

“Then cut that face out. It makes me want to hit you.”

“Guh, that mouth of yours… Fine, even if you beg me, I won’t tell you now!”

“Fine by me.”

He was curious about what the masked Effects were, but being indebted to Amy would be more troublesome.

He could check the remaining Effects gradually after raising his Skill Level.

“By the way, what about that Gold you have left? Any plans to use it for something else?”

“Hmm, not really.”

“Well then, how about buying me an Avatar Item?”

“…Huh?”