NOVEL NEXT Chapter 338
I fell asleep in my teacher’s arms, utterly exhausted. When I opened my eyes, nearly 18 hours had passed.
“Did you sleep well?”
“…Yes.”
“I’m sorry, but I have to leave soon. Something came up.”
Although my teacher had said that what I wanted was the same as what she wanted… truthfully, I felt ashamed.
I had wasted our time together, not even managing to have a proper meal or enjoy our date, having spent it all sleeping.
Even so, she gave me a small smile, ruffled my hair, and told me not to worry about it.
‘And my teacher hasn’t awakened any special traits or skills either.’
It’s not like her expression was particularly bad as she left, but I couldn’t help feeling a pang of guilt.
‘I’ll have to prepare a gift for her next time to make it up. But… didn’t I see something strange while I was half-asleep? Was it just a dream?’
What I saw wasn’t clear—it was all muddled from being half-awake. But it seemed like I had awakened, not my teacher. Something about gaining a 1% increase in stats for each person I shared a connected bond with. The total stat increase had been 9%, if I remembered right.
Even back in the Velvets game, where I poured both my time and body into becoming a ghost-tier player, I had never seen anything like that.
The closest thing I could compare it to was the first-tier, overpowered item “Ring of Affection and Obsession.” But even that only boosted the stats of other characters with high affinity levels; it didn’t provide direct benefits to the wearer. Plus, the enhancement was capped at a mere 4%.
‘No way. Could there really be such an absurd trait?’
Yeah, it had to be a dream, especially since I remembered seeing Lina in the mix.
“Status window,” I called out casually, more out of habit than expecting anything.
But when the stats displayed on my screen, my jaw dropped.
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Name: Jin Yuha (☆☆☆☆)
Gender: Male (21)
Stats
• Strength: 100 (+10, +9%)
•
• Mental Power: 119 (+10, +10%, +9%)
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• Magic: 100 (+10, +9%)
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• Durability: 101 (+10, +9%)
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• Speed: 100 (+10, +9%)
•
• Charisma: 130 (+10, +9%)
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Specialization: Swordsmanship SSS [True Moonlit Swordsmanship] (new!)
Titles:
• Flower on a Cliff
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• Swordsmanship Prodigy [Sword Ghost]
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• Natural Flirter
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• Flower on a Cliff (again?)
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• Homme Fatale
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• Destruction Chef
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• Clueless
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• National Side Dish
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• Incubus
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• Big Deal
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• Out-of-Control Truck (new!)
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• Instructor (new!)
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• Everyone’s Lover (new!)
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First Achievement Titles:
1. Slayer of the Impossible: Demon Slayer (魔殺)
Deals 10% additional damage to all demons and demonic beings.
2.
Deals 10% additional damage to all dragon-kind.
4.
5. Slayer of the Demon King: Demon King Slayer (王殺)
Those with demonic energy feel instinctive fear.
6.
Skills:
[One Slash], [Lampo], [Sword Dance], [Shadow Step], [Moonlit Strike (with Moonlight Earrings)], [Sword Path] (new!)
Traits:
[Perception], [Foresight], [Intuition], [Charisma], [Unwavering Mind], [Grip Strength] (new!), [Magic Circulation] (new!), [Tough Body] (new!), [Stealth] (new!)
Exclusive Weapon: Moonlight
Items: Experience Bracelet (bound), Stat Boosting Ring (bound), Ring of Affection and Obsession (bound)
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[Connected Bonds]
Each connected bond grants a 1% increase in stats.
Current Bonds:
• Lee Yoo-ri
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• Kang Do-hee
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• Shin Se-hee
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• Lim Ga-eul
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• Sophia
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• Ichika
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• Alice
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• Baek Seol-hee
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• Lina
•
Total increase: 9%
________________________________________
“!!!”
It wasn’t a dream. It was real.
“Is this for real?”
I repeatedly opened and closed my status window, unable to believe it.
“Seriously?”
A tingling sense of euphoria surged through me. All my stats had surpassed 100.
Until now, except for Mental Power and Charisma, the rest of my stats had been in the 90s. To suddenly surpass 100 was astonishing.
In the game, increasing stats from the 90s to 100 was notoriously difficult, even with stat boosters. This felt almost like a bug-level anomaly.
Breaking through 100 Strength had granted me the Grip Strength trait.
Breaking through 100 Magic had given me the Magic Circulation trait.
Breaking through 100 Durability had unlocked the Tough Body trait.
Breaking through 100 Speed had yielded the Stealth trait.
Even if this was it, it would’ve been a jackpot.
On top of that, my swordsmanship specialization had risen from SS to SSS, likely thanks to the sword I had inherited from my master.
“Wow… this is insane. Truly.”
These stats were the kind you’d only see in endgame, maxed-out characters after spending a fortune in the game. My party members who had envied me for some unique traits and skills had no idea—they’d be floored by this.
‘If I had invested this much in a single character in Velvets, they’d become iconic from that point onward.’
Over 100 in all stats.
SSS-tier specialization.
Four-star ranking.
These three conditions meant I had the minimum qualifications to ascend into an [EX] tier transcendent.
Transcendent.
It was the level where someone like Lina, the current head of the Hunter accademy, resided.
This was endgame content, reserved for hardcore veterans who had done everything else the game had to offer.
Reaching it required intense grinding, and for free-to-play or low-spending players, it was nearly impossible.
In my previous life, it took me over eight playthroughs to achieve just one connection like this.
Transcendent Kang Do-hee.
The sight of her unleashing Avatar of Fire, tearing through the final boss in one devastating sweep that filled the entire screen, was something even top-tier players couldn’t rival.
And yet, here I was, achieving that feat on my first run—and in a no-gacha, no-purchase playthrough at that. Honestly, I deserved to feel a little proud of myself for this.
What? Are you saying I swindled my way here after draining Alice’s resources in the early game? Come on, this is Jin Yuha we’re talking about. This counts as free-to-play success, fair and square.
“So, all that’s left is to raise my rank by one more star…”
Currently, I was sitting at 4 stars.
The best way to increase your star rank is to pull hundreds of identical character cards, fuse them, and push for a breakthrough.
But this world doesn’t have any gacha mechanics.
That means I’ll have to grind my way to a breakthrough with sheer effort and determination.
Sigh. This won’t be easy.
Getting from 3 stars to 4 stars had been a stroke of luck, made possible only because I’d managed to take down a boss like the Demon Tree King early on.
I couldn’t expect that kind of opportunity to come around again.
Even in our party, Soup, who’d been stuck at 4 stars for ages, was nowhere near reaching 5 stars.
And yet.
“This is too good of an opportunity to pass up, even if it’s a crazy gamble.”
Transcendent Jin Yuha.
The thought alone sent shivers down my spine.
Just then, my communicator buzzed with a familiar tone.
Ding-ding-ding!
[Chairwoman Lina: YOU SCOUNDREL! WHAT IN THE WORLD HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO?!]
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.
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At the Velvet Hunter Academy Chairwoman’s Office
Lina, with her twin-tailed purple hair, sat with her arms crossed and legs folded, glaring at me with a scowl.
She had raised her chair so high that her feet dangled, unable to reach the floor. The way her toes twitched in midair was peak “bratty kid energy.”
“You’ve been causing quite the stir, haven’t you?”
“Causing a stir?” I tilted my head in confusion.
“You dare feign ignorance?” she growled, her forehead visibly throbbing with irritation.
She then slammed a stack of documents onto her desk, causing papers to scatter like a flurry of angry accusations.
“Look at these! All complaints about you!”
The headlines on the documents read:
-“Jin Yuha caught in a secret rendezvous with Lee Yoo-ri!”
-“A massage date with Cheonhwa?!”
-“Couple photo shoot with Sophia stuns the world!” — A confession from Marta, the photographer.
Ah. Yeah… now that I thought about it, I had been running around a lot lately with the others.
First, there was the dungeon trip with Soup that the academy students had caught wind of. Then, my street date with Shin Se-hee, and finally, the chaos I caused with Sophia in Milan.
No wonder people had been talking.
I hesitated, trying to think of how to respond. Lina, however, sneered.
“Don’t think for a second that I’m fooled by your antics,” she said sharply.
“My… antics?”
“Exactly. Curses from demonic beings? Ridiculous. As if someone like Seol-hee would ever fall victim to something so trivial.”
Lina had seen through the pretense.
She knew the so-called curse afflicting us was just an excuse.
As I quietly observed her, one thought crossed my mind.
“Is she… jealous?”
Oops. That thought slipped out loud.
“What?!” Lina’s expression turned to one of utter disbelief.
“Me? Jealous? Of YOU?!”
“Please don’t punctuate every word with a question mark. It feels like you genuinely hate my guts.”
“Why wouldn’t I? Do you seriously think every woman in the world is in love with you? If so, I know a great mental institution I can recommend.”
Alright. Fair point.
Then again, with her name boldly listed in the Soul-Bonded Connections, I couldn’t exactly deny the possibility…
But trying to explain that to her would only make things worse. I decided it was best to keep quiet.
“Tch. Enough with your delusional nonsense,” Lina snapped, waving her hand.
The scattered papers magically gathered themselves and returned neatly to her desk.
“Do whatever you want in your spare time. But how do you plan to handle the upcoming Demonic Gates? The opponents you’ll face next won’t be the pushovers you’ve dealt with so far. Back in my day, anyone distracted by romance had their heads split open first. And don’t even get me started on—”
Lina launched into a tirade of nostalgic complaints, her “back in my day” rhetoric threatening to rupture my eardrums.
Sigh.
If she didn’t stop soon, I’d need a doctor for ear trauma.
“Well, sometimes actions speak louder than words…”
Without warning, I unleashed my full mana, letting it surge around me.
Whoosh!
“What are you doing—?! Wait… WHAT?!”
Lina’s eyes went wide as she felt the sheer power emanating from me.
She stared, her mouth agape.
“I-is this… what the hell is this strength?! What have you done?!”
I smirked. “So, Chairwoman, does this make you feel a bit more confident about my ability to succeed you?”
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.
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Shortly after that exchange, a report came in:
“A new Demonic Gate has appeared!”
“Location?”
“Japan!”