Team Member Reinforcement (2)
The name of this high-school student was Go Insu.
He was 18 years old, a second-year high school student.
When I asked why he was out selling summons on a weekday when it was time for him to be at school, he said he was the head of his household.
So he had already dropped out of school.
His father had died in an accident during the Great Cataclysm, and his mother was also in poor health.
Only he and his 10-year-old younger brother were left, and he was the only one who could earn money.
‘...I feel like I have heard this somewhere before.’
Yes, it was none other than my own story.
‘Well, it is not such a rare story. They still say the exact damage estimate from the time of the Break is unclear.’
In such a bleak situation, this boy had fortunately awakened as an adventurer.
He had become able to use the Exchange as well, so he started doing business with a small amount of capital.
“At first, business went fairly well, so I could at least earn some spending money. But then I got scammed pretty badly along the way...”
It seemed that at first, he had made a decent profit by buying and selling goods.
He had even saved up a fairly large sum.
He said he had managed to cover living expenses at home with that.
Even so, it had still been a little insufficient, so he thought of increasing the scale of his transactions and started buying and selling expensive summons...
“So you tried to make a profit margin with expensive summons?”
“Yes. But I had no idea that hyung and noona were that kind of people...”
He had apparently bought quite a few of the Hero summons he was currently selling from a young couple.
For 5 million won each, at that.
However, they would not sell at all, so he found it strange. Only after searching the market price of each summon later did he realize he had been scammed.
“There is no point blaming others. I should have checked more carefully before making the deal. Now I just think of it as having paid tuition.”
Go Insu smiled bitterly as he said that.
Some of them had no transaction records at all, making it impossible to grasp their market price, and when they threatened that there were plenty of other places to sell them, he had rashly bought them after looking only at their abilities. He said that was his own mistake.
“Still, from what I saw, their abilities looked fairly good. I did not think they were summons with serious defects.”
Go Insu was right about that.
There was nothing wrong with the abilities of the summons he had.
The problem was that this boy had made his judgment while lacking basic knowledge about Legend Seven.
He had judged only by individual abilities without considering the current popular meta or party combinations at all.
That was the losing move.
“...I see. Your circumstances are unfortunate, but I do not think I can pay you extra out of sympathy.”
“Of course!”
“How much did you say you wanted?”
“Ah. 3 million each.”
Even as the boy said 3 million, he avoided my gaze as if he felt uneasy.
He probably thought even that was expensive.
However, in truth, it was the exact opposite.
The two I had chosen were both limited-time summons.
Summons that could no longer be obtained once a certain period had passed.
It seemed he was lacking related knowledge in this area as well.
“Ah! Before I suggest a price, let me ask just one thing.”
“Yes!”
“Temina, Shade of Flame. Which of her abilities looked good to you?”
“Ah. Her attack power increases every time an ally takes a turn, and once all allies receive an area-wide buff, she joins in with a joint attack when an ally hits, right? The damage from that joint attack looked extremely high, so I thought she might be a good summon.”
So he had been captivated by the summon’s ‘ceiling’.
However, a summon that sold well had to be judged by its ‘floor’ rather than its ‘ceiling’.
Looking at Hert or Caligo, did they not do everything on their own without needing to satisfy troublesome conditions in the first place?
It was true that Temina’s attack power was strong.
However, the fact that an ally had to take the first turn, and that all allies had to have buffs applied to them.
The problem started from the fact that she required those two conditions.
Did that mean Temina was completely useless?
That was not true either.
If she was placed in a team with summons that could satisfy both conditions, she passed as a pure damage dealer.
‘It does not seem like he has a bad eye for summons.’
When I nodded as if I understood, he seemed flustered and hurriedly began revising the price.
“Ah! I am sorry. 2 million. I think I was being a little greedy.”
“Ah. 2 million?”
Apparently, I must have looked dissatisfied with the price.
“Are you really fine with that price?”
“Pardon? Yes. 2 million. I think this is the proper price.”
At his words, the corner of my mouth rose slightly without my realizing it.
“No.”
“Pardon?”
“Both of these are summons that could only be obtained for a limited time. Did you know that?”
“Pardon? S-Something like that exists?”
“Yes.”
Right. I knew he did not know.
“Then does the price go up?”
Let us stop teasing this young, talented boy.
“They should be at least 15 million each. No matter how difficult they are to use, there is nothing wrong with their abilities themselves.”
“Pardon? Really?!”
“Yes. You said the two summons I chose had no transaction history on the Exchange, right? That hyung and noona will probably regret this day for a long time.”
***
“Then that makes 30 million won in total, correct? I sent it.”
“Wow! Waaaah! Seriously! Hyung! Thank you so much! Thank you!”
Go Insu sprang up from his seat and repeatedly bowed his head to me in gratitude.
But it was not as though I had shown kindness to this boy with no thoughts in mind.
“You said your name was Go Insu, right?”
“Yes! Hyungnim! Ah! Before that, please speak comfortably to me!”
“Shall I? You said you are an adventurer, right?”
“Yes!”
“You do not belong to a guild or anything?”
“No! But I have not even done the tutorial yet!”
Oho. He had not even done the tutorial?
He was a completely blank slate.
Then that was actually better.
There were already so many absurd, barely functional strategies in this country that correcting them one by one would have been no ordinary task.
With this boy, there was no need for that.
“Then are you planning to keep doing business from now on?”
“For the time being. I lack too much knowledge right now.”
“Then do you have any desire to be active as an adventurer?”
“I do. But I have no money. And I do not think I have talent in this field.”
“To my eyes, it seems like you do.”
“Ah. Is that so? Thank you for looking kindly on me!”
Once I climbed the tower and my adventurer level rose, I would have to join a guild someday.
There were also resources that could only be obtained through guild content.
However, joining an existing guild was naturally out of the question.
That said, devouring guild content all by myself would only be possible after I had prepared everything, including the Seven Deadly Sins.
In the end, I needed at least a few people who could become my hands and feet.
In that sense, Go Insu was not a bad recruitment target.
“If I later ask you to work with me, would you be interested?”
“Ah! Of course! If it is you, Hyungnim, I am fine with anything.”
“How do you know what kind of person I am?”
“You bought the summons from me at their proper price instead. There is no way someone like that could be a bad person!”
“Thank you for saying that. Let us exchange numbers first. I will call you later.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Then until that time, I will do nothing else and just study Legend Seven hard.”
“That much? Even so, I would like you to do some schoolwork too. Even if you dropped out.”
“I will do everything!”
Wow. He had more fighting spirit than I expected.
“All right. Then I will see you later.”
“Yes!”
After finishing the summon transaction with Go Insu, I left the café.
***
I had finished reinforcing my equipment and summons.
Now, only the final step truly remained.
I stood still for a moment and organized my plan.
Climbing the tower.
Honestly, I did not think this would be that difficult of a problem.
Receiving good grades, breaking records, and sweeping up rewards had already been decided.
‘The problem is... the “Record Tower”.’
Once I started climbing the tower, even if I hid my personal information, I could not hide the fact that ‘someone had broken a record’.
If such things repeated, no matter how much I hid, I would eventually be found out.
They would narrow down the list of adventurers who entered at that time, and if they kept narrowing it down, they would catch me by the tail.
In other words, I could not hide my identity forever.
‘But I can delay that moment as much as possible.’
At least until I built enough strength to sit at the table as a ‘negotiation target’.
To summarize, it was like this.
My summons are powerful, but at the same time, they are dangerous.
If I reveal my identity right now, there is a high chance they will try to suppress, plunder, or eliminate me rather than win me over.
However, I have no intention whatsoever of slowing down my clearing speed just to avoid attention.
Then?
“I climb the tower. Faster and more brilliantly than anyone else.”
Before the Record Tower found me, I would make the adventurer known as me into an existence so attractive that no one could refuse.
Even if I was threatening. Even if the risk was great.
I would become a poisoned apple they could not endure without taking a bite.
‘The time limit is one week.’
This period was inspired by the average suspect identification time in past ‘major adventurer crimes’.
Even if its combat power was somewhat lacking, Korea was unrivaled when it came to information about adventurers located within the country.
Through the existence of the Record Tower and CCTVs installed at a ratio second only to China, if they wanted, they would probably dig up information on even my in-laws’ distant relatives.
So before that—
‘The 50th floor. I will clear it within one week.’
Clearing the 50th floor had symbolic meaning for an adventurer.
Internationally, it meant becoming a proper veteran adventurer.
Domestically, it placed one around the lowest seat of the top 100 rankings.
For a promising member of a mid-sized guild to reach this stage, it usually took about two years.
‘I am trying to surpass other people’s two years in only one week. I will have to prepare that thoroughly.’
As the first step, shall I check the condition of the newly recruited summons?
I immediately opened the status windows of Temina, Shade of Flame, and Iron, the Cowardly Golem.
【Temina, Shade of Flame】
Attribute: Fire
Level: 1
Grade: Hero
Class Line: Archer
[Stats]
Attack Power 6
Defense 5
Vitality 20
Speed 10
Critical Rate 15%
Critical Damage 15
Effect Hit 0
Effect Resistance 0
[Unique Skill]
1st Skill <I Am Really Hot, You Know?>
Description: If an ally has the first turn, she heats up her body and her attack power increases by 20%. If three or more allies are in a buffed state, she performs a joint attack when an ally hits. During a joint attack, she penetrates 30% of the enemy’s defense.
Looking only at her unique skill, she was definitely a decent summon.
In particular, it said her attack power increased by 20% through heating up when an ally had the first turn, and if the ability was developed, it could be raised up to 100%.
It was a little disappointing that her other stats were unimpressive in exchange for that strong attack power.
And next was Iron, who would become the tanker.
【Iron, the Cowardly Golem】
Attribute: Grass
Level: 1
Grade: Hero
Class Line: Knight
[Stats]
Attack Power 3
Defense 10
Vitality 25
Speed 11
Critical Rate 15%
Critical Damage 15
Effect Hit 0
Effect Resistance 0
[Unique Skill]
1st Skill <I Am Scared, Though!>
Description: A timid knight. When placed in the backline, his own defense increases by 40%, and allies’ defense increases by 20%. However, when placed in the frontline, the ‘Trauma’ effect occurs.
*Trauma: All stats except vitality and defense change to 1, and all stats reduced at this time are added to vitality and defense. When attacking, he deals damage proportional to vitality.
Look at this ability.
Was this not truly the final boss of trash-tier summons?
He was a knight. Yet the fellow who was supposed to protect his allies only had increased defense when he was in the backline.
But if one forcibly shoved him into the front and told him to do a knight’s job, he curled up and entered endurance mode.
With this, who would use him even if he was sold as a limited unit?
Then what intention was this fellow designed with?
He had been made to be used as a part of a stall deck, a so-called ‘come-at-me’ deck, to strengthen allies’ defense.
If there was a problem, it was that in a stall deck, there were many others who could perform the same role besides him.
However, I had no intention of placing him in the backline and using him that way.
On the contrary, I intended to place him in the frontline.
After all, he had excellent synergy with the ‘Nightmare-Tainted Heart of Red Solidarity’ that I had given Hertia.
If Hertia attacked while equipped with the Heart of Red Solidarity, Iron would have no choice but to participate in a joint attack, whether he liked it or not.
Besides, if he was in the frontline, did all his stats not become concentrated only into vitality and defense?
On top of that, he even had vitality-scaling damage!
What, was he just an ordinarily good summon?
I am sorry, but this fellow was difficult for anyone except me to use.
When Iron’s ‘Trauma’ activated, even his speed dropped to 1.
A summon with a speed of ‘1’?
Who would try to use something like that?
No matter how high his damage was, he would not even get a chance to attack.
‘First... I should adjust their levels.’
No matter how complete the composition was, if they were level 1, they would not be able to perform properly because of the difference in stats.
I immediately went outside and headed toward the Attribute Rune Dungeon.
‘I hope Hertia and Caligo do not throw a fit.’