Artifact-Devouring Player - Chapter 52

Chapter 52: Displaing Skills (2)

Gulp.

Sanghyun unconsciously swallowed the saliva pooling in his mouth. It was proof of his tension.

However, Shin Taeri did not notice that Sanghyun was nervous at all.

The extreme concentration and calmness provided by the Psychedelic skill blocked the process of his emotions showing on his face.

Thanks to the special effect, the duration of Psychedelic had increased from the original 120 seconds to 240 seconds, and there was still plenty of time left.

At that moment.

A sudden surge of energy fluctuated violently from Shin Taeri.

It was something like a mirage, drawing a curved trajectory like a wave as it swiftly approached Sanghyun.

Although Sanghyun knew quite a bit about Shin Taeri, he did not know everything.

So he could not determine the name of this skill.

However, he could guess what kind of skill it was.

It was knowledge naturally acquired through his past life, having faced countless different enemies.

‘It’s a pulling technique.’

A technique also known as a Grab skill. A skill that forcefully pulls in a designated target.

Depending on the structure of the skill, its form could vary greatly, sometimes pulling the target right in front of the caster.

If that happened?

Surviving against an assassin-type player like Shin Taeri would be nearly impossible. The moment he got pulled in, he would be killed immediately.

‘It has a long cooldown, but it’s nearly impossible to avoid. If you try to deflect it, you’ll get pulled in just for trying.’

Sanghyun’s expression hardened.

It was a truly tricky skill.

Since it was not a skill that could be easily learned, he thought Shin Taeri had brought it out as her trump card.

To learn such a skill from a skill book, it would cost at least hundreds of billions of won, and even in terms of level, one would need to be at least 400 to have a chance at acquiring it.

Sanghyun turned his body at a perfect right angle and dodged away.

It was an intelligent response based on the fact that most skills had strong linearity.

Shooosh!

‘Damn it.’

However, not everything went as planned. Shin Taeri’s grab skill had a homing function.

Until it achieved its purpose, it would relentlessly pursue its target unless they sank into the ground or soared into the sky.

‘I have to see one move ahead, no, even further.’

Sanghyun’s mind spun rapidly. Despite the dangerous situation, he calmly sought a countermeasure.

This was a variable he could create because he had many skills at his disposal.

‘You won’t be able to avoid this.’

A victorious smile spread across Shin Taeri’s lips.

Shadow Grab skill.

A skill that forcibly pulls a designated opponent toward the user.

It was her bread-and-butter skill, essential for selectively assassinating her targets when infiltrating dungeons or gates for assassination missions.

Naturally, it was also her main skill, which she had painstakingly refined and leveled up over time.

At that moment.

Tap, tap, tap!

Sanghyun suddenly started sprinting forward at full speed.

“……?”

Shin Taeri was flustered.

Not because she was afraid of Sanghyun, but because he was showing a completely opposite response to his previously cautious approach.

Closing the distance like this would only make avoiding Shadow Grab even harder.

She had a rough guess. He had already judged that the scales of victory had tilted and had given up.

That’s why he was doing such a reckless act. However, Shin Taeri’s expectations were soon shattered.

Squeeze!

The moment Shadow Grab’s unique black smoke rose to snatch Sanghyun’s body—

Sanghyun activated the Recovery skill.

Shadow Grab caused a forced pulling status effect the moment it grabbed someone.

He nullified it with Recovery. This immediately canceled the pulling effect, leaving only the black smoke swirling in the air.

“Ah……”

No matter how much she tried to suppress it, an uncontrollable sense of emptiness escaped her tightly sealed lips as a sound.

She never imagined that someone could so precisely counter the dark grasp with an ability to remove status effects.

Even if she had been in the same situation, it would have been nearly impossible to time it correctly.

The problem did not end there.

Sanghyun, who had been on full defense, completely changed his stance.

There was no rule that said he had to only defend and evade while blocking five moves.

Sanghyun’s strategy was to look one step ahead, no, even further.

A perfect counterattack after flawless defense! It was a checkmate move thrown at Shin Taeri, who was accustomed to pushing others into a corner before striking.

With Acceleration active, even a short Full Charging allowed him to dash long distances.

On top of that, he flipped the wooden sword in his hand and aimed at Shin Taeri with the handle.

Even though the sharpness of the wooden sword was removed, Crushing Blade ensured it retained sufficient lethality.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

Completely caught off guard, Shin Taeri groaned as the handle struck squarely at her solar plexus.

It was a completely unexpected counterattack. Perhaps she had underestimated Sanghyun, thinking he wouldn’t dare go on the offensive.

‘……If this were real, I’d be dead.’

Cold sweat trickled down Shin Taeri’s spine.

She had lost because she failed to anticipate that Shadow Grab could be neutralized in this manner.

Sanghyun seemed confident. The confidence to counter Shadow Grab and immediately switch to offense!

“……I lost.”

Shin Taeri nodded without hesitation. Since she had been cleanly outmaneuvered, she accepted it quickly.

She thought Sanghyun’s clean handling of the situation deserved more than a perfect score.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I could tell you held back at the end. The damage was really weak.”

“That was an intense duel. I feel like I’ve learned a lot.”

Sanghyun respectfully bowed his head. It was an expression of reverence for her giving it her all.

“No one has ever handled so many variables in just a few seconds like that before.”

“I think it only happened because I only had to block five moves. If we had to fight dozens of times, I would have lost in the end.”

Shin Taeri wasn’t saying that just to make him feel good.

It was Sanghyun’s own self-assessment of the battle he had just finished.

Compared to her, who barely made a sound while breathing, Sanghyun was already panting.

Even if he had countered a few more times, if the fight had dragged on, he would have been the one to kneel in the end.

"With your current skills, when you reach the same level as me in the future, I think you'll be in a completely different world. That was truly impressive."

Shin Taeri, who rarely showed such expressions, even smiled as she raised a thumbs-up to Sanghyun.

It meant she was genuinely happy to acknowledge him.

Rather, she even felt grateful to Sanghyun. Thanks to him, she had found things to revise and improve.

"So, does that mean you’ll help me train anytime now?"

Sanghyun brought up the promise he had made earlier.

That promise had served as a solid motivation for him, ultimately leading to results. He felt quite proud.

"Instead of me helping you train, I think I should be the one asking you for help with my training."

"Oh, I wouldn’t go that far."

"I will definitely keep the promise I made earlier. I value trust above all else."

"Thank you. I’ll be looking forward to your guidance in the future."

"Feel free to contact me anytime. Ah, I’ll give you a different number. This is the one I only share with close acquaintances."

Shin Taeri entered a number into the smartphone Sanghyun handed her, a different one from her usual contact.

It was a number known only to a select few with whom she exchanged personal messages.

‘To think I’d get this close to the Shadow Assassin, who once felt like a distant mountain I could never reach.’

As he received his smartphone back from her, Sanghyun’s hands trembled. He was that moved.

A once seemingly untouchable named player was now marveling at his skills and acknowledging him.

He even felt regret that there was no one to share this overwhelming joy with.

‘Thank you so much.’

For a player, the constellation they meet is of great importance.

In that sense, Sanghyun considered himself blessed and incredibly lucky.

"Let’s keep in touch. I won’t forget today’s five moves and will reflect on them repeatedly. And… you know, right?"

Just as Sanghyun had done earlier, Shin Taeri naturally held up five fingers and smiled.

Though smiling seemed unfamiliar to her, it made her appear even more endearing.

It also seemed like she was being considerate, ensuring that Sanghyun, who had done his best, wouldn’t feel bad.

"Next time, should we increase it a bit from five? Maybe to seven?"

"Sounds good. I won’t fall for the same tricks next time."

"I’ll come up with even more ingenious moves. This is really motivating."

"See you on the departure day to Kaeseong."

"Got it."

"Then, until next time."

With a gust of cold wind, Shin Taeri vanished without a trace. She was indeed a true assassin player.

"Phew."

Thud!

As soon as the tension that had gripped his body was released, Sanghyun collapsed onto the empty ground.

"I really need to raise my stats more…"

What he felt once again after sparring with Shin Taeri was an intense thirst for more stats.

There was still time before the Kaeseong subjugation battle.

Sanghyun resolved to focus entirely on upgrading his stats until then.

He planned to boost his strength to at least 500 to ensure he could maintain an airborne effect for at least one second.

And he intended to increase his luck stat to 300 to further enhance critical damage and artifact acquisition rates.

The monster ecosystem spread across the Kaeseong field was definitely worth such an investment.

‘My balance is 2.6 billion won. I’ll squeeze out every last bit and max out my stats as much as possible.’

Sanghyun stood up.

He planned to rest thoroughly and head out artifact shopping at dawn.

His first destination would be Hyeonjeong Market, the closest to his home.

The next morning.

Sanghyun visited Hyeonjeong Market as soon as he woke up, but left shortly after without much success.

The market had plenty of bronze and silver-grade artifacts, but they were too straightforward in their stat options.

He had hoped to find artifacts with so-called "trash options" as additional effects, but there were none.

So, he chose his next stop—the open market.

Unlike nationally certified markets, open markets were less regulated, but they offered a greater variety of artifacts.

The most active one was near Unseo Station on the Airport Railroad.

Sanghyun decided to go all out on artifact shopping there.

Vroom!

His sedan sped smoothly down the road.

A light drizzle had begun, but he had already been aware of the forecast, so he paid it no mind.

However, there was just one thing.

A car was trailing behind him at a careful distance, unnoticed by Sanghyun.

Nietzsche.

The man who had secretly discussed Sanghyun and the player known as Tory on the Predation Network.