I Possess Too Many Characteristics

Chapter 42

‘I must be seriously cursed.’

‘Distorted Forest of the Lowest-Grade Spirits’ Gate, open space in front.

Jeonghyeon thought as he lay sprawled on the ground in an unsightly manner.

He wasn’t the type to believe in superstitions, but this couldn’t be explained without some sort of theory like that.

The explanation Suyeon gave him on the way back was absurd.

“This, the Spirit’s Wrath, is a phenomenon that occurs when the hunting pace is too high. We never imagined it would apply to us, so we couldn’t tell you in advance. I’m sorry.”

A pattern that triggers because you’re too good at hunting?

What kind of nonsense is that?

He couldn’t shake the suspicion that they were now throwing in all sorts of bizarre phenomena because bosses and villains weren’t enough anymore.

‘It’s like this in a mere 3-level Gate, what will happen in higher-level Gates…… Ugh, it’s scary to even imagine.’

Well, he was fine.

Given the nature of his Trait, he could accept it even if the Gate was trying to screw him over.

But what did his fellow Hunters, who had to hunt with him, do to deserve this?

Just look at Sunhyeong and his group.

These people, who would have been enjoying a normal hunt otherwise, have experienced all sorts of things they might encounter once in a lifetime after he joined.

……Well, their proficiency levels are rising well, so it might be a good thing.

‘Still, the results aren’t bad.’

First of all, all the Spirits killed during the Spirit’s Wrath dropped Spirit Stones.

It seemed like a form of compensation.

Besides, when he checked earlier, he had collected 9 coins.

It was the biggest gain at a time when leveling up the Trait Shop was imminent.

‘I have 6 coins left until the next level-up…… I might be able to level up and buy something.’

Jeonghyeon, finishing his thoughts, looked around.

The people who had been walking relatively well in the Spirit Realm were now scattered here and there, looking not much different from him.

At least Suyeon wasn’t lying down, but leaning against a wall.

Her complexion suggested that if she were a little closer to the others, she would have collapsed as well.

“Phew…… Everyone, you’ve worked hard……”

Sunhyeong said in a dying voice.

At the sound of his voice, everyone groaned and got up.

Although their limbs were trembling and their bodies ached from the aftereffects of being hit by various attributes, they had to go home.

After all, they survived.

“As expected, hunting with Hyungnim is thrilling, it makes me feel alive.”

“……Yes, you’ve worked hard.”

‘Is that thrilling? We almost died?’

Sangsu’s eyes seemed to think it was getting a bit dangerous now.

It seemed that the principle that if you receive too much strong stimulation, you can no longer react to anything weaker than that, also applies to risking your life.

Anyway, after Sunhyeong’s party left, only Jeonghyeon and Suyeon remained in the open space.

She could have left earlier if she wanted to, but she seemed to be hesitating.

“Do you have something to say……?”

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Jeonghyeon asked, and Suyeon stammered.

“I know this is really rude, but…… What is your Trait……?”

‘Well, it must look really strange.’

Jeonghyeon nodded inwardly.

Frankly, it would be strange if people didn’t think like Suyeon.

So he understood, but answering was a different matter.

“Did Manager Shin tell you to ask?”

“Oh, no! I was just curious. It’s a bit strange to call it Throwing Technique, and it doesn’t seem like a pure Agility type……”

Suyeon was originally small, so her flustered appearance was quite cute.

Jeonghyeon felt playful as he watched her.

‘Can’t I just say I have both?’

If he was going to be a little playful, she wouldn’t believe him anyway.

She would just think he was making up a ridiculous lie because he didn’t want to tell her.

Or, having seen Jeonghyeon’s performance, she might actually believe he was a Re-awakened Hunter.

But there was no need to stir up trouble.

“It’s just an Agility type Trait.”

“Then, at least the rank…… No, it’s not F-rank, is it?”

“Uh…… It’s not F-rank.”

It would only make things weirder if he said it was F-rank here.

Because it was now an ability that had completely escaped the realm of F-rank.

Of course, in reality, he had long since graduated from F-rank.

“Suyeon-ssi, you’ve worked really hard too. I’ll be going now.”

With that, Jeonghyeon turned around.

Suyeon’s heart felt inexplicably urgent.

As a member of the HR team, she had a hunch that she shouldn’t let Jeonghyeon go like this.

“Uh, shall I give you a ride?”

She had brought her car, so she just threw out the suggestion that came to mind.

Jeonghyeon’s feet, which seemed about to disappear at any moment, stopped abruptly.

“If you insist…… Well, I’ll gratefully accept a ride.”

‘……?’

It felt like he accepted a little too readily, but in the end, she succeeded in building a connection, so it would be fine.

“Th-then let’s go.”

◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈

“Oh, I’m going to die.”

Although it felt like he was saying the same thing every time he came in, Jeonghyeon arrived home.

As Jeonghyeon had acted as a sub-tanker, he had taken that many more hits from the Spirits.

Of course, most of his direct injuries were healed by Doyun.

“They should have told me that Spirit attacks have such strong aftereffects……”

But unlike injuries from weapons or physical attacks, the pain from Spirit attacks didn’t subside easily.

To put it into words, the places where fire touched felt like burns,

the places where water touched felt heavy,

the places where lightning touched felt slightly numb,

and the places where wind touched felt raw.

According to Suyeon, it was because the attributes Spirits handled were different from those of the natural world, but whether it was the natural world or whatever, it should have healed if it was healed.

“Hehehe……”

But a strange laughter escaped Jeonghyeon’s lips.

Had he reached the point of enjoying pain?

Of course not.

“The Trait level is now 3……”

『Coins needed for next level: 4

Current coins: 9』

It was because of the heartwarming coin status floating before his eyes.

“Even if the reroll fails, I can accept this!”

As Jeonghyeon said, if you think of the coins he would use this time as being spent on raising the level of his Traits rather than gaining something special, the mental damage would be less.

『「You have purchased Stealth that Can Fool Even Goblins’ Eyes」（E, Lv.1）.』

First, he purchased the Stealth Trait he had been eyeing but couldn’t buy because he was one coin short.

The rest was the final reroll for leveling up.

At that moment, an annoyed voice came from next door, as if he was sick of it.

“Are you playing that game again today?”

Jeonghyeon, who usually couldn’t contain his joy and shouted, felt sorry for the man next door and answered with an awkward smile.

“Yes, I’ll try to be quiet today……”

Whether he could keep that promise, even Jeonghyeon himself would have to wait and see.

『The list has been refreshed.』

『「The proficiency level of Trait Shop」（EX） has increased from 2→3.』

A level-up notification similar to the one he saw at the Hunter Association appeared.

This made 「Trait Shop」 Jeonghyeon’s first level 3 Trait.

“I’ve leveled up for now…… Then let’s take a look at the probabilities━ Cough!”

The moment Jeonghyeon opened the 「Trait Shop」 probabilities with anticipation,

he realized.

That 「Trait Shop」 wasn’t a Trait that would dare betray his expectations.

『「Trait Shop」（Lv.3）

Coins needed for next level: 70

Equippable Traits / Storable Traits: 0 / 5

Trait Probabilities: F 40%, E 30%, D 18%, C 7%, B 4%, A 0.7%, S 0.3%』

“Fi-finally……”

He was so happy that the F-rank probability had finally dropped below 50%.

‘Goodbye, Paltry, So-so!’

In addition, the probability of D-rank, which could be considered his main rank, had increased significantly.

A whopping four times the probability.

Moreover, the C-rank, which was only 2%, had also jumped to 7%.

Since D-rank appeared quite often with a 4.5% probability, C-rank wasn’t just a pipe dream anymore.

The possibility of reaching the level of Jinwook, who seemed like a monster, and Suyeon, who showed the solidity of C-rank, had opened up.

“Huh? What’s this?”

Furthermore, it didn’t end with a simple level-up.

A new notification window popped up in front of Jeonghyeon’s eyes.

『「Trait Shop」（Ex, Lv.3） Achievement Reward.

Coin Probability Calculation, Sudden Coin Quest unlocked.

Coin Probability Calculation: The probability of coins dropping from each monster will now be visible.

Sudden Coin Quest: When entering combat, if certain conditions are met, you can obtain a quest that allows you to acquire additional coins.』

“Crazy! It’s here!”

Jeonghyeon, who was initially reading the text slowly, wondering what it was, jumped up from his bed.

An angry response from the man next door, who was enjoying his complete victory, was a bonus.

“You said you’d be quiet today!”

“I’m sorry, Mister! I’m really sorry, I’ll buy you some meat later!”

“Ahem.”

Even if he had to buy the man beef or pork until he was no longer angry, how could he contain this joy?

Jeonghyeon had decided to faithfully follow the ancient saying that good things should be shared to become even greater.

Fortunately, the man didn’t seem to dislike the idea of being treated to meat in a studio apartment building where they lived alone.

He wouldn’t make a fuss no matter what was on the list, now updated with the 3-level shop probabilities.

Jeonghyeon firmly resolved and opened the shop list.

『Shop List（Refresh Cost: 2 Coins）

「Faint Attribute Imprinting」（F, Lv.1）, 1C

「Hundred-Mile Eye」（D, Lv.1）, 3C

「Heated Fire Magic」（E, Lv.1）, 2C

「Noticeable Axe Skill」（E, Lv.1）, 2C

「Decent Punching」（F, Lv.1）, 1C』

Jeonghyeon’s expression became ambiguous as he checked the list.

“Huh?”

A D-rank did appear.

「Hundred-Mile Eye」.

To put it simply, it was an upgraded version of the 「Ten-Mile Eye」 that Jeongah had.

If he acquired the Trait, not only his vision but also the stats needed for archery would increase.

It would probably go well with the Throwing Technique that Jeonghyeon used.

Generally, eyesight enhancement Traits were popular.

But Jeonghyeon couldn’t help but hesitate before buying it.

‘Ugh, if only I had a few more coins!’

It was good that a D-rank appeared, but the situation wasn’t great.

He had 5 coins left.

If he bought 「Hundred-Mile Eye」 for 3 coins, he would have two coins left.

He would have no problem refreshing the list once more, but that was all.

Even if he could reroll once more, he wouldn’t have enough coins left to buy a Trait worth buying right away.

‘If only a Throwing Technique or a D-rank among the Traits I have appeared……’

Although Jeonghyeon himself thought the purpose of this coin consumption was to level up his Traits, he was troubled when the moment of choice came.

For example, if he could upgrade his Agility or Battle Sense to D-rank, the effect would be guaranteed.

“Ugh…… If I think rationally, it’s right to just buy it……”

His head clearly insisted that he should buy 「Hundred-Mile Eye」 without hesitation.

But for some reason, he hesitated to act, feeling uneasy that he would regret it if he bought it.

At that moment,

“Hehehe, judging by the signs, today is the day of revenge.”

A triumphant voice came from next door.

Well, he understood, considering how much Jeonghyeon had bothered him.

‘For someone his age to be so eager for revenge……’

He never imagined he would be dreaming of revenge in this way.

He was also curious about how he was going to get his revenge.

If he was truly angry about the noise, he would have knocked on the door and visited him instead of just talking through the wall.

‘Is he trying to push me to refresh like last time?’

And Jeonghyeon’s curiosity was soon resolved.

He also realized that the man’s revenge plan was more impressive than he thought.

“Even if something good appears now, something better might appear next time.”

“Mm-hm.”

“But realistically, isn’t it too mindless to decide to reroll when you have an attractive option in front of you?”

“Huh?”

The outer part of Jeonghyeon’s right eyebrow shot up.

He thought he would just tempt him to refresh like last time, but his strategy seemed to have changed.

“But it feels like a waste to spend all your money on something expensive.”

“Ugh……”

“It’s frustrating to buy this!”

“Please, please stop!”

Jeonghyeon, unable to listen anymore, writhed in agony.

For some reason, the mental anguish of being swayed by the voice next door was more painful than the aftereffects of the Spirit attacks.

“Ah! Cold reason versus the beast’s heart, that is the question!”

“Argh! Refresh!”

In the end, Jeonghyeon shouted”Refresh”before he knew it.

Although it was a path he chose himself, it felt like he was forced to do it, and he felt uneasy that no matter which path he took, it would be filled with regret.

“Hehehe, as expected, I won today. It’s a safe investment there.”

And the voice of the man next door, convinced of his victory, followed.

‘I’ve lost…… But isn’t that man too free?’

Tears welled up in his eyes.

But what could he do now that it had come to this?

He had no choice but to forget about the 「Hundred-Mile Eye」 that had passed and look at the newly arrived Traits.