Chapter 33: A Fu*king Dragon!
Benedict continued nibbling on his cookie as he watched Rafaela walk away. Looked like she went to grab me a drink.
Now that she was out of sight, Benedict reopened his status screen.
(Status)
<Level: 4 / 100 – Upgrade cost: 200 EP>
<HP: 200 / 200>
<EP: 500>
(Active Skills)
<C-tier – Coin Flip: Detail>
<9 slots remaining>
(Passive Skills)
<10 slots remaining>
(Unique Trait)
<SS-tier – Phoenix Rebirth: Detail>
(Legend Sigils)
<C-tier – Necro Arm: Detail>
<4 slots remaining>
Benedict tapped the "Upgrade Level" button. He needed to hit at least level 30 within the next two years.
(Congratulations! You have reached Level 5)
<HP: 200 → 250>
Benedict smiled. He glanced at the next upgrade cost.
(Status)
<Level: 5 / 100 – Upgrade cost: 300 EP>
<HP: 250 / 250>
<EP: 300>
(Active Skills)
<C-tier – Coin Flip: Detail>
<9 slots remaining>
(Passive Skills)
<10 slots remaining>
(Unique Trait)
<SS-tier – Phoenix Rebirth: Detail>
(Legend Sigils)
<C-tier – Necro Arm: Detail>
<4 slots remaining>
Benedict cursed under his breath. The cost jumped by 100 EP. Seriously?
He paused. Should he use his remaining EP for a skill gacha, or upgrade an existing skill?
After some thought, he decided to upgrade Coin Flip.
(Tier-C Skill: Coin Flip)
Coin Flip – Every time this skill is activated, your next attack has a 50/50 chance.
Heads: double damage to the enemy.
Tails: you deal that same damage to yourself.
<Tier-C Skill: Coin Flip>
<Upgrade Cost: 1x Rare Shard and 200 EP>
He hit the Upgrade button. The skill’s name and description shimmered brightly.
(Congratulations! You have upgraded Coin Flip)
<C → Tier-B Skill: Coin Flip>
(Tier-B Skill: Coin Flip)
Coin Flip – Every time this skill is activated, your next attack has a 70/30 chance.
Heads: double damage to the enemy.
Tails: you deal that same damage to yourself.
Benedict let out a small "ohh" of surprise. So upgrading it reduced the chance of Tails. What would happen if he kept upgrading this to S-tier?
Could it become OP? A skill that potentially doubles damage with such a low drawback? That sounded broken.
<Tier-B Skill: Coin Flip>
<Upgrade Cost: 2 Epic Shard or 20 Rare Shard and 500 EP>
Benedict nearly choked. What kind of insane jump was that? From 1 Rare Shard to 20?
Absolutely ridiculous.
He shook his head and checked his remaining EP.
<EP: 100>
He grinned. Just enough for a single gacha pull.
He opened the Skill Gacha menu.
(Basic Gacha)
An octagonal orb spun into view on the screen, glowing faintly. Beside it, a shimmering golden button waited.
[Start Gacha – Cost: 100 EP]
[Available Tiers: D, C, B]
[A, S, SS, SSS – Locked until Boss is defeated]
He pressed the button.
The orb began spinning, flashing letters—D, C, B—across its surface. Benedict closed his eyes, waiting for the result.
A few seconds later, the orb went silent.
Ding!
A chime rang in Benedict’s head. He opened his eyes and looked at his Status screen.
(Congratulations! You have obtained a B-tier skill: TRUE SIGHT!)
Benedict’s eyes widened in disbelief. No way. He got the same True Sight skill that Alice had.
A skill that let you see people’s status. One of the most useful tools in combat, especially against hidden abilities.
He broke into a wide smile and immediately hit the "Detail" button.
(Tier-B Skill: True Sight)
<True Sight: Greatly boosts the user’s mental resistance, making them immune to illusions. Grants the ability to see an enemy’s movements a few milliseconds ahead.>
<Upgrade Cost: 2 Epic Shard or 20 Rare Shard and 500 EP>
His smile slowly faded.
Right. He’d forgotten that in order to actually see someone’s status, he’d need to upgrade it to S-tier. Just like Alice had.
At this stage, it wouldn’t reveal status, but it would still be a powerful asset in battle. Especially against illusion-type monsters.
Still, it felt a little weird seeing his EP drop to zero.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him.
"Here’s your drink," Rafaela said, placing two orange-colored beverages on the table.
"Thanks." Benedict flashed her a small smile.
She sat back down across from him.
"Hey, don’t you think the crowd outside’s been getting louder?" she said in a low voice.
Benedict raised a brow. He’d noticed it too. The noise from outside was getting more intense, enough to make the table tremble.
He figured it was about time to deactivate his Hypnosis. This kind of chaos could spill over into Rafaela’s shop.
"Yeah, I noticed it too," he replied.
Rafaela narrowed her eyes slightly. "Can you turn off that magic trick of yours?" she asked.
Benedict let out an "ahh" sound, finally remembering, he’d had Mike Hawk under hypnosis for quite a while now.
He deactivated the skill.
[SSS Hypnosis Deactivated]
He glanced toward the crowd. But weirdly enough, they weren’t dispersing.
"Hey, did you turn it off?" Rafaela asked again, a bit of concern in her tone.
Benedict nodded. The crowd had gone quiet. Too quiet.
They were all staring upward.
But Mike Hawk wasn’t in the sky, right? So why were they looking up?
Suddenly, the floor beneath them began to shake violently, knocking over the two drinks Rafaela had brought.
"W-What is this?!" she exclaimed, startled. It felt like an earthquake.
Benedict’s expression turned grim. He stood up immediately. People outside were already running in panic.
What the hell is going on?
He glanced around, Mike Hawk was nowhere to be seen.
Without wasting another second, Benedict rushed toward the shop’s entrance. Rafaela’s mother also appeared, looking panicked.
"Where are you going? Hey!" Rafaela shouted from behind.
"You two, stay here!" Benedict ordered.
The tremor was growing stronger.
He threw the door open and stepped outside, immediately getting bumped by someone sprinting past him.
The crowd was running to the right, which could only mean one thing.
Something was coming from the left, from the royal plaza.
Benedict slowly turned his head.
What greeted him was black scales and razor-sharp claws.
He looked up, eyes widening.
From a distance, the creature looked monstrous. Black-scaled. White-brown leathery skin. Two massive, curved horns. Rows of sharp fangs. And wings so wide they blocked out the sun.
Benedict went pale. His whole body trembled.
It was a Dragon.
A Wraith-tier monster.