Chapter 19: Back to the Half-Naked One
Chapter 19: Back to the Half-Naked One
In short, what was this situation that I have found myself in right now? It’s simple, really.
· I’m back to running half-naked since I can’t equip anything on my torso and legs.
· Weak monsters are now going to avoid encounters with me.
· The curse resistance may come as a pretty solid buff in the future.
· Does that mean my character is no longer a beginner, but an intermediate or even advanced?
「Isn’t that…… something taken straight out of a sh*tty game?」
What is this? Does this mean the gods of the sh*tty games have finally decided to smite me for my attempt at abandoning them in favor of a better game? Is that what this is all about? Was my godly ShanFro going to take a turn for the worst sh*tty game possible? No,no, no. Calm down, me. Think about this carefully.
In order to persevere through the sh*ttiest of sh*tty games one needed three basic virtues: tolerant mind to suffer through even the stupidest of scenarios, patience to overcome the broken AI and a calm mind to withstand the saltiness of a sudden failure.
「Let’s try to summarize the events thus far……」
First order of business: with fifty more ability points to dispense to my statistics, it was about time for some major upgrades. My current standing was a critical hit fighter with high luck and paper-thin defenses, so it may turn out that leveling up like that may become harder in the near future. Additionally, I don’t think that the Curse Mark of Luukan is going to be a demerit only.
「……… Now that I think about it.」
What happened to that monster after the encounter had ended? Usually when monsters get far enough away from the player they are going to disappear and reappear after some time in their initial spawning position. But how great of a distance would that be? It was something to think about, since the Full Dive games didn’t really have loading times at all, and are very closely resembling reality.
「That’s right.」
Now it would be a good time to invest some of those points in my HP and Vitality. But not too much, since making myself a tank in my current position wouldn’t be that efficient to begin with. What’s more important here is my ability to be able to catch up to any monsters that would try to run away from me from now on. My condition…… Overall stamina…… Some skills would be nice as well, just to be on the safe side…… And yes, the fact that Luukan didn’t finish me instantly and that I was left with only 1 HP must have been Luck-related.
「This is……」
PN: Sanraku
LV: 28
Class: Mercenary (Dual Wielding Swordsman)
2,000 Mani
HP: 30
MP: 10
STM: 50
STR: 15
DEX: 20
AGI: 60
TEC: 20
VIT: 6
LUC: 65
Skills:
? Rush Slash
? Spiral Edge
? Knuckle Rush
? Slide Move
? Repel Counter
? Loop Slash Lv.4
? Edge Climb
? Accel Lv.3
Equipment:
Right: Vorpal Chopper
Left: Vorpal Chopper
Head: Mask of the Bird Eye (VIT + 1)
Torso: Curse of Luukan
Waist: Leather Belt (VIT + 4)
Feet: Curse of Luukan
Accessories: None
It’s kind of weird in a mundane way, that’s not really the way I wanted to play this game at all……
At this rate, my current build would leave me as a critical hit warrior based solely on Luck. My defenses will continue to be paper-thin and all of my damage will come from critical hits and nothing more. It wasn’t that bad of a concept, but currently the only real fighting skills I have are the ones that are kind of a double-edge sword and the skill that lets me accelerate my movement and attack speed for a short duration. It is enough for now, but there will come a time when I am sure to bounce off a wall that I won’t be able to traverse. Still, maybe my approach for the game was wrong on the fundamental level? It is an online game after all, so why was I so adamant on playing it solo?
Would my encounter with Night Prowler Luukan have turned out different if I wasn’t alone?
But unlike the sh*tty games where it was almost always mandatory to play solo since so few people were playing said games, this game has thousands of players logged in on a daily basis, so maybe forming a party wouldn’t be so bad after all.
No, but with my current predicament, it would surely annoy other players that they can’t farm monsters because they would run away from me…… The more I think about it the more I realized that I was pretty much locked on the path of a solo player for now.
Maybe there is a player out there that would be willing to help me lift that curse? Maybe some of the top players on the server? But what is the probability of such players venturing into the beginner area? Probably the same as encountering a unique monster two times in a row.
「Haah……」
Not to mention that both of my naked torso and legs were covered with dark bite marks…… the marks of the curse.
Both the vest and the trousers got damaged and disappeared during the fight, as if it’s the most natural thing for them to do. No matter how many times I check in the status screen, the equipment slots taken by the curse marks are still there and are not disappearing.
Guess I need to accept the fact that I was going to look like a total creep and pervert for quite some time now.
「Oh well, not that I can do anything about it. What would you like me to do in the face of a hardship inside of the game? Lay on the ground and cry about it?…… No thanks.」
I must say, I am really pleasantly surprised by this game. With the goal of defeating the Night Prowler Luukan in mind, my determination skyrocketed.
This curse causes the protagonist to run around half-naked again, but generally there are three types of curses in ShangriLa Frontier.
First, there are “magic” curses which the magic casters and some monsters can use. They are more like actual magic attacks rather than real curses.
Next, there are “Plot” curses, unique status effects granted to the player upon reaching certain plot points in the game storyline or while doing side quests. A good example would be a curse that activated during a quest like “Investigate the Haunted House”, which would continuously drain your sanity points for the whole duration of the investigation.
Finally there are the “Curse Marks” granted by the unique monsters. It is a system incorporated to give some sort of gratification for getting parts of your equipment destroyed, but at the same time being a huge demerit that directly interferes with the game system.
However, the demerits hugely outweigh the merits, since for example some monsters might run away from you.
Technically the curse marks can stack their effects, but it is not wise to do so, since the popularity of your characters with the NPCs tends to drop tremendously while under the effects of them.
Even if some of the monsters may be treated as gods by the NPCs, the players that bear their curse marks are nothing more than objects of scorn and contempt.