Only My Skill Tooltip Is Strange

Chapter 17

Kim Min-seong was summoned to a strange space along with his girlfriend, Lee Soo-jung.

A pure white room. It was a bizarre place that made him wonder if it was a mental hospital.

? Welcome, players.

He saw a fairy. It was a somehow familiar scene.

‘No way.’

At first, the fairy spoke with a smile but then made a fierce expression. She used a rebellious person as an example.

‘Uh, uh…!’

This wasn’t a scene from a novel. He had never read a novel like this.

However, there were many prologues of a similar format.

He comforted Lee Soo-jung. The Tower of Struggle, the tutorial, the Soul System. His mind became at ease, and he felt more relaxed.

? Aaaah! Aah!

That didn’t mean he could win in the Tower of Struggle. The problem arose when he began to face the challenges head-on.

He barely cleared it, but he lacked the courage to attempt a second challenge.

His head knew he needed to try more. His instincts told him that there would be something good if he passed all the tests.

But he couldn’t challenge it. Everyone was on the verge of giving up. He didn’t have the courage for that much.

‘…That’s not courage; that’s recklessness.’

He regretted it repeatedly.

? The Error Player received a solo clear bonus in the tutorial.

The administrator’s words. Hearing that, it was impossible to choose to back down. So he jumped into the admission ticket scramble.

He gambled his life recklessly. His girlfriend, Lee Soo-jung, had firmly said she didn’t want to do this…. But he couldn’t deny Kim Min-seong’s words in his mind, so he placed a hand in this life-or-death gamble.

‘If I had known we would scatter like this, I wouldn’t have done it.’

Kim Min-seong trembled as he moved forward. He thought of joining up with Lee Soo-jung somehow.

‘This is insane.’

He was lucky. Out of a whim, he had invested the tutorial first clear bonus in luck.

He could find admission tickets, gain skills, and propose a deal with the Error Player.

‘If I move with this person….’

He could survive the admission ticket scramble. And not just that? He could even gain benefits.

“No.”

No matter how he looked at it, did it make sense to defeat five stupid beastmen alone?

Kim Min-seong couldn’t believe the proud figure of the Error Player standing before him. He couldn’t believe what he saw.

Every time I clashed fists with the beastmen, my life force decreased by 1.

Thud-.

I felt nothing, but the opponent lost their life.

The exchange rate itself made no sense. If there were an alchemist arguing for equivalent exchange here, they would be spitting blood while denying reality.

The combat structure was one-sided. While ???? was maintained, I was essentially invincible.

‘…Maybe not.’

Having seen it with my own eyes, was there a need to doubt? Wasn’t it excessive?

‘Not at all. This is a necessary doubt.’

Doubt is important. At least it was much better than being careless.

The beastmen might truly be strong. They might barely surpass my durability to inflict 1 damage.

I needed to understand how damage was calculated. Staring at the sprawled beastmen, I fell deep into thought.

‘I have no idea.’

Even if I racked my brain, I couldn’t come up with an answer by myself.

‘I’ll just have to experiment.’

After defeating the beastmen, I had a brief moment of respite.

“Min-seong.” “Yes.” “Come here for a moment.”

I called Kim Min-seong, who was rummaging through the corpses of the beastmen for admission tickets. I extended my arm toward him.

“Hit me once.” “M-Me?” “I think it’s important to know for sure.”

I didn’t want to die like a stupid beastman or a foolish martial artist.

At my request, Kim Min-seong hesitantly extended his fist.

?137?

At the moment the intense battle with the beastmen ended, my life force was 138.

However, when I got hit by Kim Min-seong’s punch, my life force decreased by 1. I experimented multiple times. As a result, I confirmed that it decreased by 1 regardless of whether he hit hard or lightly.

‘What if ???? turns off?’

The remaining life force was 125.

“One last time.” “…Are you sure it’s okay?”

Kim Min-seong examined my expression. He seemed anxious, worried that hitting me might offend me.

“It’s fine. Just one with full strength and one lightly, please.”

Kim Min-seong’s attack power was 10. My durability was affected by my health, amounting to 15.

Thud-! A strong hit.

?120?

Tap-. A light hit.

?115?

I understood what it felt like.

When I shared the results of my experiments, Kim Min-seong nodded and said.

“Attack power reduces durability.”

That matched my thoughts exactly.

‘Then what if the attack power increases from here?’

Having resolved one question, another doubt arose.

“Min-seong.”

I handed Kim Min-seong a longsword.

“T-This is too much.” Kim Min-seong refused with a grimace. What was he being fussy about when we were rummaging through corpses?

“I’m not telling you to stab me. Just to test it. I can’t do it to myself.” “Is it like saying if you hit a gun lightly, it won’t hurt? I absolutely cannot.”

He seemed okay with hitting someone with a fist, but he still felt averse to handling a sword.

“Let’s figure this out quickly, shall we?” “Seriously, this is overkill. I’ve roughly understood the damage formula, so why do we need to….” “Then just do it with what you’re holding. That much should be possible, right?” “I-I don’t want to.”

His face was filled with fear. I realized he was misunderstanding something.

“Oh. I’m not saying I’ll test it on you.” “……?”

Kim Min-seong soon understood, awkwardly smiling. He took the longsword I handed him.

“…Still, it feels a bit wrong to stab the Error Player.” “Then just stay still. I’ll be the one getting stabbed.”

Stabbing meant only touching my finger lightly.

“How did it go?” “…….”

I was cut by the blade. A drop of blood oozed out.

?115? “…My life force didn’t decrease?” “Y-Yes? Is that possible?”

In terms of the wound’s intensity, it was similar to the scratches I got from the stupid beastmen earlier. But my life force didn’t decrease.

‘What’s the difference?’

At that moment, Kim Min-seong clapped his hands.

“I figured out what it was for!”

He said this as he placed the blade against my finger.

?106? “…This time, my life force decreased.” “Will. The attacker’s will is important.”

Kim Min-seong spoke with a voice full of conviction.

“The Soul System provided by the Tower of Struggle. I felt it from the first time I saw it, but it’s structured similarly to a game.” “…….” “Why doesn’t damage go through? The system makes a judgment. An attack without the player’s intent isn’t considered an attack, just like in a game.” “Did you stab me this time with that intention?” “…I had no choice but to do it to prove what I thought.”

Still, thanks to that, I understood.

‘What about the opposite?’

What if I intended to kill when attacking but changed my mind just before hitting?

My head felt complicated. Did Kim Min-seong read my mind?

He said.

“Just think simply. If you consider the system a separate physical law, it’s not that hard.” “…….” “Even if quantum mechanics won over classical physics and became the fundamental physics of modern times, classical physics didn’t disappear.” “…….” “You know the law of universal gravitation, right? An apple falls from an apple tree. But one day, a new law is discovered. A law that states apples falling from a certain height lose their sweetness.” “…….” “It’s bizarre, but still. Just because that law was added doesn’t mean gravity disappeared, right? The Soul System feels like that.” “…….”

As I watched Kim Min-seong excitedly ramble on, I kept my mouth shut. Realizing I was quiet, he cautiously checked my reaction.

“…….”

Only then did I take a glance at my forearm.

A baseball jacket. In other words, a school jacket.

I took it off and checked the back.

‘Seoul National University.’

My mind went blank.

“Min-seong.” “Yes, hyung.”

Right after confirming that Kim Min-seong was a freshman at Seoul National University. We dropped the formalities.

‘I’m definitely going to crush him by age; I didn’t ask to sound like that.’

After repeating a year, I barely got into Busan National University. If I tried to push down with age, I would only make myself look worse.

“Let’s move quickly. We need to complete the admission tickets.” “Yes.”

Kim Min-seong took the lead.

Was it because the admission ticket scramble was reaching its climax? Finding boxes wasn’t easy.

‘It seems the players are seriously slashing each other as well.’

They weren’t just doing it to create admission tickets, but also to absorb souls and grow stronger. Whether it was for one or the other, both were equally cruel.

Caw-! “They look like tasty Earthlings!” Kekek, kekek!

I didn’t stop the ones coming at us. I welcomed them with open arms.

“Kim Min-seong, who’s boasting about being from Seoul National University, step back.” “…W-When did I ever boast….” “It’s not my responsibility if you get caught up in my new technique.”

I held one sword I had taken from a martial artist and a longsword in each hand. Dual-wielding.

In that state, I activated ???? and spun. Hurricane.

Swoosh—!

Each weapon contained a Strike. The moment they touched, goblins couldn’t even breathe before dying.

[Absorbing the soul of Gorrash (Goblin).] [Agility increases by 0.01.] [Absorbing the soul of Mindul (Goblin).] [Agility increases by 0.01.] [Absorbing the soul of Gojaro (Goblin)…….]

How much time had passed?

?Time is up! Ending the admission ticket scramble! Everyone worked hard!?

In the blink of an eye, I returned to the waiting room. It wasn’t the auditorium-like waiting room from before the admission ticket scramble. It was a small waiting room just right for team members to gather.

“…Seoryeong. What the hell is going on…!”

There, I found Eun Seoryeong, who had one arm severed.

She wasn’t bleeding, possibly having stopped the bleeding, but it was clear she was in serious condition.

“O Great Hero. Baeksong Dojo. You are safe, it seems?”

However, her expression was strange. Having lost an arm, she was smiling brightly?

“Did you perhaps gain enlightenment?”

Baeksong asked in surprise. Eun Seoryeong responded with her characteristic kind smile.

“I’m still quite lacking. But I was able to overcome the wall that was blocking me.” “…….” “Strangely enough, the Soul System also increased my stats. Thanks to that, I was able to survive.” “…What?”

Wait a minute. What did she just say?