Only My Skill Tooltip Is Strange

Chapter 21

A week of rest. People let out sighs of relief, feeling as if they had survived.

"Is it really safe to let my guard down?"

The brief peace didn't feel comforting. Barely a day had passed since being summoned to the Tower of Struggle, but my soul had been sharpened like that of a seasoned soldier.

"I was told to come if I had any questions."

While I debated the right timing, Kim Min-seong and Lee Soo-jung approached me.

“Hyung, how do you plan to distribute the points?”

As Kim Min-seong brought up points, the surrounding gazes fixed on me.

Their looks weren't friendly. I could feel something like resentment.

Why were they looking at me like that? Jo Seohui was the one who distributed the points.

"If you've got complaints, come at me."

I threw a warning at those sneaking glances my way while murmuring among themselves. When Jo Seohui spoke, they listened with a frightened expression, but when I spoke, they pretended not to hear.

"So, they're just ignoring me?"

Fear is relative. I thought I'd displayed a significant enough performance, but compared to Jo Seohui, I must have seemed plain.

A quiet anger began to rise. Whether they were from Murim or Earth, it was hard to tolerate being looked down upon.

"Well, didn't you pocket ten points by yourself?"

Someone stepped forward. It was a middle-aged man who had been questioning Jo Seohui earlier.

"Perfect example."

I strode toward him. I didn't even need to use Strike; handling an Earthling was simple enough.

Thwack!
"Guh!"

He hadn't even thought to dodge my punch. That was the difference in our agility stats.

In a way, it was fortunate. If he'd tried to avoid it, I'd have chased him down and hit him even harder.

"Wh-what the hell! Why the sudden punch...!"

The middle-aged man clutched his stomach and collapsed weakly. Even after taking a hit, he kept a defiant look in his eyes.

What could I say? He became even more brazen.

"Does he believe in people's support?"

There were indeed a lot of watching eyes. Around a thousand, by rough estimate. Even the worst troublemakers would hold back and control their emotions in this place.

"No, it should be the opposite."

The more eyes on me, the stronger I needed to come across. To make sure they wouldn't dare fuss about points.

"Crush them from the start."

Without stopping at a punch, I kicked him square in the face. A quick, sharply extended front kick that struck hard.

Smack!
"Gah...!"

His head snapped back.

But he shouldn't be dead. I calculated the damage carefully before acting.

The middle-aged man remained on the ground, unable to rise.

"Now that I think about it, he'd just been in a fight."

If not, he might be dead regardless of his vitality.

"If anyone has a complaint, come at me."

If not, don’t waste my time. I warned them with a look.

Then a path opened up.

There was a separate lodging. It was a hotel-style room.

"...Can this even be real?"

As soon as I stepped through the portal from the waiting hall, I arrived in a hotel room.

It didn’t take long to get used to it. After experiencing stranger things, this was nothing.

I looked around briefly and changed my clothes.

"Whew..."

I lay down on the bed to sleep. Honestly, I was exhausted.

After a deep sleep. As soon as I regained my senses, I checked my status window.

Seeing the numbers showing how many I had killed in that short time made me feel a little uneasy.

"Should I be glad or not..."

But it wasn’t as shocking as I expected.

People who can't adapt to this situation and start blaming themselves don't belong in the Tower of Struggle. Maybe this is just part of the weeding-out process.

"Ten points."

How should I use them? The decision didn’t take long.

"...I'll pass on luck."

Jo Seohui had recommended investing in luck as if it was the only way.

It wasn’t wrong. A very sound logic.

Luck was the only stat that couldn’t grow. In other words, it’s a stat that could level the playing field with others.

"But that's the view of an Earthling with no resources."

I'm different. I don’t need to spend points on luck.

Strength affects attack power, agility affects reaction speed, and endurance affects durability. Even intelligence is a highly useful stat for me.

But luck? I don't want to bet my life on uncertain probabilities.

"This is the answer."

?Agility 25 (+0.83)?

I invested all ten points into agility. The reason was simple.

"Dodge and strike."

If I get hit by an enemy’s attack, my life decreases. The best defense is avoiding it. For perfect evasion, I put everything into agility.

You never know. An enemy might appear who can penetrate my Cheolpo Samgong.

?Strength 10 (+0.96)??Agility 25 (+0.83)?
?Endurance 15 (+0.94)??Intelligence 10 (+13.19)?
?Wisdom 19 (+13.23)??Luck 10?

"The stat increase is more impressive than expected."

Thinking about how many people I killed for that increase... It wasn't something I could take lightly.

I let out a deep sigh.

"Sigh."

Think positively.

"They were going to die anyway."

Whether inside or outside the Tower, they were doomed. They just lost their second life in vain.

Ding dong.

While justifying myself and steeling my resolve, the bell rang.

"...Even an intercom?"

A consideration for Earthlings? The familiar room setup naturally impressed me.

"Why is Jo Seohui here?"

I opened the door.

Jo Seohui's expression was tense. Her gaze toward me was filled with killing intent.

My body started trembling uncontrollably.

"What's your connection to Blinky?"

"...Blinky?"

Who is that? A person’s name?

I was puzzled.

"Who are they to come after me?"

It’s irritating. But there's nothing I can say.

I'm not reckless enough to confront an ascender. I put on the dumbest face I could muster to convey that I had no clue who she was talking about.

"The manager. The head administrator from the hall—she's Blinky."

"Oh..."

The dragon who slapped an SS rank title on me?

"...So, it’s because she’s a dragon?"

"She’s a crazy woman."

Jo Seohui didn’t elaborate. She summed it up concisely, calling her a madwoman.

"Someone I don't know... and a dragon."

"Right. You wouldn’t know her since you're a new player today. But still, why..."

Jo Seohui growled through gritted teeth.

Blinky and Jo Seohui. I wasn’t sure of their relationship, but clearly, there’d been bad blood recently.

"That’s a familiar look."

Back in middle school, in high school, and even in college. Girls would take turns gossiping and badmouthing each other.

Apparently, even surviving in the Tower doesn’t mature everyone.

"Learning about ascenders."

Jo Seohui stared at me. It was a softer look this time, the malice fading.

"This."

"...What is it?"

"A gift."

Jo Seohui handed me two items from her possession.

"Check them out."

Thinking it rude to open gifts in front of the giver, I hesitated to inspect them.

"She gave permission."

I checked the items immediately.

"Artifacts."

"They’re cheap, but they should be useful at your level."

"Thank you. I’ll put them to good use."

And I meant it. Stats, skills, artifacts—I welcomed them all.

Jo Seohui kept staring at me.

"The 'setup' you mentioned—what is that exactly? What do you have that Blinky is..."

It was hard to grasp Jo Seohui's words.

"Does she see something in me?"

Blinky? Or was it Jo Seohui?

"To have the attention of two ascenders... not a bad position."

If I could keep getting this kind of support, that would be ideal. If possible, I should take advantage of this attention.

"How did you distribute the points?"

"...Into agility..."

I ignored Jo Seohui's advice. I worried a bit that she might take it the wrong way.

"So, you just ignored my words."

Before I could say anything, Jo Seohui had already read me like an open book.

"...I guess you have your reasons."

She scratched her head, brushing off my decision as my responsibility.

"The important thing is the test in a week."

"...Didn’t you say we could rest until the other players finished their training?"

"Yes, but the situation has changed."

Jo Seohui's expression grew serious.

"We don’t know what kind of test Blinky has planned. We need to prepare."

Even with Jo Seohui's concern, I wasn’t particularly worried. I felt confident, no matter the test.

After investing ten points in agility, nothing seemed intimidating.

"And I received two artifacts."

If I fed these to the Tome of the Void to boost intelligence and wisdom, I’d increase not only my skill slots but also the damage of Hatchling Breath.

It was still disappointing I couldn’t take down that Red Dragon in one blow. With more intelligence, that wouldn’t be an issue.

Still, I decided to go along with Jo Seohui. I made a show of listening intently.

"Starting tomorrow, all Earthlings will begin training."

"...Is there a point when our stats don’t increase?"

“They can create special missions to award points as rewards.”

“...Is that even possible?”

If that’s the case, then something doesn’t add up.

“Can Earthlings grow, too? Then why are we treated like nobodies?”

Jo Seohui interrupted my thoughts.

“Don’t bother questioning it. Just take what’s given and move on. Got it?”

“...”

It felt oddly familiar.

? “Don’t take calls from Jia anymore. I’ll handle everything you need, okay?”

First year of middle school. After being called by a senior in third year, we ended up dating for a month. Those words sounded much the same as back then.

“Oh, so it’s like that?”

At last, I understood the relationship between Jo Seohui and Blinky. The tension finally dissipated.