Only My Skill Tooltip Is Strange

Chapter 8

8 – Floor 0, Tutorial.

I didn’t think I would lose.

‘I didn’t expect him to reveal his true nature like this, so I’m a bit taken aback.’

The point difference is a whopping 6 points.

If I lose to Park Ji-hoon, it means the Tower of Struggle system is poorly designed.

“It’s not bad to have a drink after a long time.”

I lightly stepped forward.

The recoil felt quite nice, bouncing back with a springy sensation.

‘I didn’t expect it. It really feels good.’

Is it because I raised my agility?

Or thanks to the surreal recovery?

Whatever the reason, my knee condition has improved.

For now, I’m satisfied.

“Assistant!”

I was left alone.

Shouldn’t there be something to say?

I waited for a message, but there was no response.

“Fucking b*stard.”

I didn’t like it throughout the tutorial.

Swallowing his irritation, Park Ji-hoon picked up the sword he had been wielding.

[Longsword (purple)][F]

Where on earth did he get this from?

While examining the longsword’s information, Park Ji-hoon discovered an old book where he had fallen.

“Hmm?”

As he approached and picked it up, the item’s information appeared.

[Book of Illusions][S]

Category: Growth-type Artifact

Stats▼

【Intelligence: ＋1】

【Wisdom: ＋1】

【Durability: ∞ (Indestructible)】

Options▼

【Devour Lv.1】

【Block Lv.1】

【Illusion Lv.1】

An artifact that increases spell power and resistance.

It’s not immediately useful, but any item that boosts stats is always welcome.

‘What are these options?’

He skimmed through it.

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[Devour Lv.1]

Each time an artifact is absorbed, Intelligence and Wisdom stats grow by 『12』 each.

‘Is it a growth-type artifact because of the Devour option?’

[Block Lv.1]

Blocks when targeted by perception-type skills.

‘Not bad?’

What caught my eye was the last option.

Illusion.

[Illusion Lv.1]

The golden art of Void Astra, the founder of reality manipulation magic.

LV.1 – Can edit the owner’s information.

Lv.2 – Sealed.

“Edit information?”

I tested it to see what it felt like.

“Ah!”

Information editing.

The information here referred to my status window.

‘Isn’t this amazing?’

My stats, skills, even my race.

【Race – Orc】

I look human, but my status window shows me as an orc.

“Literally an illusion. A fabrication.”

Raising my strength to 100 didn’t actually make me stronger.

It was disappointing, but not bad.

I restored the information to its original state and took the book of illusions.

‘A gift for the trouble I went through because of Park Ji-hoon.’

Considering the value of the 6 points solo clear bonus he ate and died for…

This artifact felt slightly lacking.

“Tsk.”

6 points.

Points that could be used to actually get stronger, not just manipulated stats.

Investing in strength increases attack power, and investing in stamina increases vitality.

That precious point, he took it.

The more I think about it, the more pissed off I get.

I sighed deeply and kicked his corpse.

Even this doesn’t relieve my anger.

‘Am I a psychopath?’

I feel nothing looking at the corpse.

I started to question my own nature.

‘…Judging by the bitterness, it doesn’t seem like he’s a psychopath.’

Not far away lies the corpse of Im Sujin.

Im Sujin, sprawled in a pool of blood, unable to even close her eyes properly.

When looking at her, he felt a completely different emotion than when he looked at Park Jihoon.

‘She wouldn’t have lived long anyway.’

After finishing up, he waited for the assistant.

“Nice to meet you.”

What came at the end of the wait was not the assistant’s message, but a strange voice.

“What, what is this?”

“I am Administrator Chirak.”

When he turned around, there stood an orc in a suit with a bow tie.

Administrator Chirak spoke.

“To briefly summarize the current situation, there was a small mistake in the tutorial process.”

“…A mistake?”

“Yes. Shall we say bugs got involved? The one killed by the erroneous player.”

Chirak pointed at Park Jihoon and continued.

“He’s not supposed to be on the 0th floor. Somehow, an error occurred during the transmission process, and they were summoned as participants on the 0th floor.”

He couldn’t understand what was being said.

“Park Jihoon and Mori.”

As Chirak gestured, the space tore apart.

He reached into the torn space and pulled out a person.

“It means they are not new players. The two of them were trying to kill the new players and obtain the hidden piece of the tutorial. So, the real new players, including the erroneous player, suffered.”

“Ah….”

They are not new players.

A sigh escaped from there.

‘I knew something was off.’

All the circumstances made sense.

“We are conducting tutorials simultaneously in various places. Sometimes, things like this happen.”

“…….”

“There are those who, knowing they will be terribly punished if caught, still try to pull tricks. It shows how desperate they are.”

Chirak smiled brightly.

An orc’s smile, it didn’t look good at all.

“…Just a moment.”

“Please, go ahead.”

“Then what about my reward?”

Chirak’s eyes sparkled.

As if he didn’t expect the question at this timing.

Still smiling, Chirak said,

“Hehe. I didn’t expect you to get straight to the point. You almost died, and yet you’re fine?”

“…I almost died, but I didn’t actually die.”

I need to prepare for the next.

Otherwise, I’ll end up dead like Im Sujin over there.

‘Meeting someone stronger than me and not even being able to resist…’

I refuse such a death.

What if the administrator gets upset?

I had similar worries.

But I trusted the tutorial design that felt somewhat kind.

If he truly is the administrator responsible for the tutorial, he would compensate for my losses.

‘As expected.’

Chirak chuckled and said,

“I’ve checked your performance. You’ve earned the solo clear bonus no less than four times. If it weren’t for the bugs, you could have secured the remaining bonuses as well.”

“Hmm.”

The work was ruined because of Park Jihoon.

‘Missing Park Jihoon was the administrator’s fault.’

That fact is important.

Maybe, I could use this as a pretext to get more.

“Understood. The bonus stolen by the bugs. This much is within my authority.”

[Floor 0, Prove Yourself]

Solo Clear Bonus +6

“…This message. Wasn’t it sent by the Tower of Struggle?”

“This is a message from the administrator.”

Strange.

“It popped up earlier when those guys were here too.”

“That was probably a stored message. A message that gets sent automatically in certain situations.”

“……”

“I understand what the erroneous player is saying. I’m sorry, but I wasn’t aware of this tutorial’s existence. It was beyond my control.”

Is it over just by saying sorry?

“On the Earth where I lived, there’s a saying. Why do something you’ll be sorry for? It’s kind of like a proverb…”

“Haha.”

Chirak laughs.

“You’re saying that just receiving the usual rewards isn’t enough? Because you almost died?”

“…That’s not what I meant.”

If I provoke him unnecessarily, it could be a big problem, so I need to tread carefully.

“Understood.”

Contrary to my worries, Chirak readily accepted my complaint.

“It’s understandable that the erroneous player would feel wronged.”

“Hmm.”

I almost nodded.

“If the test had been conducted normally, you would have skipped the crew-making process with the hometown dimension players you met in the tutorial. But because of my mistake, you had no choice but to participate.”

“…Crew-making?”

“Also known as team-building. The first mission on the first floor is crew-making.”

“……”

Chirak smirked.

When he snapped his fingers, a box appeared out of thin air.

I reached out and took the box.

[Skill Random Box][C]

What is this?

I looked at Chirak.

“It’s a token of apology.”

“……”

“You can open it here. If you go upstairs, you’ll have to join the crew making immediately.”

“…Alright.”

Without hesitation.

In front of Chirak, I opened the box.

Light burst forth, and a message appeared.

[Hatchling Breath][C]

The breath of a newly born Red Dragon. It exhales forward, dealing 『51,003%』 fire attribute damage.

Cooldown: 24 hours

Mana cost: 1000

《Race Specialization》

1. Red Dragon

Mana cost reduced by 80%, cooldown reduced by 80%.

2. Blue Dragon

Mana cost reduced by 80%, cooldown reduced by 80%, attribute conversion.

3. Green Dragon

…….

I was momentarily impressed by the excellent specs.

【Current Skills – (1/1)】

【Smash (F)】

The number of skills I can acquire is holding me back.

[Do you want to delete Smash (F) and acquire Hatchling Breath (C)?]

Screw that.

I can’t discard Smash.

There’s no other skill as versatile as this one, how could I possibly throw it away?

“…It says I have to delete my current skill. What should I do?”

“Raise your wisdom stat. Skill slots expand in units of 10, and your maximum mana grows. Additionally, mana regeneration speed increases.”

“…….”

I checked my status window.

Available points: 6.

Even if I invest all of them in wisdom, skill slot expansion is impossible.

‘Should have saved some points.’

No.

It was the best choice in that situation.

If I lost to Park Ji-hoon, it would be the end. There was no room to save points there.

While pondering what to do.

“Do you need any help?”

Chirak spoke to me.

Handing over a contract.

“If you just sign here, I think I can help you with the points.”

“……”

Was it just my imagination, or did Chirak’s smiling face seem somewhat sly?

* * *

Oruin going upstairs.

Watching him disappear into particles, Chirak sighed in relief.

‘That was really close….’

Being an administrator doesn’t mean being an omnipotent being.

Rather, they were more bound by the laws of the tower than the players.

They were those who chose to become part of the tower to avoid obsolescence, thinking they could no longer climb.

It was perhaps inevitable.

Chirak was among the diligent ones even among the administrators.

So he didn’t like such mishaps.

“These trashy b*stards.”

Chirak muttered, stomping on Park Ji-hoon’s corpse.

Because of these vermin who should have been eliminated long ago, Chirak’s flawless record almost got a big stain.

‘If it weren’t for Oruin the player…. These vermin would have taken the rewards as they pleased.’

Thanks to Oruin, it was prevented.

‘I’m glad we could communicate.’

Chirak knew all of Oruin’s intentions.

He too was once a player climbing the tower, so he couldn’t not know.

That’s why he made a fair deal.

Chirak granted Orin’s wishes within the limits of what he could handle, and Orin signed a confidentiality agreement to keep silent about this incident.

‘What an interesting player.’

Even though there had been some unpleasant events, Chirak felt he might have gone a bit overboard in meeting Orin’s demands.

Why did he do that?

‘Because he’s a player from Earth?’

He wouldn’t get far anyway, so it should be fine to offer this level of convenience.

Was it the same complacent mindset?

‘Still, I kept the tutorial hidden piece. It’s not a loss.’

The hidden piece given only to groups that pass the six trials solo.

It boasts incredible efficiency in the lower floors, from the 1st to the 20th floor.

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Chirak deliberately hid the existence of that hidden piece.

Originally, he should have given the hidden piece, but he didn’t.