Chapter 8

Choi Yu-Seong had a large house with many empty rooms. In one of those rooms, there was a long desk and three chairs, and he sat in the middle chair. Naturally, Jin Yu-Ri sat on his left while Jin Do-Yoon stood on his right with his arms crossed.

"You're not going to sit?"

"If I sit down, I’m afraid I can’t quickly respond to unexpected situations, sir."

Do-Yoon said this with a determined look that seemed like he was even willing to take a bullet for Yu-Seong if an applicant tried to shoot him. Yu-Seong wanted to respond but kept his mouth shut. He knew that Do-Yoon wasn't going to listen even if he told him to calm down.

"Anyways, Yu-Seong oppa, how's your condition?"

"Perfect."

Yu-Seong answered as he raised his thumb.

"A skill can be activated an unlimited number of times, but it definitely consumes your mana. Since you don't know how it feels yet, then even if it’s the middle of the test, you should stop if you feel you're overdoing yourself, okay?" She cautioned him.

Every skill consumed mana by default, but the total amount of mana one possessed was unknown, unless the player measured it themself.

'And the result of that measurement isn’t perfectly accurate either.'

Yu-Ri's concern for Yu-Seong was quite understandable. Before he posted the job ad, Yu-Seong had told the Jin siblings about his skill set and how he was planning to use it.

There was no reason not to tell them. The Jin siblings were the only people that Yu-Seong could trust to have his back. Why doubt them when he already knew that, in the original novel, they had stood by his side until his death? It was better to share things with them honestly and let them help.

That was why the siblings passively followed Yu-Seong’s lead even as he organized this sudden and weird event. Even if Yu-Seong had a lot of money, the fastidious Yu-Ri wouldn't have allowed him to do something like that if he hadn’t explained his motives.

'It's not like I have an oilfield that endlessly produces money.'

The more money, the better, because once it was spent, it was gone.

He could and would spend two hundred million in one day without batting an eyelid if needed, but that did not mean he could just spend it indiscriminately. He had to use it efficiently. In that sense, Yu-Seong and the Jin siblings didn't consider this event to be a waste of money.

'Instead, the benefits greatly outweigh the cost.'

The half-transparent window that displayed the player profile floated in front of the pleased Yu-Seong. Although Star Factor was certainly an attractive skill, he was more focused on his second special skill, Fusion, and his general skill, Eye of Replication. He was confident that he could use them more skillfully than Star Factor.

'Let's check it again.'

Yu-Seong quickly scanned through the skill descriptions of Fusion and the Eye of Replication.

『General Skill, Eye of Replication E

Cannot be used for Fusion.

The user can copy a skill of a lower rank. The usage count and effectiveness of the copied skill varies according to its rank.

After copying a skill, this skill cannot be used on the same person or to copy the same skill for three months.』

Truthfully, when Yu-Seong had first seen his skill set, the Eye of Replication was the only skill that he hadn’t been that curious about.

'After all, I already knew about this skill.'

The Eye of Replication appeared early in the original novel as the villain Jack the Clown possessed it. The readers thought it to be an unfortunate skill, as it couldn't blossom to its full potential because of its excessive penalties.

'It certainly is extraordinary in that it copies others' skills right away.'

This was especially effective when the skill was used against powerful players like Kim Do-Jin. The problem, however, was that excessive penalties were attached to it to balance out its ridiculous effect. It had many disadvantages as the usage count and capacity of that copied skill was limited, not to mention, it was also hard to reuse it against the same person.

'Jack the Clown's Eye of Replication was B-rank.'

Jack the Clown was able to copy the same B-rank skill to seventy percent of its fullest capacity and could use the copied skill ten times. Yu-Seong wouldn't be that different, although his skill was now E-rank.

'Fusion and Eye of Replication.'

Both skills had something in common—they possessed great potential but had penalties to balance it out. In a way, they could be considered fool’s gold.

However, after confirming the two skills, Yu-Seong had devised a plan.

'Fusion is useless on its own. It has to be fueled by other skills. Fortunately, I have the Eye of Replication.'

The skills copied by the Eye of Replication had penalties limiting usage, capacity, and recharge time to recopy. On the bright side, the fundamental disadvantage of Fusion could be solved by the Eye of Replication. As for the disadvantages the Eye of Replication had? The solution was simple.

'I can combine the copied, limited skills with Fusion.'

What if he could eliminate all the weaknesses and limitations of the copied skills by fusing them? In that case, nothing more needed to be said.

'Jackpot.'

He could even create an ultimate skill fusion that would shock even the blessed main character, Do-Jin. That was why Yu-Seong had immediately called in the Jin siblings the day before to confirm his hypothesis. He had asked them to demonstrate two E-rank skills that hadn’t ranked up due to lack of usage. And as a result…

Yu-Seong glanced at his 'fifth' skill that hadn’t existed until the previous morning.

『Skill, Fancy Disco E

Can be used for Fusion.

Once used, flashes of light are added to every action of the user for five minutes』

'Jackpot!'

This was more than enough compensation for the terrible pain that he had endured during the Awakening.

'There's no usage count limitation.'

It also didn’t say anywhere that the capacity of the skill had decreased. Moreover, this skill could be used for another Fusion. In other words, the setbacks for both Fusion and Eye of Replication were gone.

With this, Yu-Seong had infinite potential. That was why, yesterday, he had clenched his fist and cheered even though the Jin siblings were in front of him.

"Yesterday was really shocking. I never knew there would be such easy ways to circumvent the problems with these skills."

When Jin Yu-Ri saw Yu-Seong smiling at the walls, she smiled somewhat dejectedly as she realized his plans. Her eyes were full of awe at the sight of Yu-Seong.

"I got lucky."

"This isn't luck, sir. If I was in your situation, I would never have thought of what you had in mind."

It was when Yu-Seong was shrugging his shoulders and trying to be modest at Jin Do-Yoon's compliments when a middle-aged woman, the housekeeper responsible for Yu-Seong's food, carefully knocked on the door and spoke.

"The applicants have all arrived."

"Ah, tell them to come in."

Her role today was escorting the applicants.

* * *

The interview—no, the job of copying low-rank skills started at ten in the morning.

“Welcome. It’s a pleasure to have you here.”

Yu-Seong charmingly greeted the players entering the room. Although the majority of the players that were entering had somewhat nervous and tense expressions and were a little disconcerted by his greetings, they soon smiled back at him.

Their attitude was natural. After all, the Choi Yu-Seong they knew was a snob. They didn’t know why he had announced this peculiar event, but warm greetings aside, they had thought they would be lucky if Yu-Seong didn’t mock them.

Everybody who came here had the same thought: they could earn a million won without putting in any effort. It was worth it, even if Yu-Seong mocked them. That was why players with pride or powerful abilities didn’t come to the event.

However, that didn’t matter much to Yu-Seong, as he only needed skills under E-rank. The players who chose money instead of pride would realize that he wasn’t what the news or magazines described him to be.

“Thank you for demonstrating your precious skills.”

It wasn’t anything difficult, they had simply demonstrated their E-rank skill, but he thanked each person after they were done. Even if the applicant considered the skill to be useless, Yu-Seong’s attitude was the same.

Everyone reacted differently to his attitude.

“You’re welcome.”

“It’s all for money, so no need to thank me.”

“Call me whenever you want to watch it again.”

However, their response was always on the grateful side, whether they were enthusiastic about it or not. By the end of the morning session, Yu-Seong had met a good number of applicants and only a few of them still doubted him or grumbled as they left.

“Let’s continue after lunch,” Yu-Seong announced.

Since his house had a large front yard, it wasn’t that hard to call some hotel chefs to set up a buffet. The players were suspicious about the chefs showing up this early, but they hadn’t put much thought into it. The majority of them thought that Yu-Seong was just showing off his money.

They weren’t entirely wrong.

“You can have lunch in the yard. There won’t be any fees, so the young master would like everyone to enjoy a meal.”

As the housekeeper that served as their guide today gave this announcement, the players, who had been waiting bored out of their minds, smiled brightly.

“So he was flexing for us, huh?”

“It’s been so long since I ate this well.”

.

Since the meal was prepared to suit everybody, even considering the large number of people, nobody was dissatisfied: barbeque, various skewers including shrimp and clams, and a sweet yet intensely flavored kimchi stew with neatly trimmed seafood by its side.

Among them were players who had already demonstrated their skills and were waiting for their friends. After some beer, they began to talk loudly.

“Hey hey, isn’t it true that Choi Yu-Seong has suddenly become a new person?”

“New person my ass. It’s just weird that he's behaving like a pushover.”

The second young man snickered at the words of the first young man, who seemed to be around twenty.

“No, it’s like the aura of Choi Yu-Seong changed all of a sudden. I went in earlier, right? He’s got a different atmosphere compared to what he was like previously. What do you call it, charisma?”

“Charisma…ha.”

“Come on, I’m serious.”

“Stop making a fuss. He’s not going to pay you more because you flattered him for his free lunch. Well, I do like the buffet, though. It’s nice how I could eat delicious food and get paid just by demonstrating an insignificant skill. Ha ha…”

“You’re driving me nuts.”

This was the type of conversation that could be heard everywhere throughout lunch. The people like the first young man were mostly those who had met Yu-Seong in the morning and those who were still waiting for their turn were like the second young man. Of course, those who still hadn’t met Yu-Seong also started to doubt their thoughts as everyone was talking about the same thing.

‘Choi Yu-Seong is really a changed man?’

Nonsense.

The second young man smirked and finished his beer.

* * *

Right after lunch was over, the second young man was the first person to meet Yu-Seong among the players who waited for the afternoon session. His emotions were conflicting as he entered.

‘Did Choi Yu-Seong really change?’

He was half expectant and half concerned.

‘It doesn’t matter if I’m overreacting.’

After all, he was here to earn a million won by getting mocked by Yu-Seong. But after he entered and demonstrated his skill, his expression looked somewhat blank as he left the room.

“Hey hey, how was it? I’m correct, right? Wasn’t Choi Yu-Seong kind of different?”

Moving forward, the second young man nodded as if he was possessed by something.

“Was it because he’s handsome? Some female players got a crush on him just by seeing his face. Perhaps that’s why he feels different.”

The first young man tried to explain how Yu-Seong was different from the rascal broadcasted by the media. But the second young man had already summarized the atmosphere Yu-Seong gave off in one word.

“...Dignity.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t know why, but that’s how I felt. For some reason, he seems to be dignified…”

“What are you talking about?”

“To put it simply…”

The young men, looking at each other, smiled mysteriously and spoke at the same time.

“He’s cool, even from a guy’s point of view.”

“He’s dope.”

They had slight goosebumps as they recalled their meeting with Yu-Seong.

* * *

After the afternoon session started, Do-Yoon’s lips twitched as he crossed his arms and overheard the conversations outside the room.

‘You feel that good?’

Glancing at Do-Yoon, who was smiling somewhat foolishly, Yu-Ri also grinned. Although the E-rank Yu-Seong couldn’t hear anything, the Jin siblings could clearly hear the applicants’ conversations outside the room thanks to their high rank. They couldn’t help it.

What was happening seemed rather trivial, but sadly, the Jin siblings had never heard anything resembling a compliment about Yu-Seong. Until today—no, until this event, everyone had the same opinion about Yu-Seong: rascal, outrageous scumbag, incompetent snob who relied on family for support.

And this was understandable considering the number of alcohol bottles that Yu-Seong had shattered was uncountable. The same went for the number of wrecked bars and clubs, and even quarrels with the police.

When anti-Japanese sentiments had peaked throughout Korea, he had even smashed a Japanese car with a baseball bat just because he didn’t like it.

‘It’s not clear if he was being patriotic or just wanted to vent his anger.’

Although some praised Yu-Seong for what they considered was his first good deed, this was also hard to be considered rational. So naturally, the Jin siblings had faced a lot of hardship due to Yu-Seong.

But now, Yu-Seong was showing actual change. The Jin siblings felt that transition more than ever, and now others were sensing the same thing as well. His image and reputation were changing.

This was a huge event not only for Yu-Seong, but also for Yu-Ri.

‘If things turn out like this… It seems to be okay to make some changes to the plan.’

Yu-Ri smiled faintly, as the plans she had devised for Yu-Seong always put his survival as the top priority.

Everything seemed peaceful then.

* * *

Why did the saying ‘the calm before the storm’ always prove to be correct? An incident broke out while everyone was enjoying the peaceful and joyful atmosphere.

In a large room similar to the reception room, a man came inside who had an unparalleled aura compared to other players who came as groups.

His eyebrows were thick and black, and his indifferent eyes scanned his surroundings. The corner of his red lips, which even men found attractive, twitched.

“Choi Yu-Seong,” he spoke.

Although Yu-Seong had never seen him in person or heard his voice, he couldn’t possibly be unaware of that man.

“...Kim Do-Jin.”

The main character of the original novel [Modern Master Returns] and also a handsome regressor with an even more handsome name.

“Why aren’t you responding to any of my messages?”

Do-Jin asked sharply as he looked at Yu-Seong.