A Veteran of Infinite Buffs - Chapter 51

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 51

The day after my resignation.
My eyes opened at dawn without needing to set an alarm.
The thought of going outside for a jog is overshadowed by what Eden had told me.

-Yes. We’ve confirmed that multiple members of the Black Dragon Faction have entered the country. The target is definitely you, Lee Seo-jun.

I don’t know how extensive their intelligence network is, but they might have already grasped basic information about me.
Since Seo-gwang’s information gathering is formidable, Six Heavens shouldn’t be far behind.
Until this problem is resolved, it would be wise to stay quietly at home.
Besides, my path was already decided.
I’d committed to living a proper gaming life, so I just needed to follow that road.

-This is Dimension Gate II. It is a pleasure to see you again, Hero.

For some reason, the guide’s voice sounds particularly vibrant today.
It feels like an announcement of a good day ahead, and my mood lifts.

-Hero Kael. Entering Another Dimension.

Consumed by light, the final loading completed.
The scenery of the Inn room where I’d last been gradually came into focus.
“Character condition really does make a difference.”
A surge of exhilaration washes over me—the kind that proves the saying that a healthy body spares the mind from suffering.
I possess a superhuman body capable of realizing most of what I conceive.
And I haven’t even reached the pinnacle yet.
I can still climb higher.
Unfathomably higher.
“I still have plenty of time. This works out perfectly.”
There’s still considerable time before my meeting with Seo-gwang.
Now was the ideal moment to revive the flower tea world cup that I’d been postponing.
“There’s no need to drink something stored in a subspace.”
Having just finished my Department Store expedition, tea expenses aren’t a concern.
I plan to enhance the experience by drinking freshly brewed tea while it’s still warm.
“Room service, please. All varieties of flower tea.”

-Confirmed. I’ll bring it right away.

I requested room service through the crystal orb provided in the Royal Room.
Soon after, flower teas of various kinds began to line the tea table.
Each one displayed its own luminous hue, creating quite a spectacular sight.

[Name: Kael]
[Class: Eternal Adventurer (Hidden)]
[Level: 59]
[Unused Points: 0]
[Strength: 48 Agility: 75 Stamina: 45 Wisdom: 42 Luck: 49]
[Eternity: 6 Mana: 2]

The luminosity of my status window was no less impressive than the flower teas.
Especially the fact that I had obtained the hidden class Eternal Adventurer, combined with all my adventures thus far, added to my sense of happiness.
“Now comes the critical part.”
The real test was about to begin.
Depending on the performance of the flower teas, I had to decide how much Eternity I could extract.
“Hmm.”
First, I sipped the tea with the clearest hue, the one that didn’t appear to have a strong flavor.

[Active Buffs]
[Acacia Tea (Superior)]
[Stamina +3 Luck +3]
[Stamina Recovery Speed Greatly Increased]
[Wounds Will Not Fester]
[Duration: 5 minutes]

The Acacia Tea had some rather interesting options.
Particularly the part about wounds not festering.
“It conflicts with Laceration, though.”

[Resentment Imbued: Triggers ‘Laceration’ at a certain probability]
[Laceration: Leaves the target with wounds that cannot be healed for a set duration.]

A thought suddenly crossed my mind.
What would happen if I received both the unique effect of the Mauro wooden sword—making wounds unable to heal—and the effect of Acacia tea simultaneously?
“But trading it for Eternity is a bit much.”
I decided to hold off on the Acacia tea.
Since its flavor wasn’t strong, it might possess only minor options.
Harboring this small hope, I challenged the next tea.
This one also had a fairly clear hue.
Gulp.

[Active Buffs]
[Marigold Tea (Superior)]
[Agility +5 Stamina +1 Luck +4]
[Vision is enhanced.]
[Accuracy correction applied to ranged attacks.]
[Duration: 5 minutes]

This time, it was quite a decent combat-oriented buff.
The stat distribution was reasonably solid.
However, it was tailored for ranged combat classes.
For someone specializing in close-quarters combat like me, it was disappointing.
“Damn. Was the Magnolia tea the peak?”
Setting aside my regret, I challenged the next tea.
This one had a unique texture reminiscent of collagen.

[Active Buffs]
[Chrysanthemum Tea (Superior)]
[Strength +1 Stamina +6 Luck +2 Mana +1]
[Wounds do not fester.]
[Digestion is slightly improved.]
[Duration: 5 minutes]

“Hmm.”
Aside from one thing, the rest were ordinary options.
But that one thing caught my attention considerably.
“Of all things, Mana is included.”
Mana was undoubtedly a hidden stat.
And Eternity was also a hidden stat.
“Maybe I should keep this one.”
The value of a hidden stat was equivalent to five points in all stats.

[Strength: 44 Agility: 70 Stamina: 46 Wisdom: 37 Luck: 46]
[Eternity: 7 Mana: 3]

I consumed my basic stats to raise Eternity, transforming the Kumhwagyu Tea into a permanent buff.
Even the Kumhwagyu Tea’s unique stats added up to a total of 10, making it quite a favorable exchange rate.
“Thank goodness. At least I salvaged something.”
The Buff World Cup continued for nearly an hour afterward.
But no other tea emerged as a clear-cut gain like the Kumhwagyu.
And now I had reached the final tea, emanating multiple fragrances and boasting the deepest color.
“Please, this time.”
Gulp.

[Active Buffs]
[Five Senses Tea (Masterpiece)]
[Strength +7 Agility +6 Stamina +9 Wisdom +3 Luck +8]
[Skin condition improves.]
[Poison Resistance (Moderate)]
[Duration: 5 minutes]

Finally, the jackpot hit.
The all-stat buff I’d been searching for had emerged from the final tea.
Of course, the individual stat increases had their quirks, but the fact that Wisdom—the least useful stat—rose the least was actually appealing.
“I can’t resist this. I’m converting it right now.”

[Strength: 46 Agility: 71 Stamina: 50 Wisdom: 35 Luck: 49]
[Eternity: 8 Mana: 3]

My status, which had been fluctuating across all five senses, underwent another transformation.
Eternity rose to 8, and every stat except Wisdom increased once again.
At this rate, it was practically equivalent to leveling up in place.
“This is like a buff world cup.”
Normally, I should have been agonizing over a single stat, but now I could swap my status points whenever I wanted as long as the exchange rate was reasonable.
“Hmm. But isn’t Wisdom falling too far behind?”
At this rate, I could only raise Eternity to 7.
And that was assuming Wisdom dropped to 0.
I needed to find a way to increase Wisdom as well.
It would be wasteful to use unused points I’d obtain later.
“Maybe I should visit the Library or Magic Tower later.”
Knock, knock.
“Hmm?”
At that moment, a whisper appeared in my ears.

[Nyx: It’s me.]

The person knocking on the door was Sung-chul (Elder).
He had arrived much earlier than our scheduled time.
“You’re here?”
“Yeah. I was nearby and saw you were logged in. I thought I’d stop by just in case… What’s all this?”
Sung-chul (Elder)’s gaze fixed on the tea table filled with empty teacups.
“Oh. The flower tea buffs were so interesting that I tried them all.”
“Flower tea has a pretty short duration, so it lacks practical use. Plus, if you put it in a waterskin and drink it like water, you get an overdose debuff.”
“You’ve tested it that thoroughly?”
“No, I saw it in a video. Some hidden class, apparently? Anyway, they drank like 10 liters of it.”
“…At that point, drinking regular water would probably kill you too. That’s quite an interesting hidden class.”
I learned that flower tea had side effects, but it didn’t feel like a practical drawback.
Usually, it would just be something to experience or enjoy.
“True. Anyway, Lee Seo-jun. Why did you put Fountain water on the negotiation card? Is it a hobby?”
I hesitated for a moment on how to answer, but this was indeed a separate matter.
It was a problem where my entire game life and character were at stake.
“Yes. It’s a hobby. The water from the Fountain and the bread I ate right after my first login left such a deep impression on me.”
“Ah, I know what you mean. Back in the day, I used to soak hard bread in Fountain water and choke it down. Nowadays, they even have bread that pairs well with Fountain water.”
“Yes. The taste is probably similar, of course, but I can’t forget the taste of that water I first drank. Did you manage to secure the water?”
Others might point fingers at such a strange hobby, but for me, the Beginner Village Fountain water was the most important negotiation card.
Especially because it raised Eternity without any risk whatsoever.
“Yeah. Not a lot, but about 27 bottles. I excluded the Chinese Beginner Villages like you said.”
“That many?”
“Huh? How many Beginner Villages are there? Isn’t 27 on the smaller side?”
An astounding figure of Eternal 27 had been placed on the negotiation table.
At this point, wouldn’t it be fine to just become eternal allies with Seo-gwang?
Since negotiations had essentially already begun, I decided to suppress my emotions as much as possible and maintain careful control over my expression.
“Ah, from Seo-gwang’s perspective, I could be an enemy too.”
“Right. As I mentioned before, Seo-gwang’s true power isn’t limited to what’s visible. Now that you’ve finished drinking, how about we move?”
“Pardon?”
“I’ve already secured a Royal Room for negotiations. Of course, we can do it here if you prefer.”
The agreed-upon location was a separate Royal Room that Seo-gwang had arranged in advance.
It was a room equipped with proper security measures.
Having experienced the private dining room, this was quite an appealing proposition.
“Security is important. Especially now that my personal information has leaked to China. Though I can’t fathom how they discovered this place just from seeing my character’s face.”
“It probably wasn’t direct hacking. Mason has never been breached. My guess is they traced the flow of money—transaction records, cash dealings, that sort of thing.”
“Ah.”
Now that I thought about it, my transaction partner had been Cha Eun-kyung.
Being such a prominent figure, her movements naturally attracted considerable attention from many.
The prevailing theory would be that I’d been caught in the crossfire while they were tracking her.
“Moving to conduct negotiations does seem like the better option. Here would be fine too, but it’s best to prepare for contingencies.”
“Exactly. I’ve also prepared various unique snacks for you to try. Since you seem to enjoy buffs, I’ve gathered ones with reasonably long durations and easy storage.”
“Oh, really? That’s even better then. Let’s go right away.”
The moment of decisive confrontation had arrived.
Now it was time to conduct negotiations that would be as advantageous to me as possible.
Of course, securing everything from the Fountain water to the snacks was already a confirmed matter.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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