All‑Master Who Regressed to Bronze - Chapter 3

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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All Master Who Regressed to Bronze Episode 003

After the storm-like meal had passed.

Shin Hyeok’s family was the first to leave their seats.

Inseok, the eldest son, glared at the seat where Inguyn, Shin Hyeok’s father, had been sitting and asked Choi Cheolho.

“Father, are you really planning to accept Inguyn’s family back?”

“Why? Is there a problem with that?”

Inseok gritted his teeth at Choi Cheolho’s nonchalant response as he finished his meal and drank his scorched rice tea.

“That bastard Inguyn ignored your orders and brought home some woman from who knows where to marry. If you bring such a guy back into the family fold, there will be problems-“

“Inseok.”

“…Yes, Father.”

But even Inseok froze the moment he met Choi Cheolho’s gaze as he opened his sleepy eyes.

Like a human facing a bear.

Choi Cheolho patted Inseok’s stiffened shoulders and whispered quietly.

“Are you the father?”

“…!”

“Manage your children as you see fit. But I’ll handle managing my children myself. Whether I cast them out or bring them back.”

“…Yes.”

While Choi Cheolho, who had subdued Inseok with a single word, finished drinking his scorched rice tea.

The second son, Inho, showed a smooth smile.

“Wow, if our nephew gets placed in Silver Tier, he’d be a top prospect… Naturally, we should slot him into our Sinwha Guild, right?”

“That’s for you to decide. The Sinwha Guild is yours, isn’t it?”

“Haha, Father, really. There’s nothing with the Sinwha name that isn’t yours, so what are you saying? Anyway, I’ll take that as permission. Of course… if that preposterous claim actually succeeds.”

But even though he noticed the sharpness hidden behind that smooth smile, Choi Cheolho said nothing.

“Oh my, then our Sinwha Department Store should do a collaboration too! The reversal of our nephew who was called Useless Scrub! Something like that.”

With the eldest daughter Seonhwa’s words subtly joining her older brothers in putting down Shin Hyeok, the family gathering of December 30th came to an end.

In the place where everyone had disappeared to their respective homes.

Choi Cheolho, who had been reading a book in his study, spoke to the empty air while maintaining his reading posture.

“What do you think?”

“…Shadows don’t do things like thinking.”

“I’m asking you now, so you can answer.”

But surprisingly, an answer came back from the seemingly empty air.

A skill that only those who had honed the stealth ability, one of the player abilities, to its extreme could demonstrate.

Choi Cheolho, who employed such a being as his shadow, urged for an answer once more.

The shadow remained silent for a moment, then laid out his thoughts.

“He seemed to have presence.”

“He seemed to have presence… In what way?”

“He was full of confidence that what he said would come to pass. I could see the presence contained within that confidence.”

He had presence.

The presence contained in his appearance as he said his words would definitely come true was impressive enough to make even the shadow admire it.

“Then do you think that preposterous claim will really come true?”

“…But presence and ability are separate things. If what he’s shown so far wasn’t some elaborate scheme just for the placement exam… honestly, I think it’s difficult.”

But that was a separate matter from acknowledgment.

Especially since his opponent was Lee Jooho, the eldest son of the Osung Guild leader who received all the support of Osung Group.

Someone whose expected tier was evaluated as top Silver, if not Gold, thanks to his natural talent.

As such, the possibility of Shin Hyeok beating Jooho was extremely low.

No, to be honest, it would be right to say there was none.

Of course-

“Then shall we make a bet?”

“A bet… you say?”

“Yes. A bet. I’m betting that the kid will keep his word.”

“…Do you really think that child will pull it off, Chairman?”

“At least that’s how it looked to my eyes. Something has changed. Something fundamental.”

Choi Cheolho was different.

Closing the book he was reading and smiling, Choi Cheolho showed the appearance of a child who didn’t know what to do after meeting a toy he liked.

At that fact, the shadow sighed.

“Then I’ll give up.”

“Why?”

“I’ve never seen you make a wrong decision, Chairman. I’m not stupid enough to make a bet I’m obviously going to lose.”

“That’s a shame. It would have been a chance to tease you.”

Choi Cheolho, who was grinning and saying it was a shame, stood up from his seat and gave an order.

“Contact the PR team. January 1st. During the placement exam, tell them a new star will be born from Shinwha Group. So have them prepare in advance.”

“Yes.”

And that was the end of it.

Shin Hyeok’s value, which the entire Shinwha Group would mobilize to promote, had been decided.

* * *

The house in Hannam-dong.

More precisely, there was quite a commotion at Shin Hyeok’s house.

“Shin Hyeok, what on earth were you thinking saying such things in front of your grandfather?”

At the center of that commotion was Shin Hyeok’s father, Inguyn.

He was still reeling from the bomb his son had dropped, holding his forehead and staggering.

But Shin Hyeok didn’t care much.

“Father.”

“…Father?”

“Please trust me just once. Then I’ll show you with results.”

“…What on earth happened overnight? A kid who never even called me father…”

Instead, just like when facing Choi Cheolho earlier, he forcefully pushed his will with good momentum.

A sensation like facing an iron wall.

A feeling that somehow made one have no choice but to believe, and Inguyn sat down heavily on the sofa, unable to hide his bewilderment.

“…Are you confident?”

“Yes. It would be even better if you could just grant my request, Father.”

“A request… Alright, I’ll grant it. A child who never wanted anything his whole life has even mentioned a request, so I should grant it.”

“Thank you.”

“Shin Hyeok.”

“Yes, Father.”

“I believe in you. Not because of the victory reward you mentioned, but because I believe our son really is such an outstanding person.”

“…Yes.”

It was a voice that felt strict, but since Shin Hyeok couldn’t miss the warm heart contained within it, he finished his answer with a slightly trembling voice, told Inguyn what he wanted to request, and returned to his room.

“First, let me check my condition.”

As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy and you’ll win every battle – with the thought that if he knew himself perfectly, he could take one step closer to victory, the expected status window document he pulled out was shocking.

“…My highest stat is strength at only 14. Mana is only 9? Is this really the stats of a prospective player about to take the placement exam? And a Shinwha High School student at that?”

Player training high schools.

In short, high schools had systems that could reasonably predict the status windows that could be seen after player awakening.

And Shinwha High School boasted the best equipment among them, so there could be said to be no margin of error.

But the results were bizarre even with both eyes open, so it was natural for Shin Hyeok to be flustered.

On average, the average stats of an adult male are 10.

But Shin Hyeok’s stats, who was professionally aiming to be a player, were only 14, which said it all.

Especially the fact that his mana stat, which could be said to be most important for a player, was 9 was fatal.

Shin Hyeok, who had been looking at the document that made him sigh just by looking at it, looked at the traits section and let out a chuckle.

[1. Versatile]

“As expected, it shows as one.”

Trait, Versatile.

A trait that allows one to do anything well.

It was the trait that gave Shin Hyeok the name Useless Scrub.

Because while he could do anything well, it didn’t significantly exceed average, so there was nothing he could call a specialty.

But Shin Hyeok knew.

That he had another trait besides Versatile.

“The release condition for Late Bloomer was probably Platinum.”

Trait, Late Bloomer.

One of the traits commonly called hidden traits or sealed traits, it was a trait whose existence remained unknown until specific conditions were met.

The specific condition for Late Bloomer was achieving Platinum tier.

And the effect of the Late Bloomer trait was simple.

“All skills I had before the trait awakened increased by at least one grade, sometimes several grades. The grade growth speed of skills obtained afterward also became faster.”

Skills.

If traits were the heart, then skills could be called organs.

Essential organs that were indispensable components of the body.

Being able to raise the grade of such skills by several levels was an incredibly remarkable trait.

Moreover, thanks to his other trait Versatile, Shin Hyeok possessed various skills, so the synergy effect was doubled.

The time it took to go from Platinum to Challenger was faster than the time it took to reach Platinum, which said it all.

“This time, I’ll bloom Late Bloomer more perfectly.”

In the past, Shin Hyeok had various miscellaneous abilities, but to raise his tier, he focused on only one skill.

Because of that, when Late Bloomer bloomed, the number of skills Shin Hyeok possessed wasn’t very many.

But this life would be very different from the last.

“I should get some sleep.”

Having strengthened his resolve, Shin Hyeok threw his body, exhausted and tired from dealing with Choi Cheolho, onto the bed.

* * *

December 31st.

With one day left until the placement exam, Shin Hyeok was facing his father, Inguyn.

“As promised, I got the low-grade stat enhancer and mana pills. Since it’s right before the placement exam, there weren’t many available and the prices were expensive… but I managed to get them somehow. I should have gotten you better ones, sorry about that.”

“No, this is enough. Thank you for your hard work, Father.”

In front of Inguyn were the low-grade stat enhancer and mana pills he had barely managed to obtain after running around all day.

The stat enhancer that raised physical stats when consumed, and mana pills that raised mana stats.

Of course, being low-grade meant they could only be used in the early stages, but since everyone taking the placement exam was a beginner anyway, it wasn’t a problem.

‘The stat enhancer and mana pills raise stats by 5. Then roughly, my current status window is…’

Shin Hyeok immediately consumed what Inguyn had brought and calculated his current status window in his head.

[Status Window]

Name: Shin-hyeok Choi

Class: X

(Stats)

Strength: 19 Stamina: 18 Intelligence: 18 Mana: 14

(Traits)

1. Versatile

2. Late Bloomer<Sealed>

(Skills)

X

‘About this much, I suppose.’

Confirming that his highest stat had been 14, and now his lowest stat was 14, Shin Hyeok showed a satisfied smile.

But there was no complacency.

‘This is barely different from just reaching the starting line. The kids from Shinwha High School probably have higher stats than me anyway. That guy Lee Jooho might even be over 30. In that sense, I can’t be complacent.’

What Shin Hyeok had obtained and consumed were things money could buy.

From Shin Hyeok’s position, needing to surpass Lee Jooho who had surely consumed things that couldn’t be obtained even with money, there was no way he could be complacent.

“Well then, I’ll be going now.”

“What about equipment?”

“I prepared it in my room.”

“Right, you can’t use inventory since you haven’t awakened yet. Good thinking.”

Having finished all his thoughts, Shin Hyeok entered his room, leaving behind the clock steadily approaching midnight.

Then he equipped the basic gear he had prepared in advance and fastened a sword to his waist.

When all preparations were complete.

[You have awakened!]

[Welcome to Dimension Arena!]

[The placement exam will now begin!]

January 1st.

The day of awakening and the placement exam had dawned.

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