Chapter 18: Being a Protagonist Doesn’t Guarantee You a Boost In Stats

Welp, the results were as you might have expected them. Suddenly realizing the potential that was hidden deep inside of me, pulling off some kind of Revenge Counter (Note: Nanatsu no Taizai style!) or receiving help from some overpowered high level player…… Yeah, nothing so overly dramatic happened.

「Well, go figure.」

On the other hand, I would like to know why I was left with only 1 HP and I had to watch the Night Prowler Luukan slowly approach me while I was wriggling in pain on the ground.

Well, I guess if you were able to overcome the difference in numbers with your player skill alone, that would mean that there was something fundamentally wrong with the game balance. It if was like that then there wouldn’t be any hardcore games out there left in this world, am I right?

Now, if there is anyone who wants to say that a strange bird-headed player just got owned by a unique monster, please wait a moment. Just hear me out. I’ve managed to hold my ground against it for five minutes straight, hit it for about two hundred times, out of which a hundred and ten were critical hits. But even so, I didn’t manage to deplete its HP gauge at all, Hahahaha…… Hah.

Besides, it’s mane. Rather than being your plain and ordinary fur, it was almost like it was made out of metal, and was probably as thick.

As proof, the weapons that I used were almost at their breaking point, and they started with full durability gauges. Attacking this thing was similar to hitting a God damned rock. Not to mention that its skills were overpowered as well, since one of them was fixing its position on the battlefield, making it look as though it was disappearing only to appear right behind your back the very next second.

Even the Goblins that tried to attack it got utterly decimated in a matter of seconds, popping just like balloons from mere single strikes from this beast. And if some of them managed to land a successful attack on it, it only resulted in their weapon getting broken instantly.

If there was a monster tamer somewhere nearby, I wish I could go and scout them into my party.

「Ah, fuck me…… This is really a good game……」

Strangely enough, there was nothing but the feeling of satisfaction filling out my chest for the moment. There’s no doubt that the “Night Prowler Luukan” is strong. It is unreasonably strong, unreasonably agile and unreasonably fast. Although I should be dead from all those bites I received from him, which were all critical strikes just to let you know, instead of being dead I was left with that mere 1 HP on me. Was that the effect of my high Luck stat? Being able to avoid a fatal blow? I need to investigate this matter further some other time.

However, its unreasonable stats and behaviors were all in the boundaries of the code by which it was programmed. And since it was made by normal people, it is certain that it was not meant to be unbeatable…………

「Someday, I don’t know when…… But I will defeat you! Of that you can be sure!」

「…………」

At that moment I realized that my gamer soul was completely on fire. I didn’t even care about the last boss of the storyline of this game anymore.

In this moment, the main driving force for me in this game has been decided.

「Just you wait for me! And don’t you dare to be defeated by anyone else until I grow strong enough to take you down!」

「………… Guru.」

「Really now, this AI is something else entirely.」

As my HP dropped from one to zero, I bit my lip seeing the face of Luukan distorted in something that could only be described as a parody of a smirk.

「CURSE MARK OF LUUKAN has been granted.」

「…………」

As I woke up on the second floor of the inn in Sekandill, I silently open up my status screen.

PN: Sanraku

LV: 28 (50)

Class: Mercenary (Dual Wielding Swordsman)

2,000 Mani

HP (Health Points): 30

MP (Magic): 10

STM (Stamina): 40

STR (Strength): 10

DEX (Dexterity): 15

AGI (Agility): 40

TEC (Technique): 20

VIT (Vitality): 1 (6)

LUC (Luck): 55

Skills

? Spin Slash → Rush Slash

? Skull Pierce → Spiral Edge

? Knuckle Rush

? Side Step → Side Move

? Just Parry → Repel Counter

? Loop Slash Lv.1 → Lv.4

? Edge Climb

? Accel Lv. 3

Equipment

Right: Vorpal Chopper

Left: Vorpal Chopper

Head: Mask of the Bird Eye (VIT 2)

Torso: Curse of Luukan

Waist: Leather Belt (VIT 4)

Feet: Curse of Luukan

Accessories: None

It seems that you get the experience points just by fighting the unique monsters, so the level went up and some attribute points to distribute were really appreciated…… So it wasn’t a total waste of time on my part.

Some of my skills got upgraded and I received some new ones as well. Sadly, none of them seemed to be OP or fighting-related.

· Luukan Curse Mark

Night Prowler Luukan favors strong enemies. Without distincting to good and evil, Luukan leaves his mark on those who he deems worthy.

It is the mark of Luukan’s prey, and even the mark alone emits Luukan’s tremendous power.

There is no other way to remove the mark but to defeat the one who placed it.

「You cannot equip armor to the slots taken by the Curse Mark of Luukan.」

「Monsters whose levels are lower than that of the player bearing the curse mark will run away from the player.」

「Curse Mark of Luukan makes the player strongly resistant to other types of curses.」

「Characters with the Curse Mark of Luukan will receive special dialogue options when talking with NPCs.」

Huh, what’s that supposed to mean?

The condition for unlocking this were as follows: Do not receive any damage for five minutes while being in the vanguard, Do not die in one hit by insta-kill move (without the assist of spells, items or abilities).

In addition I also received a reward for a minor challenge: deal a certain number of critical hits onto opponents with the level difference of one hundred or higher.