Observe
Summary: "Emotions: Concern, Affection"
Sun-Il wants to keep it a secret, Jee Han doesn't want to overthink.
Canon compliance from World Tree/Arc Company arcs. Jee Han x Sun-Il.
"Hey Jee Han, check my level for me," Sun-Il pants lightly, wiping sweat off his brow. Jee Han stares at him weirdly.
"We're in a party, Sun-Il, did you forget?" the Gamer grins, still pulling out the status screen for him. The brown screen flashes before Sun-Il, numbers displaying his stats. He grins at the stat points that he has (68 currently!) but decides to hold on to them for a while more. "This is really quite efficient," Sun-Il sighs, "your skill is unfair!"
"You've said that enough times," Jee Han groans. "But you have to admit it's an awesome ability! Bow down to the Gamer, all Hail the Gamer!" Jee Han goes into a bout of self-worship, throwing his hands into the air and striking a pose.
Sun-Il really loves his dorky friend.
"Jee Han, I'm sorry." Sun-Il bows his head. "This has gone too far. The Cheon Bu clan cannot offer anymore help."
Jee Han doesn't want to worry his friend. Jee Han wants to protect himself. But Jee Han doesn't know how to. He's already working on it ever since he went to visit the Cheonjidang, although he has been making good progress, but the attacks come on even faster, leaving him little time to rest before another one comes along.
The number of attacks that have taken place in this short period of time was unexpected. Apart from when he was at home, he's been attacked so many time by other organizations, some of them nearly not manageable for him. After the Harem King discontinued his protection over the Gamer, Jee Han has learnt of the cruelty of the Abyss, how people would go after him for his rare innate ability.
The last attack was by strong medium organization of witches and wizards who attempted to come after him, and he could barely fend them off. It's not that he was weak, but it was the element of surprise and the overpowering number of people and resources they had.
They had geared themselves with anti-mana skills and weapons, ready to hold him down. He could still remember desperately escaping their overwhelming strength, when he realised that they had set traps and ambushes nearly on every spot, keeping him in air where they could easily sense his presence.
He had nearly gotten himself caught in one of their nets charmed with an anti-magic and anti-mana spells, but luckily for him, he had managed to get out in time before he was trapped. Jee Han didn't know if his magic was able to overcome the debuff effect of the net, not when the illusion barrier itself had a debuff effect of -50% magic skill and attack, -50% mana capacity, and a decrease in mana regeneration which he couldn't overcome.
Not that those made him any worse of a wizard. He still had many more skills which could allow him to overcome these disadvantages, yet he had come to the realisation that he was not well prepared enough, not able to predict and prepare. His skills was not the limiting factor here, but rather his knowledge.
These witches and wizards had prepared themselves against the skills of the Gamer, knowing the equipment and skill level he had. And they themselves were not anyone to be trifled with, being some of the most elite coming together to hold down this monster of an innate user.
If they could successfully capture the Gamer, imagine the sort of power they could have, mastering his skill and capabilities, and then extracting his mana to be sold!
Jee Han was just able to make use of a loophole in their plans, subjecting them to their own debuffs of decreased magic power and mana capacity, allowing them to be weakened substantially, giving Jee Han a chance to defeat them and escape this near-capture experience.
But when Sun-Il heard about this, he was Not Happy. He once told Jee Han that he would lay down his life just for his friend, and Sun-Il would really do so if Sun-Il was ever threatened. This would be one of those times, and Sun-Il had repeated it over and over again, nagging his friend, hoping that it would keep him away from danger.
"Sun-Il, I-I, you don't have to be sorry," Jee Han tries to reach out to his friend, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Sun-Il shakes his head. "No, it's not about me. It's also about the clan. I'm the successor of the Cheon Bu clan, I cannot endanger it. You may be part of the clan, and you may be my best friend that I will forever cherish and protect, but this involves not just me and you." He sits down on his bed dejectedly, burying his face in his hands. In that moment, in Jee Han's eyes, his always cheerful friend, seemed so small, so terrified –
(Terrified of losing you, Jee Han, but Sun-Il would never admit it himself)
"I would protect you with everything I had, Jee Han. If I could, I would."
"I understand."
Sun-Il lets out a long sigh. "What am I saying all these for? You're probably much stronger than I am. You can defend yourself better than I can ever do for you."
The realisation hits Jee Han. No, no, that's not true, Sun-Il. I still don't know a lot about the Abyss, I still don't know the extends of which the Abyss can reach and harm us –
"Hey, Sun-Il, don't be like this. I'll keep myself safe alright? So you don't have to worry about me. I'll do everything I can to protect myself. I won't let anyone harm me. Or you." Jee Han is unsure of his own words. He knows he's doing everything to make himself even stronger. He's making his own guild of self-aware golems, he's upgrading himself to become the most op character ever seen, but he's doubting himself.
Sun-Il recomposes himself. He gives Jee Han a weak smile, his golden eyes filled with so many contrasting emotions. Jee Han wants to know how his friend is feeling so that he could make him stop feeling upset.
"Observe."
Emotions: Worry, Despair, Affection
He's never going to let Sun-Il down, not his best friend since forever, since when he was alone. Never.
There's no turning back now, Han Jee Han.
Back home, Jee Han feels like dumping all his stat points into luck. He wonders how it will change his current build. If building a golem guild isn't enough, if levelling up is not enough, if money is not enough to buy everything that he needs, he needs something more than just rational and practical decisions. He needs to let Gaia and fortune guide him to safety.
Noooooo, his INT and WIS stats shout at him, that's a very risky decision!
His luck has improved so far, a jump from 15 to 25, and he has no idea what it does or how it will affect him.
"Status screen."
The familiar blue screen pops up.
He hasn't levelled up much since the last time, but it seems like he still has a couple of stat points to spare. Ah, what a grind for these stat points, he doesn't even know what luck does.
He presses the stat, and another pop-up appears:
"Good luck is when opportunity meets preparation, while bad luck is when a lack of preparation meets reality." Increases your luck, do you need any more explanation?!
"What a useful description," Jee Han mutters. He's not willing to put in any points into luck, not when he's not clear of its effects, and its ambiguous description does not help him in making a decision.
However, his fingers are itching to throw in whatever stat points that he has into LUK. Jee Han clenches his hands and stares long and hard at the stat.
Nothing happens.
"Fine, fine, alright. Seems like I've got no other choice, right?"
Jee Han decides to approach this stat carefully, putting in 25 stat points into it to bring it to a 50. He wonders if it will change his encounters, if it will increase his attacks, or will it bring more than just that?
"Use points."
A blue notification pops up:
[BLESSED BY FATE (PASSIVE) MAX. LVL]
WITH YOUR LUK PASSING 50, LADY LUCK IS DEFINITELY ON YOUR SIDE!
EFFECT: 25% TO DROP EXTRA LOOT
EFFECT: 50% CHANCE TO DOUBLE LOOT DROP
EFEECT: 50% CHANCE TO DROP DOUBLE CASH DROP
EFFECT: RANDOM CHANCE FOR 50% EXP. BOOST TO PROC
"That's what it does?"