Arena Chapter 6:
When I woke up I immediately checked the time on my cell phone . It was exactly 11 am and not a minute off .
When I checked my surroundings my one room basement apartment came in to view .
‘I survived!’
It might be due to experiencing a life or death experience but going back to the boring everyday life brought great joy .
‘But wasn't that all a dream?’
For a moment I became suspicious .
Did I just not have a really clear dream?
To confirm whether it was a dream or real there is a simple method .
“Summon slate . ”
The slate appeared .
- Name: Kim Hyunho
- Class: 3
- Karma: +500
- Mission: Rest until the next test
- Time limit: 11 days
- You can be rewarded through karma . To receive your reward say ‘Karma reward’ while the slate is summoned .
It wasn't a dream . I was really hoping .
After the given 11 days pass I will be dragged back to that weird world called ‘Arena’ again to fight with my life on the line .
The red Ape was a weak one so I could somehow win but I cannot guarantee what kind of monster will appear in the second test .
I must use karma reward to get a good weapon or some ability to get stronger .
“Karma reward . ”
After saying that, the words on the slate started to wiggle and change .
- Please choose the reward you want .
1 . Skill: Your ability increases .
2 . Item: Weapon, Defense item, etc
3 . Other: Make a living world material into an item . Living world material turned into an item can be used during the exam .
- Karma remaining: 500
“Hmm… skill?”
With my command the words on the slate changed once more .
- Please select the type of skill you would like .
1 . Main skill: Candidate’s basic ability that is needed to undergo the test . This is the determining factor that determines how well you do in the test . You can only choose one . The amount of main skills you can learn is determined by your talent and qualification .
2 . Support skills: Skills other than the main skill that helps the candidate . Depending on the conditions can be selected as much as you want .
- Karma remaining: 500
It looks like you can select only one main skill and you can choose several support skills .
In one sentence it's the difference between your major and minor . 'If that is the case the most important one is the main skill . ’
I decided to learn the main skill first .
“Main skill . ”
1 . Aura control: Life energy’s root energy is the aura . By controlling the aura you will get physical abilities that surpass the limit .
Beginner 1st level: You can control the aura inside your body . (-400)
2 . Spirit summon: Sign a contract with a spirit to use nature’s strength .
Spirits you are able to summon: fire, wind .
Beginner 1st level: You can summon a low grade spirit for two hours . The time limit will decrease depending on how much power the spirit uses . (-400)
- Remaining karma: 500
Aura control and spirit summon skills huh… .
Reading the explanation I can pretty much tell what kind of abilities they are .
‘The spirit summoning skill looks better . ’
Let’s think about it .
With aura control you need to fight yourself with a body strengthened with aura . But with spirit summon you can summon a spirit to fight for you .
The latter is obviously much safer method of fighting!
Hmm, anyway that (-400) written at the end is probably means that, to learn this skill 400 karma points will be used right?
Right now I have 500 karma points so if I learn beginner 1st level spirit summoning skill I am left with 100 karma points .
‘What do I do with the leftover 100 karma points?’
Rolling my head for a moment I said to the slate .
“Show me all the weapons I can get with 100 karma points . ”
This changed the words on the slate again . The artificial intelligence inside this slate is pretty awesome .
- Please select the type of weapon you want .
1 . Sword
2 . Spear
3 . Blunt weapon
4 . Hidden weapon
5 . Bow
6 . Other
- Remaining karma: 500
Okay, I’m going to be a great swordsman!
… But I’m never going to choose number 1 . Are you crazy? Do you think this is some fantasy novel or something?
Of course a long reaching weapon is safe and best choice .
But the long distance weapon number 5 bow will be hard to use unless you are trained in the bow .
Isn't there something like a gun?
I was confident in shooting . When I was in the military I won quite a few rewards as a rifleman .
“Number 6: other . ”
With a hopeful mind I chose number 6 .
This is the list of weapons you can get with a 100 karma points . Please select the weapon you want .
Below it bunch of different weapon names were listed . Sling, knuckle, poison were all weapons that were difficult to use .
But looking through the list my eyes stopped at the 12th weapon on the list .
“It exists!”
Surprisingly there was a gun .
12 . Magic gun: It is a manual one bullet chamber firearm . After loading pull the trigger to activate repulsion magic to fire the bullet . The manipulation is easy and stable . (-100)
*Effective range: 60 m
*Maximum range: 150 m
*100 rounds bullets and carrier included .
It is exactly 100 karma points for the gun .
It was a weapon that has clear weakness and advantages .
For instance the gun needs to reload after every shot . That will become a nuance and a pain . The range is pretty short and because the bullets are in the shape of a round marble the penetration strength seems like will be lower .
But on the plus side the handling and manipulation is simple and is stable . Not only that it doesn't use any gun powder so it is safer and the there will make less sound when shooting .
“This will do, let’s go with this . ”
This is the only weapon I can weld anyway .
My calculation for how I should use the 500 karma points was done .
Being sure of my decision I said to the slate .
“I will acquire the spirit summon level 1 skill and the magic gun . ”
- You have selected the 1st level spirit summoning skill . Please select the spirit you want to sign a contract with .
1 . Fire spirit Kasa
2 . Wind spirit Silpi
“Silpi . ”
To a riflemen, there is nothing g more important than knowing the wind . I figured that the wind spirit and the magic gun will be a good combination .
Paaad!
From the slate light started pouring out . It was so bright that I needed to cover my eyes with my hands .
After a moment the light stopped shining .
The words on the slate were changed .
- Spirit summon (main skill) level 1 skill has been acquired . If you say ‘Check skills’ you can check all the skills you have acquired .
- You have acquired the magic gun . If you say ‘equip weapon’ the weapon you possess will be summoned . If you say ‘de-equip weapon’ the weapon will disappear .
- You have acquired the bullet carrier . If you say ‘equip tool’ the tool you possess will be summoned . If you say ‘de-equip tool’ the tool will disappear .
- Remaining karma: 0
Let’s see .
Check skills, equip weapon and tool, de-equip weapon and tool… .
I read carefully read over the slate and tested each command one by one .
“Check skills . ”
As soon as I did that, new words appeared on the slate .
- Spirit summons (main skill): Able to summon a low level spirit named Silpi . If you say ‘Silpi’ the spirit is summoned .
*Beginner 1st level: summon time limit 2 hrs . Time drains depending on how much power the spirit uses their power .
“Silpi . ”
Soon after, small whirlwinds combined together and an opaque form was made . The wind spirit Silpi made it's appearance .
Silpi's appearance was … .
-Meow .
“A cat?”
I was shocked .
An opaque small cat was meowing at me and looking at me with a friendly expression .
Silpi lightly jumped on my shoulders and rubbed his face with my cheeks .
This was extremely cute .
“Nice to meet you . ”
-Meow .
I now confirmed the spirit summoning skill, now let’s check the items .
“Equip weapon, equip tool . ”
I said the two commands in a row .
Pak! Paik!
In my right hand the magic gun appeared . On my waist the bullet carrier was hung on a leather belt .
This is fascinating . In just one word it automatically equips .
Opening the bullet casing there were large number of small marble **** . This must be the bullets .
The magic gun’s length was about 1 m and it was made out of wood . It was light so it would be easy to carry around .
“De-equip weapon and tool . ”
The magic gun and the bullet carrier disappeared .
I used all my 500 points of karma and got rewarded . Whether this was a good decision will be proven in the next test .