Profiting from Skill Copy 008

The next morning.

Choi Junhyuk arrived at Gate 7 of the Western Barricade a little earlier than the appointed time, patiently awaiting Kang Cheolmin.

‘Hoo, today is going to be a busy day,’ he mused. ‘I need to register as an Awakened, and I also have to unseal the bracelet.’

In truth, Junhyuk had wanted to unseal the bracelet immediately after acquiring it yesterday.

However, he lacked the specific liquid, ‘Exciter,’ necessary to melt one of the crucial components: the crystal.

While the solution itself was readily available, the problem lay in the late hour; all the shops selling it had already closed.

Thus, he reluctantly postponed the unsealing until today.

About twenty minutes later, two vehicles pulled to a stop in front of the gate.

From the lead car, Cheolmin disembarked and approached Junhyuk.

“Oh! Junhyuk! Haha, you’re here early,” Cheolmin exclaimed.

“Well, I am the one asking for a favor. By the way, where is your party leader? I should at least greet him.”

“Ah! Just a moment. Hyungnim! This is the friend I mentioned to you yesterday.”

At Cheolmin’s words, a powerfully built man, carrying a large shield in one hand and a moderately sized one on his back, strode purposefully from the lead vehicle.

“Oh, yes. So this is the friend? Haha, it’s good to meet you. I’m Yoo Sangjin, the Tanker and leader of this party. Since I’m older, you can speak comfortably, right?”

His boisterous personality perfectly matched his rugged appearance.

“If you’re someone Cheolmin respects as an elder, then naturally, you are an elder to me too. Haha, I look forward to working with you today.”

Junhyuk bowed his head respectfully, then raised it to extend both hands for a polite handshake.

Given the natural flow of the situation, Sangjin grasped Junhyuk’s hand without the slightest suspicion.

“Oh, yes. Work hard. I heard you said you wouldn’t take payment, but if you work diligently, I’ll still give you a day’s wage.”

The moment Sangjin spoke, shaking Junhyuk’s hand, Junhyuk swiftly activated his ‘Copy’ skill.

‘Copy!’

[You may select three of the following skills.]

A mechanical voice echoed, and a list of Sangjin’s skills appeared before Junhyuk’s eyes.

Unique Skill: [Passive] Iron Skin [Lv.1]

• Defense +1000

• Absorbs 10% of incoming damage

• As a Unique Skill, it can be used without being registered in the skill deck.

Unique Skill: [Active] Shield Attack [Lv.1]

• Strikes an opponent with a shield, forcing them to focus on the user.

• Deals 300 damage.

• Increases aggro rate by 95%

• As a Unique Skill, it can be used without being registered in the skill deck.
  Cast Time: [Instant]
  Cooldown: [30 minutes]
  Force Consumption: [100]

Card Skill: [Active] Overwhelm [Lv.5]

• Emits a powerful aura to intimidate enemies and draw their attention.

• Increases aggro rate by 130%

• Decreases target’s attack power by 10%
  Cast Time: [Instant]
  Cooldown: [1 hour]
  Force Consumption: [1000]

Sangjin possessed two Unique Skills and one Card Skill.

There was no need to deliberate over which to choose; Junhyuk could simply copy all of them. Without a moment’s hesitation, he proceeded.

‘Iron Skin! Shield Attack! Overwhelm! Copy!’

[Do you wish to copy Iron Skin, Shield Attack, and Overwhelm? [Yes / No]]

‘Yes!’

[Skill copy complete. Copied skills can be viewed in the Skill Window.]

The copy was completed the instant he selected ‘Yes’.

This entire sequence of actions concluded within the mere three to four seconds of their handshake, ensuring that no one perceived anything unusual about Junhyuk.

‘It’s done! I finally copied the Tanker skills! Does this mean the first phase of my plan is a success?’

After completing the copy, Junhyuk released Sangjin’s hand, a smile gracing his lips.

“Haha, don’t worry. When I commit to something, I always give it my all. And truly, you don’t need to pay me. I already feel bad for imposing on you so suddenly; taking payment would be out of the question.”

What did it matter if he didn’t receive a day’s wage? He had, after all, copied all of their skills, which were essentially their entire livelihood.

Unaware that his skills had been replicated, Sangjin merely let out a hearty laugh.

“This guy is truly something! Haha! Anyway, let’s do our best. You can ride in the vehicle behind us. Shall we get going?”

As Sangjin and Cheolmin re-entered the lead vehicle, Junhyuk swiftly climbed into the rear one.

During the journey to the hunting ground, Junhyuk greeted everyone with a smiling face, subtly copying all of their abilities.

‘Even if I have to delete them later, I should copy them now, just in case.’

After all, everyone gathered here were first-stage Awakened. If he were to copy the skills of higher-tier Awakened, the skills copied from these individuals would become obsolete.

However, since there was no telling when that time would come, Junhyuk decided to copy everything he could for now.

During the journey, Junhyuk copied a total of thirteen skills: three Healer skills, one Mapper skill, two Trapper skills, and seven Dealer skills.

Taking a closer look at the newly copied skills:

Melee Dealer Skills:
[Active] Iron Fist [Lv.1]
[Active] Flurry [Lv.2]

Ranged Dealer Skills:
[Passive] Archer Body [Lv.1]
[Active] Power Shot [Lv.1]
[Active] Rapid Fire [Lv.8]
[Active] Sniping Shot [Lv.7]
[Active] Eagle Eye [Lv.7]

Healer Skills:
[Passive] Holy Power [Lv.1]
[Active] Healing [Lv.1]
[Active] Light of Healing [Lv.3]

Trapper Skills:
[Active] Damage Trap [Lv.1]
[Active] Binding Trap [Lv.1]

Mapper Skill:
[Active] Mapping [Lv.1]

These were the thirteen skills.

With these, Junhyuk could now single-handedly fulfill the roles of Tanker, Dealer, Healer, Mapper, and Trapper.

While the limited number of skill slots prevented him from utilizing all abilities simultaneously, possessing such a diverse array of professional skills could unleash considerable power depending on their combination.

‘I’ve copied everything I can for now… Should I try registering them?’

Junhyuk considered registering the copied skills but then shook his head.

‘No, if I register them once, I can’t swap them for 24 hours. I plan to register as a Hunter right after the hunt, so there’s no need to complicate things unnecessarily.’

Whether it was the original system or a derivative, once a skill was registered in a slot, it could not be exchanged for 24 hours.

There was no need to register skills now and further delay his Hunter registration by another day.

****

The hunt concluded more smoothly than expected.

While Yoo Sangjin’s tanking skills were impressive, the organic teamwork among the party members truly shone.

“Haha, another successful day without a hitch! Everyone worked hard! And Junhyuk, wasn’t it? Your stamina is incredible! Even though you shared the load, the sheer volume was considerable. Especially today, we had an unusually high amount of byproducts. Yet, you don’t look tired at all. Normally, the porter would be exhausted.”

As he spoke, Sangjin subtly glanced at their usual porter.

The original porter of Sangjin’s party, despite his sturdy build, was visibly struggling, breathing heavily with a look of utter exhaustion.

At Sangjin’s words, Junhyuk offered an awkward smile.

“Haha, I’m quite confident in my stamina.”

In truth, the old Junhyuk would have collapsed long ago. However, the current Junhyuk’s physical abilities had vastly improved through his awakening compared to an ordinary person.

Yet, judging that it wasn’t the right time to reveal his Awakened status, he tried to brush it off casually.

At that, Cheolmin, who was standing nearby, quietly approached and spoke.

“Hyungnim, this guy actually made quite a name for himself with his fists back in school. I don’t know about his stamina being this good, but he’s a natural-born fighter. How should I put it? His senses are extraordinary. Even without formal training, all the guys who thought they could fight ended up at his feet. If he awakened, he probably would’ve been quite formidable, I bet! Haha.”

At Cheolmin’s remarks, Sangjin looked at Junhyuk with a somewhat sharp gaze.

“Oh, really? By ‘school days,’ do you mean before the Great Cataclysm? Was he a bully then? Hmm, he looks like a diligent fellow, though.”

It seemed he had some unpleasant memories concerning bullies.

“Nah, why would you compare him to a bully? On the contrary, he was the one beating up the bullies! His dream was originally to become a detective. If the world hadn’t changed like this, he really might have become one.”

Upon hearing that his dream was to be a detective and that he had actually beaten up bullies, Sangjin’s expression finally softened.

“Is that so? Anyway, you worked hard. Here’s your pay.”

As Sangjin handed him the money, calling it his day’s wage, Junhyuk quickly waved his hands.

“What? Haha, no, it’s fine. As I said from the start, I won’t take any payment. It’s doubtful I’ll continue this porter work anyway, and today was just a trial run.”

“Hey! If an elder gives you something, just say thank you and accept it! Why so many words? Especially since we got more byproducts than usual today; if it weren’t for you, our porter would have been utterly exhausted. By the way, do you have any intention of continuing as a porter? If you do, I’ll make a spot for you.”

Junhyuk replied with a thoughtful expression.

“Well, I can’t give you a definitive answer yet. Even if I wanted to do something else, I first need to cleanly wrap up my previous ‘Hyena’ work, so it’s difficult right now. Today was my day off, so I took the time to come out. If I decide to take on porter work, I’ll let you know then. And as for this money… I’ll gratefully accept it.”

Although he hadn’t intended to take the payment, Junhyuk decided that refusing too much would be impolite, so he accepted the money with a word of thanks.

“Alright. Then, if the opportunity arises, we’ll see each other again.”

“Yes, thank you for today.”

After finishing his goodbyes with Sangjin, Cheolmin approached, lightly tapping his arm.

“Good work today. I’ll call you a bit later.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks to you, I had a good experience. You go on ahead.”

After seeing Cheolmin off, Junhyuk immediately set off to purchase the Exciter solution needed to unseal his bracelet.

Since it was already past six o’clock, he worried he might be too late if he went to register as an Awakened first.