Worthless Skill Escape (WN)

Chapter 198

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TL: ALT

Chapter 198 – Change of Strategy

As it turned out, the man didn’t have to lead me for very long.

“This way…”

I muttered to myself and ran past the man.

My Super Hearing had picked up someone’s voice from deep inside the dungeon.

“H-hey!”

I’ll leave the guy behind, but as long as I kill all the monsters on the way, it shouldn’t be a problem.

If I don’t reset with Escape, the monsters respawn in a few minutes to a few tens of minutes.

If it wasn’t for that guy, I could have used Sky Walk to go over the monsters’ heads.

I can’t use magic to make myself invisible while I’m moving around a lot, but I can avoid running into monsters by running past them faster than they can see me.

In my case, if I’m considered to have encountered a monster, I’ll meet the activation conditions for Escape, and I’ll be trapped in the Escape area.

When that happens, I’ll have to meet the Escape timer requirement―currently 15 seconds.

It’s ironic that I can escape faster without Escape.

Of course, there’s the benefit of not being chased by the monster I was fighting when I used Escape.

However, by using a combination of skills, such as the Demon King’s magic skill to cancel gravity and Sky Walk to kick through the air, I’ll ‘run’ through the air as if I’m gliding.

As I pass by, I unleash a lightning area spell that burns the monster to a crisp.

The roar of the lightning is absorbed by creating a vacuum with the Demon King’s magic skill.

What my Super Hearing picked up was the voice of a boy I recognized.

“…It’s called a freedom contract… collar…”

“I don’t really understand, but is it?”

Yamato said, and the voice of the man who seemed to be a member of the Men’s Association answered.

There was a clattering sound as if something was being put on.

It seems that it’s easier to hear the sound of something higher than the voice.

While listening carefully, I slay the enemies and move on, and then.

“――Kandori!”

I heard Yamato call out in a loud voice.

“That way…”

I quickened my pace and rounded the corner.

When I was close enough, I slowed down and carefully suppressed my presence.

Using the unique bonus of the Dungeon Master, who used to be Stealth, I made myself invisible with magic.

Now that Stealth is treated as a magic skill instead of a skill, I can do the same thing with the Demon King’s magic skills.

The same goes for the Necromancy I gained in the Chidorigafuchi dungeon―all magic is now included in the Demon King’s magic skills.

So now I can just throw all kinds of magic into the big box called Demon King’s Magic Skills.

In addition to being intuitively easy to use, the range of magic arrangements is expanding every day, and my understanding of magic as a technology and phenomenon is deepening.

It’s almost as if skills are like training wheels that you no longer need on a bicycle.

You can really see how much depth this world’s unique skill system robs you of in exchange for convenience.

However, there are still abilities that can only be handled in the form of skills, job skills, abilities, and unique bonuses.

The most typical example of this would be Appraisal-type skills and abilities.

I take a deep breath and look carefully around the corner.

I can see that the passage continues around the corner and that there is an entrance to a small room quite a ways ahead.

Thanks to the Dungeon Master’s skill, I already know the layout of the small room.

However, the interior seems to have been redecorated in a rather chaotic manner, so I can’t see the finer details.

The entrance to the small room is several tens of meters away, but thanks to my Vision Enlargement skill, I can see the area around the entrance from here.

Near the entrance, the Men’s Association explorers are holding their weapons, looking menacing.

There are… ten of them.

If you include the man who’s following me and Yamato, there are twelve of them.

That’s the equivalent of two parties of six.

Yamato is in the middle of these ten people.

And in front of where Yamato is looking, there is a woman in a white coat.

It is Kandori.

Kandori has her hands in the pockets of her dirty white coat and is looking at the Men’s Association explorers with eyes that look like she’s looking at insects.

Yamato’s first words were something that went against my expectations.

“I brought them, just like I promised.”

Yamato said to Kandori.

Though his tone was blunt, there was no hint of the hatred he felt for the mad scientist who planned to destroy every man in the world.

It was the explorers of the Men’s Association who were shaken by this.

“Ya-Yamato…?”

When the explorer asked him about the true meaning of his words,

“Shut up.”

Yamato ordered coldly.

“…..?!”

The explorer who asked Yamato showed signs of anger.

I couldn’t see his face from where I was, but I could tell that he was upset.

Even if he didn’t have the ability to be an explorer, I could tell just by looking at the man’s back.

The other explorers, surprised by their comrade’s condition, showed signs of wanting to say something, but in the end, none of them were able to speak.

One of the explorers tried to grab Yamato.

However,

“Don’t move.”

With a single word from Yamato, all the explorers stopped moving.

I don’t understand the situation.

While I’m at it, I’ll do what I have to do.

What I have to do, of course, is to check Yamato’s status.

I should also check on Kandori, who is also in my line of sight.

No matter how you look at it, it’s not like I’m dutifully observing the unspoken etiquette between explorers.

Of course, I’m going to use Detailed Appraisal, but I’ll start with the default status.

Status──────────────────

Yamato Sakurai

Level 727

HP 3444/3444

MP 12617/12617

Attack Power 15969

Defense 9672

Magic Power 16236

Mental Strength 8497

Agility 17550

Luck 2908

・Unique Skill

Schadenfreude

・Acquired Skills

Bow Technique 4, Concentration, Agility Enhancement 3, Healing Magic 3, MP Enhancement 3, Intimidation, Roaring, Leadership, Diving, Underwater Breathing, Underwater Movement

・Equipment

Rapid Crossbow.

Dragon Scale Breastplate.

Arrow Catching Gauntlets.

Evade Boots.

Mirage Cloak

Ring of Evasion

・Strategy

“Burn your life away,” “Don’t be stingy with your means,” “Squeeze out every last drop,” “Strength is everything.”

SP 2242

────────────────────

Skill ──────────────────

Schadenfreude

Forces all participants in the battle to reduce their maximum HP and current HP to 1.

Statistic Correction:

The owner of Schadenfreude always receives the following corrections to each stat.

HP -50%.

Attack Power +50%.

Defense -30%.

Magic Power +50%.

Luck -50

────────────────────

Well, there are several things to point out, but…

“…Strategy?”

This is probably the most confusing one.

Needless to say, there’s no such category as Strategy in the stats I’ve seen so far.

“It’s not that kind of unique skill either…”

Yamato’s unique skill is Schadenfreude.

Forcing everyone in the battle to have their maximum HP and current HP reduced to 1 is risky, but it could be powerful depending on how it’s used.

Looking at his other skills and equipment, Yamato seems to specialize in long-range attacks with a bow and evasion.

I guess he uses a fighting style where he reduces the enemy’s HP to 1 with Schadenfreude and then finishes them off with a single shot from his bow.

No matter how you look at it, it’s a heartbreaking style, but when it works well, it’s incredibly efficient for hunting.

If you have friends to help you, it’s even more effective than hunting alone.

…I can’t help but feel a little sympathy for the fact that he seems to be crying over the nasty stat correction.

I think he probably arrived at his current style after struggling with his own unique skills and extreme stat correction, just like I did.

That’s fine, but it doesn’t seem like that gloating has any effect on the creation of a stat called Strategy.

One of his skills is Leadership, but that only has the effect of increasing cooperation within the party he leads.

I’ve already confirmed that the boss of the Shibuya Hachiko-mae dungeon, the Predator Wolf, has it.

I think it’s probably the work of the Detailed Appraisal that this thing called Strategy has appeared.

I searched through the information in the Detailed Appraisal section, which is displayed in abundance, for anything that might be related to Strategy.

“This is…”

────────────────────

Seiji Tozaki’s “Change of Strategy” > Result: Success.

Seiji Tozaki’s Change of Strategy has granted the following strategies: “Burn Your Life,” “Don’t Be Picky About the Means,” “Squeeze Out Every Last Drop,” and “Strength Is Everything.”

────────────────────

Info──────────────────

Strategy: “Burn Your Life”

Those assigned to this strategy will automatically have their HP restored and will be able to ignore the negative effects of physical fatigue and illness. As a side effect, they will receive all fatigue and negative effects accumulated up to that point after the strategy is deactivated.

────────────────────

Info──────────────────

Strategy: “Don’t Be Picky About the Means”

Those who set this strategy will have their thinking speed increased by S.Lv x 10% and will have a 2% chance of realizing options that they would not have thought of under normal circumstances. As a side effect, their ability to make ethical decisions will decrease, and they will be able to take actions that would normally be morally repugnant without hesitation.

────────────────────

Info──────────────────

Strategy: “Squeeze Every Last Drop”

Those who set this strategy can steal HP and MP at will from those they recognize as their leader. As a side effect, they lose their ability to empathize with the pain of others.

────────────────────

Info──────────────────

Strategy: “Strength is Everything”

Those who set this strategy will have their attack power and magic power increased by S.Lv x 30%, and their defense and mental power decreased by S.Lv x 20%. As a side effect, they will be more likely to obey those stronger than them and oppress those weaker than them.

────────────────────

The information I found seems to be part of a past log.

I was able to unearth information that affects the status by using the Detailed Appraisal.

“There are more things to point out…”

It says “Seiji Tozaki,” but is this the same Seiji Tozaki I know?

Even with Detailed Appraisal, it’s impossible to find out someone else’s status from the log records.

Judging by the fact that the names are read the same way, it’s probably the same person.

However, Seiji Tozaki is a public figure.

I think he could have run for office under a different name than his real one, but it’s hard to imagine that he would have been active under a different name even when he was a businessman.

And the “Change of Strategy” skill that Seiji Tozaki seems to have used.

“It’s definitely a unique skill…”

It’s a powerful effect for a normal skill, and most importantly, it seems to be too flexible.

Thanks to this “Change of Strategy,” Yamato has been granted four strategies.

Each strategy has a powerful strengthening effect, but at the same time, it has a strong side effect that affects the mental side.

With “Don’t Be Picky About the Means,” your thinking speed increases, and you also start to be inspired by options that go beyond your own ideas.

In terms of skills, it’s a pretty powerful effect, similar to Thought Acceleration and Divine Revelation.

On the other hand, there is a serious downside: “Your ability to make ethical decisions diminishes, and you begin to take actions that would normally be morally repugnant without hesitation.”

“Squeeze Out Every Last Drop” has the effect of “allowing you to arbitrarily take HP and MP from those who recognize you as the leader.”

However, “as a side effect, you lose your empathy for the pain of others.

“Strength is Everything” has the effect of “increasing your Attack Power and Magic Power by S.Lv x 30% and decreasing your Defense and Mental Strength by S.Lv x 20%.”

Compared to the first two, this effect seems more moderate, but it’s still a simple and powerful buff.

However, the secondary effect is: “The mental tendency to obey those stronger than you and oppress those weaker than you becomes stronger.”

“Is this the reason why Yamato has been acting strangely lately?”

As the man from the Men’s Association said earlier, it seems that Seiji Tozaki is the cause.

Also,

“Burn Your Life… I guess this is the reason for overcoming a weak constitution.”

“Burn Your Life” means that “HP will automatically recover, and you can ignore the negative effects of physical fatigue and illness.

However, “You will receive all the fatigue and negative effects that have accumulated up to that point after the strategy is canceled.”

“If that’s the case, it’s dangerous to use Force Release.”

If I use Force Release, I can remove any effect from the status.

Of course, the strategy granted by Change of Strategy would also fall under its scope.

However, if I remove Burn Your Life from Yamato, Yamato will “collectively receive” the “negative effects of physical fatigue and illness” that he has been “ignoring.”

If he had a weak constitution to begin with, this could lead to a very serious situation.

Of course, there is no problem with canceling the other three strategies.

In fact, when I think about the side effects, it’s better to cancel them as soon as possible.

But I’m also afraid of canceling them suddenly in this situation.

While I was thinking about it, Yamato asked Kandori.

“So you’re going to put me in the Cold House now, right?”

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