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Chapter 433 - 430: Fourth Rank Player and the "White Judgment" Skill

Chapter 433: Chapter 430: Fourth Rank Player and the "White Judgment" Skill

"Ding-dong!"

[Achievement (Summit of the World’s Birthday Celebration) acquired: As the Number One Player "great and respectable" in the eyes of others, you received blessings from an entire world on your birthday—but is this truly a cause for rejoicing?]

[Received 20 Achievement Points.]

...

"Tick-tock."

"Tick-tock."

The pre-set alarm sound went off in his head, and Su Ming’an woke up from his bed with his mind still groggy.

Last night, after watching the fireworks festival, Noel and the others had insisted on playing various board games with him, claiming "this is preparation for the Eighth World."

Board games, seemingly uninteresting at first glance, became quite engaging when played with others. After a dozen rounds, they finally called it a night.

Lin Yin was enthusiastic at the time, saying it was more enjoyable than clearing an instance and even planned for a next time to play together.

However, Su Ming’an guessed there probably wouldn’t be a "next time."

The birthday was a rare day off, and he doubted he would have as much leisure time to rest afterward.

As the world game’s progress slowly advanced, the challenges he would face were only going to become more difficult.

Glancing at the time, it was the first day of the New Year, 11:30 in the morning on January 1st; he had slept for so long, his sleep was fully replenished.

He spent 440 Points to top up his remaining Occupation Points, leveling up his occupation skills to level 20.

"Ding-dong!"

"Ding-dong!"

A series of prompt sounds went off in his ear,

and that long list of elemental resistances disappeared from his passive skills.

In its place was a simple and sleek—[Full Elemental Resistance] and [Full Abnormal State Resistance].

...

[Full Elemental Resistance (lv.1): You can be immune to any elemental attack from beings with Mentality Points less than 15*6% of yours.]

[Full Abnormal Resistance (lv.1): You can be immune to any abnormal state attacks from beings with Mentality Points less than 15*6% of yours.]

...

Full Elemental Resistance, as the name implies, can resist all attacks belonging to elements, including "metal, wood, water, fire, earth, light, darkness, wind, lightning, ice, holy, annihilation" and other elements. Full Abnormal Resistance can resist all halo-class and targeted debuffs such as "poison, binding, knock up, silence, curse," and other statuses.

After absorbing the malice from the Bright State of the Fifth World, Su Ming’an’s Shadow State was already stronger than his Bright State, and his occupation added passive damage to his spell attacks, making every Spatial Vibration an explosive output.

Previously, the Shadow State had its limitations. With only 300 Health Points, as fragile as paper, even a targeted Fireball attack could be fatal, and he couldn’t resist those large-scale curse arrays; stepping into one would instantly leave him critically injured.

But now, having acquired Full Magic Series Resistance, his Shadow State would face almost no obstacles when joining the battle.

His current Mentality Points are 154, and 90% of 154 is 138.6. At this stage, very few players could possess such a high number of Mentality Points. After all, not everyone focused on extreme stat allocation like he did.

As long as the opponent’s Mentality Points are below 138.6, none of their magic attacks could disrupt him.

...This is a true fearlessness against any spell-type skills and immunity to any control abilities.

As long as he maintains his distance at the start of the battle and avoids the enemy’s heavy swords and axes, no one could harm him.

The specialization skill in the Bright State soared as well, and after leveling up, he now possessed level sixteen in combat skills, swordsmanship, and knife mastery.

In close combat, the passive effects of the level sixteen specialization would bring a significantly high damage bonus.

Of course, there might be someone who specialized in close combat swordskilled masters, such as the top-ranked player from Gran Country, Eli, who boasted a swordsmanship mastery of level twenty. Eli’s occupation as a Swordmaster granted him numerous swordsmanship-related bonuses.

However, these types of players tended to be unbalanced in their skills; even with Eli’s high swordsmanship mastery level, he couldn’t develop comprehensively, which was entirely different from Su Ming’an.

The most satisfying part was that after upgrading his occupation skill to level twenty, he acquired a new skill.

The description of this new skill was extremely lengthy, nearly taking up the entire panel, which made his eyes hurt a bit from reading it.

...

[From now on, every instance for you will come with a certain amount of "Emotional Value" tied to emergency situations. Observing or coming into contact with such events will fill up your "Emotional Value" storage bar.

The Emotional Value starts at zero for each instance, and when you accumulate 500 units, you will gain the "Judgment" skill.

You can activate the "Judgment" skill within your combat range, making (one or multiple) player(s) who have attacked you enter a Weakened State for a duration that varies with the difference in strength.

Note: When targeting a single player, using "Judgment" consumes 100 units of Emotional Value per activation.

Note: When targeting two or more players, using "Judgment" consumes 500 units of Emotional Value per activation.]

.....

...Flashy and fancy.

At first glance at this skill description, Su Ming’an labeled it as "flashy and fancy."

The skill descriptions of other players were simple and crude, merely "controlling fire," "short-distance teleport," or something along those lines; but this skill laid out an entire paragraph, practically cramming the whole skill frame full.

He read and reread it carefully, pondering over several scenarios in his mind and meticulously simulating the applicability of this skill.

"....." As he read in detail over and over again, his thoughts gradually shifted.

Although the description of this skill was complex and enigmatic, it unexpectedly turned out to be quite practical, not merely for show.

The first benefit was—it doesn’t consume mana.

Each activation of this "Judgment" consumes "Emotional Value" instead of mana. Even though he wasn’t clear on the cost-effectiveness ratio and rate of consumption of "Emotional Value," it should be preferable over direct mana consumption.

Spatial Vibration and Annihilation were major mana drains and constituted his primary combat methods; adding another skill that consumes mana to his arsenal would be somewhat cumbersome for him.

Secondly, its range.

This was an AOE group skill, affecting everyone within his combat range who made an attack against him.

This would be a significant help for his currently somewhat weak group fighting ability.

In the World Game, aside from player who summon wraiths thriving in group battles, most players dread them. They might kill two or three enemies standing in front of them, but not those who could surround them instantly from all sides. Their skills are mostly restrictive or targeted, even if they have large AOE skills, they consume too much mana to be sustainable.

This problem also existed for Su Ming’an; his stamina was still limited. Like in the Sea Monster siege group battles of the Seventh World, he could only chop while in the Bright State, but once he switched to the Shadow State and his mana ran out, he would be overwhelmed by the tide-like enemies.

But once he had this "Judgment" skill, the situation would greatly improve.

He also understood the concept of "combat range" mentioned in the skill description, which according to the explanations on the World Forum, is—"a circle with you at the center and your farthest line of sight as the radius, encompassing all enemies within"—an incredibly bug-like range that could cover the entire battlefield in an open field.

All things considered, it was very strong. It’s a large-scale ability capable of targeting either single or multiple enemies, producing a near battle-changing effect in group combats. It’s not a conventional skill but a powerful move that could be decisive when used. Each use would consume 100 points of "Emotional Value."

Only, it’s unclear how easy it would be to collect that "Emotional Value" ...

Su Ming’an closed the lengthy skill description.

The specific effects of the skill would have to be tested in actual combat. To merely look at its effects without considering consumption was irresponsible.

Overall, after leveling up to Level 20, there was indeed a significant enhancement.

Before, he always activated Bright State because Shadow State was too vulnerable to large-scale magical attacks.

But now, in environments that required high Mentality Points, he could easily navigate in Shadow State.

The benefits of high Mentality Points are obvious, whether it’s observational power, acuity, or Sixth Sense, all would be greatly enhanced.

When his Occupation levels up to Level 30, there should be another boost, but for now, that’s still far away, requiring accumulation from at least two to three instances.

"Ding Dong!"

[You have completed all promotion tasks!]

[You have been promoted to (Fourth Rank One) Player.]

[Fourth Rank One Player privileges include: increased probability of obtaining extra side quests, enhanced experience bonus.]

[You are the first player to be promoted to (Fourth Rank One), would you like to announce it to the entire game?]

...

"Announce it."

[You have received the Honor (Fourth Rank Pioneer): Congratulations, Ruler.]

[You have earned 40 Honor Points.]

[Combat Power: 2315+20]

...

After choosing to announce, Su Ming’an glanced at his experience bar.

He was just one step away from Fourth Rank Two.

Because he was previously stuck on the Fourth Rank promotion tasks, his accumulated experience did not disappear, and now it surged in, almost allowing him to level straight up to Fourth Rank Two.

For the upcoming Eighth World, he already had great confidence.

He checked his mailbox and collected the Wandering Night Walk and Glory’s Hunt that he had taken time to maintain— one sniper and one shotgun—to nicely round out his ranged attack capabilities.

The previous ammunition had run out, so he used the remaining Points to stock up on a new batch of bullets.

In this process, Su Ming’an realized that it wasn’t just a rumor that firearm players consumed a lot of Points.

Just to refill the magazines for these two guns cost him a full 50 Points. Perhaps this was related to their Purple Grade quality, but the bullet consumption was indeed less cost-effective than the straightforward slashing of the Sword of Yarman.

...In the future, he would use guns less and rely more on his own "free" Mana Points for attacks.

Afterward, he selected the "Equipment Refinement" system available after reaching the Third Rank.

After placing the "Scoundrel’s Wooden Carving" which added a level of Luck by his bedside, he felt an enigmatic aura.

Those favored by fortune would be very familiar with this; it was the so-called "aura of Luck."

After placing the carving, Su Ming’an’s Luck had reached A+, an exceptionally high level among humans where the average Luck was only C.

Su Ming’an knew that among all attributes like Strength and Agility, the most elusive was the "Luck" attribute. Even "Charm" seemed more tangible than "Luck."

"Luck" is a player’s innate attribute. Some players start with SS Luck, while others start with the lowest, an E Luck (no implication intended), and opportunities to improve one’s Luck level are random and not always available. Many people must endure low Luck forever, experiencing various misfortunes.

Those with high Luck may stumble upon hidden clues effortlessly, while those with low Luck might step out the door and immediately find themselves in an insurmountable predicament.

As for the "Equipment Refinement" system, it’s a direct manifestation of Luck.

This system is a common "Equipment +1, +2..." mechanic in the game, where players can spend Points to strengthen each of the nine pieces of equipment. The maximum level for enhancing each piece of equipment is Level 10, and each level requires 20 Points.

Of course, with higher enhancement levels, the probability of failure increases. A failure not only means that the Points are not refunded, but also that the equipment level will drop by one.

After obtaining a brief A+ Luck, Su Ming’an took a deep breath.

He was not one to place his hopes on fate, nor would he indulge in practices such as burning incense and bathing or washing hands at such a moment. Placing the carving was merely a rational act, ensuring at least a numerical Luck level was visibly present.

He began to strengthen the Sword of Yarman in his hand.

Before, he had spent Points to evolve all his equipment to +2. After reviewing strategy suggestions on the world forum, he decided to focus on enhancing a single piece of equipment individually.

The most frequently used and highest quality Sword of Yarman was his first target for enhancement.

As for the golden equipment Lasting Radiance, that accessory was functional and did not directly increase Attack Power. Evolving it wouldn’t yield much effect either.

He lifted the mirror-like Sword of Yarman in his hand and began clicking through the system options.

+3!

[Congratulations! +3 evolution successful!]

+4!

[Congratulations! +4 evolution successful!]

+5!

...

The tense and exciting evolution process brought to mind the panic and thrill of Card Drawing.

The fear of hitting the guaranteed draw, the intense desire for a wondrous success, and the painful regret of sunk costs...

Here, a player’s gambler mentality, resentment towards the lucky ones, and their contradictory wish to become one of those lucky ones were all fully embodied. Even Su Ming’an, who was staring at the blade, began to feel nervous.

It must be said, this aspect of the game’s mechanics was incredibly vexing and frequently caused mixed feelings of love and hate.

+8!

[Congratulations! +8 evolution successful!]

A+ Luck was indeed reliable.

The Sword of Yarman had successfully evolved to +8, without a single failure, consuming a total of 120 Points.

He opened up the data on the Sword of Yarman to check its evolution status.

Its Attack Power had increased from 55~70 to 65~80, and what was most delightful was the True Damage—it jumped to 100~350.

True Damage could ignore defense to deal a fixed attack value. Even if an opponent had a Defensive Barrier, it could still shave off their Health Points. It was the highest tier of attack and a highly coveted attribute for melee class players.

With this singular True Damage attribute alone, the Sword of Yarman was worth its Purple Grade weaponry status, if not surpassing it.

Not to mention, it also possessed the Magic Infusion property, which allowed it to store Mana Points to increase damage, and the passive Block skill.

At present, the Sword of Yarman, after reaching +8, had already subtly ascended to a level above the Purple Grade quality.

Su Ming’an closed the panel.

The remaining 146 Points would be used as a buffer, to come in handy when Occupation Points or other Props were urgently needed, serving as a life-saving tool.