The Demon King is Unfathomable

【a.0.3 Update: Skills System!

With the unyielding hard work of Calamity Online’s development team, we are finally unrolling the Skills System! Denizens of Necropolis can now use skills!

Players who satisfy the requirements to learn skills may purchase skill books at the NPC store.

Note: The skill books are intangible. Your avatar will automatically learn the skill upon purchase, and the method to execute the skill will be explained through a video.】

Sara stood behind the counter of the demon king domain’s NPC store, letting out another yawn. Her drooping cat ears showed the exhaustion built up over the day.

Even though the demon king had tasked her to manage the store, her job really consisted of only standing in position, since she didn’t understand anything the skeletons said. It took her a while to realize that the skeletons’ clattering was their way of communication.

Furthermore, they were paying for the goods through some kind of mental transaction; she didn’t even have to receive money. All she had to do was to retrieve and hand them the items they wanted depending on whether the magic crystal on the table lit up or not.

It was a boring job, but it was better than wandering outside.

Her only complaint was that the demon kings’ subordinates looked frightening, but she was slowly growing accustomed to this.

‘I should at least not fall asleep during working hours!’

When Sara slapped her face for the third time, the two skeleton soldiers who had been standing in front of the counter for some time now finally made up their minds.

“Are you sure you want to learn this skill?” Twilight asked Autumnleaf in a serious tone.

This game didn’t seem to impose restrictions on the number of skills a player could grasp—theoretically, a player could concurrently have warrior and mage skills—but there was a hidden trap here.

And that was the automatic stat allocation rule.

According to the official update forum post, most warrior skills fall under the Dragon God School and would cost a little MP and a moderate amount of HP.

In this game, HP was more than just a reflection of one’s health points; it was also an aggregate of one’s life force and stamina. In other words, it showed how healthy one was.

A player wouldn’t instantly die upon depleting their HP, but they would fall fatally ill and be unable to move. In gist, it was equivalent to having depleted their stamina.

Thus, a warrior had to pump their constitution to boost their ability to fight a prolonged battle. Conversely, they had to raise their strength to boost their damage output.

On the other hand, mages had to prioritize the growth of their intelligence and psyche. A stat point spent on strength and constitution was a stat point squandered.

This was where the conflict arose.

Those who leveled up by dealing physical damage and training their body would inevitably have their stat points allocated to strength or constitution. Once a player learned a warrior skill, the odds were that he would be stuck on that path.

Unless the player chose not to use that skill at all.

Twilight believed that Autumnleaf should have already figured out as much.

But Autumnleaf’s reply was more nonchalant than he had expected.

“Yup, I have already thought things through.”

He tapped on the ‘Purchase’ button on his player interface, and the skill was automatically added to his skill tree.

【You have learned the skill: Execution!】

【Description: This is a common adventurer skill. Gather your ‘transcendent power’ and manifest it as ‘ki’, then channel it to your blade. Once you are done charging, swing your blade with all your might. This skill deals ki physical damage to targets within a 1 to 2-meter range. The damage dealt is dependent on your strength.】

【Usage Requirement: Iron-tier and above】

【Usage Method: Please refer to the video link】

This game was oddly realistic.

To release a skill, one had to not only say the skill name and imagine the skill’s form but also learn the usage from a video and memorize the Dragon God School’s ki circulation method.

In gist, one had to imagine transcendent power in the form of ki and infuse it into the weapon.

‘Is there a need for it to be so convoluted? Won’t it be better to automate these details? No… this might be better for skill-based players like me. If a skill’s forewing* and backswing* can be controlled, skilled players will be able to pull off even more impressive stunts.’

Autumnleaf reviewed the video several times and earnestly memorized every detail.

‘I’ll try it in the labyrinth later on!’

Looking at the silent Autumnleaf, Twilight suddenly felt guilt-ridden.

“I recall you wanted to be a mage… If you’re doing this for me, there’s no need for that. I don’t think it’ll make much of a difference even if you don’t learn a skill.”

Those words surprised Autumnleaf. He realized Twilight was misunderstanding something, so he quickly clarified, “Wait a second, I’m not doing this for your sake. It’s a decision I made after weighing the pros and cons.”

Twilight: “May I know the reason?”

Autumnleaf didn’t think there was anything to hide, so he answered with a chuckle, “Look at it from another perspective. If I don’t learn a skill and grind using basic attacks instead, my stats will be allocated to those three physical stats, right?”

“That’s true… Hold on, are you saying things will be different with skills?” Twilight stared at Autumnleaf in astonishment.

“Psyche!” Autumnleaf replied as the fire in his eye sockets flickered. “Using skills, even physical ones, can temper one’s psyche. The difference only lies in the extent of it.”

“I see…” A gleam flashed across Twilight’s eyes. “Instead of pumping everything on strength, learning a skill may allow some points to go to psyche.”

Autumnleaf: “That’s not all. Back when we were farming the crypt spiders, those mobs could hardly touch us, so all my level-up stats went to strength. Using physical skills will consume a certain amount of HP; this might skew the stat allocation toward constitution.”

“I see… That’s ingenious!” Twilight exclaimed.

Autumnleaf continued with a smile, “Constitution should be more useful than strength to a mage. Worse comes to worst, I’ll just be a tanky mage. I think this is the wiser decision given the lack of information… I can’t blindly wait for the mage update before making a move.”

While the developers hinted at players being able to change race in future patches, there were no details about whether one could reset stats. If some stats would inevitably be squandered, he would rather them be squandered on something marginally more useful.

…

Calamity Online’s forum burst into life following the announcement of update version a.0.3.

Explodingknowledge: “Holy cow! A skill book costs 50,000 hell coins?! (Angry)”

Hungryhungry: “I only earned 5000 hell coins from digging a day of coal. QAQ”

Minowarrior: “What the fish?! How did you dig 2500 kilograms of coal?!”

Orcknight: “Do we have a real miner here?!”

Hungryhungry: “Stop talking about it. Lucky skeletons don’t need food, or else I would have already starved to death. T.T”

Twilight: “Uhh, the mission rewards do go up after you level up a little… And you shouldn’t just focus on coal mining. Farm some monsters too. The coal mining areas are already filled to the brim.”

Hungryhungry: “What else can I do other than mining coal? QAQ”

Dogshit: “How about raising mushroom? (Laughs)”

Peerlesshero: “Or make chairs and tables, that kind of stuff? (Laughs)”

Littleredshroom: “That’s too tough! The developers should focus more on the lifestyle gamers’ gaming experience. T.T”

Soreloser: Let’s get back on topic. We’re here to oppose the a03 patch. I mean, what the cow? Doesn’t this patch just benefit that one little scoundrel?!”

Orcknight: “Right?! LV0 players like me can’t experience it! (Frenzied)”

Pureheartedjenny: “Speaking of which, where’s Autumnleaf?”

Lambskewers: “That dog thing must be having fun in game. His time is much too precious to squander on us!”

Bingtanghulu: “@Autumnleaf come out! Time to update your guide!”

“…”

…

It was after working hours.

In one of the hulking office buildings, a well-dressed, middle-aged man who gave off an air of competence sat in his chair, looking at forum posts on his desktop as he guffawed.

“Look at these barking things! That’s why I don’t bother with them.”

‘These ingrates have the cheek to curse and swear when they are benefiting from someone else’s guides. Just wait till the day they can’t find good guides anymore, and everything is replaced with the rambling of marketing accounts! Let’s see them continue mouthing off then!

‘Tsk tsk, they are no different from goblins.’

This man who was laughing like an antagonist was none other than the boss of Dragon Odyssey, as well as Autumnleaf’s previous party member—Dragonmyriad!

He frequented the forum despite having never posted anything on it.

A woman dressed in a formal black suit stood next to his office table. A full-rimmed glasses sat atop her nosebridge, and she had a beauty spot below the corner of her right eye. She would have been a ravishing beauty if she put down her bundled hair and removed her sharp glasses.

Her dressup and disposition would have misled most people into thinking she was a secretary at first glance.

But that was couldn’t have been the case. For one, which secretary would dare to talk back to their boss?

“…It might be hard for you to understand because many things have changed since your era, but they are just fooling around. They don’t bear malice.”

Dragonmyriad eyed her, but he didn’t retort to her jab. He merely replied with a laugh, “Is it? That may be true. Looks like I’m getting old.”

The woman nodded with a serious expression. “You are not getting any younger. The old master hopes that you can learn from your cousins and start doing work instead of gaming everyday.”

Dragonmyriad pondered upon that question before slowly nodding. “Good idea. I’ll give a heads up to my uncle and bring a few internet giants together to co-invest in a streaming platform.”

The woman stared at him speechlessly. “…Maybe you should continue gaming instead.”

She had no doubt about his abiltiy to pull it off, but it was their family was not a nouveau riche. They still had a reputation to uphold.

Just then, the office door opened.

A lad who looked to be 25 years old walked in. His strut exuded confidence, which felt strikingly similar to Dragonmyriad’s disposition.

The woman glanced at him and berated, “Haven’t I told you to knock?”

“I’ll remember next time! Hehe!” the lad replied with a smile, not daring to offend her.

He turned at the boss sitting behind the desk and grimly reported, “Big brother, I can’t find anything about them. That game distributor is too mysterious. It’s almost as if their servers are in another world!”

Dragonmyriad took a sip of tea before replying, “Stop hiring people off the net. You might get scammed again.”

The only problem with the lad was that he was too slipshod. He often pulled off maneuvers that flabbergasted others.

The lad vehemently shook his head and firmly replied, “The information is reliable! I used our people this time! Furthermore, that person noticed a problem—that website can’t be blocked… Even my uncle suspects there’s a spy.”

Dragonmyriad raised his eyebrows.

“Interesting.”

…

In the same city, the average Brother Jingyan was also browsing through Calamity Online’s main site.

Unlike the rowdy netizens, he wasn’t bothered with the update, and he didn’t care which player was leading ahead of the others.

‘24 more hours before I enter the game!’

He only wanted time to pass faster.

As well as for the second-hand VR glasses he bought to arrive faster.

…

In the demon king domain’s labyrinth, a gush of sword qi sliced a squealing crypt spider into two as if an invisible halberd.

As those on the forum had guessed, Autumnleaf was too busy enjoying his newfound prowess to update his guide. After some practice, he finally mastered the technique to unleash his skill.

“It’s the 31st… At this rate, you should reach Iron-tier by tomorrow.”

Their farming speed increased by more than twofold with the help of skills.

In the past, they had to be careful with their positioning and kite the monster out, but now, Twilight only needed to tank the first attack for Autumnleaf to charge up his skill and unleash Execution.

“Thanks, brother,” Twilight said.

Autumnleaf replied with a grin, “No need to be so courteous. I should be thanking you for letting me reach Iron-tier first. We’re almost done farming the spiders at the labyrinth entrance. Should we venture deeper in?”

“Mmhm.” Twilight nodded as he lifted his shield and sword. “That’s what I’m thinking too.”

There should be more monsters in the labyrinth aside from the crypt spiders.

Oblivious to them, a black-shelled, flower spider was eyeing them from the shadows with its scarlet eyes.

“A necromancer’s servants… This is not your normal adventurer.”

Its name was Arakdor, one of Alakinse’s warrior. It was accompanied by a few ferocious ‘hunters’, whose eyes gleamed with savagery.

“Are these it? I smell something peculiar… They are… fragrant?” A hulking hunter crawled up to Arakdor’s side and snickered. “Lord Arakdor… leave these small fry to me.”

Arakdor pondered before nodding its huge head. “Be careful. Don’t let your guard down.”

On the one hand, the hunter could probe the enemy’s strength.

On the other hand, two mere skeleton soldiers, mobs ranked even lower than mere ratmen, shouldn’t pose a problem to it.

Upon receiving its approval, the excited hunter began scurrying ahead.

“Rest assured, boss. I’ll be right back!”

—

Translation Note:

In most games, whenever a character makes a move, there is a delay before and after the move.

For instance, when Chun-Li throws a punch in Street Fighter, there will be a punching animation before the punch lands (foreswing), and there will be a delay as she retracts her fist before you can throw another attack (backswing).

This delay is a huge weakness, as enemies can attack you while you are stuck in the delay.

In games that allow a higher degree of control, it can be possible to minimize/mask the foreswing and backswing to reduce the time you are exposed to your enemy.

—

This novel can be a bit confusing to those who don’t have prior gaming knowledge ~~

Please feel free to ask about any confusing bits in the comments below, and I’ll try my best to answer.