Chapter 17: Rewards
"But sir, the investors have already placed the bets!" Hyeon panicked.
Once people had already placed bets for the final round, canceling the round now would lead to massive monetary losses.
Not only that, but the viewers might also quit watching the program entirely. Hyeon couldn't let it happen and tried her best to do so.
However, the masked man, only known as the Warden, already had his mind made up. Logan had already gotten much stronger than the rest of the participants this time around.
The strength he had now was more or less equivalent to someone who had been playing Tartarus online for half a year.
If Logan was allowed to enter the third round like this, he knew the viewers would go crazy for him. But Warden had to think about the future as well. He couldn't allow one person to ruin the balance of the entire game.
"I don't fucking care. The third round cannot proceed as scheduled," He retorted.
"Rather than canceling the third round in its entirety, we could tweak a thing or two. What do you think about that, sir?"
Hyeon offered the only solution she could think of. This way, they would get what they wanted and wouldn't have to worry about facing backlash from the viewers or the investors.
"Fine. Do it. But make sure that the brat doesn't get too powerful. If he does... then I don't know what the higher-ups would do."
Warden shook his head in frustration before leaving the room. "I hope you can handle everything while I'm out for dinner."
"Yes, sir." Hyeon smartly saluted Warden's retreating form, "I'll handle everything strictly as the higher-ups would want me to."
***
[You have defeated the dungeon boss: Dissonant Gaunt.]
As soon as Logan read these words, his feet lost all strength. He got lucky, extremely lucky. There was no chance in hell he could have defeated the gaunt head-on. If the Gaunt had hidden away his treasure, Logan would have died right then and there. No questions asked.
"I'm alive... haha..."
Despite having a face-off with death, Logan couldn't help but smile. The rush he had felt whilst fighting the gaunt was unlike anything he had ever felt before.
[You have achieved a godly feat. Additional rewards will be provided.]
[You have received: Gaunt's Robe.]
[All stats +5]
[Exp +500%]
[VIT +5]
[Gold +3500]
[Xenoic Energy +230]
[You have received a new skill: Against All Odds]
"Against all odds? There was a skill with this name in Devil's Assassin?"
Logan was a bit surprised, but it faded away as soon as it had appeared. Tartarus Online wasn't all that same compared to Devil's Assassin. Thus, it wasn't peculiar that the game had unique skills alongside similar ones.
__
[Against All Odds]
Description: A skill that's only given to madmen who disregard all rules of the world. Who says a newbie can't slay the ultimate boss? Who says someone without ability can't outrun a monster horde? You, sir, can do anything you want. But try not to ruin the fun for everyone.
Grade: Epic 1 (Upgradable)
Proficiency: 0.00%
Effect(s):
> Temporarily increase the user's stats based on the opponent's faced.
> Skill is compatible with <Xenoic Energy>
> Killing monsters and players would give bonus stat points depending on the level of the monster/player slain.
> Locked. (Upgrade the skill in order to unlock this effect. The skill can be upgraded once proficiency reaches 100%)
__
"Yup. No way in hell there wasn't a skill like this DA." Logan nodded his head, "If there were, people would have turned into maniacs looking for it. At least Gaunt's robe is something I'm familiar with."
__
Item: Gaunt's Robe (Bounded)
Type: Armor
Defense: Absorbs 160-203 HP per strike
Stats bonus:
> Stamina: +3 while equipped for use.
> Agility: +6 while equipped for use.
> Evasion: +7 while equipped for use.
Rarity: Epic (Upgradable)
Description:
Made from corpses of people who were unfortunate enough to encounter the Dissonant Gaunt. The souls of the cursed linger on around the wearing of the robe, helping them take revenge on the undead.
Effect(s):
• Soul Absorption: Killing monsters and players would store their souls within the robe. Based on the number of stored souls, the robe would provide bonus effects.
>> Each soul absorbed would increase the user's HP by 5 points.
>> For every 10 souls absorbed, the user would gain 1 Unallocated Stat point.
>> For every 30 souls absorbed, the user would gain the ability to copy an ability from one of the souls absorbed.
• Ether Walk: Temporarily grants the user < Invisibility>. Attacking someone revokes the Invisibility for the user. While <Invisible> makes the user's next attack deal 1.9x more damage as [True Damage] to the target.
• Soul Corruption: Enemies attacked while <Invisible> would make them hallucinate, rendering them <Immobile>. The souls living inside the robe could then attach themselves to the target, forcing them to do the caster's bidding for 2 minutes.
• Grants the user, the passive skill: Locked. (Evade death 3 times to unlock)
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[The second round is over.]
[You will now be teleported to the destination of the Final round.]
[Final round will begin in 3 hours.]
[Rewards will be distributed there as well.]
"Ah, shit... here we go again."
Soon, the notification disappeared, and so did the dungeon. With the announcement, came the realization that he defeated the dungeon boss mere seconds before the second round was over. Had he been a couple of moments late, everything would have been for nothing.
Technically, I just evaded death, didn't I?
Logan immediately checked the requirement to unlock the hidden skill of the robe, only to be disappointed. He still needed to evade death 3 times. The same as before.
Tch, seemed it has to be in-game death evasion.
Logan shook his head as he went back to the City for the last trial.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone