Chapter 88: Mastery Scroll
Many people gathered near the stall, but genuine buyers were few and far between.
On the stall lay a scroll. Its attributes were decent, but the stall owner had set the price far too high—a whopping 500,000 Paradise Coins.
"This guy must be crazy for money."
"Probably some lucky newbie. It's just a Mastery-level ability. If it were a Specialization-level ability, the price might barely be acceptable."
"Who knows? Maybe he's just showing off and doesn't actually plan to sell."
The contractors murmured among themselves. The stall owner's face darkened. He wasn't showing off; he genuinely intended to sell this basic ability scroll.
"This thing is worth at most 150,000 Paradise Coins. 500,000 is impossible."
"150,000? Brother, give me 150,000 Paradise Coins, and I'll get you as many as you want."
Hearing the onlookers' comments, the stall owner seemed to waver. Maybe his price was too high?
[Gun Mastery]
Origin: Any derivative world where gun combat is used
Level: Mastery
Category: Skill-type ability (Skill-type ability levels: Basic, Mastery, Specialization, Grandmaster, etc. Higher levels mean higher growth potential.)
Effect: Upon use, grants Gun Mastery Lv.1.
...
There were quite a few contractors in Reincarnation Paradise who used guns. Guns had high power and were relatively easy to master, offering low investment for high returns. Most importantly, gunners were ranged attackers with a higher survival rate.
Su Xiao also used guns. He was a lone wolf, and a lone wolf couldn't afford weaknesses in any area, or he wouldn't live long.
So, he'd had a habit of using guns for a long time—revolvers, semi-automatic pistols, and sniper rifles.
Among them, sniper rifles performed the best. However, Su Xiao relied on the weapon's inherent attributes; his marksmanship had never been great.
This scroll was an opportunity. The Spider Empress would eventually be phased out, and finding a high-level sniper rifle to replace its ability was difficult. Without the Spider Empress's ability, hitting an enemy—whether at 1 kilometer or even 100 meters—would depend on luck.
Su Xiao pondered for a moment. He could accept this item for around 100,000 to 120,000 Paradise Coins, but no higher. He could invest resources in guns, but not all of them. Melee combat was his primary fighting style; guns were just a supplement to prevent enemies from kiting him.
When an enemy tried to kite him, pulling out a sniper rifle and taking a shot would be incredibly satisfying.
Standing in front of the stall, Su Xiao thought for a moment.
"110,000 Paradise Coins."
It was a compromise price—neither too low to be insulting nor a loss for him.
"Impossible. At least 300,000 Paradise Coins."
The stall owner was firm.
"Is that so? Good luck to you."
Su Xiao turned to leave.
"Wait."
It wasn't the stall owner who spoke, but a contractor watching the commotion.
"130,000 Paradise Coins."
The stall owner was stunned, and so was Su Xiao. What did this contractor mean?
Su Xiao noticed the stall owner's surprised expression and suddenly understood something.
"120,000 max."
"Deal."
A scroll appeared in that contractor's hand.
[Gun Mastery]
Origin: Any derivative world where gun combat is used
Level: Mastery
Category: Skill-type ability (Skill-type ability levels: Basic, Mastery, Specialization, Grandmaster, etc. Higher levels mean higher growth potential.)
Effect: Upon use, grants Gun Mastery Lv.10.
The scroll was almost identical to the one on the stall, but this one was more advanced, starting at a higher initial level. The contractor sent a trade request. After Su Xiao spent 120,000 Paradise Coins, the scroll appeared in his hand.
Seeing this, the stall owner was dumbfounded.
"Is this... a shill?"
Under the stall owner's incredulous gaze, Su Xiao turned and left.
"Kid, take your time trying your luck. Mastery-level scrolls are awkward. Specialization or Grandmaster-level ones sell easily, but Mastery-level... few people buy them. Dedicated gunners look down on them, and most buyers are melee lone wolves trying to cover their ranged weakness. Lucky for you, you ran into a melee-focused lone wolf."
The contractor left with a grin, leaving the conflicted stall owner behind.
"This scroll... 150,000. Anyone buying?"
The stall owner tested the waters, but he didn't change the listed price—still 500,000 Paradise Coins. He feared Su Xiao and that contractor were shills.
The surrounding contractors shook their heads one by one. Ten minutes later, the crowd dispersed, and the stall owner realized he'd missed his chance to sell the scroll.
An initial Lv.10 scroll for 120,000 Paradise Coins? Then his Lv.1 scroll...
Thinking this over, the stall owner cursed under his breath.
...
Su Xiao walked out of the Trade Market. He found a nearby cold drink shop and spent 5 Paradise Coins on two glasses of iced orange juice.
He gave one glass to Bubu Wang and downed his own in one gulp, crunching the ice cubes in his mouth.
Just then, the glass in Su Xiao's hand cracked with a *crack*, and the leg of his chair suddenly snapped.
Caught off guard, Su Xiao nearly fell to the floor.
"As expected, it didn't work. The side effects are showing."
Su Xiao pulled over a new chair. This was the result of overdrawing his luck.
Earlier, he'd opened green chests without using Fate Redemption, trying to overdraft his bad luck. Whether it succeeded was unknown. The results from the three green chests were normal; otherwise, no one would go bankrupt opening chests.
From the current situation, it seemed overdrawing bad luck had worked. But he'd also overdrawed his good luck, leading to the earlier explosion from the Light Gold chest.
Overdrawing luck—was this normal? The answer was unknown.
Su Xiao seemed to have vaguely grasped some clues about his perpetual bad luck.
Could it be that he'd massively overdrawed his luck before entering Reincarnation Paradise, leading to his "Chieftain Aura"?
No clues, but Su Xiao decided not to try overdrawing bad luck before opening chests in the future. There might be unknown risks.
As for his luck issue, he could only explore it slowly. For now, as long as he didn't actively overdraft bad or good luck, his fortune would stay at a balanced point.
Fortunately, using Fate Redemption carried no risk. Fate Redemption didn't overdraft his luck; it absorbed others' luck and stored it, temporarily boosting him.
Pushing the matter aside, as long as he didn't court death, his luck was only slightly worse than an average person's.
He took out the [Gun Mastery] scroll and hesitated for a moment before choosing to use it. However, he was clear-headed: this was a supplementary ability. He'd develop it all at once. If it required long-term investment, he'd abandon it immediately.
[You have used the Gun Mastery scroll. Knowledge transmission in progress...]
Su Xiao sat blankly in his chair as a flood of gun-related knowledge poured into his mind—the structure of pistols, rifles, sniper rifles, and the effects of wind speed on bullets during shooting.
A massive amount of knowledge surged in, reminding Su Xiao of when he'd used the Alchemy scroll.
About two minutes later, clarity returned to Su Xiao's eyes.
"An amazing feeling."
Now, Su Xiao felt a familiarity with guns, as if he'd been using various firearms for a long time.