I Became an Illegal Cheat User – Chapter 23

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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‘… Is this the butterfly effect?’

‘Super Accuracy’ was drawn from the Random Cheat Usage Ticket.

And just to use the cheat effect more comfortably and surely, I chose a gun.

And with that gun, I obtained an overwhelming victory, that was all, but…

Why did Lee Seo-yeon become interested in guns?

Why… did Lee Seo-yeon’s talent completely pioneer towards firearms?

Why… did it evolve to the point where her talent’s name changed to ‘Sword-Gun Prodigy’?

‘… Should I have won, but not overwhelmingly?’

No…, that’s not it.

Because I won overwhelmingly, the ‘additional rewards’ of the event quest were very sweet.

In the end, I couldn’t find or make any excuses.

Lee Seo-yeon’s talent evolving to the point of changing its name was all…

‘…Yeah, let’s acknowledge it.’

It was my fault.

“Lee Yu-jin, I think… my talent has changed.”

So, I have to take responsibility.

Composing my troubled heart, I answered Lee Seo-yeon’s words.

“Yeah, your talent has definitely changed. To be precise, it has evolved.”

“Talents can evolve too?”

Perhaps because of establishing her identity, a surprised emotion was clearly revealed on Lee Seo-yeon’s face, which always maintained a poker face.

[Lee Seo-yeon’s talent, “Sword-Gun Prodigy (S+)”, says it feels like its ego has grown.]

“…”

…The talent’s expression also became clear.

“Yeah, it does evolve, but… it’s not something that easily happens usually.”

Normally, the evolution of a talent occurs when its level reaches the highest tier.

When you realize the talent you possess, become a superhuman, and reach the highest tier, through the experiences you had until then, what you had achieved, and when you gain what you truly desire.

At that point, the talent that forms the basis of a superhuman finally stands at a crossroads.

Will it maintain its original ability and reach a higher level?

Or will it pioneer a new path and achieve more diverse changes?

The talent that decides on that crossroads blooms and announces its existence to the world.

However, Lee Seo-yeon achieved that difficult evolution with just an upper-middle tier level.

‘Is this right?’

No matter how much Lee Seo-yeon was a main character of the world, it didn’t make sense.

But that nonsensical thing had already happened, and I, who caused this, had to take responsibility.

However… After thinking about it carefully, it didn’t seem that bad.

‘Rather, it seems good.’

Although ‘Sword Prodigy’ became ‘Sword-Gun Prodigy’ and handled the niche weapon of firearms, the talent’s grade ranked up from ‘S’ to ‘S+’.

In game terms, it was like a beginner who just left the beginner village holding a Dragon Staff made from a dragon’s bone that appeared in the late game, not a wooden club.

‘The problem is that the Dragon Staff has higher physical damage than magic damage.’

And the kid wielding that Dragon Staff is not a mage but a swordsman.

However, to the point of covering such drawbacks, the ‘S+’ grade talent is…

[Lee Seo-yeon’s talent, “Sword-Gun Prodigy (S+)”, asks what its name is.]

…So tremendous that it has an ego.

“I see…”

Lee Seo-yeon nodded her head.

Then, looking straight into my eyes, she asked,

“So what is the name of my evolved talent?”

Lee Seo-yeon, she asked the same question as her talent.

“…Sword-Gun Prodigy.”

“Sword-Gun Prodigy?”

[Lee Seo-yeon’s talent, “Sword-Gun Prodigy (S+)”, likes its name.]

“I like it.”

“…”

As if satisfied with its changed name, an arc was drawn at the corners of Lee Seo-yeon’s mouth.

“So is this feeling because my talent evolved?”

Saying that, Lee Seo-yeon put her hand on the disassembled gun.

“I think I can disassemble and assemble guns quickly now.”

“…?”

I thought I saw it being disassembled and assembled very quickly earlier?

As soon as I had that thought,

“Watch closely.”

Lee Seo-yeon tapped one of the gun parts with her finger.

[Lee Seo-yeon’s talent, “Sword-Gun Prodigy (S+)”, exerts its power.]

At the same time as the talent’s expression was shown through the system,

Tap.

Click.

The gun parts assembled themselves as if I was watching Transformers.

And at a very fast speed of less than 1 second.

“…?”

What is this, magic?

The gun assembled in the blink of an eye.

No, what was even more surprising was the automatic assembly close to restoration.

Tap.

And when Lee Seo-yeon’s finger tapped the assembled gun again,

Swoosh.

As if rewound to before it was assembled, the gun parts were neatly placed on the leather.

“Fast, right?”

“Uh…”

Can this be described as fast?

‘This seems more like magic than a talent?’

Even if the gun-related talent becomes ‘S+’ grade, still.

How does disassembling and assembling a gun automatically happen just by tapping it with a finger?

‘With this, it would be tough for people using firearms to face Lee Seo-yeon?’

As I was thinking that,

‘Uh…, people using firearms?’

I realized that I was the one using firearms.

I looked at Lee Seo-yeon, who was repeatedly disassembling and assembling the gun, with trembling eyes and thought,

‘Lee Seo-yeon, she’s… my hard counter?’

How long has it been since I positively accepted the evolution of her talent?

With the appearance of a hard counter, my feelings became complicated again.

Lee Seo-yeon, who had no idea about my feelings,

“Lee Yu-jin, after the training, have a duel with me.”

[Lee Seo-yeon’s talent, “Sword-Gun Prodigy (S+)”, says it thinks it can imitate you this time.]

She wanted to have a duel with me right away.

The Sword-Gun Prodigy, this person-like talent, wanted to imitate my cheat.

“You’ll do it, right?”

[Lee Seo-yeon’s talent, “Sword-Gun Prodigy (S+)”, asks ‘You’ll do it, right?’]

No, I won’t have a duel!

…I wanted to refuse, but

“…Yeah.”

Because I had to take responsibility for causing this.

I couldn’t bring myself to refuse.

“Thanks.”

[Lee Seo-yeon’s talent, “Sword-Gun Prodigy (S+)”, is grateful.]

Still, seeing the smile drawn on Lee Seo-yeon’s lips, the complicated feeling subsided.

‘But, can cheats be imitated?’

Suddenly, I had such a thought.

However, with the message alarm ringing from my smartwatch, I decided to think about it again later.

“The instructor seems to have finished forming the teams, so let’s go back.”

At my words, Lee Seo-yeon nodded, rolled up the leather she had spread on the ground, and brought it to the ring on her right middle finger.

Then, like when I put items in my inventory, the rolled-up leather was sucked into Lee Seo-yeon’s ring.

It seemed to be a ring engraved with subspace.

If that’s the case…

“Lee Seo-yeon, is that a subspace ring?”

“Yeah.”

“Then take some of these.”

I took out some of the firearm consumables I had swept from the training ground and handed them to Lee Seo-yeon.

And as I watched Lee Seo-yeon stuffing the consumables into the subspace ring, I snickered.

Ah, I can’t resist a newbie’s item storage.

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“I sent the team composition, so check it and gather with your team members.”

At Kang Cheol-su’s words, I checked my smartwatch.

[Team 1]

[Lee Yu-jin (1)]

[Park Ga-ram (6)]

[Lim Da-hee (61)]

‘I’m on the same team as Park Ga-ram?’

But who is Lim Da-hee?

‘If she’s not in my memory, it means she’s not even a supporting character.’

Thinking that, I looked for Park Ga-ram.

And before long, I found her right away.

Among the kids starting to gather with their team members, Park Ga-ram, with her purple hair, was fidgeting her fingers and looking around.

It seemed she was looking for me, so before we missed each other, I hurriedly approached her.

The moment I got close, Park Ga-ram’s head, which had been glancing around, snapped towards me, and she approached with a sinister smile.

“Hehe…, fo, found you, to, top student.”

Since Park Ga-ram had also joined, now we just needed to find the kid named Lim Da-hee.

But I had no idea who that kid was.

So when I asked Park Ga-ram,

“Sh, she’s co, coming o, over there.”

Park Ga-ram raised her hand and pointed in one direction.

When I turned my head towards that direction, I could see a girl approaching precisely towards me.

And furthermore, I could tell who Lim Da-hee was.

Lim Da-hee.

She was the complainer who had asked Kang Cheol-su in the training ground yesterday if he should rearrange the matchups.

And she ended up on the same team as me.

“…Top student, please take care of me.”

“…Yeah.”

Perhaps because of yesterday’s incident, she couldn’t properly look into my eyes while speaking.

“Du, dummy. Yo, you ca, can’t even ma, make e, eye contact pro, properly.”

“…”

At Park Ga-ram’s sarcasm, Lim Da-hee glared at her, then bit her lip and lowered her head.

It seemed she had developed an inferiority complex due to yesterday’s incident.

‘I don’t really care about yesterday’s incident.’

Beyond not caring, I had forgotten about it until I saw her face.

‘The kids who were on the same matchup as me would feel the same.’

So, there was no need for Lim Da-hee to have an inferiority complex at all.

With that thought, I approached Lim Da-hee and tapped her shoulder, saying,

“If it’s because of yesterday, it’s okay. So, lift your head a bit.”

Then, Lim Da-hee murmured,

“… Really?”

“Yeah, really. So, lift your head a bit. Why have you become so discouraged when you boldly asked the instructor questions yesterday?”

Then, Lim Da-hee lifted her lowered head and looked at me with trembling eyes.

But in less than 2 seconds, she avoided my gaze.

Seeing Lim Da-hee like that, I decided to back off for now.

No matter how much I say it’s okay, if she herself doesn’t feel okay, it’s no use.

So, I decided to approach her in a different way.

“Lim Da-hee, you handled electricity, right?”

“…Yeah.”

After the matchups ended yesterday, the kids who were on the same matchup as me all returned to the dormitory at Kang Cheol-su’s words, “You can go to the dormitory first.”

But I stayed in the spectator seats and watched the matchups of the remaining students.

Since the game had become reality, I checked if there were kids with useful talents and skills other than the main and supporting characters.

But the result was just about right for their ranking?

As if the world had poured all the good abilities into the main and supporting characters, the kids other than them could only demonstrate abilities befitting their ranking.

Among them, Lim Da-hee, who ranked 61st, had talents and skills that manifested ‘Spearmanship’ and ‘Electricity’.

However, watching her matchup, she didn’t know how to properly use her abilities.

Spearmanship and Electricity.

They were useful abilities.

No, honestly, beyond being useful, they were good abilities.

So, since we ended up on the same team,

I will teach Lim Da-hee the proper way to use her abilities.

And get rid of her inferiority complex as a bonus.

“That’s a good ability.”

“… Huh?”

“Manifesting electricity, that’s a good ability.”

“Uh, uh…, thanks.”

At the sudden praise, Lim Da-hee slightly blushed and lowered her head.

I continued speaking.

“But you couldn’t use that ability well.”

“…”

At the criticism following the praise, Lim Da-hee’s ears turned red.

But my words weren’t over yet.

“So, I hope you follow my instructions well today. If you do, I’ll teach you how to use that ability.”

Then, Lim Da-hee’s drooped head lifted up.

“…If I just follow your words well, I can become strong too?”

A discouraged appearance and a powerless voice.

Eyes that trembled endlessly just by making eye contact.

But in her eyes, there was a small passion.

And hope was contained in her voice.

To this, I answered with a grin.

“Of course, you can’t help but become strong.”

“… Okay. I’ll follow your instructions.”

“Good choice.”

In the future, people will call you this.

Thunder Spear Lim Da-hee.

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After receiving the promise from Lim Da-hee and Park Ga-ram next to her that they would definitely follow my instructions, about 5 minutes passed.

“Since it seems everyone has gathered with their team members, we will now begin the training!”

Kang Cheol-su approached the dome-shaped building.

And standing in front of the huge door, he spoke to his smartwatch.

“Class 1-A, ready. Please open the door.”

Then, a woman’s voice was heard from Kang Cheol-su’s smartwatch.

– Confirmed.

Leaving that voice behind,

Rumble rumble rumble.

The huge door of the building began to open with a roar.

And soon after,

Thud.

Beyond the fully opened door, a huge vortex the size of the building revealed itself, emitting a blue light.

It was a rift to the mock Other World.

Kang Cheol-su, standing in front of the rift, said to us,

“This is the rift to the Other World. It’s a mock version modeled after the rift to the real Other World.”

However, the tension that appeared on the kids’ faces didn’t seem to easily disappear.

That’s how much the huge majesty of the rift in front, although it was a mock version, instilled fear in the viewers.

Seeing the kids like that, Kang Cheol-su tapped his chest as if telling them not to worry and said,

“You don’t need to be that scared. The rift you’re seeing now is fake, not real. And even if this becomes real, don’t you have your instructor? If something happens, I’ll go in right away and save you, so don’t worry and engage in the training.”

At Kang Cheol-su’s confident words, the expressions of the kids who were very tense became somewhat relaxed.

“And the monsters inside also only look the same, but like this rift, they are fake, not real.”

However, Kang Cheol-su added,

“Except for lacking the unique magic energy of monsters, their strength and abilities are the same, so maintain your tension.”

Saying that, Kang Cheol-su looked at me.

“Then, let’s enter now. Team 1, step forward.”

At Kang Cheol-su’s instruction, Park Ga-ram, Lim Da-hee, and I stood in front of the rift.

Towards us, Kang Cheol-su said,

“Since it’s the team with the top student, I’m not too worried, but if something happens, immediately press the emergency rescue request button on your smartwatch. Then I’ll save you right away.”

Contrary to his words, his voice contained a bit of worry.

To this, I grinned as if telling him not to worry.

Then, Kang Cheol-su nodded as if relieved and manipulated his smartwatch.

“Team 1, I sent your training objective to your smartwatch. Go inside and check it.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Then enter now.”

At the order to enter, my teammates and I pushed our bodies into the rift.

Just before fully entering like that, I said to Kang Cheol-su,

“I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Yeah.”

Kang Cheol-su nodded his head, acknowledging it as nothing significant.

But he probably didn’t know.

That what I had said was not outside the rift, but inside it.

“…Phew.”

I took a short deep breath and pushed my head the rest of the way into the rift.

Then, like a fierce wave, mana enveloped my body and pulled me inside.

Entrusting my body to the mana like that, I blinked my eyes.

My teammates and I were standing not in the plain where the dome-shaped building was, but in a huge cave.

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