E-Rank, Second Tier, a million Coins.
The more Min-ho investigated, the more concerned he became. Was it a good thing that the mohawk stranger was a Second Tier, or not?
If he were to be part of their team, then it would definitely be a good thing. Yet, he couldn't help but wonder what would happen if they were to be enemies. The fact that everyone unanimously disliked them did not help matters.
Min-ho's mind began to run amok. He didn't know what to feel or what to think. Yet a part of him urged him to find out more about Wo Shin-ji, perhaps discover any potential weaknesses he could exploit if push came to shove.
He went to his Affinity menu, then began to read through it.
[[One Punch]]
[Affinity Type: Active, Affinity Rank: E]
[One Punch: Completely destroy any opponent of any Tier within relative Rank. The shockwave from this attack can reach a length of five meters, destroying opponents from afar. Can be used three times a day with a twenty-second time interval.]
[Uses Available: 3/3, Whiplash: Frail Bones]
Min-ho's eyes widened when he read through the Affinity's description. His heart began to thump and his stomach tied into a knot.
'This man is dangerous,' he thought, gulping hard.
Now it made sense how he could acquire a million Coins. If this Z-Streamer truly was an enemy, then they'd be in serious trouble.
Clenching his mouth shut, Min-ho looked down to the Whiplash. He instantly felt a weight lift off his heart when he saw that Shin-ji indeed had a Whiplash.
Without wasting a second, he tapped on the Whiplash so it expanded into another screen that detailed its contents.
[Frail Bones: Once One Punch Affinity is utilized, any damage received no matter how weak will be fatal. Duration of Frail Bones is 20 seconds.]
After reading through this, Min-ho sighed audibly.
'It's not much, but it's something,' he thought, reading through the description once again.
With this Whiplash, he could bring down the mohawk man after he had used his Affinity… presuming he survived the encounter, that is.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed, Min-ho floated a space back, placing both hands on his face.
He didn't want to think the worst, but he had to prepare for it.
A quick thought had tempted him to remove Shin-ji's Affinity cord. It would neutralize the threat in seconds. But he feared doing so would alarm them. Plus, he didn't know the Affinities of his friends—or if they were of the same Tier.
He scratched his thumb.
'If only I had gotten their names,' he thought, looking at Shin-ji's System menu.
He continued to stare at the screen for a while until something drew his attention. The notifications for Gifts were slowing down.
He summoned his own System at once to check how many Coins he had gotten before the reduction in Gifts.
[Name: Mee Min-ho, Rank: E]
[Affinities, Equipment]
[Inventory, Shop]
[Coins: 71,650]
[Developer Options]
'It went up by 18,000 Coins,' he deduced.
The amount was substantial, but nowhere near enough for an upgrade.
Looking at his Rank, Min-ho thought to expand it.
[—Rank—]
[Rank: E, Tier 3]
[Coins Until Next Tier: 0/1,000,000]
He, along with the others, needed a million Coins to grow by a Tier.
'If only I could exchange Coins,' he pondered, glancing at Shin-ji's System menu.
Shaking the thought off, Min-ho wanted to find out if his team had invested any Coins in their Tier. He wanted to search up their names, but thought to try something else.
He went back to the main menu, then he expanded the Affinities menu.
[[Monarch's Will]]
[Affinity Type: Passive, Affinity Rank: E]
[Monarch's Will: If a subject is made through the kissing of a hand, the Monarch will be able to control the subjects to a certain degree and gain a percentage of the subject's collected Coins without affecting their own total. Percentage increases by increments of 10% for every two subjects gotten. Increments will cease to continue once the limit of 20 subjects has been reached.]
[Uses Available: Unlimited, Whiplash: Death's Revenge]
[Death's Revenge: If a subject under the Monarch's rule dies, the death of the subject will be shared with the Monarch depending on his taxing percentage.]
[Subsidiary Affinities: Command, Enhance, Sacrifice]
[Subjects: Cho Im-hee, Han Dok-su, Han Ji-su, Ji Jang-book]
Looking at the names in the Subjects list, Min-ho felt like he was intruding on their privacy.
He shook the thought off at once.
'It's nothing like that,' he defended. He wasn't trying to find their weaknesses or anything to that degree—he just wanted to be informed.
He selected Dok-su with a thought, and his System menu appeared before him.
[Name: Han Dok-su, Rank: E]
[Affinities, Equipment]
[Inventory, Shop]
[Coins: 47,500]
'He's got quite a bit of Coins,' he thought, his gaze lingering on the System menu for a second or two.
He blinked twice, then decided not to pry and just check what he needed to check.
He selected the Rank option.
[—Rank—]
[Rank: E, Tier 3]
[Coins Until Next Tier: 0/500,000]
Min-ho's eyes instantly fell on the amount of Coins needed, then he frowned.
He peered at it for a while longer, unsure of what he was seeing.
'Maybe a glitch,' he thought, then went back a menu and opened the Rank again.
[—Rank—]
[Rank: E, Tier 3]
[Coins Until Next Tier: 0/500,000]
It was the same.
Min-ho paused, then went back to the main Affinities menu. He selected Im-hee, then selected her Rank option.
[—Rank—]
[Rank: E, Tier 3]
[Coins Until Next Tier: 0/500,000]
It was the same for her as well.
Once again, he did not react. He went back and checked on Ji-su's and Jang-book's Rank options. Yet again, it was the same for them all.
Still withholding any response, he checked on his Rank option.
[—Rank—]
[Rank: E, Tier 3]
[Coins Until Next Tier: 0/1,000,000]
'What's going on?' Min-ho thought, his heart thumping.