Chapter 163 - Buff

"Eigh!"

In the forest in front of the house.

I dragged a camping chair there and sat down, watching the kids train.

Electra shooting electricity in all directions, and Eun-wol blocking everything with magic.

After exchanging a few rounds.

"Huff... huff... I give up!"

Soon Electra—Choi Se-hee—declared surrender, and the match concluded.

"Okay. That's enough for today. Both of you did well."

"Unni, come here. I'll heal you."

"Thanks as always, Ha-yul."

"Not at all. I should apologize that this is all I can do to help."

I watched as Ha-yul stepped forward with those words.

With her long brown hair flowing down, she placed her hands on Choi Se-hee's back and began healing her.

Soon Choi Se-hee made a satisfied expression, saying "Oh, I feel alive again."

Lee Ha-yul.

In the original story, she was called the Evil Saintess. Her main ability is healing.

According to the original plot, she would have turned into a villain after losing her younger brother to thugs, but I saved her along with her brother and brought her into Ego-stream.

Unlike in the original story, her personality has become much gentler. Currently, she's attending university and serves as our Ego-stream team's resident doctor, providing healing to members.

"Hey, I feel completely better now. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Choi Se-hee burst into laughter as she expressed her gratitude, and Lee Ha-yul responded with a bright smile.

Come to think of it, Ha-yul and Electra were extremely close in the original story. Whenever Ha-yul appeared, Electra was always standing beside her.

And now I see the two of them chatting amicably before me. Well, even now, Se-hee is the one Ha-yul is closest to.

I guess some things don't change even when the plot diverges from the original.

As I smiled at that thought, my expression soon hardened again.

...Right. That's not the issue right now.

The real problem is something else.

Ha-yul left to check on Eun-wol, and Choi Se-hee sat alone on a rock.

I watched her stretching with a complicated expression.

...Actually, there's a bit of a problem.

It's about Choi Se-hee. About Electra.

The issue with Choi Se-hee is nothing complicated...

She's simply weaker than in the original story. That's the problem.

'...It's strange.'

Of course, there are many who are weaker than Electra.

Even Seo-eun, no matter how many suits she makes, is weaker than Se-hee. Death Knight is technically weaker too. But since those two focus more on hacking and resurrection respectively, it's not as noticeable.

But since Electra only has electrical abilities, her lack of firepower is more apparent.

That's not to say she's weak by any means. She's still much stronger than me.

It's just that she's weaker than expected.

Just looking at Icicle, who also has a single elemental ability, she's ranked as an A-class hero alongside Stardust and Shadow Walker with just her freezing power. That's how good single elemental abilities can be.

And especially in the original story, she was definitely stronger than now. She used to rain down lightning from the sky like it was nothing.

...So I thought training would help, and I've been making her train hard until now...

While her combat sense has improved, the fundamental issue with her firepower remains unresolved.

This has been bothering me lately.

No, this can't be right. I must be missing something. What is it?

Is it just a matter of time? Or is it because Choi Se-hee didn't go to prison like in the original story?

What's the difference between the original and now?

Just as I was holding my head in contemplation.

"Da-in oppa. Are you okay?"

Hearing a voice directed at me from above, I naturally looked up.

Ha-yul had approached me and was looking at me with concerned eyes.

"Ah, it's nothing. Just thinking about something."

I waved my hand, telling her not to worry.

But still looking concerned, Ha-yul naturally stood behind me and placed her hands on my back.

"You seem tired lately, oppa. Let me help relieve some of that fatigue."

And before I could respond, she began infusing me with energy.

I could feel the fatigue I didn't even realize had built up gradually dissipating.

"Does that feel good?"

"Yeah... it does..."

I answered with a voice that had unconsciously become relaxed.

It definitely felt good. Like having ten IV drips compressed and flowing through my veins at once. The warm sensation from my back spreading throughout my body felt like drinking herbal medicine.

Indeed, there was a reason I recruited Ha-yul right after Seo-eun.

Not only does her basic healing ability greatly enhance our Ego-stream's safety... but she can also do small things like relieving fatigue like this.

Plus, she could play a new role after we take down the Moonlight Cult...

And as she did with Eun-wol's curse, she can also remove debuffs.

As I sat comfortably on the rock receiving Ha-yul's full-body healing course, something suddenly occurred to me.

Healing, fatigue recovery, debuff removal, and so on. Ha-yul seems capable of all these things. I didn't know she could relieve fatigue, but she had shown she could remove curses when she lifted a curse placed on Choi Se-hee by another villain.

But you know what?

If you think about it, isn't healing a kind of... buff?

The moment that thought flashed through my mind, I immediately stood up.

"Eek!"

"Ha-yul. Wait, come here for a second."

"Huh? Oh... okay!"

I pulled the confused Ha-yul over to Choi Se-hee.

"Hmm? What is it? What's going on?"

Choi Se-hee looked equally confused.

Standing in front of her, I explained to Ha-yul.

"Ha-yul. If you think about it, healing is basically strengthening someone's health, right?"

"Huh? Um... I guess so?"

"Then similarly, instead of health, could you try strengthening someone's ability? Wouldn't that be possible?"

"Um... I'm not sure?"

"Just try it. You can do it!"

"...Alright. I'll give it a try!"

Nodding resolutely at my request, Ha-yul placed her hands on Choi Se-hee's back.

As Ha-yul sweated profusely, how much time passed?

Rumble—

A blue lightning bolt fell from the sky, striking directly into a part of the forest.

With a tremendous boom.

KABOOOOOOM.

In the middle of the forest, a huge crater formed as if hit by a meteorite.

"....Uh... "

Choi Se-hee's mouth fell open as she stared at the devastation she had caused.

Witnessing the historic sight of electricity defeating earth, she seemed momentarily dazed, while beside her, Lee Ha-yul was panting from the exertion.

I stood there with my mouth open too.

"...."

Honestly, I was just taking a shot in the dark.

...Why did it actually work?

That day, Lee Ha-yul evolved from a simple healer to an all-rounder who could provide buffs as well.

***

"Tsk. It doesn't work on me."

"Wow... this is amazing..."

That night.

After conducting various experiments with Ha-yul, I learned many things.

First, the buff enhances the performance of an ability user's unique abilities, and Ha-yul can roughly determine the strength and duration of the buff. Of course, the more she buffs, the more strain it puts on her body. At most, it lasts a few hours. Even then, if she enhances someone more than twofold like today, it only lasts about an hour?

Second, the buff doesn't work on me or Eun-wol.

"...."

Well, this was somewhat expected.

After all, Eun-wol and I have different sources for our abilities compared to others. It seems that the buff enhances "supernatural abilities," not magic.

Oh, and just to be clear, Eun-wol and I don't share the same source either. That should be obvious considering I can't use magic.

'...If it doesn't work on me, it probably won't work on Stardust either.'

It could be useful in certain situations, but it's a shame.

Anyway, despite various limitations, it was definitely a good discovery. If I hadn't thought of it, we might never have known about Ha-yul's buffing ability. It's chilling to think about.

...Of course, looking at the original story, she seems to have used this buffing ability to enhance Choi Se-hee, so she might have discovered it on her own eventually.

Regardless, it was a joy to see Choi Se-hee with her abilities enhanced more than twofold. Yes, this is it. This is the Electra I saw in the original story. Choi Se-hee shooting lightning bolts that split the night sky.

Oh, and another beneficiary of this ability...

"Wow... look at this..."

That would be Seo Ja-young.

She's been spewing house-sized flames from her fingertips for a while now.

Seo Ja-young staring in disbelief at what she created, Choi Se-hee excitedly firing electrical bursts.

And Seo-eun whining about why robots can't be buffed.

It's chaotic, truly chaotic.

"Da-in oppa... I'm dying..."

"Alright, alright. Let's go inside and rest now. You're tired, aren't you?"

"Yes. But... I'm happy knowing I can be helpful."

Despite nearly collapsing from overusing her new ability, Ha-yul had a smile on her face, proud of her capabilities.

I supported her to the sofa so she could rest.

...It's all good, but I just realized that if Ha-yul gets exhausted from using her abilities too much, there's no one to heal her instead. Self-healing wouldn't work either since she's tired from overusing her ability.

She was so exhausted that she fell asleep snoring as soon as she lay on the sofa. I covered her with a blanket and went back outside.

The night sky against the moonlight was a chaotic mix of yellow and purple.

Looking at the two who seemed happy with their suddenly doubled power, I couldn't help but smile.

...It was truly an unexpected harvest.

Of course, it won't last long, and Ha-yul gets tired quickly so it's not a cure-all.

But there's no denying that our combat power has significantly increased.

It feels like winning the lottery overnight. And since most future ability users will likely be able to receive buffs, it's a good development in the long run.

'...Well, now that the issue I was worried about is resolved.'

I'll just train Ha-yul, and then we can take a break.

It wouldn't be bad to go on an outing together. Right, I'll book tickets to an amusement park as I mentioned before. We can rest well, and then start a broadcast and cause a bit of terror—perfect timing.

I was having such a happy dream.

[Da-in, Da-in!]

"What's wrong?"

[I just heard this now, but the American Association is sending S, S-class heroes to capture you!]

"....What?"

...Until I received Lee Seol-ah's message.

"Ah... hmm."

So not A-class, but S-class heroes are coming directly to Korea?

And from America at that?

...We're screwed.

I muttered briefly.

Why can't I ever be happy?