Minus Skill: The Story of Four Nuisances… - Chapter 22

“Mummy Graverobber…? Not a clue.”
“Me too. It’s the first I’ve heard of it…..”
–Melina and Kokoru remarked.
Both of their Minus Skills are rare, but Tet’s was pretty up there too as far as commonality goes. There are three high level adventurers here, but not one of us knows about it.
I can’t even begin to guess what it was from the name alone too.
Although…I have this strange feeling.
I then question Tet–
“What kind of skill is it?”
“It’s simple really.”
Tet replies light heartedly..
“I take on all the debuffs of party members– is the gist of it.”
“Eh…..hold up. Really? Just the debuffs?”
“Yep”
“A-amazing. I couldn’t have imagined there was a skill like that…….”
The two casters in the party speak out excitedly.
I then ask them, unsure what to think of it myself.
“Is it that unusual?”
“Yes. Buffs and Debuffs are essentially one and the same when it comes down to it. In terms of our Status, it’s listed as “Additional Effects” and are treated one and the same.”
“Oh, so that’s how it works”
“Believe it. There’s a reason there’s no such thing as magic that removes or prevents only the debuffs. Kokoru’s Clear spell erases buffs as well remember?”
“It’s an extremely rare case when a skill distinguishes between buffs or debuffs. I don’t even know if there’s anything like it.”
“Yeah, “that seems to be if. The description of the skill backs it up by saying it as “Negative Additional Effects” instead of Debuff.”
–Tet chimes in with a laugh.
“But for me….It straight up sucks y’know?”
“I’m not well versed in things like this, but is that really considered a Minus Skill?”
-Kokoru follows up with a question.
‘“To put it into perspective, if all the party members receive a debuff of “Endurance Reduction – Small” then it would only be you who receives it right? Isn’t that a perk more than anything else?”
“It’s not such a reasonable skill as how you think it is.”
Tet then elaborates its effects further–
“In normal circumstances, the same debuff wouldn’t change its effects no matter how many times it’s cast on you, but this Skill amplifies it for each one you receive. That “Endurance Reduction – Small” would turn to “Special” once you take in the fourth one.”
“Th-that’s unreasonable…….”
“It’s insanely bad once several debuffs start stacking on you. One time, all the parameters I had were reduced to less than half of my normal value. My party members bailed on me that time…………I was dangerously close to dying.”
“I went on Solo after that fiasco. I vowed to never join a party again.”
“That’s as bad as it gets……”
I haven’t gone through anything that harrowing myself.
I could even sympathize with him about wanting to swipe kills and loot.
Leaving that aside for now…
Taking on the debuffs that party members contract huh…
Then just maybe……
“Hold on a sec. Is hat even true?”
Melina once again asks in suspicion.
Tet replies to her, possibly fed up with it.
“You really don’t want to trust anything I say huh~”
“Isn’t there something faulty about what he says? A single parameter reducing debuff only goes up to, at most, 40 percent. How would it even reach less than half?”
“Even if I didn’t have a Minus Skill, such a situation is entirely plausible. To give you an example, if I receive both “Durability Decrease – Special” and “Overall Status Decrease – Special” at the same time. This would cause the effects to stack and the value of my VIT would barely be half of what it was.”
“So a worst-case scenario happened?”
“Not at all. Even with my Minus Skill into the equation, it’s not often that the debuffs stack too that extent. Back then, the secondary clause of my Skill was taking effect.”
“What do you mean?”
“My Minus skill can increase or decrease in effect depending on the circumstance. The higher the reward rate at which the party as a whole gains, the stronger the effects of the debuff you will receive.”
“Reward rate…?”
The meaning of it escapes me.
“What’s that? It’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”
“I don’t get it too…..What do you mean by that?”
“‘From what I’ve figured out, it’s based on the number of monster drops and the tendency of rare items’ appearances.”
“I’m not too sure I understand… Do the party members you have affect it?”
“It does. If someone has the “Fortune” skill they would cause a lot more coins to drop right? The “Luck” skill also increases the rarity of dropped items, while the “Drop Rate+” type skilsl increase the number. If there are people who possess these skills in the party, then the so called Reward Rate would increase……Or at least, that’s how it is from what I’ve learned from my investigations.”
He then continues–
“At the time, someone had the skills “Drop Rate+ – Medium” and “Luck”. The effect of the debuff was increased in proportion to it. I just recently joined the party too, so I was careless.”
“Hmm…I get that part, but hmm…..”
“Tet”
Glancing at Melina, who had realized some things, I then questioned Tet.
“You said earlier that the effect of the debuff can fluctuate. Am I wrong in thinking that if you’re in a party on the opposite end of that……. A one with a low reward rate, then it would lessen its effects?”
“Hmm? …… I guess so. No reason to believe it won’t I guess.”
He replies without much confidence.
“That’s how the description lists it as. If there were people involved in the party that has the “God of Poverty’s Blessings” or “ Misfortune” or even “Drop Rate Reduction” type of skills the the effect would probably decrease by the severity of said skills…. I’ve never partied with such a person before so it’s all just untested conjecture from me”
“How low do you think it goes…….?.”
“Hmm… I don’t get the effect of the skill either, but basing it on the opposite end, when the Skill’s effect increases due to the increase in Reward rate, then a “Drop rate decrease- Medium” and “Misfortune” would be enough to counteract the effects of a “Small” Rank Debuff I think.”
“…….”
“Well I wouldn’t even want to join a poor ass party even if I was begged to….Why ask?”
Tet raised his eyebrows at us who fell in silence.
“….Let’s test it out.”
–Melina says, standing up and looking downward at Tet.
“Join our party for now, Tet.”