[Game Expert: Grade S Talent / Lv-. Talent Skill (Active). This is the physical manifestation of your extensive experience as a connoisseur of electronic games.
Whenever you enter a new dungeon, the "Mind Palace" constructed from your deep seated gaming memories will automatically enter a search state. It will randomly select a relatively suitable game character based on your current situation and temporarily load them onto you as a "Character Template" to assist in your completion of the mission.
A "Character Template" functions as an undispellable status effect (BUFF) that can be actively loaded or unloaded as needed. Both loading and unloading have a cooldown period. Under normal circumstances, the template's attributes stack perfectly with the player's base stats.
Character Templates are categorized into three main types and three derivative forms, "Protagonist Template," "Supporting Template," "Villain Template"; "Original," "Enhanced," "Perfect."
Protagonist Template: The core "Main Character" of a game's origin.
Supporting Template: Teammates of the protagonist, plot relevant NPCs, neutral entities, etc.
Villain Template: Minions, elites, and bosses of the enemy faction.
Original Form: Highly restores the character's original design. While gaining the corresponding combat power, you also inherit their original weaknesses.
Enhanced Form: Grants the corresponding combat power while discarding the character's original weaknesses.
Perfect Form: Erases original weaknesses and provides comprehensive enhancements in all areas.
Based on your current physical condition, dungeon intensity, and capacity limits, 'Game Expert' will automatically adapt the most suitable template and form for you.
The 'Game Expert' effect can only be triggered once per dungeon origin. When entering a dungeon from a new origin, only a new character template corresponding to that origin can be used, and the template cannot be accessed outside of the dungeon's origin area.
If you complete the dungeon while a template is loaded, either by meeting specific conditions or achieving a high mission evaluation, certain abilities or traits of that temporary template can be permanently retained as 'Extra Skills,' 'Special Equipment,' or 'Carried Accessories.' These can then be used normally in other areas.]
[Additional Evaluation: Awesome! He's a Game Expert! We're saved!]
The moment the Guide left and the monsters began to swarm, Chris's "Game Expert" talent had officially triggered.
From the massive pool of available templates, the talent had selected a Vampire Hunter, one who bore an eternal hatred for the dark and depraved, and whose family had been embroiled in a multi generational conflict with a certain Vampire Count.
The whip in Chris's hand, known as "Vampire Killer," was the sacred relic of the Belmont family.
Ordinarily, Chris wouldn't have known the first thing about wielding such an exotic weapon. Yet, the moment his fingers curled around the handle, his body moved with an instinctive, practiced grace.
Chris, who ordinarily might have whipped himself even with a simple leather belt, executed the first strike of his life with clinical precision. The whip snapped forward, cleanly severing the neck of the zombie that had been lunging at the one-eared student.
If one were to examine the zombie's severed neck, they would see traces of intense charring, as if the flesh had been scorched by extreme heat.
This was the effect of the Holy Power imbued within the Vampire Killer!
Starting from the neck, the holy energy surged through the zombie's remaining form. In just a few heartbeats, the creature crumbled into ash and vanished.
As Chris spun and sent a second strike through a red eyed crow, he glanced back to see a small, red heart fluttering through the air above the one eared student's ash covered chest.
Both the whip and the floating heart were directly tied to the "Vampire Hunter" template he had loaded.
[Vampire Hunter: Original Protagonist Template. Blueprint, 'Simon Belmont,' the protagonist of the original 'Castlevania.' As the first member of the Belmont family to enter the player's view, he is a master of the ancestral holy relic 'Vampire Killer' and dedicated his life to eradicating the forces of darkness led by 'Count Dracula.'
When you choose to load the 'Vampire Hunter' template:
- You will simultaneously acquire the template exclusive weapons 'Holy Whip: Vampire Killer.'
- You will simultaneously acquire the template exclusive skills, 'Soul Rescue,' 'Holy Relic Mastery,' 'Hit Evasion,' and 'Instant Dissolution.'
This character template has a 15 minute cooldown for both loading and unloading.]
[Holy Whip: Vampire Killer: Long Whip, Template Weapon. Requirements: Vampire Hunter / Belmont bloodline. Weapon Damage: 1-1. Durability: -/-.
The sacred relic of the Belmont family, possessing the potential for further enhancement.
When attacking evil or dark creatures, each successful strike deals an additional 10 points of Holy damage.
When the target is a 'Vampire,' the additional Holy damage is doubled. Furthermore, it reduces the effect of any healing abilities used by the target by 50% for 5 seconds. Successful attacks refresh this duration.
Template weapons can stack with the player's currently held equipment; the closer the equipment type, the better the stacking effect.]
[Soul Rescue: Template Skill (Passive). While the Vampire Hunter eradicates monsters, they also purify the influence of evil and dark magic, thereby rescuing the souls of the innocent. In gratitude, these souls provide the hunter with assistance.
When you kill any evil or dark monster or destroy candelabras and torches, there is a high probability of dropping a heart shaped item, 'Small Innocent Soul' (1 point) or 'Large Innocent Soul' (5 points).
'Innocent Souls' can be used to replenish consumed sub-weapon stocks, serve as materials for certain spells, or replace MP as a casting cost.]
Zombies were undeniably evil, but they were only resurrected because they were driven by the Demon King's malevolence. In their previous lives, most of them had been ordinary people.
While the Belmont family was known for its "kill them all" stance toward monsters, they were never ones to pass up an opportunity to purify those souls and offer them salvation.
In return, the rescued souls were more than happy to help their savior. From another perspective, these souls were also seeking their own revenge.
By aiding Simon and his kin in slaying monsters, these innocent souls could finally find peace and ascend.
Only death could offer the wicked their true salvation!
Chris strode forward, passing by the one-eared student as he went. The wind of his passage blew away the zombie ash clinging to the student while Chris scooped up his first Innocent Soul.
Next to his health and mana bars, a new indicator appeared: a small "01" signifying his stored Innocent Soul points.
The student was still in a state of shock, but a powerful grip on his wrist hauled him upright.
"Are you dead?"
The student shook his head instinctively, a jolt of pain shooting through the side of his head where his ear used to be.
"If you aren't dead, keep hacking. Kill one to break even; kill two for a profit."
The plain, one handed axe that had fallen into the dirt was shoved back into the student's hand.
With that, Chris turned away, his hips twisting as the whip cracked once more.
The student's expression shifted rapidly from panic to realization, and then to a burning fury. A moment later, Chris heard a gutteral roar from behind him, followed by the sound of an axe thudding into rotting bone.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]