Chapter 271. The Meaning of the Emotion (1)
I redirected spirit power from my body to my brain. The spirit power gathered in my brain turned into something entirely different. Specifically, it turned into words.
[Constructing spirit power….]
Yellow characters appeared in the air, kind of like a pop-up ad.
[Completed.]
Fundamentally, spirit power referred to the power of one’s soul. It was a measure of presence based on the type of experience one accumulated over the years. As a result, the amount and the application of spirit power differed greatly from person to person— it depended on what kind of life one led, or what kind of values one carried.
However, my spirit had a more systematic and logical standard of measurement.
[Exuberant Spirit Power ▷ Your spirit power is like a piece of hardware with a specific algorithm.]
[You may create and utilize ‘Rational Miracle’— your body’s equivalent to software.]
[However, because of the limit in your brain capacity, the number of Miracles you can store is limited to four.]
It was the ‘Writer’s Consciousness’, expressed as the laptop I was given when I first came to this world.
Of course, seeing as I stopped writing my novel midway through, my consciousness as a writer wasn’t exactly firm. But because everything started with my novel, I carried a heavy responsibility whether I liked it or not.
The nature of my spirit power was related to my status as a writer.
[Please enter ‘① Skill Summary’, ‘② Activation Condition’, ‘③ Consumption Value’, ‘④ Affect and Effect’.]
Spirit power transformed into the shape of a keyboard right before my eyes.
My fingers danced on the keyboard as if they had been possessed by something.
My will transformed into words, which then transformed into sentences that formed a Miracle.
[You successfully created the first ‘Miracle’.]
Once was enough for me to understand the process of creation.
I didn’t put a lot of effort into this first one, because I could always delete or modify Miracles without the further expenditure of SP.
[Summary — Summon a spirit doll that consumes opponent’s energy]
[Activation Condition — Reveal the name of the skill to the opponent]
[Consumption Value — Spend 0.5% of Kim Hajin’s spirit power per second.]
[Affect — The doll adheres to the opponent’s body, regularly absorbing the opponent’s energy]
[Effect — Recover 0.25% of Kim Hajin’s spirit power and reduce 0.5% of the opponent’s energy per second.]
[Miracle creation completed.]
Plop—!
For the first time only, ‘Miracle’ was activated for free.
A doll that looked like a devil appeared in the air.
—Sweck, sweck
It looked a little bit like a badger, or maybe a raccoon….
“What’s this?”
Boss widened her eyes at the sudden appearance of a strange creature.
“Um… it’s Little Kim Hajin.”
[Penalty for horrible name — Skill performance has been greatly reduced.]
“No, wait, wait, that’s not it.”
I thought for a while and then changed it to a slightly better name.
“Bloodsucking Cleaner.”
[Plain name — Skill performance remains the same.]
“…It’s ‘Vampire Scavenger’.”
[Better name — Skill performance has been slightly improved.]
“What does that mean?”
“Well, it’s a skill that only exists in my head….”
I went up to Boss and stuck Vampire Scavenger on her. The Vampire Scavenger clung to Boss’ arm and let out a strange laughter.
—Huhuhung, huhuhung.
“What are you… Eh?!”
Then it started sucking up Boss’s energy. Her shoulders trembled.
“How does it feel?”
“Weird… uuuu!”
“Why don’t you try to pull it off?”
Boss shook the arm that [Bloodsucking Cleaner] was attached to. She shook once, twice, thrice… and she continued until smoke began to rise up from her arm, but Bloodsucking Cleaner didn’t even flinch.
“You probably can’t take it off with raw strength.”
Only spirit power could counter spirit power.
Today was actually my first time utilizing spirit power, and surprisingly, things were going very well.
“…Huup!”
At that moment, Boss activated her Gift, [Infinite Shadow]. As a huge shadow was about to engulf [Bloodsucking Cleaner], I responded quickly.
[Add ‘Affect’ — Nullify the Gift of the attached target.]
[Warning — Consumption Value will increase by 100 times]
The ability to nullify a Gift would be enough to make [Bloodsucking Cleaner] a significant weapon.
But high return always came with high risk. The only way to counter high risk was to add a new ‘condition’.
[Condition — Must have observed the opponent for at least 360 hours]
[Your luck erupts. Despite the lax condition, the required spirit power consumption is only doubled.]
With the addition of a new condition, high return was maintained, and I had already observed Boss for 360 hours.
Therefore, ‘nullify the Gift of the opponent’ activated.
“…What?”
Boss was taken aback.
When the shadows that were always by her side disappeared, Boss looked at me with a dumbfounded look.
“What’s wrong?”
I asked, feigning ignorance.
“…Is this spirit power?”
“Yes.”
“It’s strange. My shadows won’t come out.”
“Of course. It’s because I’m absorbing your Gift.”
“…Absorbing?”
Boss frowned.
I gave a sly smile. Suddenly, for no specific reason, the urge to poke fun at Boss took over me.
“It’s called ‘Succession’. Your Gift is mine now.”
“…Don’t lie. Do you think I’m stupid?”
I didn’t say a word.
For 10 seconds.
Which was enough time for Boss to be shaken up.
“Take this raccoon off of me.”
“…”
“…That’s an order!”
“Haha, I’m only joking.”
“Take it off right now!”
I laughed and took [Bloodsucking Cleaner] off of Boss’ arm. Boss looked at my new weapon with unapproving eyes. [Bloodsucking Cleaner] turned back into spirit power and returned to me.
“So that’s spirit power?”
“Yeah, basically.”
“It’s similar to ‘skills’ from the Tower.”
“Oh… you’re right.”
In fact, spirit power was what made skills possible.
“Mm….”
Boss stared at me in silence before activating her Gift again. She moved her shadows freely, then heaved a deep sigh of relief. I began to prepare another Miracle to experiment on her.
Up next was [Spiritual Bullet]— a bullet that acted on the nervous system, disrupting physical movements.
**
[East Sea, Hero Military Academy.]
For many Heroes, it was the first time in a long while that they visited their alma mater: Hero Military Academy, also known as ‘Cube’. Normally, outsiders were barred from entering Cube due to the frequent Djinn invasions; however, today was an exception, as the alumni had gathered here for a great cause.
And that great cause referred to the qualification exam for the special elite task force sponsored by the government.
This was how they were choosing the Heroes to be assigned to the elite task force against Orden.
“There’s a hell of a lot of people here.”
A total of 9,000 people from all over the world had applied to become a member of the special task force. While it was true that they volunteered for a noble cause, many of them were also drawn to the rewards.
The first reward was the promise of permanent residency or citizenship in Korea.
If the participating Hero was not a citizen of Korea, he or she would be guaranteed either the permanent residency or citizenship of Korea in return for his or her service. And this privilege would extend to the participating Hero’s family as well. Most of the applicants from foreign countries were drawn to this reward, as it was very difficult to earn Korean citizenship nowadays.
The second reward was, of course, money.
The down payment was 10 billion won and the monthly salary was 5 billion won (the Association assumed this mission would last a long time). Upon the completion of the mission, the participants would be awarded up to 300 billion won depending on his or her role in the mission.
The third reward was an artifact.
Heroes who passed screening would immediately receive an artifact of their choice.
Because of these rewards, every applicant seemed eager….
“Geez….”
Of course, there were Heroes who weren’t interested in the rewards, like Chae Nayun.
Chae Nayun looked around the room apathetically. France, Germany, Russia, etc…. The room was full of Heroes from all over the world, but none of them interested Chae Nayun.
—Leclace. You’re here, too?
—I don’t have any other choice. This is the only shot I have left after failing the qualification exam for permanent residency.
—You too? Uhahaha.
Leclace and Levellock, from France and Russia respectively, were both famous in their home countries. According to the Association’s standards, they were high-rank grade-2 Heroes. Still, Chae Nayun was unimpressed. She might have been amazed by high-rank grade-2 Heroes in the past, but things were different now.
“I’m so bored… When is it going to be my turn?”
All electronic devices were prohibited, which meant no smartwatches and no game consoles.
Chae Nayun thought she might die of boredom waiting for her turn to come….
“What’s up?”
At that moment, a figure approached her.
Though his voice was familiar, his appearance was not.
It was Shin Jonghak.
“Hey, goat beard.”
Chae Nayun greeted Shin Jonghak with a giggle.
“…Goat beard?”
“Because that’s what you have. Say ‘baa’. ‘Baaaa-’”
“Baa… No, no.”
With a frown, Shin Jonghak stood next to her. Chae Nayun looked at Shin Jonghak. He seemed much older than he used to be, probably because of the ugly beard.
“What are you looking at?”
“…Whatever. Did you already finish the qualification test?”
“I’m a judge.”
“…What? Seriously? Why?”
Shin Jonghak smiled and showed her his Hero ID card.
[High-rank Grade-1 Shin Jonghak (Rank 315)]
[Vice Leader of Desolate Moon]
Chae Nayun’s jaw dropped.
“…What the. How are you high-rank grade-1? No, more importantly, you’re ranked 315? Who did you bribe?”
“Ha. It’s simple. I beat up another high-rank grade-1 Hero.”
Chae Nayun was dumbfounded by Shin Jonghak’s confidence.
At that moment, an announcement came on.
—Next up, Chae Nayun, intermediate-rank grade-2.
Intermediate-rank grade-2 seemed too pitiful in comparison to Shin Jonghak.
Naturally, the whole waiting room began to buzz with voices.
—There’s a intermediate-rank here? How come this person didn’t fail the screening?
—Hey, isn’t that Chae Nayun, Chae Joochul’s granddaughter?
—No, she probably just has the same name. There’s no way Chae Nayun is only an intermediate-rank….
Chae Nayun let out a sigh.
“…You’re still an intermediate-rank?”
Shin Jonghak asked, dumbfounded.
“Yeah, so what? I could beat you up if I wanted to. I just didn’t get tested officially,” Chae Nayun claimed.
Shin Jonghak only scoffed. Annoyed at the apparent mockery, Chae Nayun jumped to her feet.
“I’m going.”
Stomp, stomp.
As Chae Nayun headed to the test room, Shin Jonghak muttered from behind, “…Kim Hajin won’t be coming.”
Chae Nayun stopped.
Shin Jonghak shrugged his shoulders.
“Just letting you know.”
Still frozen in the same place, Chae Nayun turned only her head to face Shin Jonghak.
“I know.”
That was all she said before walking into the test room.
She opened the door, to be greeted by unfamiliar scenery.
“I’m Chae Nayun.”
The test room was a vast field. The sky and the field stretched endlessly in all directions, providing the applicants with enough room to show off whatever it was they wanted to show off.
“We’ll now begin intermediate-rank grade-2 Hero Chae Nayun’s evaluation,” the judges sitting across Chae Nayun announced.
She was familiar with both of them— Aileen and Yoo Sihyuk. Chae Nayun smirked at Yoo Sihyuk.
“Wipe that smirk off of your face and show us what you can do.”
Master-rank Hero, Rank 23 Yoo Sihyuk, announced sternly.
But even then, Chae Nayun found it hard to take her master seriously.
“Okay, okay.”
Chae Nayun took out her sword. Her claymore, which was about 2 meters tall, was bigger than its wielder. Chae Nayun poured refined magic power into the weapon she’d taken from the Tower of Wish.
Kwaaaaa….
Immediately, magic power blazed up around the claymore. The magnificent outburst was about 10 meters tall, almost touching the sky. Yoo Sihyuk smiled and Aileen watched with a lack of expression.
“This is about 30%… Here I go—!”
With a shout, Chae Nayun waved her sword.
BOOM—
Her attack continued to swell, drawing heat and gusting wind from the surroundings as it rushed towards the two judges.
However, as her attack was about to strike the judges,
“Stop.”
A small voice stopped the will of the sword.
A tiny fraction of Aileen’s Spirit Speech transformed into a giant force that bound the swordswoman.
Glaring at the warrior in front of her, Aileen the Spirit Speech user announced coldly.
“Intermediate-rank grade-2 Hero Chae Nayun, you pass.”
**
Late at night, on a vast field in Central Asia.
I lied down under the night sky where the stars and the moon shone brightly. The soft wind brushed past my cheeks; the touch of grass on my back caressing me softly. The sky was beautiful, as if specks of light had been splattered over a canvas full of dark paint.
A plain and trivial phenomenon.
Sceneries like this were rare where I came from.
Though, to be fair, I didn’t even think to look at such scenery back then.
“…Today’s training was fun, too.”
I got carried away by the beautiful scenery when, suddenly, I heard a voice.
The voice sounded strong and firm, unlike me who was always utterly exhausted after training.
It was Boss.
“Yeah.”
I gave her a small smile.
Boss and I had trained together for the past week. Boss was a good opponent for me to test my spirit power.
I didn’t have to go easy on her since she could block any kind of attack. I also enjoyed poking fun at her occasionally, though she didn’t even seem to realize that was what I was doing.
“Should we do this again tomorrow?”
“…”
I didn’t answer. Instead, I recalled what happened today. About how I gave Boss an afro with my [Spiritual Bullet], about how I manipulated her nervous system to reverse the signals for her arms and her legs, about how she had to do a handstand in the end….
“Let’s do this again tomorrow.”
Boss said again.
I would’ve imagined it must be quite bothersome for her to deal with me, but I guess Boss found the whole process somewhat amusing.
“Well, we’ve already trained together for the past week, 12 hours a day.”
“…So you don’t want to do it again?”
Boss pouted.
I only smiled silently.
“Can you take off that bear head now?”
For the past week, Boss had been wearing the bear head every single day. I personally couldn’t understand why she liked it so much.
“It’s still useable.”
Boss shook her head.
“What do you mean it’s useable? There are so many better helmets than that.”
“You can enchant it for me, Hajin. Four-colored Enchant. You have a good skill.”
“…I’d rather use it on another artifact. Why would I enchant something like that?”
At my remark, Boss suddenly became quiet. She chewed her lips, sulking, before finally closing the mouth of the bear. Boss’ face disappeared, replaced by the bear’s.
I smiled at Boss.
Then I turned my gaze back to the sky.
Suddenly, the thought of the [Mysterious Magnifying Glass] crossed my mind.
“…Boss?”
—What.
===
[Mysterious Magnifying Glass] [Pinnacle-grade Magic Artifact]
▷Weakness Identification
—Uses magic power to identify the target’s weaknesses.
▷Emotion Identification
—Uses magic power to identify the target’s feelings towards you.
*When the user’s magic power is low, the identified weaknesses and emotions may be inaccurate.
===
It was an artifact that enabled its user to read the emotions of others.
‘I wonder what Boss is thinking right now.’
With a grin, I held up the magnifying glass at Boss.
“Wait a sec~ I’m just curious….”
—Hmm?
I would need to spend all five streaks of Stigma to figure out Boss’ weakness.
But her current emotions— that, I could probably find out with just two streaks.
I infused two streaks of Stigma into the magnifying glass.
“…”
Before long, letters appeared on the surface of the glass.
—What’s that?
Boss’ voice echoed inside the bear mask. A cold breeze ruffled her hair.
The leaves rustled.
I froze without knowing it and remained silent until the wind blew past us and the fallen leaves scattered.
—…What?
Only three phrases were engraved on the lens.
But they were not the kind of emotions I could simply ignore.
[Guilt, Wanting to be together, Love.]