<508 – Eungchilgeom and Kindness>
In an atmosphere suddenly filled with awkwardness, I aimlessly rummaged around the carriage.
In the game, when you travel with the princess, at a certain probability, a special escort carriage appears.
I guessed this carriage was one of those, and I was right.
“Oh, it’s here too?”
As I fiddled around in the corners of the carriage, click, I pressed a switch.
Suddenly, a measuring device unfolded wide and shot up from the floor, which startled Reap, causing her to draw her dagger.
Eungchilgeom quickly drew his sword too, but if they started swinging swords in the cramped carriage, wouldn’t I get caught up in it?
So, I reached out and placed Reap’s dagger back on her belt, then pushed Eungchilgeom’s sword back into its sheath.
“Sword fights are bad! If your body is itching for a fight, you should go outside and spar, not inside!”
Both of them looked at me with incredulous expressions.
Receiving such stinging glares made me resilient at this point.
“Hmph. You all will probably just give me the side-eye for messing up again anyway. Adults are usually sour-faced at the mere opening of kids’ mouths. Hoo. I guess I have to endure, being the mature one here!”
“…I was holding back because I felt that asking first would make me lose, but I can’t help it anymore. What was it that you just activated in the carriage?”
“It’s a measuring device that outputs a function window. If the foundation has the Dark Aptitude Evaluation Hat, then the imperial family has a self-diagnosis carriage!”
It’s been a long time since I saw a function window.
━━━
【Function (Summary) Window】
Total 20634 – An item that has begun to show potential of a demigod.
━━━
Physical 2004 (Genius) – At the age of growth. Terrifying athletic ability is beginning to accumulate in a small frame.
Martial Arts 2224 (Genius) – A precarious tactical weapon. There is an excessively large gap between maximum power and average strength.
Social 1626 (Genius) – A scary socialite. She no longer craves for attention. If she needs attention, she manipulates hearts to get it.
Mental 5226 (Superhuman) – A monster that knows no despair. Gradually surpassing humanity, her mental power has already reached superhuman levels.
Magic 3827 (Genius) – A genius that overcame laziness. If she stops being lazy again, many will shed tears of blood.
Playfulness 4038 (Genius) – An orknodi girl who is good at pranks. Humans might die like frogs if they fall for her tricks.
Living Skills 674 (Prodigy) – Surprisingly possesses excellent survival skills. Just waiting for an opportunity to showcase her extraordinary collection skills according to her ambitions.
Divinity 700 (Prodigy) – The enlightened one. Recaptured the powers of the Old God but still lacking in comprehension to the point of being considered a god’s reincarnation.
Destiny 315 (Talent) – Intersection. The scales of fate struggle to maintain harmony.
━━━
Look at that total functional value, which has grown by a whopping five times, from 4000 to 20000.
It’s truly a tremendous growth compared to when I just picked up the Dark Aptitude Evaluation Hat.
New players’ specs at this point are probably on par with or worse than spec at graduation!
Even skilled players would maybe only achieve this level of growth in their third year?
It’s a tough feat to have such growth in the first year among veteran players without some sort of lucky break.
━━━
【Function (All) Window】
━━━
[Physical] (2004)
*Woohda (556)
Running 217, Stamina 142, Breathing 197
*Wooaryaryarya (194)
Jumping 62, Climbing 33, Hiking 23, Hanging 46, Ascending 30
*Iyaap! (167)
Balance 86, Rhythm 45, Long Jump 16, Switch 20
*You’re gonna face the consequences? (535)
Charging 535
*Sturdy (94)
Blocking 20, Defending 6, Provocation 68
*No way! (458)
Boldness 335, Adversity 31, Combat Continuation 2, Strong Enemy Specialization 55, Wizard’s Natural Enemy 35
━━━
[Martial Arts] (2224)
*Ppyeokppyeok (748)
Acrobatics 112, Acrobatics Shooting 58, Aerial Shooting 59, Archery 70, Throwing 113, Reflexes 56, Fast Shooting 57, Moving Shooting 67, Precision 32, Throwing 124
*Hit Hard (876)
Swordsmanship 176, Lightning Punch 70, Martial Arts 130, Deadly Move: One Strike Kill 500
*Acceleration Afterimage Sword (600)
Acceleration Afterimage Sword 300, One Hit Technique: Ghost Rush 100, One Hit Technique: Power Throw 100, Deadly Move: Soul Flying Sword 100
━━━
[Social] (1626)
*Socialite Power (356)
Social Life 105, Charisma 221, Squad Leadership 30
*Your Price (620)
Emotion 33, Persuasion 185, Insight 96, Speech 132, Threat 131, Bargaining 38, Drug Detection 5
*Let’s Play! (650)
Domestication 103, Crying 175, Playfulness 32, Imitation 220, Manipulation 120
━━━
[Mental] (5226)
*Doing Fine Alone (153)
Solo Activity 30, Playing Alone 123
*Let Me Guess (2090)
Situation Understanding 199, Thinking Ability 194, Willpower 164, Psychologic Prediction 553, Action Prediction 619, Operation Planning 361
*Focus! (1052)
Sense Concentration 197, Detection 105, Magic Detection 65, Memorization 74, Memorization Ability 93, Mental Power 200, Concentration 265, Super Concentration 38, Equanimity 15
*This is how it works. Got it? (552)
Teaching 188, Perfection 49, Note-taking 215, Dark Corruption 100
*Don’t Cry (1379)
Pain Resistance 163, Bleeding Resistance 85, Impact Resistance 36, Paralysis Resistance 25, Dizziness Resistance 35, Sleep Resistance 95, Burn Resistance 5, Frostbite Resistance 5, Flu Resistance 91, Poison Resistance 336, Curse Resistance 147, Drug Resistance 15, Endurance 341
━━━
[Magic] (3827)
*Learned the Basics (2080)
Mana Technique 758, Mana Control Technique 962, Mana Breathing 145, Magic Studies 75, Mana Booster 140
*Kwahang, it’s Dark Time (711)
Skeleton Summoning 11, Dark Magic 195, Dark Tonic Generation 82, Dark Electricity Generation 93, Darkness Bane Root Generation 35, Dark Mana Barrier 92, Pitch-Black Coating 103, Dark Clone 50, Curse Bestowal 50
*I Can Do This Too (1036)
Synchronized Magic 666, Recording Magic 50, Explosion Magic 20, Dimension Magic 300
━━━
[Playfulness] (4038)
*Roar, Not Scary (751)
Fear Induction 400, Scaring 151, Prophecy of Doom 100, Echoes of Destruction 100
*Where Am I? (592)
Hiding 326, Dark Vision 55, Night Activity 137, Stealth 74
*Where Are You? (1442)
Detection 143, Vigilance 131, Synesthesia 12, Observation 220, Sight 48, Swift Movement 100, Swift Reconnaissance 81, Color Perception 94, Terrain Comprehension 84, Intuition 61, Finding 293, Hearing 51, Tracking 109, Trap Detection 15
*Haha, You Got Fooled (494)
Isolation 215, Trick 154, Smoke 125
*Hiding Here! (19)
Hiding 19
*I’ll Steal It (759)
Lock Picking 156, Infiltration 326, Stealth 102, Theft 175
━━━
[Living Skills] (674)
*Clean (92)
Cleaning 92
*This Is All Mine! (375)
Gathering 225, Exploration 150
*The Ground Is My Friend (79)
Excavation 79
*I Make Anything Well (35)
Drug Manufacturing 35
*I’ll Make It Like This (93)
Structure Design 23, Human Design 70
━━━
[Divinity] (700)
*[Old God: Siddhartha Gautama]’s Three Unifier (700)
All Actions Are Impermanent 300, All Laws Have No Self 300, Nirvana Is Peaceful 100
━━━
[Destiny] (315)
*Good Kid (101)
Kind Child 101
*Bad Kid (184)
Scary Child 184
*Beloved Child (30)
Provocation of Protection 30
━━━
Looking at the details, it truly hits home.
Wow, I really have been working hard.
Feeling proud, yet on the other hand, I see areas where I can still grow.
“Agassi…?”
Reap, who had been peeking at the diagnostic values beside me, couldn’t hide her bewilderment.
“What on earth is this… What were you up to at the academy without us knowing?”
“Living a diligent school life?”
“Be honest. This growth rate wouldn’t be strange even if you were secretly dragged into a hidden facility of the academy and tortured.”
Eungchilgeom also chimed in with a serious expression.
“Comparing it to my growth at the age of 11, my own specs seem pathetic. I thought I wouldn’t intervene much, but it looks like I have to now.”
“Goodness. What’s the problem now?”
“Everything is a problem. Why is there something that should naturally exist missing from your function window?”
“Something that should be there?”
“Your growth limit.”
Aha.
Talent limit metrics, huh?
In truth, every character has a maximum limit to their growth potential.
Some can never exceed a total of 500 in physical-related functions, and others can never surpass 2000 in living function totals.
What’s known as the total of talent, the capacity limit.
Beyond this, no matter how much effort is put in, they can’t get stronger via normal means, and extending that limit requires every possible effort to expand the capacity.
Even then, the maximum that can be grown is 10%, and beyond that, it takes almost a lifetime of effort to slowly increase the total amount.
But the total amount of talent expanded in this way can be increased from the start with clear bonuses at the end of each cycle.
“I wasn’t just collecting character-based endings or dead endings for nothing.”
The collected endings serve as cycle bonuses, and investing those bonuses can extend talent limits or add starter functions, thereby gaining elements of [Strong New Game].
So this is clearly a result of spending accumulated clear points (CP) earned by achieving specific goals or witnessing special endings.
How can I explain this fact to newbie NPCs in their first life so they understand?
I gently pressed my temples with two fingers.
Loading ideas…
Loading complete!
“I got it!”
“What do you mean?”
“…I forgot! Why are you suddenly asking me questions?!”
“Haah. Puberty really hits quickly, doesn’t it? They say a rapid growth rate comes with certain side effects, and I miss the times when Reap was your servant back in the mansion.”
“It’s not puberty! I dutifully eat my candies, brush my teeth regularly, and diligently train my memorization technique every day!”
“Are you telling the truth?”
“Really!”
“Look me in the eye and tell me that. How many times do you think I’ve seen Titosso and Hestia looking like they’re about to cry after receiving poison candy from you?”
“Ah ahh… That was just because they were too easy to tease, I was trying to help with their resistance training…”
THUNK.
I had no idea where that heavy hit came from on my frail arm.
“Reflect on yourself. How could you waste the poison candy I carefully designed for you? You need to apologize for the hard work I put into mixing and controlling the dosage of my concoction.”
“I’m sooooo sorry!”
As I was shaken back and forth by my collar while apologizing, Eungchilgeom chuckled as if it were silly.
“The child of a great evil is still a child, isn’t she?”
“What?”
“I thought it through. Perhaps there was no malice in your actions and the misunderstanding was purely that. Indeed, your heartbeat has seldom lied until now.”
Gasp.
Did this man just admit he had been listening to the heartbeat of an 11-year-old child?
“Pervert! Edgy! Ero!”
“…I feel unjustly accused, so could you stop that?”
Yet, perhaps due to revealing a secret, the atmosphere in the carriage lightened considerably from the earlier bleakness.
“Then please tell me your name, Uncle!”
“What do you want my name for? You’ll never see me again for the rest of your life. Ideally, it should stay that way.”
“You’re refusing to tell me your name after snooping around my secret functions?”
“Stop with that tone already.”
“Hmph. If you don’t tell me, I’ll keep it up.”
“Alexander. Call me Alexander. Are you satisfied now?”
“Wow. This time’s Alexander is an uncle… How interesting…”
Uncle Alexander looked puzzled.
“This time’s Alexander? It sounds like you know my father. What are you implying about Eungchilgeom’s predicted fate?”
“The foundation? The foundation isn’t doing much of anything, really. It’s Eungchilgeom and his ilk who are doing something.”
“We are loyal swords of His Majesty the Emperor. There’s no such thing as self-awareness in a sword.”
“Then can I smear mint chocolate on your upper lip?”
“You’re quite brazen for speaking about the leader of the Three Great Traitor Families. I refuse. I don’t want the scent of a traitor to linger.”
“See? You do have preferences; how can you say you have no self-awareness? People live according to their own best interests, even if the time they can fool themselves varies.”
YAWN.
Having done a lot of work for a while, I’m feeling a bit sleepy.
“Reap. Can I take a nap?”
“I’ll stab your palm with a needle once every hour.”
“Why?!”
“It’s sleep resistance training.”
“Ugh… I miss games where it allows for auto training…”
“Say it if you don’t like it.”
“Still, I have to train my functions…”
Grumbling a bit, I was allowed to use Reap’s lap as a pillow, and she gently brushed my hair with her hand.
As an assassin maid, her cold hand felt like a refreshing breeze as it tussled my hair, lulling my complaints away until I drifted off to sleep.
*
After Orknodi fell asleep, the smiles that appeared on Reap and Alexander’s faces vanished as if erased by an eraser.
“This is perplexing. Assassination threats aimed at His Majesty the Emperor. A declaration of war against Eungchilgeom. Having discerned the secret mechanism of a relic-class escort carriage, yet there is not a hint of malice? It seems the foundation has been quite peculiar in training the heirs.”
“Not as extraordinary as the princess, who playfully refers to people as foolish.”
“What was the intent behind this seemingly incomprehensible Agassi showing me her functions?”
“I don’t know. The princess’s movements are too bewildering and unpredictable that even I, who have been serving her, can hardly fathom them. Often, I only understand the meaning of her actions or words after time has passed and events unfold.”
“Do you believe that I’ll report the information I’ve gained today back to His Majesty?”
Reap replied flatly.
“Eungchilgeom is His Majesty’s loyal sword. I don’t believe someone who wouldn’t turn on you.”
“You know this well.”
“And I am sure that the day will soon come when you will regret that decision. All those the princess has treated as enemies have one thing in common.”
“Now that’s intriguing. What is that commonality?”
“They are dead.”
“…Dead, you say?”
Reap declared clearly with a firm voice.
“Supervisors of the foundation. Teachers from the academy. Revolutionaries of the Three Great Evils. Regardless of status, affiliations, or skill disparities, all have died without a single exception.”
“…!”
“The princess is still showing you a friendly attitude. Whether she takes your hand or pushes it away is up to you, but do not repay kindness with enmity. You will surely regret it.”
Reap’s warning sounded quite serious.
To Alexander, it felt like a considerable pressure.
Perhaps that’s why the words that came out of his mouth should not have been spoken.
“Then I’ll respond to that kindness with kindness. This escort carriage won’t make it to the capital, Jeido.”
A chill ran up Reap’s arm.
Unlike her emotionless voice, the content was something not to be taken lightly.
“…Even with the procession alongside Masugaki Princess?”
“That’s precisely why it won’t make it.”
Alexander looked directly at the carriage holding Masugaki Princess.
“Before the carriage reaches Jeido, the Masugaki Princess will be ambushed by the foundation. The responsibility will be yours to bear.”
“…!!”
The Emperor’s escort carriage was racing towards death.
