Chapter 173.

We were currently walking through ‘Citizen Boulevard’, one of the main streets in Prestige’s inner city . However, the atmosphere wasn’t as natural and relaxed as before . In fact, there was a heavy and awkward silence blanketing us .

—Poke, poke .

Jain nudged me .

“What did you do?”

She asked as she sneaked a peek at Boss .

Just like she said, Boss was wearing a grave expression, but I could only shrug helplessly as I had no clue why .

“I’m not sure . ”

“Did you do something wrong?”

“It’s only been 30 minutes since we met . ”

“…Right . ”

Jain pondered as she rubbed her chin . Then, she suddenly widened her eyes .

“Ah, is it that time?”

“That time?”

I asked .

That day . Was it an anniversary of some sort? Perhaps this was a good opportunity for me to peek at Boss’ past .

“You know, that time of the month~”

“…Oh, kuhum . ”

I shook away the silly thought and focused on the task at hand .

We were quickly approaching the Professor’s Mansion . Despite being quiet, Boss followed us as well . As such, it didn’t take long for us to reach our destination .

[Lv . 6 Professor’s Mansion]

“We’re here . ”

An imposing mansion standing tall amidst Prestige’s darkness . This mansion, which looked like a medieval castle, shone with a silvery blue light .

“… . ”

“Mm~ so this is the place? How do you want to go about it~?”

I stared at Jain without answering her .

I had no clue how to rob a house, much less a mansion of this scale .

Even if I did, I would undoubtedly pale in front of the professional in front of me .

“…Why are you staring?”

Jain tilted her head as she met my gaze .

**

15 minutes .

That was how long it took for us to occupy the Professor’s Mansion .

It was rather simple . First, Cheok Jungyeong caused a scene outside the mansion, pulling the attention of the guards and vigilantes away . Meanwhile, Jain and I walked through the front door with the help of her ‘Disguise’ Gift .

However, it was hard to suppress the [Lv . 4 Professor’s Soldiers] with just me and Jain . Using my gun would reveal our presence to the guards outside, and Jain didn’t have a weapon .

That’s when Boss stepped in .

In her shadow form, she joined us and easily subdued six soldiers .

…Well, it wasn’t ‘easy’ per se, since she used 6 magic power potions . Each soldier was powerful, having at least one basic skill .

“Uup, uuup—!”

Just like that, we arrived at the professor’s private study .

The [Lv . 6 Professor] who was reading a book inside was subdued by Boss’ shadow and tied up .

Ah, for the record, a high level didn’t necessarily correspond to greater strength . This professor was a high level because of his intelligence .

“Uuup! Uuuuup!”

“Stay quiet~”

“Kek . ”

The professor struggled with his entire body, but Jain simply pressed a few pressure points and shut him up . The professor’s shaking body calmed down as he fainted .

Now, the study was quiet .

I looked around the study, which was larger than most auditoriums . Even with a cursory glance, I could estimate that the study had at least 10,000 books .

“There are people dying in the streets and this guy built a castle out of books… People are the same no matter what world they’re from, eh~?”

Jain muttered as she nudged the fainted professor with her feet .

“So, Hajin, what are we looking for in here?”

“Look for skillbooks . ”

“Skillbooks?”

“Yes . ”

Officially, a skillbook was called a ‘skill acquisition book’ . Like in MMORPGs, it let you learn a skill with the click of a button . Of course, improving an acquired skill still required individual effort .

“What’s a skillbook?”

Jain asked, staring at the air .

“Ah~ okay, got it . Thanks . ”

The system must have explained it to her as she happily nodded .

“… . ”

However, unlike Jain who looked excited at the prospect of stealing, Boss continued to stare at me silently .

I spoke .

“You should try it too, Boss . ”

“…Try what?”

Her response was a grumbling, complaint-like mumble .

“Ask the system what a skillbook is . ”

“… . ”

Boss mumbled curtly .

“What’s a skillbook?”

Then, she stared at the air just like Jain .

“Aha . ”

“Next…”

Now that Boss knew what a skillbook was, I clapped my hands and caught their attention .

“We shouldn’t stay for too long, so let’s search for them for the next 20 minutes . ”

In the original story, the professor used skillbooks as bargaining chips to force Players to do his bidding . So, I planned to take as many skillbooks as I could from this place and release them to the auction house . Of course, at a proper price .

“Skillbooks are noticeably different from other books, so you should be able to recognize them . ”

“Okay~”

We began to rummage through the study .

Drrk— drrk—

The sound of books moving rang out in the study .

“Hey, Hajin, I think I found one . ”

Soon, Jain held up a book .

“Oh? Let me see . ”

“Here~”

I caught the book she threw and checked its information .

===

[Basic Skill Acquisition Book – Lv . 0 Law of Thinking] [Average – Low]

○Lv . 0 Efficiency – increases the speed of your arithmetic operations .

○Lv . 0 Intelligence – increases the speed of your calculations .

===

“…Just keep it in your inventory . ”

“Right? I didn’t think it was good either . You can have it . ”

“No, I don’t really… ah, okay, I’ll take it . ”

I could give it to Henry and Kiri . Unlike Players, NPCs couldn’t learn skills with the click of a button . However, they could still acquire skills .

I put the skillbook in my inventory .

Then, I went back to looking for skillbooks .

“Hajin, I found another one . ”

“Where?”

As expected of someone who was nicknamed PhantomThief, she was good at finding hidden treasures .

“Here . ”

I checked the information on the skillbook she threw .

===

[Basic Skill Acquisition Book – Lv . 0 Charging] [Average – Intermediate]

○Lv . 0 Limit Break – charges forward with your strength doubled .

○Lv . 0 Flexibility – moves quickly for an instant . Maximum range: 100m .

===

Charging .

It was a simple yet useful skill . It was especially useful for someone like Cheok Jungyeong who had high physical stats .

“Looks like this can go to Cheok Jungyeong . ”

“I agree . I’ll sell it to him for 1000TP . ”

“Does he have money?”

“Yeah, he has a lot . He’s only been hunting the past few days~”

While were having a friendly conversation, I felt a sudden stinging gaze on me . I glanced to the side .

Boss was glaring at us with a somewhat dissatisfied expression .

But when our eyes met, she quickly retracted her gaze and went back to looking for skillbooks .

…After 20 minutes of searching, we found a total of 21 skillbooks, including [Glass Barrier], [Sand Manipulation], [Monster Taming], [Elemental Reinforcement], and [Snatch] .

However, we couldn’t find what I was looking for .

While I was stamping my feet, wondering if we had to go back…

“Newbie . ”

Boss approached me . Her mood still seemed to be down as she handed me a skillbook .

I checked its information .

===

[Basic Skill Acquisition Book – Lv . 0 Permanent Materialization] [Rare – High]

○Lv . 0 Limit Break – permanently materializes a formless existence .

===

“Oh!”

My eyes shot open .

I finally found it, Permanent Materialization .

It was the best basic skill I knew . It only had one effect, but that only made it easier to level up .

“This is the skillbook I was looking for . Thanks, Boss, I’ll use it well . ”

“…I never said I’d give it to you . ”

Boss put out her hand . She was clearly asking me to hand the skillbook back .

“Come on, I’ll make you a good equipment later . ”

“…Good equipment?”

“Yes, of course . ”

Before Boss could say anything else, I put the skillbook into my inventory . Boss looked at me suspiciously before turning back .

“Now let’s hurry . The city’s vigilantes should be charging in any second . ”

“Okay~ by the way, how much is everything we looted?”

Curious myself, I did a cursory calculation in my head . We stole 25 skillbooks in total . To sell them in the auction house, we would have to wait two weeks for the [stolen good] property to disappear, but in total…

“Once Players start making money seriously, we should be able to get at least 50000TP . ”

“Wow~”

Jain smiled happily . At that moment…

—In here!

—Get them!

A thunderous roar rang out from outside the study . With my Thousand-Mile Eyes peering through the wall, I could see ten vigilantes running over . However, we already had an escape route planned .

Boss escaped using ‘Shadow Pool’, instantaneously transforming herself into a liquid . Jain and I disguised as [Lv . 4 Professor’s Soldier]s, who we subdued on our way here . Jain thoughtfully made injuries on our bodies .

I immediately broke the window .

“Intruders! Release the professor—!”

As soon as the vigilantes barged in, I pointed at the shattered window .

“T-They escaped through the window!”

“W-What?!”

“Are you two okay? Your injuries…”

The vigilantes had terrifying levels .

The lowest member was Lv . 8, and their leader was Lv . 11 .

“We’re fine, so please catch them! They kidnapped the professor!”

“What?”!

It was Jain who spoke out next . Hearing her, the vigilantes immediately jumped out of the window .

With the vigilantes gone, we leisurely walked out of the mansion’s premise and joined up with Boss at a predetermined meeting spot .

There, Cheok Jungyeong was waiting for us, looking sleepy .

“You’re back . ”

“Hey, Cheok Jungyeong, do you want to buy this~?”

Jain asked as she handed him the skillbook .

“What’s this?”

“A skillbook . It’s perfect for you~”

“…Skillbook?”

Cheok Jungyeong stared at the skillbook curiously . As he read the system message, a smile of interest emerged on his face .

“Oho… how much is it?”

“2000TP . ”

“…Do you think I’m an idiot?”

Cheok Jungyeong and Jain started to negotiate, and I sneaked off . There was something I needed to do .

“Newbie . ”

However, Boss, who just arrived, stopped me . Grabbing my wrist hard, she looked into my eyes with a serious expression . Her eyes were fierce like she wanted to eat me .

“Y-Yes?”

“Where are you going?”

“Ah~ I’m going to go buy something . I’ll be back soon . ’

Before learning [Permanent Materialization], there was something I needed to do . Thankfully, I only needed TP to do it, so it shouldn’t take long .

“What are you buying?”

“I’ll tell you later . ”

“… . ”

Boss clenched her teeth, clearly outlining her jawline .

“You have lots of secrets . ”

“…Yes? What do you…”

“… . ”

Without replying, Boss walked past me and walked towards Cheok Jungyeong and Jain .

“Boss?”

“…Don’t talk to me . ”

…She really was in a foul mood today .

It seemed I needed to make her something delicious later .

Still, I had to do what I had to do .

I faced forward and began to walk towards Medea’s temple .

[Lv . 7 Temple of Medea]

The temple wasn’t far away .

As its name suggested, it was a place where visitors had to be polite and respectful . Naturally, I took off my mask and hood .

Kiik—

[Lv . 4 Medea’s Priest]

As soon as I opened the temple’s door, a priest greeted me with a warm smile .

“Welcome . ”

“Ah, yes, I came to buy an item . ”

“Our temple sells the following items . ”

The priest snapped his fingers, and a holographic system message popped up in front of me . It was the list of items being sold in this place .

I picked three items from the list .

[Basic Skill Acquisition Book – Lv . 0 Synthesis]

[Basic Skill Acquisition Book – Lv . 0 Extraction]

[Lv . 0 Basic Skill Consolidation Scroll]

[Lv . 0 Extraction] and [Lv . 0 Synthesis] .

By themselves, they were rather useless .

However, after looking through my settings book hundreds of times, I was certain that these skills were the best for me .

“I’ll take these three . ”

“…That’ll be a total of 15000TP . ”

15000TP .

The Temple of Medea was famous for being cost ineffective . In truth, buying skillbooks here was a waste . However, this was what the Book of Truth said .

[Lv . 0 Synthesis and Lv . 0 Extraction are only sold in ‘Temple of Medea’ . ]

So I didn’t have any other choice . This temple was the only place I could buy them, and it wasn’t like I could create them myself .

“…Here, 15000TP . ”

I gave the priest 15 1000TP banknotes .

The priest took the money with a bright smile and handed over two skillbooks and a scroll .

“Thank you for your purchase . Ah, would you like to become a member of our temple? If you do…”

“No, it’s fine . ”

As I said before, the Temple of Medea had terrible cost efficiency . There was no reason to become a member . Rather, I wanted to set it on fire and burn it to the ground .

I declined the priest’s offer and left the temple .

Then, I moved to my waiting room to begin my ‘work’ .

“…Ah, there’s sunlight in this place . ”

For some reason, there was sunlight in the waiting room unlike in Prestige .

I sat down at the edge of my bed and took out the skillbooks I bought .

[Basic Skill Acquisition Book – Lv . 0 Synthesis]

[Would you like to learn the Basic Skill – Lv . 0 Synthesis?]

[Warning! Learning a skill uses up a skill slot . Once used, a skill slot cannot be recovered . ]

[Warning! The ‘Synthesis’ skill is a half-skill that can only be leveled up with scrolls!]

“Thank you for worrying about me, but I already know . ”

I went ahead and learned the skill .

[You acquired the Basic Skill – Lv . 0 Synthesis . You can still learn two more skills . ]

===

[Basic Skill – Lv . 0 Synthesis]

○Lv . 0 Limitation – you can synthesize Lv . -1 or lower items .

===

‘Lv . -1 or lower’ .

It was easy to see that it was a trash skill that couldn’t be used without consolidation scrolls .

I took out the consolidation scroll I bought and leveled up the Synthesis skill .

[Lv . 0 Basic Skill Consolidation Scroll upgrades your Synthesis skill . ]

[Lv . 1 Synthesis]

○Lv . 1 Limitation – you can synthesize Lv . 0 or lower items .

“There . ”

Next was the important part .

Using Synthesis, I combined the two remaining skillbooks, [Lv . 0 Extraction] and [Lv . 0 Permanent Materialization] .

[You used Lv . 1 Synthesis!]

[Warning! The chances of successfully synthesizing a skill are extremely low . Would you like to do it anyway?]

“Yes . ”

As I always said, playing with probability had little meaning to me .

[Synthesizing!]

[What will be the result!? Dudududududu… . ]

“…I didn’t know you could be so lively . ”

[…Extrapolating results . ]

[Synthesis successful!]

[With great luck, the two items successfully fused!]

[You obtained a new skill, 「Normal Skill Acquisition Scroll – Lv . 0 Extraction and Permanent Materialization」] .

Unsurprisingly, the synthesis succeeded .

“Huu . ”

I breathed a sigh of relief .

There was a reason I went through all this trouble to synthesize a skill .

[Extraction and Permanent Materialization]

Extraction pulled out the essence of an existence .

Next, Materialization provided a form to the formless .

Finally, Permanence made the form last for an unlimited time .

The secret plan I had for this skill was simple and obvious .

To materialize my strongest weapon, Stigma’s magic power .

That was my first goal .

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