Chapter 271.

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 . ]

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