Chapter 9

Translator: Kell | Editor: Weasalopes

A Dream About Hazuki

The reward for the delivery of the letter to Kelbeck was 200 gilans . It would only take thirty minutes to get there and back, so the amount was appropriate .

Inefficient .

That was Hikaru’s conclusion . Even in RPGs, it was normal for delivery quests to have mediocre rewards . It seemed that was also the case in a different world . You could earn money efficiently by taking recurring and Boss Kill quests .

…Now what would I do when I earn more…

Hikaru flopped down on the floor . He was in the same inn he stayed in last night . He could’ve forked out more and stay in a better inn, but he decided to do that after he thought about plans for his future here .

First, I need to save enough so I can live my life in satisfaction . Second, look for ways to return to my world . Third, immerse myself in a hobby . But I don’t really have one…

Hikaru loved reading books . He played video games as well and liked studying . But sports were something he couldn’t bring himself to enjoy . Try as he might, he didn’t have the ability to become the best . So he thought it was inefficient to bust his chops for clubs that required some level of tenacity .

The world is inefficient . Be that as it may, there’s really nothing else I can do… That’s it . I just have to find something I want to do . I should see what they have here in this world .

First I’ll go see the world . Then I’ll think about what I must do .

Abruptly, he got up on his feet .

And for that, I need money! Funds! It’s all about efficiency!

Standing and feeling confident, Hikaru fell over just as quickly as well . Even with the ruckus, the others didn’t notice him with his Stealth on . He didn’t think it was wise to use the Skill out on the streets . It would only cause trouble if people found out about it . His experiments had concluded with his infiltration into Kelbeck’s room .

He was nervous back then, but the experiment was a huge success . He didn’t notice the watchers, though . But that made him realize that while he could hide himself, he couldn’t actually detect others .

Detection Skill, huh… There was something like a Perception on the first window of my Soul Board .

He summoned his Soul Board .

【Vitality】

. . 【Natural Recovery】0

. . 【Stamina】0

. . 【Immunity】

. . 【Perception】

Hikaru surmised that perhaps things like “Smell” or “Hearing” would show up . Although, just one point on Imperceptibility applied to all the senses .

Well, there are lots of uses for improving my sense of smell than just detecting people . I can understand why just one point in Imperceptibility applied to all senses . Its only use is to not get detected by others, after all .

Hikaru assumed that every point was equal all across the board .

Therefore, improving my Perception would be inefficient .

He had four points available . It felt like such a waste to use them right away, but he was already aware of the incredible power the Soul Board held . So it was better to use them .

He’d examined the Soul Board before . Next was to check each item . The unlockable fields “Immunity” and “Perception”’s descriptions read like this:

【Immunity】Unlock Skills related to Immunity .

【Perception】Unlock Skills related to Perception .

That was all . So first, he checked every item with the number 0 – Skills he could already allocate points on .

【Vitality】

. . 【Natural Recovery】Enhance ability to heal external wounds . Max: 20 .

. . 【Stamina】Enhance ability to sustain prolonged physical effort and recover from fatigue . Max: 20 .

【Magical Power】

. . 【Mana】Increases total mana – the resource one uses when activating a spell . Max: 30 .

【Physical Strength】

. . 【Strength】Increase strength . Max: 30 .

【Agility】

. . 【Instantaneous Power Burst】 Enhance ability to exert strength in an instant . Max: 15 .

. . 【Flexibility】Make the body, especially the joints, more flexible . Max: 10

. . 【Balance】Improve sensation of the torso . Max: 20 .

What surprised Hikaru was the maximum points allowed . Skills under Stealth required five points max . Assassination and Snipe only required three . But the ones he checked now required ten or thirty points to get maxed .

So what, they’re divided into fundamentals and the actual applications?

The ones that didn’t need to be unlocked further required more points to max . They all had something to do with the basic attributes of a living being .

What would happen if I allocated 30 points to Strength? Maybe I can crush a boulder with my bare hands or lift a whole house . Yeah, right…

Hikaru paused .

It’s certainly possible .

He already witnessed the effects of his Stealth . What kind of power would he get if he poured in thirty whole points to an attribute?

Let’s forget that for now . There are three boards left unlocked .

The pentagon, hexagon, and the unlabelled one . So far, he had unlocked Vitality, Magical Power, Physical Strength, and Agility…

If we go by game mechanics, I guess next would be Willpower, Faith, Charisma, and Dexterity? If I want to be efficient, first I have to know . I can’t achieve efficiency without information .

Hikaru got up .

But if I unlocked all three, I’d be left with one point . It’s inefficient to have only one point to allocate . If I have to unlock only one first…

He chose the unlabelled board .

I really wanna know what’s in this unlabelled board! My curiosity is killing me!

【Unlock Soul Board? 1 point required . 】

「Yes . 」

What emerged on the screen was…

【Intuition】

. . 【Instinct】0

. . 【Insight】

. . 【Intelligence】

. . 【Memory】0

. . 【Detection】

Instinct! It’s instinct!

【Instinct】Heighten one’s senses to achieve great foresight similar to clairvoyance . Max: 20

【Memory】Improves the function of the part of the brain that governs memories . Max: 10 .

And there’s Detection as expected . I don’t like how I have to unlock it first . Now what? I have three points left .

Hikaru stared at the Soul Board for a while, then lied down and closed his eyes . Sleep came right away .

Money left: 4,890 gilans .

——xx-kun, people say you’re arrogant, don’t they?

The light of the bright afternoon was blinding even behind the white curtains . A girl, one year older than Hikaru, stood there with her back against the light, smiling .

——Life will be rough for you . You may be clever, but you’re also reckless . Someday, somewhere, you might just die unexpectedly .

She was beautiful with long, black hair .

——I appreciate the disturbing divination .

He wouldn’t listen to the words of grown-ups or his other seniors, but Hikaru readily paid attention to what she had to say . Her name was…

——Hazuki-senpai .

「………」

The next morning .

Hikaru silently woke up in the corner of the inn’s large room . The sun was beginning to climb in the sky .

…Was that… a dream?

He let out one, long breath . He hadn’t had a dream ever since coming to this world . And when he finally did, it wasn’t about his parents or the high school he went to . It was a dream about his senior who he had not seen for two years .

Hikaru didn’t bother reminiscing about his parents . It was not like they were on bad terms, but when his parents’ relationship had gone completely cold, Hikaru became indifferent about them .

As a kid grows up, they get more difficult to handle . And Hikaru matured early . It got to the point where he treated them like strangers even though they lived under the same roof .

That was the reason why Hikaru’s guild card didn’t show his family name . He hadn’t considered that, of course . His only comment on the fact his card didn’t have his family name was a “Hmm” .

Why’d I have that dream?

After mulling it over a bit, he understood why . It was because Jill called him “arrogant” .

Hikaru was indeed arrogant . He thought he was cleverer than the rest of the students at his school and he didn’t try to hide it . Skilled at avoiding danger, though, he was never bullied nor ran into any sort of conflict . The cheerful ones don’t come near the shadows .

He was aware that his arrogance was being fueled when he came to this world . Roland’s memories were affecting him . Roland was a noble . His parents were wise, but they didn’t forget their pride as members of the nobility .

“Don’t yield to anyone . ” “Don’t let anyone look down on you . ” These words formed the foundation of how Roland lived his life .

They may not be his own memories, but inheriting them all would surely have some effect on Hikaru . He was harsh on Jill and was able to perform rash experiments against Kelbeck because of it .

…Someday, somewhere, you might just die unexpectedly, huh…

In an ironic twist of fate, Hikaru died just like how Hazuki described it . It was only sheer chance that he came back to life . Just extremely lucky .

There’s no guarantee something like that won’t happen in this world .

Hikaru summoned his Soul Board, opened the Intuition window, and unlocked Detection .

【Detection】

. . 【Life Detection】0

. . 【Mana Detection】0

Two points left .

【Life Detection】Detect life in the vicinity . Max: 5 .

【Mana Detection】Detect beings through their mana . Max: 5 .

Hikaru allocated one point to each and was now down to zero points . At the moment, he had acquired the following Skills:

【Agility】

. . 【Stealth】

… . 【Life Obfuscation】1

… . 【Mana Obfuscation】1

… . 【Imperceptibility】5

……【Assassination】3 (MAX)

【Intuition】

. . 【Detection】

… . 【Life Detection】1

… . 【Mana Detection】1

There wasn’t any explanation as to how to activate his detection Skills . But he felt a new sense in his body – like a mix of his hearing, sense of smell and touch .

Oh… .

By focusing on it, he felt the effect of Detection all around him . He could sense the life coming from the young adventurer sleeping in the center of the room . It was like a soft, orange light .

He switched to Mana Detection – the switch was intuitive – and he felt soft, blue light instead .

Hikaru felt some kind of energy from a warrior-looking man when he used his Life Detection . But now that he switched to Mana Detection, he couldn’t feel it anymore .

Does that mean he doesn’t have much mana? Wait a second . I don’t detect “life force” but “life” .

Then he realized . With Life Detection, size didn’t matter . As long as it had mass, he could even sense a small insect if he really focused . The only downside was that it functioned just like the human eye . That is to say, he could see large living things, but he couldn’t see those that were too tiny, like microbes . On the other hand, Mana Detection was affected by the amount of mana one had . He could feel even the smallest bug if it had plenty of mana .

What would happen if I added more points to them? Maybe the range increases and the ability to pierce Obfuscation Skills is also enhanced .

The max range of his Detection at the moment was ten meters . He couldn’t allocate any more points but he concluded that adding more would increase the detection range and he could pierce the abilities of those who used Skills to conceal their presence .

Now this is efficient… Well, not really . But I have to prioritize not dying .

After getting ready, Hikaru left the room . A random thought crossed his mind .

Does Hazuki-senpai know I died?