Avatar (2)
“Huh? Why did this suddenly…?”
When I snapped open my closed eyes and sat up, the transfer array turned purple again.
In a panic, I closed my eyes again and focused my mind on the avatar.
Sure enough, the transfer array began to emit a blue light.
Laughing hollowly, I turned the avatar’s head and checked the clock. There was about one minute left.
‘…This actually works?’
After thinking carefully about what had happened, I realized something.
The body of the “Avatar” was perfectly identical to my main body.
It wasn’t an illusion, nor was it a separate being.
If I had to define it, it was no different from a newly grown body part.
The resources needed to maintain it amounted to the need to consume extra food to supply the energy required for bodily activity.
The only drawback would be that food expenses doubled.
If my main body was the right half of my body, including the head, then the avatar was the left half, excluding the head.
In that situation, if I focused my mind—the part that could be called the head—on the avatar…
‘I can make the transfer array recognize the avatar as the main body!’
Fireworks exploded in my head. My body trembled with joy.
Just as I smiled in satisfaction, feeling as though every problem had been solved—
Wooooong—
The magic circle, glowing blue, shone brilliantly and let out a vibrating hum.
And then.
《Transfer will now begin.》
My avatar was transferred to another world.
***
《Transfer to the Auterica Dimension has been completed.》
《You may return to Earth through the “Return” option in the Karma Shop.》
《Current Karma held: 0. You may check it in the Karma Shop later.》
Before I could even dwell on the messages that had appeared during the transfer, my vision brightened.
The first thing I saw was a forest.
The towering trees, grass, and flowers were things I had not seen in a very long time.
It had been two years since I shut myself inside my house, and even before that, I hadn’t particularly enjoyed hiking, so it must have been several years since I last saw such a sight.
The moment I realized that, cold sweat suddenly broke out over me and my breathing grew ragged.
“Hah… haaah… huff.”
I had thought I might be all right.
Since this wasn’t Earth, where the accident had happened, and since I had awakened an ability and been summoned to another world, I thought I might somehow manage.
Besides, right now this wasn’t even my main body. It was a clone using “Avatar,” wasn’t it?
That was a ridiculous notion.
I hurriedly closed the avatar’s eyes and focused my mind on my main body back on Earth.
When I opened my eyes, the sight of my room, welcoming me unchanged as always, made a sigh of relief escape me.
The suffocating sense of enclosure I had grown used to over the years actually put my mind at ease.
I tried hard to ignore the sensations coming from the avatar for a while, but soon a powerful sense of wrongness struck me.
When I recognized the difference between focusing my mind on the avatar and focusing it on my main body, that sense of wrongness grew even stronger.
The wind brushing past my ears, the scent of the forest, the warmth of sunlight touching my skin.
And my inhalations and exhalations, the process of digested food becoming energy and that energy being consumed—every single thing felt alien.
No, the very fact that I could feel all of those things was strange.
“Urk…”
A strong wave of nausea hit me.
And soon, I realized the cause.
‘I forgot that time flows differently…!’
Since there are many other worlds, not all time flows at exactly a 1:10 ratio.
It was only an estimate based on the experiences of returnees, so there would naturally be some degree of deviation for each case.
But what mattered to me right now was that the difference in time flow was at least tenfold.
Even though I focused my senses as much as possible on my main body, the nausea did not stop.
When my main body exhaled once, the avatar exhaled more than ten times.
The avatar was merely standing still with its eyes closed, yet its metabolism was overwhelmingly faster than that of my main body, which was currently moving, making the difference painfully clear.
‘I’m dizzy… I feel like I’m going to throw up.’
Yeah, this won’t do. I really can’t take this.
“Cancel summon.”
Ah… That’s better.
***
After lying down for a while, the nausea soon subsided.
Once peace returned to my mind, all sorts of thoughts began to surface.
A sense of accomplishment at having somehow overcome the crisis safely, and an inexplicable feeling of regret.
Just as I was soaking in relief, thinking I would no longer be transferred to another world, I suddenly remembered the text I had sent my friend and hurriedly checked it.
“Oh… Thank goodness he hasn’t checked it yet.”
I deleted the message I had sent and sent another one asking how he was doing.
There was no need to make him worry for nothing.
Now that things had turned out like this, I even felt relieved that I hadn’t reported it to the Ability Management Bureau.
Originally, I had planned to report it immediately after returning, but… now that the situation had changed, so had my mind.
‘I’m not planning to commit crimes with this or anything, but I don’t want things to get troublesome either.’
If you thought about it, it was an ability optimized for crime.
If I covered my face, committed robbery, and then disappeared, a perfect crime would be possible.
Even if I were suspected, my main body would prove my alibi.
If I canceled the summon, any additional belongings would be left behind on the spot, but methods were something one could find if one looked, so I could surely come up with something.
‘Of course, that’s just a fantasy.’
Hadn’t I confirmed just a moment ago that I couldn’t even go outside in my avatar state?
‘Ah… Well, I don’t care what happens anymore.’
The crisis had passed, there was no chance of problems arising, and if I honed my ability, I might even be able to play two-player games by myself.
That was enough.
And then, without much thought, I summoned the avatar I had canceled.
《Feat achieved! Returned to Earth through your own power without using the Karma Shop.》
《As a reward for accomplishing the feat of crossing dimensions, you have been granted the perk “Summon Otherworld Transfer Array.” Once per day, you may move through the transfer array to a place you have passed through.》
《By achieving a feat, you have had a great impact on the world. Karma has increased greatly.》
“…Excuse me?”
A message I thought I would never see again was floating before my eyes.
***
Karma and the Karma Shop.
They were the means by which an awakened person could return from another world.
Karma accumulated through various methods, such as good deeds, evil deeds, killing, or labor, and was granted in consideration of the influence one had on others or the world.
But…
“Check Karma Shop.”
『Karma Shop』
『Return (1,000,000) (Unavailable)』
『Enhance Unique Skill (300,000)』
『Enhance Status – View Details』
『Karma Held - 1,910,213』
Come to think of it, I had been so out of it that I’d forgotten, but there had been a message about the Karma Shop when I first crossed dimensions.
It had said that I could gather Karma and return to Earth through the “Return” option…
‘Normally, you’d build up Karma step by step and come back, but I came back first and filled up my Karma afterward.’
How Karma was used depended on the person in question.
Would you strengthen yourself with the Karma you had accumulated to gather it more safely, or would you steadily save it without using it elsewhere and use “Return” right away?
It was important to allocate it appropriately depending on the situation.
If you were too weak, survival itself would be a problem, but if you recklessly strengthened yourself, you might miss your timing and die screaming in an instant.
“But to think things would turn out like this. ‘A feat of crossing dimensions,’ huh…”
It seemed the “system” had judged the process of the avatar, sent to another world through the transfer array, being resummoned on Earth as returning across dimensions…
‘Isn’t this a bug? Is this really okay?’
Sending the avatar in my place was already practically tricking the system, and now that I had even received a perk for it, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
‘Come on, a great system that encompasses all dimensions wouldn’t be so petty as to penalize me over something like this. It’s not like I did anything wrong on purpose.’
It shouldn’t have left a loophole in the first place.
Wasn’t an error in a program the developer’s fault?
I had merely done my best in every situation!
It began as a self-justification that sounded like an excuse, but the more I chewed it over, the more every point seemed perfectly true.
‘That’s right! I did nothing wrong! Do your worst!’
Now feeling proud of myself, I glanced up at the sky once, then confidently examined the Karma Shop.
As if I were shopping with a comfortably full bank account.
‘Since I’m on Earth, “Return” is meaningless, and Unique Skill must mean “Avatar.”’
When I pressed View Details for Status Enhancement, so many entries appeared before my eyes that it made me dizzy.
Even just under “major categories,” there were various entries such as Body, Mind, Ability, and Elemental Power.
Under “Strength,” which was a subcategory of “Body,” there were not only separate listings for upper-body and lower-body muscles, but even separate lists for individual parts such as biceps and latissimus dorsi.
Under “Agility,” aside from explosive power, there were detailed entries such as reflexes and dynamic visual acuity, and the other categories were the same.
‘…You don’t provide a status window, but you put an insane amount of effort into the shop window!’
As I looked through the Karma Shop with mixed feelings, one entry caught my eye.
『Body – Stamina – Enhance Recovery (10,000)』
I stared at it blankly, then selected it without hesitation, as if possessed by something.
There was no dramatic effect.
It wasn’t like strength, where increased muscle would be noticeable all at once; it would recover gradually, so that was only natural.
『Enhance Recovery (20,000)』
So I selected it again.
I felt something in my leg. I could feel the injury healing.
If things continued like this, it would recover someday.
『Enhance Recovery (40,000)』
I selected it once more.
My leg began to itch.
The recovery period must have shortened further, so it would be completely healed before long.
Each time I selected it, the Karma consumption doubled, but compared to the total amount I had, this much was nothing.
『Enhance Recovery (80,000)』
I selected it again.
To me, this injury in my leg was not merely an inconvenience.
It was my pain, the wound that had bid farewell to my family, and the scar that had driven me to shut myself in my room afterward.
It was the symbol of all the dregs of negative emotions that had built up over time—sorrow, despair, pain, deficiency, resignation, misfortune, and more.
『Enhance Recovery (160,000)』
So I selected it again.
My leg tingled as though electricity were running through it.
When I rolled up my pant leg, I saw a smooth leg with the surgical scars gone.
And I knew.
《Recovery has surpassed the standard value. You have acquired the skill “Super Recovery.”》
The leg that had once limped from injury had completely recovered, and had become even stronger than before.
***
After being overcome with emotion for a long while at the fact that I had shed one layer of the fetters that had been binding me all this time, I finally managed to calm down.
Of course, not every problem had been solved.
I still couldn’t go outside, but now hope and faith had sprouted within me that I would somehow overcome it.
When I checked “Super Recovery,” it was exactly as the name suggested: a skill that enhanced recovery.
Even if regenerating severed body parts was impossible, most ordinary wounds would likely heal quickly.
I calmed myself and checked the Karma Shop again.
『Karma Shop』
『Return (1,000,000) (Unavailable)』
『Enhance Unique Skill (300,000)』
『Enhance Status – View Details』
『Karma Held - 1,600,213』
‘Just how much Karma did I get from that feat?’
Of course, it wasn’t that I disliked it, but at this point, I was almost dazed.
Then my gaze stopped on the “Enhance Unique Skill” entry.
Awakening “Avatar” had been the beginning of all these changes.
What more would I be able to do if I enhanced this skill?
Perhaps it would help me grow even further.
The growth of a Unique Skill occurred in the direction desired by the awakened person.
One could also hone and master the ability without spending Karma, allowing it to grow, but through the Karma Shop, that period could be shortened drastically.
Hadn’t I even gained a way to go to another world without risk now?
But in its current state, it was like a useless chicken rib—something I couldn’t even use properly.
Hoping that enhancing the Unique Skill would make it grow in a way that would help this situation, I selected the entry.
After a brief headache passed, at first I couldn’t perceive any change.
That was only natural. Because the message about achieving a feat had appeared immediately after the resummon, the avatar had been pushed to the far side of my consciousness.
But I soon realized what had changed.
I had two brains.
No, I had had two from the beginning, but until now, one mind had moved back and forth between two bodies to use them. Now, I could skillfully divide my thoughts into two and move them separately.
I stood facing the avatar.
I could naturally accept two fields of vision, and I felt no sense of wrongness at all.
“Hmm, as expected, you’re handsome in a manly way.”
“You too. Nice body. You must work out?”
“Of course. It’s the result of consistent effort.”
Now we could converse smoothly with each other.
…Though in the end, it was practically no different from talking to myself.
To see just how much was possible, I began experimenting in various ways.
I could play patty-cake facing myself. I could do push-ups and sit-ups at the same time.
While cleaning, I could browse the internet, and I could even play two-player games by myself that I had only been able to play when a friend came over!
“Hah! This is no time for this.”
I had been sidetracked for a moment, but now it was time to focus again.
As the avatar picked up the game console and put it away, I organized what I knew about the grown Unique Skill.
It wasn’t simply that I had become better at multitasking. I could use my brains separately and even think independently.
Considering that I could still accept this naturally, it seemed that stats like thinking ability or mental power had risen tremendously as well.
‘And one more thing.’
With the avatar, I picked up a chair in the room.
Then, when I canceled the summon…
The avatar disappeared along with the chair.
Now not only could the avatar equip individual gear, but it could also be summoned and dismissed along with the belongings it carried!
Though limited to the weight it could lift, it was practically the same as having a kind of subspace.
Nodding in satisfaction at the expectation that this ability would be a great help in the future, I checked the Karma Shop again.
『Enhance Unique Skill (400,000)』
Fortunately, it seemed the cost of enhancing the Unique Skill did not double each time.
In any case, I could enhance it a little more.
Without hesitation, I selected “Enhance Unique Skill” once more, and along with a headache, a message appeared before my eyes.
《Your Unique Skill has grown and awakened its potential. You have acquired the special skill “Mind Hub.”》
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