Points could be converted into SP. In that case, couldn’t I spend that SP to “modify” my immutable stats?
But before doing anything rash, an experiment first. Fortunately, I had 64 SP, so among my immutable stats, I tried changing “perseverance” from 5.010 to 5.500.
[Consuming 64 SP to modify an immutable stat.]
[Insufficient SP. The value will be adjusted. Perseverance has been adjusted to 5.060.]
“It works?”
My eyes widened. If so, what came next was simple. I just had to convert all my points into SP and invest it into my immutable stats.
The point was which stat to raise...
Intelligence. Perseverance. Luck. Charm.
Honestly, as a man, charm was insanely tempting.
“It has to be luck.”
But I knew. I knew just how good of a stat luck was in this world.
Among the sentences I’d written, there was this:
[Luck is not limited to the probability of discovering treasure in dungeons. It affects every aspect of daily life: the chance of receiving bonus stat increases through training, critical hits that can make an unexpected blow far stronger without any conditions, the odds of winning the lottery, and so on. It is the supreme stat...
In life, the luckiest guy is always the guy with the best luck.]
Without further hesitation, I spent 10 points and obtained a whopping 10,000 SP.
I would pour all 10,000 into raising luck as far as possible.
The luck I wanted was [Luck ─ 10/10]
[Insufficient SP. Resetting stat value.]
The laptop rejected that absurd wish and produced a reasonable compromise.
[Luck ─ 9.100]
“So 9.1 is the limit.”
Usually, 9 was the limit of humanity, so 9.1 was ridiculously high.
However, I didn’t save the modification as it was. I canceled it.
It was a bit of grinding, but there was a more efficient method.
[Luck ─ 6.4/10]
First, I raised luck from 6.3 to 6.4 and saved it. Then 6.5. Then 6.6. Then 6.7. Then 6.8... If I kept repeating this—
[Mystic luck is taking effect! Luck has increased by an additional 0.01!]
[Strange luck is taking effect! Luck has increased by an additional 0.05!]
...
...
[Luck ─ 9.100/10]
Through that repetition, I managed to reach 9.1 by spending only 9000 SP. I had saved a full 1000.
For reference, the “Archmage” in my settings had an intelligence stat of 9.5. That was because the limit of a “normal” human was 9. Even if I spent the remaining 1000 now, I probably wouldn’t be able to raise it by even 0.01.
Of course, immutable stats were a system whose effectiveness increased exponentially the higher the value became, but even so, raising another stat would be more effective now.
“Perseverance would be better.”
Now that I was in this situation, training was essential. But with my old mindset, I would never be able to endure training. Both my body and mind couldn’t even handle 10 push-ups.
Without hesitation, I invested all the remaining 1000 SP into perseverance.
The perseverance I wanted was [Perseverance ─ 8/10]
[Insufficient SP. Resetting stat value.]
[Perseverance ─ 6.600]
It wasn’t exactly satisfactory, but I saved it there.
The power of luck showed itself after saving.
[Incredible luck is taking effect!]
[Perseverance has increased from 6.600 to 7.207!]
“Oh.”
It was a fairly satisfying result. However, I didn’t feel like my mindset had changed much. The adult average was 4, and 7 was simply at the level of a gifted person, so maybe that was why.
In any case, good. If I kept modifying my immutable stats like this whenever I gained SP, I would eventually become a cheat character no less than the protagonist.
It was at that very moment, as I was entertaining that pleasant thought.
[An error that may have a significant impact on plausibility has been detected. From now on, immutable stats cannot be modified with SP.]
“...What the hell is this now?”
The warning window that appeared on the laptop screen blocked my plan in advance.
“Hmm.”
Was this the world interfering?
I was dissatisfied, but there was nothing I could do. It didn’t seem like screaming my head off here would change anything, and besides, I had already gained more than enough of the most important stat, luck.
“Do whatever you want~”
Without thinking much of it, I closed the laptop and got up with a grin.
Now it was time to test the power of the talent I had just created.
────────────────────────────────────
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Synchronization (3)
Around dawn, I went outside. The handgun in my pocket clattered awkwardly, but I had no holster, so there was nothing I could do about it.
My destination for this late outing was the shooting range.
The shooting range to the east of Dormitory 1 resembled a domed stadium and contained a total of 20 training rooms. There, targets were placed in straight lines or curved paths in all eight directions around the shooter. Unlike bullets, magic arrows had free trajectories.
[Rank 934, Kim Hajin confirmed.]
When I placed my smart watch against the entrance of the shooting range, an unfamiliar mechanical voice called out my name. It had definitely changed from Kim Chundong to Kim Hajin. Feeling strange, I stepped inside.
It was a fairly spacious circular lobby, with about ten doors sparsely set into the walls. I stood in front of one of them and held up my smart watch again.
[Rank 934, Kim Hajin confirmed.]
The door slid open.
The shooting room was simple. An empty circular space that looked to be well over 40 pyeong, with the shooter’s platform at the center. I walked toward it. As I placed both feet on the low platform, the familiar mechanical voice came down from the ceiling.
[Activating targets. Please select the number of targets.]
[The number of available targets is a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 20.]
“Ten.”
My voice was recognized, and blue, insect-like somethings spread out in all directions.
I looked at the targets surrounding me. They were monsters so insignificant they weren’t even treated as monsters: mole crickets. They looked similar to the commonly known insect, the mole cricket, but were far larger.
[Please select the training level.]
[Training levels range from 1 to 9.]
The higher the level, the faster the targets moved, and at level 9, they even attacked. They called it an attack, but it only stung a little. For me, however, it was an enormous threat.
“Level 4.”
First, I set it to level 4 and loaded a magic bullet. If one had exceptional magic-related techniques, there would be no need to prepare a separate magazine; they could weave magic power together and condense it into the form of a bullet. But I didn’t have that level of ability yet. And even if I did, using a bow would be far more destructive and efficient.
“Start.”
First, I announced the start to the system and aimed at the target to my left.
The thing that had been creeping along seemed to notice my hostility and began to move quickly with a rustle. It simply fluttered about, without pattern or individuality. But I could see its trajectory. Like an afterimage.
I predicted its movement one step ahead and pulled the trigger.
Blue flame flared from the muzzle. There was no thunderous noise one might expect from a modern firearm. The bullet fired silently and flew in a straight line, about to pierce the mole cricket.
I didn’t bother confirming the result with my eyes. The instant the bullet surged forward, I fired at the next target. My hand moved on its own.
One, two, three, four... ten.
The trigger was pulled a total of ten times, and the mole crickets pierced by the magic bullets scattered into mana and disappeared.
Two targets survived.
“Oho.”
For me, it was more than enough to be impressed.
I had only created a single talent, yet I had successfully killed all of them except the two farthest away.
[Training complete. Time elapsed: 1.37 seconds. Shooting score: 80/100]
And that in just 1.37 seconds.
“...This is pretty fun.”
An eternal truth. Whatever it was, the better you got at it, the more fun it became. No, it was fun because you were good at it.
Feeling like I was at an arcade, I shouted for one more round.
*
An eternal truth. No matter how fun something was, doing it twenty times in a row made you sick of it.
At around 3 in the morning, I stopped training. After closing the door and stepping out, I was loosening my stiff index finger when I heard a sound from the room next door.
—Shweeeek, shweeeek, shweeeek.
A faintly approaching rough sound of something cutting through the air. It was the sound of arrows cleaving the air. The source was the room right beside mine. Curious, I glanced over at it. The door was closed, so I shouldn’t have been able to see anything, but I could.
The door blurred, revealing the scene inside.
Beyond the door, the reason why bows were unconditionally superior to guns was being displayed.
“It’s Chae Nayun.”
Chae Nayun, aiming at the targets with a serious face. There were a total of four arrows placed on her bow. They were magic arrows woven from magic power. However, that was because Chae Nayun’s magic-related technique was still immature. She still couldn’t perform “Multiplying Shot,” where one arrow multiplied and branched out into several.
—Shweeeek!
Chae Nayun released the bowstring. The arrows left blue afterimages of magic power as they surged forward and ravaged the 20 targets. Her arrows slew the targets with movements that seemed intelligent.
“...Amazing.”
The exclamation came out on its own.
However, Chae Nayun’s true aptitude was not with the bow. There was another weapon that suited her far better. If her bow was already at that level, just what kind of setting had I made for her?
It was then. Chae Nayun suddenly whipped around. Our eyes met. She couldn’t possibly have seen my eyes, but something about it felt off.
I quickly ran away.
*
[Shooting training has increased your talent proficiency by 3%.]
[Repeated shooting training has increased your talent proficiency by 2.9%.]
[“Luck” is taking effect! Reflexes and perception have increased by 0.1!]
[Continued repeated shooting training has increased your talent proficiency by 2.8%...]
These sentences were written on the laptop. My proficiency was rising smoothly, and thanks to luck, the stat bonuses were quite nice as well.
Maybe because the proficiency rank was low, the proficiency experience had already reached a whopping 50%. At this rate, if I did this three or four more times, reaching rank 9 wouldn’t be difficult.
===
▶「Sharpshooter」
[Low-Intermediate] [Permanent] [Growth-Type ─ Proficiency Rank 10] [Proficiency Experience 50%]
─Sharpshooter’s Proficiency
*You become familiar with all kinds of long-range weapons.
─Clairvoyance
*You can see far away and clumsily predict a target’s path of movement.
─Bullet Time
*Limited to actual combat, up to 3 seconds every 24 hours will be assigned to “Bullet Time.”
===
But the more I thought about this talent, the better it seemed. Above all, it applied to “all kinds of long-range weapons.” For now, using a gun was more advantageous for raising proficiency than using a bow, but in the future, the bow would definitely become more powerful, so switching over when the time came would be easy.
“But what’s with the SP?”
[Acquired 0.2 SP.]
[Acquired 0.2 SP.]
[A gift of mystic luck! Acquired an additional 1 SP.]
[Acquired 0.2 SP...]
However, acquiring SP was a distant prospect. I had trained 20 times, but only obtained 5 SP. When I had chosen the gun, it had risen by around 64, so acting like an attention seeker was more advantageous for gaining SP than training in secret.
“Tsk.”
I only had a pitiful amount of SP, but there was something I had to do with even this.
The “actual combat training” I wanted to put off if possible was tomorrow. To receive even the minimum score there, I first had to fill in my severe physical deficiencies.
The biggest problem was stamina. Because I had dumped all my spare points into luck, I was now a weakling who didn’t even measure up to an ordinary man.
===
[Training Sneakers]
─Specially made sneakers.
*Assists endurance and reflexes by 0.3.
===
“If I can do something with this...”
As expected, the easiest method would be to supplement myself with equipment.
I tapped the keyboard.
===
[Mystic Training Shoes]
─Specially made sneakers. Mystic power dwells within them.
*Assists endurance and reflexes by 0.3.
*Enhances recovery of stamina and vitality.
===
[Insufficient SP.]
However, this time it wasn’t even modified and was canceled outright.
Well, I only had 5 SP.
Even so, it was still too early to give up.
===
[Mystic Training Shoes]
─Specially made sneakers. A mysterious power dwells within them.
*Assists Endurance and Agility stats by 0.3.
*When the wearer wishes, enhances the recovery of stamina and vitality for 1 hour. Cannot be used again within 24 hours after use, and this “use effect” will disappear after one month.
===
I placed three restrictions on it to save SP. A 24-hour reuse cooldown, a duration of exactly one hour, and the effect vanishing after a month.
[5 SP will be consumed. Would you like to save?]
“Oh! It works.”
Crying out in delight, I pressed the Enter key.
At that moment, blue light rose from the laptop. The light shimmering on the LCD screen seeped into the sneakers as if dancing, and on the pure-white shoes, a single line of a “spell formation” that had not been there before was engraved like a brand logo.
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Practical Training (1)
Fifty years ago, after the mana explosion that shook the foundation of the world—commonly known as “Outcall”—things that had never existed before appeared in the world: Towers, dungeons, and monsters. Those chaotic existences shook the very foundation of humanity. The blue planet on which mankind lived turned into a hellscape. Monsters devoured people, and Towers and dungeons were like factories that endlessly produced monsters.
Before them, all the history, science, and technology humanity had built lost their meaning. The foundations of society collapsed, and people’s hearts became desolate. Before humanity’s foremost instinct—survival—all other noble values lost their worth and faded away.
Heroes sprouted from those ashes.
With transcendent power, they set the chaos right. Just as the downfall had come in an instant, reconstruction was swift as well. Possessing talents bestowed from the heavens—gifts—they performed with a single gesture the very things humanity called miracles. With their aid, humanity recovered the benevolence and righteousness that had been lost first, revived technology and science, and combined them with the power of Heroes. Thus were born “mana science” and “mana technology.”
···
···
···
Thereafter, Towers, dungeons, and monsters were all designated as targets to be destroyed, but the difference in their ranks was great.
Towers require a long time and many people. Dungeons, however, can be conquered alone depending on their difficulty, as long as their location is known.
The rewards from Towers are far better. Towers grant bizarre rewards that humans could never have imagined.
Then, on August 17, 2023, what Tower did the guild “Apostles of the Saint” conquer, and what was its reward?
“These days, such minor questions don’t appear often, but you should still make sure to learn the cases of Tower and dungeon conquests.”
The morning class was “New History After Outcall.” The few lines I had scribbled down with my shallow thinking had advanced into something resembling a major textbook, over 400 pages long. Roughly speaking, there were countless things to memorize: Tower rewards, monster names, dungeon locations in Korea, and their conquerors—or the conquering guilds.
Even as the original copyright holder, there were many parts I might have found difficult or confusing, but they weren’t a problem for me. Of course, that was thanks to the gift called “Observation and Reading.”
[The Apostles of the Saint conquered the Tower of Flood on August 17, 2023, and obtained the Sea Stone.]
If sentences popped up before my eyes whenever I saw something confusing, what problem could there be?
“Phew······.”
In contrast, the person sitting in front of me seemed to be finding this class hopelessly unappealing, shaking her head weakly and sighing.
Seeing my character’s settings with my own eyes made me smile without realizing it.
Chae Nayun hates studying. She had enough skill to become first place among the girls, but written exams dragged her down, and she lost first place to Rachel. Even though she had clenched her teeth in bitter determination after shedding tears of blood over that unjust defeat, written exams still seemed beyond her.
Just then, Chae Nayun suddenly turned her head halfway back. Her sullen eyes glared at me, sitting right behind her. She must have heard my laugh. Archers have sharp senses, after all.
I calmly lowered my head and focused on taking notes. Chae Nayun clicked her tongue and looked forward again.
The class continued after that as well.
Regions with high mana concentration, monster compatibilities, currently wanted high-ranking Djinns······
After a class that lasted a full two hours, the bell rang.
“Review what you learned today. Don’t shed tears of blood when there’s a quiz.”
The professor in charge of today’s written class, memorable for his round glasses and neat gray-white hair, left those words behind and departed.
“Ah. This is seriously annoying. Why the hell do I have to learn crap like this?”
And what’s with a quiz? So annoying. As soon as the professor left, Chae Nayun grumbled. However, a smile was spread across her face. It was probably because of the next class.
“Practical Experience in Facing Monsters.”
As the name implied, it was training where one directly faced monsters. Of course,