Another chapter! Bow down before my mighty prowess in the electronically-published writing world!
NorthSouthGorem: There is a gigantic gap between what I know, what you readers know, and what Jee-Han knows. You and I know Sun-Il would believe Jee-Han, but Jee-Han doesn't. He will soon. Also, he got the [Crafting] skill in the last chapter and plans on grinding it. But there's only so much you can do with the materials he has.
DaOneInDaCorner: … The Sun? Like our Sun? The star Earth orbits? If he did [Observe] it, he would probably get a witty description and some statistics like size, weight, and average temperature. I'm assuming that your review was a funny reference to something I'm unfamiliar with, so sorry in advance.
Guest: If you're really curious, it featured Jee-Han trying to buy a wooden pole for his spear. His ability stopped him by creating an Old Man (capitalization necessary) who claimed all the poles in the store were reserved for another customer. It escalated into planned arson and petty theft remarkably quickly. I scrapped it for not flowing with the rest of the story as well as twisting Jee-Han's character into something else.
And to everyone else, thank you for your support!
Also, a large part of this chapter is almost a rehash of the "Talk" Sun-Il gives Jee-Han about the supernatural world. Read it if you want to know more about Jee-Han and Sun-Il's relationship dynamic. Or if you want my perspective on what was discussed.
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"Tell me, what do you know about Natural Ability Users?"
Sun-Il asked me this right after I told him an altered version of my abilities… Don't look at me like that, it was necessary! Gah, now I feel guilty. Hah, the refreshing breeze available on the rooftop now seemed to carry the whispering calls of the damned, luring me down to eternal torment for my transgressions.
Sun-Il poked me with a bemused expression, jolting me back into reality. What'd he ask earlier? Oh yeah. Lemme take a blind stab at it, see what I come up with.
"Someone who Uses an Ability Naturally?"
Ow! Don't flick my nose, you Christmas reject!
"Smartass. You're pretty much correct, though. They're people born with supernatural abilities like pyrokinesis and telepathy."
Oh. Wait, those things are real!
Says the guy who hunts zombies in a real-life RPG, during a conversation with his mystical martial artist friend. Oh, he's still talking.
"-ion. You weren't listening, were you?"
I grinned and nodded before getting a fucking painful sting on my cheek. Sun-Il pinched my face, twisting the flesh slightly before sighing.
"Please, please, please pay attention. This is really important and I can't stop to check if you're listening every couple sentences like I usually do."
I'm not that bad! Am I? Yeah, I am. I'm working on it, though. This is odd, usually I'm the responsible one, watching over Sun-Il. I guess this is really important to him. Gah, pain!
"Just… just stop thinking for a bit and absorb what I tell you, okay?"
"Anything for you, my dear Sunny."
His hand sprang off my cheek as he took a step back.
"Did- did you just call me 'Sunny'? Tch, whatever. Have you heard of the Gaia Theory?"
I shook my head solemnly.
"No. Does it say the Earth's a living organism, though?"
In Greek mythology, Gaia was the name of the planet and many cultures and fantasy worlds featuring a "living Earth" call said Earth Gaia or some variation thereof. I know it's related to the Earth, at least.
"Yeah. I'm surprised that hasn't come up in your games, though."
I grinned at him wryly.
"Not in so many words. They're usually not fond of educating the audience on various philosophical and pseudoscientific theories."
"Well, it's real. The Earth is a living organism with a primitive consciousness."
Wow… that… just WOW! Really? That's kind of pushing the envelope of my suspension of disbelief.
"Ah, that's a little bit incorrect; we don't know if it's the planet's will. All we know is that some transcendental force is interacting with the organisms living on Earth."
Hah, this is starting to sound like God is real. I'm kind of fucked, then. Though I guess it depends on the God or Gods, though.
"You thought aloud again, by the way."
Dammit.
"There's no guarantee that this will is a god's will. I mean, if it is a single organism that causes all the effects we experience today, then it is definitely powerful enough to be considered a god of some kind. But we're not sure if it did all the things established religions said it did. Like the Adam and Eve story or the Gaia and Uranus coupling, any of that stuff."
Oh. So it's entirely possible I'll still avoid punishment for disbelieving the supernatural! Well, formerly disbelieving the supernatural.
"Anyway, this relates to Natural Ability Users."
Oh yeah, them. They was kind of overshadowed by your declaration that God exists.
"Basically, some people are born with certain supernatural talents. These people are considered blessed by Gaia, since their abilities are almost impossible for anyone else to replicate. Well, weaker Natural Ability Users can be mimicked. There's a clan of martial artists that can imitate all but the most powerful pyrokinetics, for example."
… Would this clan happen to be the Yunhonmoon? The clan Redhead comes from? Something else is nagging me, though.
"Hold it."
Sun-Il closed his mouth.
"So people can't train for these abilities? So that clan you mentioned is filled with Natural Ability Users? But- wait. Um…"
He clapped his hand over his face and groaned.
"Dammit, I hate explaining this thing. I always mess it up. What to do…"
"Oi- "
That bastard just held a finger up in my face. After a few seconds, he nodded to himself.
"New plan. Alright, anything that could be considered a supernatural power is called an Ability. These can range from teleportation, strengthening your body with Ki, or shooting lasers out of your eyes. With me so far?"
I nodded. This is shaping up to be a much more explanatory explanation.
"Well, there are two ways to acquire these Abilities. The first is being born with them, Natural Ability Users. The second is to train for them, called Acquired Ability Users. Oh, if you spontaneously develop an Ability later in life, you're still classified as a Natural Ability User so long as you haven't had any training until that point."
"Aside from that tacked-on bit at the end, great job."
I flashed him a thumbs up and he reciprocated with a grin.
"Thanks. Anyway, to be honest, almost no one is a 'perfect' Acquired Ability User. It's enormously difficult, I'm told, to even develop the basics of Ki manipulation without some prior Ability in doing so. I wouldn't know, since I was born with the Ability to sense supernatural energies. My Ability was used to jumpstart my training so I wouldn't have to wait until my Ki grew enough to be felt with a normal sensitivity."
Ooh, interesting.
"Plus, the secrets to manipulating Ki are tightly held by each individual clan. So to get at these secrets, you must show great talent and 'ability' to grab their attention or marry high into the clan and be taught the basics so you can defend yourself."
Wait a minute.
"So you can't learn about the supernatural without assistance?"
He shook his head.
"Yeah, you can. But you generally need an Ability to do so. And almost everyone a clan teaches also has an Ability, even if it's not related to what they're learning. Case in point, my clan recently accepted someone with minor personal precognition Ability."
Minor personal precognition? Sounds cool. What is it, aside from a small talent at seeing the future? My confusion must've shown up on my face.
"Minor personal precognition is the ability to occasionally see flashes of the future if it directly relates to the Ability User. Precognition actually not all that useful at shaping world events because so many little thing can alter the future now. But the person I mentioned only uses it to win fights with stronger opponents. Though I guess that's fairly related to martial ars."
Oh. So it's almost like the Force, warning you of great danger. Fuckin' A.
"Haa, this is hard. I grew up around this, so I'm not sure what exactly to tell you. There's a lot of miscellaneous stuff that I'm not sure is vitally important or just a curiosity."
He sighed before leaning against a railing, tucking his hands into his pockets.
"Well… Natural Ability Users generally gain their ability from something that dominates their psyche. Someone who almost died in a fire when they were young are likely to develop an Ability relating to fire. Desiring to manipulate and control from an early age would probably give you some kind of mind-reading or mind-altering Ability. I'm not sure what would give you such an enormous talent in creating Illusion Barriers, though."
Right. That. Now I know this kind of stuff exists, I think he'll take this revelation well.
"I do."
He glanced up at me sharply, a look of confusion of his face.
"I… wasn't entirely honest with you earlier."
His confusion melted into annoyance.
"Truth is, my life's become a videogame. An RPG, to be precise."
Whether that's true and I'm talking to an NPC or if it's really some weird ass Ability I don't know. What I do know is that it doesn't really matter right now. Sun-Il is my friend and, now that I know he'll believe me, he deserves to know what's really going on.
He stared at me blankly for several moments. Then, just as I was about to poke him, his face broke out into a triumphant grin.
"Hah! I told you to stop playing so many games!"
Ass. I should've kept mum about it.
He laughed boisterously, causing me to chuckle as well. It doesn't mean that I find it funny, it means I find his laughter infectious.
"Well, that clears that up. Though that is the oddest Ability I've ever heard of. Anyway, whatever the case, these Ability Users are constrained by the Interference Law that is enforced by Gaia. Basically, if you do anything too blatant using your powers, Gaia comes down on your ass like a shit ton of bricks."
Heh. Wait, too blatant? I voiced my question.
"Well, it's a very vaguely-defined law. Winning a trillion won in the lottery using your Ability would cause you such shitty luck you'd probably die from it. On the other hand, using your Ability to make smart business decisions and earn a trillion won slides with some minor misfortune in your personal life. Basically, if people believe something's wrong, you're punished."
Wow. People, am I right?
"If an Ability User decides to tell the world of their Ability, they're usually struck by a bolt of lightning. It's happened a couple times, even to people who're normally immune to lightning, so nobody really believes in going public anymore."
Such barbarism. Truly, the planet is a harsh mistress.
"There is a way to get around this Interference Law, though. Wait, you already know this. Well, I…"
"I'm not aware, by the way."
Sometimes I can be pretty damn helpful.
"Oh. Well, if you need to use blatantly supernatural abilities, you generally ask Gaia to make an Illusion Barrier for you. It's not that difficult, really; the hard part is learning how to ask. It requires an almost religious mindset to do so properly. But you can cheat and just signal Gaia to create one for you by channeling strength to your hand and thinking about creating one. But you need the proper method if you intend to create anything more than the basics."
Hmm. That's what I do, but I can specify what monsters I want to populate my Barriers. I guess my Ability is more powerful than I thought.
… Didn't I create [Energy Burst] outside of an Illusion Barrier?
Oh right, that's when I started to act stupid. What a weird way to get revenge. I suppose no one saw it so I wasn't punished too severely.
"Whelp, that's all I can think of. If you have any more question, don't hesitate to ask. Though I have a question of my own, first."
He leaned in to glare directly into my eyes. Kind of scary, though I'm sure he wouldn't hurt me. Again, anyway.
"You said you were taught a bit by Hwan Sung-Gon, yes? What did he teach you and why did he bother?"
You too? Why is every supernatural fighter I'm aware of clamoring to know Agent K's business?
"I kept accidentally wandering into his Illusion Barriers. He figured that killing me would be a waste of time, so he told me how to escape Illusion Barriers and semi-threatened me to do so if I entered another."
Sun-Il became thoughtful at this, fingering his chin absentmindedly like a pretentious douche.
"So he gave you permission to collapse any of his Barriers you stumbled into? What is he planning…"
Just like Redhead, only friendlier and less attractive. Well, I guess he's good-looking enough for those of a feminine persuasion.
"Well, stay away from him. We're not sure what he wants."
We? You mean your clan, which I assume is the Chunbumoon? Oh, right. Almost forgot.
"Hey, Sun-Il. Can you, you know, keep the RPG character thing on the down low?"
He stared blankly at me. I forgot he's not much good at slang. If he's taught it, he can use it pretty well, but he has no idea how to recognize or understand it without a detailed explanation. As you might guess, his English grades are pretty crappy.
"Er, can you keep it to yourself?"
He smiled understandingly and nodded. I taught him that one about three years after we first met.
"Yeah. I have to tell the clan about you, but I can say that we're not too sure of your Ability. Thanks to my status, I can stop any official investigation into your powers, though it's pretty much impossible to prevent the curious individuals. And the clan's untechnological enough that they probably couldn't guess what it was from distant spying."
Yeah, they are pretty behind the times. An electronic buzzer for their manor/dojo is the height of progress for them.
"Thanks. Really. I just don't want to be well-known for whatever reasons."
He just nodded before raising a glowing hand. Abruptly, the Barrier shattered, restoring us to the normal world. Before I could take a step, he vanished into the stairwell. I thought you couldn't use supernatural powers outside an Illusion Barrier without consequence? The idiot must've done it for appearances.
The LVL of [Persuasion] has gone up by one.
Oh. How'd I get this? Maybe when I asked Sun-Il to not tell his clan my Ability? Not much of a persuasion, though.
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Here I am. Back on my home's roof. With a pile of materials, preparing to make something. You see, on the way back home, I realized I forgot to buy some armor. With a quick phone search, I quickly determined that even the cheapest leather jackets were well out of my reach. Fortunately, I have a plan.
So here I am, standing here with a pile of soft leather and cloth, trying to make a reinforced shirt.
Let's do this shit.
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I cast a critical eye over my new creation, the work of an hour's intense labor. Well, constant labor. Well, focused labor. Well, labor.
It was… a disaster, to be honest. The body of the shirt was composed of two large panels of leather connected at the sides by a thin strip of fabric. The sleeves were tubes of leather extending to just above the elbow and the shoulder was a piece of the stuff sewn over fabric. It was stiff, hard to move in, and entirely uncomfortably to wear. The sizes were wrong, too.
A skill has been created through a special action.
I got one good thing out of this, at least.
A skill to create clothing and fabrics, [Sewing], has been created.
You know, I really could've used this a moment ago!
Sewing (CRAFTING)
LVL: 1
Allows the user to use needle and thread to create clothes and light armors.
So, if I did this again, I would probably make my shirt much more effectively.
The LVL of [Crafting] has gone up by one.
Oh, so I got two things out of this. Nice. Kind of alleviates the sting of failure.
Now, time for my new Skills to go to work.
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This time around, I sewed the leather onto one of my old shirts, instead. It made for a much more comfortable experience trying it on. In addition, the chest was composed of three pieces (left pec, right pec, and stomach) while the back had four pieces (upper left, upper right, lower left, and lower right). The sleeves stayed with the same arangement and the shoulder was instead covered by a large shield of leather attached only to the collar. It gave protection while limiting flexibility loss.
After trying it on and giving a few stretches, I decided it was good enough for wear.
"[Observe]."
Shoddily-reinforced Shirt (ARMOR)
A shirt. Reinforced poorly, it will fall apart more easily than before.
-50% Durability
Really? No armor or defense? Really?!
Fuck you too, game. I'm going for a grind.
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After creating an Illusion Barrier, I counted 5 zombies in our street. Oddly enough, they were all dressed in brown business suits with equally red ties, all had hall-off toupees hanging by each of their right ears, and all noticed me at the same time. Truly mysterious. Ah, the wonders of the universe.
Are my melee stats good enough? Yeah, they're about LVL 5, maybe LVL 6, I think. Sufficient for zombies. Now it's time to grind the skills I need to kill that damnable Legion Zombie.
"[Spiraling Energy Bolt]. [Spiraling Energy Bolt]. [Spiraling Energy Bolt]. [Spiraling Energy Bolt]. [Spiraling Energy Bolt]."
When they were all on the ground, I paused and decided to use [Heavy Spiraling Energy Bolt].It would probably be cheaper and it would be nice to compare damage.
"[Heavy Spiraling Energy Bolt]. [Heavy Spiraling Energy Bolt]. [Heavy Spiraling Energy Bolt]. [Heavy Spiraling Energy Bolt]. [Heavy Spiraling Energy Bolt]."
Hm. That cast time was about a third of a second slower, almost doubling cast time. Still, that did about half a health bar of damage. So, another volley of regulars, then?
"[Spiraling Energy Bolt]. [Spiraling Energy Bolt]. [Spiraling Energy Bolt]. [Spiraling Energy Bolt]. [Spiraling Energy Bolt]."
Yes, that'll do nicely. So, unless I come across another group, I'll just use two [Heavy Spiraling Energy Bolt]s to put them down. I guess if I don't find a group, I'll need to start using the others so they LVL too.
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"[Heavy Spiraling Energy Bolt]."
I froze when the expected attack failed to materialize. Did I just run out of MP? I don't think that's ever happened to me. Well, except that one time where I trained [Power Attack] on a tree for several hours. Oh yeah, zombie.
Your sneaky ninja-zombie tricks won't work on me anymore! Not when I'm paying attention and have a weapon ready.
It actually took several whacks with the spear tip to keep the zombie from moving. Ah, the power of Skills, how I miss you.
How long will it take to regenerate again?
"Status."
I tapped the MP bar and let the screen change.
MP
The source of mystic, demonic, and angelic power. Allows the user to perform supernatural feats.
Capacity: 300
Regen: 4 per minute
I got a LVL UP before running out of MP. Though shouldn't my Regen only be 2? What happened?
Hmm. Another factor affects the Regen rate. It's not physical stats, is it? No, no… maybe LVL? Well, maybe. I was at LVL 3 when the Regen was only 2. So it goes up by 1 every 5 LVLs and every 10 WIS? It's possible, nay, probable.
Well, might as well look at my stats and distribute points.
Name: Han Jee-Han
Title: Apprentice Undead Hunter
Class: The Gamer
LVL: 10
XP: 9780/10000
HP: 185/185
MP: 1/300
STR: 8
DEX: 12
VIT: 8
INT: 30
WIS: 12
LUK: 5
Points: 5
Money: 10000W
I said I would put points in WIS this time, didn't I? So yeah, let's do that.
Name: Han Jee-Han
Title: Apprentice Undead Hunter
Class: The Gamer
LVL: 10
XP: 9780/10000
HP: 185/185
MP: 1/300
STR: 8
DEX: 12
VIT: 8
INT: 30
WIS: 17
LUK: 5
Points: 0
Money: 10000W
Urg. It almost physically pains me to not put points in INT. I have a problem, I admit it. Anyway, next time I'll put those points into LUK and WIS, then INT and DEX. Or INT and LUK. DEX and LUK? Gah, focus.
Don't I have a couple books in my Inventory? Might as well, I'm not grinding until my MP is back anyway.
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Uwah, what a perfect happy ending! Except that BITCH Xentra ended up with darling Hiro-chan! Why did Milfia fall by the wayside? Was it because she turned out to be the villain's daughter's clone? Or maybe because her heart crystal was tuned to the necromantic energies? Well, that shouldn't matter! True love conquers all!
…
Ahem. So, yeah, just finished this book. Very nice, a bit childish, but still nice. Didn't really like the main couple, though. And one of my preferred characters got shafted by both the cast and author.
What's my MP, by the way?
"Status."
Name: Han Jee-Han
Title: Apprentice Undead Hunter
Class: The Gamer
LVL: 10
XP: 9780/10000
HP: 185/185
MP: 289/300
STR: 8
DEX: 12
VIT: 8
INT: 30
WIS: 17
LUK: 5
Points: 0
Money: 10000W
Good enough. Looks like I just need to kill one for a LVL UP, anyway.
Wait.
I slowly let my head sink into my upturned palms, unable to face my stupidity. I'll just… go get the free MP refill, then.
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"[Heavy Spiraling Energy Bolt]."
Again, no energy ball lanced toward the poor, innocent zombie that stood there. Shame, that.
Well, another LVL UP for another hour's work. Certainly a fair trade by any standards. What to do, though…
"Status."
Name: Han Jee-Han
Title: Apprentice Undead Hunter
Class: The Gamer
LVL: 11
XP: 2720/11000
HP: 190/190
MP: 0/305
STR: 8
DEX: 12
VIT: 8
INT: 30
WIS: 17
LUK: 5
Points: 5
Money: 10000W
I guess I'll get WIS up to 20 and then put the rest into LUK. It's about time I increase my drop chance anyway.
Name: Han Jee-Han
Title: Apprentice Undead Hunter
Class: The Gamer
LVL: 11
XP: 2720/10000
HP: 134/190
MP: 0/305
STR: 8
DEX: 12
VIT: 8
INT: 30
WIS: 20
LUK: 7
Points: 0
Money: 10000W
Oh yeah, almost forgot about that hit. A Runner Zombie managed to corner me and got a few nasty swipes in before I introduced its face to supernatural force. It quickly grew enamored with said force and hastily but respectfully embedded itself in a wall to regain its lost composure.
What're my skills now? Easy enough to check.
"Skills."
[A Gamer's Mind] LVL: MAX
[A Gamer's Body] LVL: MAX
[Rip] LVL: 3
[Observe] LVL: 10
[Power Strike] LVL: 9
[Ax Mastery] LVL: 9
[Energy Bolt] LVL: 6
[Cooking] LVL: 2
[ID Escape] LVL: 3
[Energy Burst] LVL: 5
[Deception] LVL: 6
[ID Create] LVL: 3
[Unarmed Mastery] LVL: 6
[Acrobatics] LVL: 1
[Heavy Spiraling Energy Bolt] LVL: 6
[Spiraling Energy Bolt] LVL: 6
[Crafting] LVL: 2
[Polearm Mastery] LVL: 6
[Mighty Thrust] LVL: 5
[Persuasion] LVL: 2
So… they're both LVL 6, neh? Man, I have a lot of skills. Come to think of it, I should suck it up and start cooking in the morning. I'll be tough, but learning how to not burn water will help me greatly in my quest to become a college-bound bachelor living by his wits and whatever money he can mooch off of his friends.
Plus, new healing items.
Well, that's enough grinding. It's not dinner, but I'm starting to burn out. Can't let that happen, can we?
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Done!
So it looks like I lied; I was able to finish the chapter, though at a lower word count that I'd like.
Anyways, a few notes.
Jee-Han is wrong about the mechanic he believes MP Regen increases with.
Yeah, the shirt didn't give defense. It's soft, crafting leather. It provides almost nothing in terms of defense. Plus, there's not enough leather to qualify as armor.
I'm not going to be able to write during my trip, so my next chapter will be written entirely when I get back.
Thanks for reading! Drop a review, it cuts down on the time I take to write the next chapter.