EVS Chapter 63

Isn’t this too blatant favoritism?

While condemning one as the true evil of humanity, it praises another as The Only Genius Under The Heavens. The person labeled as humanity’s evil must feel so wronged. Sa-yoon muttered that it was fortunate that he, who was detached from most things, was seeing this; if others had seen it, they might have been so envious that they’d aim for the back of his head in the middle of the night. He then proceeded to check the titles.

Excluding the title marked with a question mark indicating its rank couldn’t be determined, he took in each one, and it was still obnoxious.

Should I just close this altogether?

From start to finish, it was just a list of talents, which irked him. As the urge rose, Sa-yoon took a deep breath, but soon changed his mind.

Let’s think of this as my own kid’s status window, not someone else’s.

Let’s think that this talented kid is my guild member.

After this self-brainwashing attempt at mind control, he clicked on the titles one by one, starting with “I’m Quite Outstanding”.

[I’m Quite Outstanding(A)]

You awakened as B-rank, but your stats are significantly higher than the average for B-rank. The system presents you with this title in praise of your blessed stats.

[One Who Masters All Things(S)]

Without a doubt, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish if you set your mind to it. You will excel in every field that interests you.

“…Do I really need to keep looking at this?”

Mind control failed. After seeing the first two, he had no desire to check the next title. The “Only One Genius Under the Sky” title would surely be full of verbose praise for Geon-joo.

They say too much excellence can be off-putting, is this what that means?

Sa-yoon bit his lip, recalling his early days after awakening when he had nothing and had to roll around with his whole body to gain skills.

He’s my kid. He’s my kid. He’s my kid.

Chanting like a mantra, he tried to regain his composure. After shaking off the strong feeling of annoyance, Sa-yoon moved on to the skills section. Unlike when he first saw it, there was an additional skill in the skill window that he hadn’t seen before.

‘Endurance(B)’

He could guess how it had appeared. Not particularly wanting to delve into it, Sa-yoon pretended not to see it and skipped the skill window, which, unlike the grandiose titles, didn’t have anything particularly eye-catching. He then checked the exclusive skill section.

‘Survival Instinct(SS+)’

The titles were just a taste; this was where the real value lay. Despite being B-rank, his exclusive skill was SS+ rank. Sa-yoon’s eyes lit up as he clicked on the detailed information.

[Survival Instinct(SS+)]

Your sharp instinct will save you from danger!

– Suggests escape routes in crisis situations twice a day. Upon accepting a route, escape is guaranteed regardless of stats. (However, if there’s a rank difference of two or more levels with the opponent, there’s a chance of failure.)

– When survival becomes difficult, agility increases by 100% for 1 minute. Afterwards, you fall into an exhausted state for 10 seconds.

– Muscles are strengthened when activated.

This was a skill so desirable it made his stomach ache, to the point where his organs felt like they were falling out. It was surprising when he first saw it in the Den of Disbelief, but whether the skill had been updated since then or he hadn’t checked properly at the time, there was an unfamiliar explanation added:

– You can quickly notice when a threat approaches you. This skill substitutes for detection skills.

– Trap discernment is used in proportion to your luck stat. The higher your luck, the higher the rank of traps you can discern.

“…This is unbelievable, truly unbelievable.”

What kind of skill is this?

With that kind of skill, it wouldn’t be a problem to think you have two lives.

It’s fortunate I brought him into the guild.

If he hadn’t found Han Geon-joo and this talent had been snatched up by another guild, he would have been so frustrated that he wouldn’t have been able to sleep, fuming day and night. Reminding himself of the fact that he had brought this talent to Night Rat, he soothed his slightly aching stomach.

Kwaaang! Thud!

About 100 meters away, Geon-joo was still clashing with the A-rank monster.

To struggle against a mere A-rank with such a status window.

Until now, he had thought Geon-joo was doing well for a B-rank, but after seeing his status window, he wasn’t satisfied. With these stats and skills, he should be able to subdue a low-level A-rank easily. Clicking his tongue, Sa-yoon checked the next skill.

Like his own, all of Geon-joo’s unopened skills boasted flashy ranks. Unlike him, perhaps because Geon-joo had only awakened recently and didn’t have many skills, he had two unopened skills.

Discernment and Shadow Dominion.

SSS-rank and L-rank skills respectively. Shadow Dominion sounded ominous from its name alone, which made it intriguing. Although checking it might make him double over, his curiosity couldn’t be contained, so without any hesitation, he pressed for detailed information. Indeed, the skill information that unfolded before his eyes was at a level where he wanted to grab Geon-joo by the collar and demand if he was enjoying living with such unfair privileges.

[Discernment(SSS)]

Your sharp survival instinct and insight create skill discernment.

– Can determine if a designated target’s words are true or false. 3 times per day.

– Can randomly check one of the highest-ranked skills of a designated target. Cannot be used repeatedly on the same target.

– However, skills of a higher rank than Discernment cannot be viewed.

[Shadow Dominion(L)]

You, who can handle all things, can surely handle even formless things.

– You can freely manipulate shadows. However, you cannot control the shadows of those with a higher rank than you.

It was brief but intense. Sa-yoon touched his lips as he looked at the skill description, which seemed too sparse to be considered L-rank.

Sometimes, the stronger the skill, the more concise the description. This was especially true for skills with diverse applications. Just looking at Sa-yoon’s main skill, Frost, all it said was “You can handle frost energy.” From that perspective, Geon-joo’s Shadow Dominion seemed to be a skill with as many applications as Frost.

Given its higher rank, its influence would likely be greater than Frost.

In any case, it was clearly an overpowered skill. On closer inspection, Discernment could be considered a lower version of Genius’s Eye, and Shadow Dominion could be thought of as an upgraded version of Frost.

Suddenly, he became curious.

Could Han Geon-joo, after obtaining all these skills, defeat him? Could he defeat Geon-joo?

Right now, he was like a toddling chick, but looking at his status window, he was undoubtedly destined to become a dragon. Imagining a battle with an S-rank Geon-joo, Sa-yoon couldn’t suppress his smile, his lips splitting into a grin as he felt a tingling sensation in his hands and feet.

It would surely be enjoyable.

Different from the boring battles he was used to.

Until now, he had only thought about making Geon-joo S-rank to activate “One Who Resists”, but now sparring with an S-rank Geon-joo was also included in the list of things to look forward to. It seemed like a lie that there was a time when life was uninteresting. He had lived for 10 years without expecting anything from tomorrow, but now he had two reasons to look forward to the future. Smiling at this realization, Sa-yoon checked the acquisition methods for the two unopened skills. If there was any part he could help with, he intended to do so with all his might.

However, the system didn’t readily show the skill acquisition methods.

“…What’s this? Why is it like this?”

Although he often said the system was out of its mind, it had never actually malfunctioned or done anything crazy. But this time was different. Suddenly, the system displayed a strange message, with a red exclamation mark floating above it, seemingly used as a warning sign.

The system continuously displayed weird windows for about 3 minutes, proving its insanity, before all windows suddenly closed and were replaced by a single blue window.

<An unknown force is blocking the information. Viewing is not possible. (º □ º l|l)>

It had been a while since he’d seen this emoticon. Wondering if this emoticon appeared whenever there was an error, Sa-yoon clicked on the skill acquisition information again. Just like with “One Who Resists”, the same system window appeared, stating that viewing was impossible. The difference this time was that the system revealed the reason: an unknown force was blocking the information.

Judging by the message, it seemed to be a genuine error this time.

The terrified-looking emoticon seemed like the system’s plea for recognition of its efforts, causing Sa-yoon to furrow his brow. After trying about three more times, he cleanly gave up.

His intuition was telling him.

This time, it didn’t seem like the same kind of luck as before would work.

“It’s not like I can only check this today.”

There was no point in wasting time unnecessarily. Although disappointed, he decided to be satisfied with just seeing the possibility that Geon-joo could obtain such skills in the future. Just then, he heard a thud. It was the sound indicating that Geon-joo had succeeded in subduing the A-rank monster.

Stab!

Unlike the first day when he had been hesitant, Geon-joo now skillfully and accurately stabbed the monster’s vital point with his sword. He twisted his wrist, turning the sword half a rotation to decisively cut off the creature’s breath. The process from subduing the monster to swinging the sword was fast and precise. There was no hesitation visible, making him look like a proper hunter to anyone who saw him.

Having succeeded in subduing the A-rank faster than usual, Geon-joo checked the completely lifeless monster and wiped the blood splattered on his face, showing a satisfied expression. Sa-yoon watched Geon-joo’s expression, which seemed pleased with his own skills, and then approached him.

Geon-joo, who had finished the battle with no major injuries except for a long gash on his shoulder, looked at the approaching Sa-yoon while taking out a potion to heal himself. His expression after finishing the battle looked relieved.

“Are you done?”

“Yeah, well…”

Despite speaking nonchalantly, there was a subtle confidence in his voice. Seeing the expectant look in his eyes, Sa-yoon slightly raised the corners of his mouth and spoke while patting Geon-joo’s shoulder.

“Then let’s catch the next one right after you finish healing, pretty boy.”

“…?”

“This time, not a weak one, but a strong one among the A-ranks. You’re not going to be satisfied with just this, right?”

Saying such unsupportive words in a kind tone made the distinctive look in Geon-joo’s eyes instantly fill with disappointment. Sa-yoon inwardly clicked his tongue, firmly pressed down on Geon-joo’s shoulder, and pointed to an A-rank monster grazing in the distance.

“Let’s go for that one next. Try to finish it within an hour.”

With a status window like that, how could you be satisfied with taking down a weakling among A-ranks?

The benchmark had risen.

It seemed that to be satisfied, Geon-joo’s skills needed to be raised to the point where he could handle an A-rank on his own without difficulty before the wave started.