Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Eye of the Prodigy (1)
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"The Resistor (Deactivated)"
"...I've never seen this trait before."
A completely unfamiliar trait that he'd never even heard of was boldly occupying one slot in his disposition section.
Typically, an Awakener was granted just one disposition. He'd never heard of anyone possessing two dispositions, and this was the first time he'd laid eyes on this particular one. For Sa-yoon, who had been nauseatingly stuck with True Evil of Humanity all this time, the sudden appearance of The Resistor couldn't help but feel suspicious.
Was this, like True Evil of Humanity, just another one of the system's tricks targeted at him?
The fact that it was labeled as deactivated suggested it might activate later, imposing yet another ordeal on him.
Or perhaps...
His deep-seated distrust of the system flared up at the sight of this unknown disposition. Sa-yoon's instincts, honed by years of misfortune, zeroed in on the ominous premonition. It was a gut feeling that hit the mark nine times out of ten—no, a hundred percent accurate—so he stroked his chin with a cautious expression. His black eyes darted around as he gauged the potential harm this trait might bring him.
As he took his time examining it, contrary to his worries, it didn't give him the same eerie feeling as when he'd first been designated True Evil of Humanity, or when the forced execution quest had popped up. His heart wasn't racing like it did before some disaster struck, and no anxiety crept in.
This wasn't because he'd been burned by the system so many times that he'd grown numb to sudden misfortunes, nor because this unease was milder than the calamities he'd endured before.
No, it was just... genuinely pretty okay.
Or rather, more than okay. For some reason, a faint hopeful vibe seemed to emanate from it. Like he was holding a winning lottery ticket in his hand.
Something was off about this.
His hyper-developed sense for "good things," sharpened from running an information guild, was buzzing with excitement.
Telling him there was something fishy here. And in a very good way.
Resisting... what, exactly?
As he mulled it over alone, a long-forgotten thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
It was from a time when Sa-yoon hadn't fully lost his mind yet, when he still had half his sanity intact.
Back then, Sa-yoon had hypothesized that if he was True Evil of Humanity, then there must be something like True Hope of Humanity out there too.
Why? Because in every story, whenever a villain appeared, a hero rose to oppose them. Evil stood on the opposite side of good, didn't it?
Since the clash between good and evil was an eternal principle of the world, unlike ordinary Awakeners, Sa-yoon had imagined there might be someone special tasked with countering him—someone with a mission to kill him. It might sound like grasping at clouds to others, but in his increasingly wretched life, that imaginary foe-turned-savior was more than enough to spark a sliver of hope.
Fueled by that hypothesis, Sa-yoon reignited his fading will to resist. Believing there was a key somewhere to change his fate, he started picking fights with and killing people left and right from that point on.
Even though the system, which didn't want him dead, stubbornly revived him every time he died, he kept getting up and seeking death at others' hands. The pain of dying was nothing compared to the hope of escaping the system—he repeated the cycle of death and revival countless times. Without tiring, for months. At least three, no doubt.
At first glance, it seemed like the ravings of a madman, and Jong-sik was the first to tire of it. After Sa-yoon unintentionally saved him from terrorists while handling a quest, Jong-sik had trailed after him persistently. Witnessing Sa-yoon's repeated deaths—enough to torment any onlooker—he begged him tearfully to stop, clinging to him desperately. Meanwhile, Sa-yoon descended further into madness amid the cycle of hope and despair. It was such a dismal period that even now, Jong-sik called it the darkest time of his life and still grieved over it.
He roamed daily in search of death, but there were no real gains. If anything, dying and reviving so often spread rumors of his immortality among a few Awakeners, prompting the system to bizarrely display achievement messages.
Discouraged by the system that seemed to mock his efforts, Sa-yoon abandoned such futile hopes and lived even more viciously thereafter. Looking back now, it was a foolish, childish challenge.
That old memory resurfacing after so long made Sa-yoon groan inwardly. He wouldn't have recalled it without reason.
"There's something to it..."
Since it had come to mind upon seeing The Resistor, the trait might be connected to that ancient hypothesis. Perhaps it was the clue to finding True Hope of Humanity, which he'd given up on after dying over a hundred times.
From the start, the only thing he had to resist was the system. At this point, who else could possibly interfere with his life?
Might as well go for it.
Curiosity gnawing at him, Sa-yoon severed his hesitation and tapped the The Resistor disposition.
The rejection window greeted Sa-yoon, but he didn't feel disappointed or sigh. On the contrary, he gained an even stronger conviction than ever before.
The system had always withheld helpful skills or information from him, so if it was hiding this, it had to be something crucial. Just look at how it had denied him a status window for ten years.
If, by any chance, this was truly a means to resist the system. Or one way to screw it over.
"I've got to get it somehow."
Muttering in a low voice from the depths of his heart, Sa-yoon tapped the disposition again, only for the same guidance window to appear. Crossing his arms, he scrutinized every corner of the system window.
Squinting closely, he spotted very fine print at the bottom of the blue window: "View Activation Conditions." It was so tiny that even Sa-yoon's S-rank eyesight could barely make it out.
Yeah, it was that small. But still.
Was it really showing this so easily?
The solution had come too straightforwardly, making his earlier caution seem pointless. Compared to his life so far, the difficulty had plummeted exponentially, breeding suspicion instead. Was it a trap? Eyeing "View Activation Conditions" warily, Sa-yoon had no other choice and tapped it with his finger.
Of course it was.
He'd thought it was too easy.
Anyone else would have given up, deeming it impossible, but Sa-yoon clicked "View Activation Conditions" again, as if starting over from scratch.
Once more.
Again.
Yet again.
He kept tapping it repeatedly, like a battle of wills. The system's ever-present smiling emoticon felt today like a taunt saying, "Go ahead if you think you can." His clicking speed picked up.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
As he mashed the button with frenzied fingers, the system responded with blue windows in kind. Even after over a hundred clicks, nothing changed. It was probably set up that way from the start—no surprise there. By now, most people would have thrown in the towel in frustration, but Sa-yoon's tenacity was fiercer, fueled by sheer spite.
It wasn't time to give up yet.
After challenging it this long, stopping after less than thirty minutes would tarnish the pride of the information guild's leader. Pride aside, after enduring the system screwing him over endlessly, he wanted payback for once.
For example, crashing the system.
If he clicked fast enough—beyond processing speed—maybe it'd glitch out and go down.
A ridiculous notion, but it harbored a sliver of expectation. Using that as justification, Sa-yoon kept hammering the blue window. His SS-rank Agility stat was shining here.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
.
.
.
Five hours had passed since he'd been staring at the same guidance window nonstop.
And yet, without tiring, in the moment he was defiantly thinking, "Let's see who outlasts whom," it happened.
A mechanical tone slightly different from the tiresome notification sound he'd grown sick of pierced Sa-yoon's ears. He barely halted his nearly mechanical finger taps right in front of the system window and peered ahead.
The weary message had changed, accompanied by an emoticon he'd never seen before. In this brute-force showdown, Sa-yoon had claimed victory.