Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Eye of the Prodigy (3)
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Should I just pretend I didn't see it?
The impulse to keep ignoring the Karma, just like always, washed over him. It was such a sweet temptation that Sa-yoon toyed with it for a moment, tapping the status window with his fingertips.
Humans are curious creatures, after all. He was honestly dying to know.
What kind of insanely amazing shop required ten million Karma just to unlock?
Ten million to even open it. Which meant the stuff inside had to be rare treasures you couldn't get from gate rewards—or at least something insanely useful for conquering gates.
If he could sell it or use it, how much profit would that be?
"Tch…."
He'd never be able to let it go without peeking inside.
He wanted to give up, but curiosity was killing him.
Was this how a fish felt, knowing the bait looked tasty but would kill it, yet chomping down anyway? Guessing at that, Sa-yoon boldly checked his infamy score. From now on, to cut down on pointless Karma losses, he needed to start managing his infamy.
"……."
Holy shit.
Over ten million.
"Why not just tell me to give up?"
They stack up the Karma like that but won't let him spend it? Infuriating. What had he done that was so awful to rack up this much infamy? He felt utterly wronged.
Checking how much infamy he could maintain without Karma deductions, the limit was seven million. He needed to shave off three million through good deeds. His vision blurred just thinking about it. What a ridiculous shackle.
A villain doing good deeds to prevent Karma penalties? Could there be a more contradictory setup?
His head throbbed, making him want to smash everything and just curse the system. Barely holding onto his sanity, Sa-yoon took deep breaths and prioritized.
Opening the Karma shop was a distant future goal. He hadn't even gathered half of the ten million yet— no reason to obsess over the shop now. Clinging to what he couldn't have would just hurt him.
The immediate priority was unlocking Eye of the Prodigy.
That came first.
Regaining his composure, Sa-yoon's sharpened gaze scanned the remaining status window.
True to its value after ten long years, everything was astonishing—one after another. He'd only checked his disposition, unopened skills, and Karma so far. Lowering his eyes to the unread info, he scanned the titles and spotted question marks.
‘Watched by Gods(?)’
‘Perhaps God's Descendant?(?)’
‘Follower of Evil God(?)’
Unlike most of his titles that he remembered earning, these had no such memory. The common thread? They all involved gods. Tapping one, the details were blocked, just like those infuriating inaccessible windows he saw multiple times a day. Sick of it, Sa-yoon tried to lighten his mood.
What, had he ever been unaware he was toying in the gods' hands? He'd experienced it firsthand.
Right there in the perks.
His eyes chilled as they locked onto the forced execution perk he'd deliberately ignored.
He hadn't expected forced execution to be one of his perks. Scoffing, Sa-yoon tapped it. Like the others with question-mark ranks, the details were inaccessible.
Blocking detailed views meant it was info he wasn't supposed to see. The gods who shoved him into this cursed fate were messing with his status window too.
Fury boiled, ears burning, but he held back—knowing that was exactly what they wanted. His suppressed emotions exploded, though, upon checking another L-rank perk.
‘To the Most Unfortunate You (L)’
The name alone was oddly unpleasant.
He'd been ready to smash the status window if it required Karma again, but this absurd perk popped up. What kind of L-rank perk was this? Furious, Sa-yoon checked his own stats and fell silent.
‘Luck: A- (F-)’
According to the Eye of the Prodigy description, the value in parentheses was probably his Luck's maximum growth potential. Emphasizing again: not the base value, but the maximum growth potential.
"Ha…."
Sa-yoon let out a hollow laugh.
The empty chuckles kept coming. Eventually, he was shaking silently with laughter—or was it sobs?—indistinguishable from behind. Suddenly, he snapped his head up, face hardening.
Crash!
He kicked the bedside table, shattering the decorative item on top. Jong-sik would've wept blood at the sight, but Sa-yoon kept kicking, ready to demolish the table too. It was a scene that screamed unhinged rage issues.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Sharp, deafening crashes filled the room. Much was broken and shattered, but his anger didn't subside. Sa-yoon exhaled heated breaths of fury.
Even E-rank Luck felt like a curse—freak accidents galore. Some E-rankers faced eight near-deaths and two bankruptcies in a single day.
And he was F-. Not just F, but with a minus.
Sa-yoon's grievance wasn't just the low Luck. Before the world changed, he'd lived ordinarily.
Pre-gates, his life was normal. Loving family, affluent. Far from misfortune.
So this Luck wasn't innate. The system—i.e., the gods—rigged it when assigning him True Evil of Humanity.
And now? Born to misfortune?
If they wanted to crush his faith, mission accomplished. As if he had any to begin with.
More disgusted than when he learned Eye of the Prodigy cost Karma, Sa-yoon repeated the breathing technique Jong-sik recommended for anger. Deep inhales and exhales later, his rage cooled. Feeling the heat fade from his scalp, he flicked away the blue window like filthy trash.
If they'd given him system transfer instead, he might've wept with joy, praising the gods he'd daily cursed and becoming their zealot.
But "ifs" are abstract fantasies, hard to realize.
His wish to return ten years hadn't come true, so system transfer was nonsense too. Exhausted, Sa-yoon flopped onto the bed. The system felt like it'd branded his forehead "Unlucky Bastard." Top-tier mood killer.
"Damn, my luck has always been shit."
Post-Awakener, he'd step only on landmines in minefields. Recalling it emptily, something tapped his blacked-out curtained window. Tap-tap. Tap-tap.
Sa-yoon swatted the curtain aside to check.
A crow.
Wings neatly folded, perched elegantly on the sill, pecking the window. Their eyes met; the black bird's turned red.
"…Jong-sik?"
Crows meant it could be the others. To confirm, he needed to let it in. Rising, Sa-yoon unlocked the window. The haughty waiter suddenly flapped in, rubbing against his face.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
Caw! Caw!
"Did you at least bathe?"
Caw?
"I'm losing my mind."
Still, among the crows Sa-yoon managed, this was the cleanest. It must've groomed. Knowing that didn't make the wing-rub feel less gross. Grabbing its neck, he lifted it; the crow flapped happily.
"No spazzing. Report first."
Quietly scolded, it relaxed. Lifting the now-docile bird, Sa-yoon met its gaze.
Its eyes reddened. A sharp sting hit, and the crow's memories shared with Sa-yoon.
Night Rat—named because "night words rats hear, day words birds hear."
Sa-yoon didn't name it Night Rat lightly. Snakes for rats, crows for birds.
Via Communication and Sharing skills, he controlled them and shared vision, making Night Rat the world's top info guild.
The crow's memory: Night Rat members kidnapping a Chinese guilder, dragging him to the torture villa. After extracting info, they grabbed the crow with orders to report to the guild leader—that was the last memory. Sa-yoon closed his eyes.
Skill aftereffect: mild headache. Shaking it off with blinks, Sa-yoon petted the crow.
"Good job. Grab a snack on your way out."
Caw!
Pointing to the bedroom door, the nodding crow flew off. Watching it head to the crow snack stash, Sa-yoon sat back on the bed.
Perfect timing—a quest completion popped up.
Over a million.
Now he could safely unlock Eye of the Prodigy. Forgetting prior disgust, Sa-yoon inhaled deeply. Anticipation building, he hit unlock skill.
Consume 1,000,000 Karma to unlock the skill?
(b ᵔ▽ᵔ)b
No reason to hesitate. The moment he accepted—
"Gah! Kk…."
Pain struck without warning, toppling Sa-yoon.
Drip. Drip.
Red blood flowed from his right eye, soaking the bedsheet.