Time to Grow (2)
"Haa-haa-haa-haa-haa-haa-haa-haa-haa-haa-haa-haa-haa-haa-haa-haa-haa-haa-haa-haa, haa-ang, haa-haa-haa-haa-aak, haa-aak...! I... I... I... I can't... I can't... breathe... haa-gaa-haa-gaa-ang-gaa-haa-aak...!!!"
Merlin’s breathless, ecstatic voice rang in my ears, sounding like she’d completely lost her mind.
Someone, please, calm her down. What are Lancelot and Arthur doing? Help your fellow peer out, for heaven’s sake!
I could have stopped walking toward the scale, approached Merlin, and told her to "Just breathe!", but...
I didn't even give her a cold glance. I kept walking toward the scale. No one could stop my time of growth. I mean, just look at how long I’ve waited for this moment!
Honestly...
I never thought I’d be able to pull a Skill Creation Ticket this quickly... let alone today.
Lancelot’s contribution in pulling that ticket was massive—her luck was far better than I’d expected. Thanks to her, I could move my plans up significantly.
That place I had to go, not by choice, but by a forced selection... the military. The dream of the entire nation, national defense... no, now... it was only for my own freedom!
Even if I didn't do it willingly(?), looking at the results, I was finally going to be able to pull my own weight as a hero!
So...
I’d better cook the most delicious ramen possible for Lancelot, pouring all my gratitude into it.
Yeah. That’s the plan.
Behind me, the voices of the heroes murmured.
"...Seeing the young master, I feel as though my common sense is crumbling. Arthur, do you feel the same?"
"I do... He just tore a piece of paper, and a scale appeared...? It feels like the world I know is breaking apart. I thought it was something like scroll magic, but it seems to be on a completely different level. What on earth is that paper... is it something like a 'Book of Wishes' that grants anything you want...?"
"...A Book of... Wishes?"
A Book of Wishes, huh. Well, it is my own personal one, applicable only to me.
Shuffle, shuffle.
Dragging my slippers, I approached the scale step by step until I finally reached the one resting on the ground.
I walked to the right side of the scale, carefully placed the torn halves of the Skill Creation Ticket in the center of the large pan, and then stepped onto the large pan on the left side.
The System asks you to visualize the skill you wish to create.
Thud.
I sat down right in the center of the scale's pan.
It had been a delusion I’d been nursing for a long time, but now, it was safe to say the time had come to make it truly mine.
Sitting there, I clenched my fist slightly and tapped the scale pan while lost in thought.
Creating a skill... huh.
Anything new always comes with high risks and high returns. Trying to pull off a reckless gamble in front of these powerhouses? That wasn't it. It was too dangerous. Especially for a weakling like me right now.
So, I should have aimed for something generic, something proven by many people... but I had already found the answer. I just lacked the medium to execute it. And now, the opportunity had arrived!
The answer I reached was to benchmark something that had already been proven. In the modern era, it’s considered an essential element. If you abuse it, it’s just imitation, but if you refine it to fit yourself and rebuild it through reinterpretation—that technique, benchmarking... that was the most desperate method of salvation to break through the problems facing me at this moment.
I wanted to create my own defensive skill right here, benchmarking manga and novels to protect myself efficiently while ensuring high performance.
And really, who’s going to complain about me doing this?
I recalled a manga that had been quite popular back in the day. Popular manga are popular because their entertainment value is proven. That entertainment comes from the characters' attractive abilities. While I couldn't perform those abilities myself, the characters doing it for me made them objects of envy—abilities I wanted to have.
And I was going to benchmark that very technique—the one used by a tragic traitor character from a certain family who sacrificed himself to protect someone precious, a technique that played a huge part in boosting the manga's popularity!
The ability to manifest mana from the entire body to protect oneself, which later evolved to even allow for attacks—it was sensational at the time, so I could remember it precisely and concretely. I easily improved it and visualized it.
"System. I'm done thinking, please reflect it."
Alright. Now I just need the System's permission!
The System is verifying the human's thoughts and images for the skill to be created.
Cling-clang.
The scale made a sound, swaying slightly up and down as it balanced in mid-air, rising about a meter.
And then—
Vrrrrrrrrr.
Along with a strange sound, the pan I was sitting on shook.
Uh, uh? What is this... Why is it going up so high?
The pan had definitely been on the ground, but the balanced scale was now floating nearly 10 meters in the air, supporting me.
...If I mess up this skill creation, I’m definitely going to plummet... Well, would I die? Phew... let's do this.
The System is running a simulation test.
Cling...
The right pan shot toward the sky, and the left pan I was standing on tilted toward the ground, breaking the balance.
I'm screwed. If this happens...!
The System judges the skill to be excessive based on the simulation test; one Skill Creation Ticket is insufficient.
The System states that two Skill Creation Tickets must be used, and additional strict limitations must be applied for creation.
The System asks you to balance the scale.
After checking the System's message on the machine's screen...
"Aaaaaaaah!"
With a single scream, I plummeted to the floor along with the scale pan.
Thump. Whoosh. Thud.
Having fallen without any safety devices, I bounced off the ground.
*Cough!*
Perhaps my stamina had depleted from taking the impact with my whole body, but a mouthful of blood erupted from my mouth like a dam bursting.
Seeing me like that, the surrounding heroes became frantic in an instant.
Hwaryeon and Cheonma, who were closest, threw themselves forward and caught me by my shoulders, supporting me.
Before the shock that had coursed through my body could even fade, Hwaryeon and Cheonma badgered me.
"Hey, hey! Are you okay!? What the hell are you doing!"
"...Are you crazy...!? What are you doing right now!"
"..."
"This won't do. Let's just ban the use of that thing. It's too dangerous!"
At Hwaryeon's words, I raised my hand and waved it slightly a couple of times as if to say I was fine.
"..."
"...Do you really have to do that?"
"........ Then... I have to. I have to... so I can pull my own weight... It's what I've been waiting for all this time..."
"Why do you keep going on about pulling your own weight, pulling your own weight! You're doing well enough as it is!"
"...Ha... Hwaryeon is right. You're doing fine. I know you've put a lot of thought into it, but... wait a minute. You, by any chance... that 'Red Wave' too...?"
"..!"
Hwaryeon looked at me with a shocked expression, as if asking if that were true.
"...You... by any chance... is the reason you joined us late... because you were bearing this pain... all by yourself? Expecting that we would ostracize you like the men of the past because you lacked ability?"
"..."
I didn't say anything to Cheonma's words.
Silence is another form of affirmation...
"...Grr... Ha... Fine... But why are you so obsessed with pulling your own weight?"
"...Why am I obsessed with pulling my own weight...? Where I lived... if you couldn't pull your own weight, you weren't treated like a person. It was a world where if you couldn't pull your own weight... people would ask if your parents were 'odd numbers'. I guess you could call it an obsession. And looking at how things work here... I thought I had to do at least double the work to be treated like a person. Sorry... I worried you."
The world I was in was a place where if you couldn't pull your own weight in a game, people would ask if your parents were odd numbers!
"..."
"...Can't you just not do it?"
"..No... I can't..."
"Why are you being so stubborn! Why is a man so stubborn! You should know how to listen when a woman speaks!"
At my refusal, Hwaryeon got angry at me for the first time, with genuine sincerity.
Aha... I guess men here aren't like that. That's a good clue...
The scale, which had returned to its original state, caught my eye as it waited for me.
Despite Hwaryeon and Cheonma's attempts to stop me, I silently approached the scale again.
As I neared the scale, I muttered quietly enough for only Hwaryeon and Cheonma to hear.
"If I'm the only one who suffers... everyone else can be comfortable. So... with an 'unbreakable heart', I will keep trying until it works."
"You...!"
"You...!"
Did it say I need to use two Skill Creation Tickets and apply strong limitations...? First, let's use one more ticket.
*Rip.*
I pulled one more Skill Creation Ticket from my jeans, tore it, and placed it on the right pan of the scale.
Then, I slowly approached the left pan and stepped up onto it.
Vrrrrrrrrr.
The scale, which had been balanced, floated nearly 10 meters into the air again, supporting me.
"System. I'm done thinking, please reflect it."
Cling-clang...
The System states that as two Skill Creation Tickets have been consumed, it is judged as two separate skills—one for attack and one for defense.
The System states that the skill can be created with appropriate limitations.
It worked!
It’s a shame, though... I can't use attack and defense at the same time; it seems they are separate skills. Well, I guess there's no such thing as a free lunch. Still, that’s something.
So, all I have to do is set limitations, right?
The System asks you to determine the name, details, and penalties for the skill to be created.
Skill name...? A name, huh. Let's go with something grand. The Shield of Invincibility, Aegis.
"The skill name is... Aegis."
Now, I'm almost there...!