Clothes (2) — Free Time (1)
How was I supposed to contact her?
I sat with my phone in hand, turning the problem over for a long moment. She was my master's friend, which meant I had to be careful. If I mess this up, word will get back to that master of mine.
After a brief deliberation, the message I settled on read as follows.
A little formal… but it should be fine.
I pressed send with my finger.
Riiing—
The phone rang almost the instant I hit the button.
Huh? It hasn't even been a full minute.
I answered on reflex.
"Hi, Siyu, right? Seoyeon's maid from earlier today."
"Yes, that's me."
Elizabeth's bright, energetic voice came through the speaker.
"I had a feeling you'd call."
"Really?"
"A kid who dresses like that wouldn't have the first clue how to put on and take off something as advanced as a maid outfit, would she?"
"Then why didn't you just—"
"Why would I tell you for free?"
"Excuse me?"
"If I help you this time, you just have to model for me twice. Exactly twice."
Nothing came free. Elizabeth laid out her terms as if she'd been waiting for this exact moment.
"Don't worry — I won't put you in anything weird. Seoyeon would scold me if I did."
Even with me sitting there in silence, the one-sided conversation rolled right on.
"I'll contact you about the modeling later. Look forward to it."
"Um… Elizabeth?"
"What?"
"So just to confirm — I get instructions on how to put on and take off the maid outfit, and you get to use me as a model twice?"
"That's right."
"Doesn't that seem a little unfair to me?"
I mustered the courage to protest. The answer that came back was crushing in its simplicity.
"Well, the second you texted me, I became the one holding all the cards. Of course you're taking the loss."
I was speechless. No matter how easy someone looked to push around—
"What do you think happens if I call Seoyeon?"
My mouth snapped shut.
"Uh…"
"I'll take that as agreement and send you the instructions."
"…Yes."
"When I contact you later, pick up. That's all — hanging up."
Click.
The call ended on the sound of Elizabeth's laughter.
Not long after, a message arrived. It contained a truly meticulous, step-by-step guide on how to put on and take off the maid outfit.
Haa… I got played.
Still, the task at hand was done. I carefully began peeling off the layers of clothing. As the garments that had wrapped my body in tier after tier came away, a strange sense of liberation washed over me.
"Hoo… that feels good."
For an outfit with so much skin on display, the maid dress had been layered thick enough to leave me sweltering.
"Hah…"
The long, long day was finally over. Things should stay quiet for a while now. Moving into the mansion was still a week away, and Elizabeth's modeling work didn't seem imminent.
So… what now?
Once I'd changed, I sank into a familiar dilemma. I was stuck on the same question this morning before I even left the house…
Grrrrowl.
My stomach announced itself with a thunderous rumble.
Food first.
As a reward for everything I'd been through, I ordered fried chicken. While I waited for it to arrive, I decided to check my status window.
I still don't really know what I can do. Even when I'd used the cleaning skill in Elizabeth's workshop, I hadn't exactly handled it smoothly. In games, understanding your skills was essential — I needed to get a proper handle on mine.
Status.
Class: Maid | Synchronization Rate: 6.13%
Level: 1
◈ Absolute Master Protection!!!(A) — [View Details]
◈ Maid's Technique(B) — [View Details]
◈ Maid's Instinct(EX) — [View Details]
The status window was unchanged… except it wasn't.
Was the Synchronization Rate always that high?
For some reason, it seemed to have gone up. But what exactly is Synchronization Rate, anyway?
I only knew the bare basics about Awakening. I'd always treated it as a world that had nothing to do with me, so that was only natural. I'd heard talk of skills and traits, sure — but never once about Synchronization Rate.
So where was I supposed to find information…
If you want a treasure trove of info, there's only one place.
I went to my computer and opened the gallery boards. There's bound to be an Awakened gallery…
Finding it was easy. It was a massive board ranked third on the entire site. Searching for Synchronization Rate turned up a solid number of results. I clicked the most upvoted post.
Most regular people can skip this — not relevant to you.
But for Awakened, Synchronization Rate is a huge deal.
At first it's not intuitive at all and super vague as hell.
Later on, nothing matters more than this thing.
Skill efficiency, skill power, skill mastery growth speed, stats — all of it.
It affects everything.
Most important of all: it rewrites your personality.
There's a reason so many Awakened turn into hardcore method actors. This is the biggest one.
So how do you raise Synchronization Rate?
Simple.
Do stuff that matches your class and it goes up.
Farmer? Farm. Greatswordsman? Swing a greatsword.
That's also why the method actors end up so strong.
They play the role → sync rate goes up → higher sync rate makes them play the role even harder → infinite loop.
That said, it barely budges under normal circumstances, so you don't really need to stress about it.
TL;DR
> Synchronization Rate affects everything
> Higher sync rate = stronger
> Roleplaying your class raises it faster
If this helped, you know what to do — hit that upvote. Peace.
Even after reading the post, Synchronization Rate still felt abstract.
Basically how closely I've synced with my class, I guess?
If that was the case, I had a pretty good idea what had caused it. A maid outfit is obviously deeply tied to being a maid… and so was all that cleaning I did today.
Whether a rising Synchronization Rate was good or bad, I still wasn't sure. It's already gone up, so there's nothing I can do about it now.
Ding-dong.
A welcome sound came from the front door. I cracked it open just enough to take the chicken, heat still rising warmly from the bag.
"Chicken needs beer… do I still have any in the fridge?"
I pulled a beer from the refrigerator and turned on the TV. The chicken, once unwrapped, was radiant — glossy, sauced pieces gleaming beside fried chicken with a beautifully crisp texture.
After everything yesterday and today, I've earned a night off.
Hiss.
I cracked open the beer and glanced at the TV. The news was on.
For the past five years, news of Gates opening had filtered through every so often. Ever since things stabilized, actual accidents had become rare enough that I didn't worry much. Even now that I was Awakened myself, I wasn't a combat class — so it wasn't particularly relevant.
Man, this chicken is good, though.
I tore into the chicken and flipped through the channels. What variety shows are even on these days…
One caught my eye. The title was Masters of Their Trade — a show that, before the Awakened appeared, used to profile people who excelled at their livelihoods. After the Awakened arrived, it had become a program about Awakened using their abilities in everyday work.
Today's guest was a chef. He picked up a knife and tossed ingredients into the air. With a few swift cuts through empty space, the ingredients fell in perfectly neat slices.
Whoa… my Dexterity is nowhere near that. Will I get there eventually?
I turned off the TV and reopened the status window I'd closed over the Synchronization Rate question. I should check Maid's Technique first.
It was the only skill I'd actually used — there might have been some changes.
A maid must be capable in order to serve her master.
Detailed Description
— As the skill levels up, you acquire techniques befitting a maid.
Level 1: Cleaning(Mastery: F+)
—— No stain remains where you have cleaned.
—— Those who dwell in a place you have cleaned receive a modest boost to recovery efficiency.
Level 5: [Locked]
* Beneficial effects apply only to the master and those the master has acknowledged.
I carefully read through the detailed description. First of all, my Cleaning mastery had gone up a little. As for the skill's effects, I still wasn't sure. Did the recovery efficiency actually increase? I didn't notice anything back there…
Maybe the numbers were still too small to feel. The status window wouldn't lie, though.
For now, staring at the window didn't give me anything useful to do. I need to raise my level and build mastery. From here on, cleaning was going to be part of daily life. Starting tomorrow, not today…
I finished the rest of the chicken and went to bed. Please let me have an ordinary dream tonight…
I am standing in front of a door.
A metal door so cold it raises goosebumps, and beyond it, all kinds of noise. Something shattering. People screaming. The grotesque laughter of a child…
And a voice I miss more than anything.
"Siyu, it's okay. Don't open the door."
Mom…
"Our son… cough… hasn't done anything wrong. So don't open the door — just live an ordinary life."
My eyes snapped open.
It was the dream I'd had countless times over the past five years. Apparently I hadn't filled my head with enough idle thoughts tonight. At this rate, I was going to have to clean something just to get back to sleep.
Someday I'll be able to forget it.
I activated the skill.
Maid's Technique: Cleaning.