I Learned a Ridiculous Skill
"...R-registration?!"
The Association receptionist shot up from her seat in alarm. Blood stained the corner of Yena's lips, and she was struggling just to catch her breath.
"Cough... Yes. N-new registration, please."
"Never mind that—are you all right? You really ought to see a hospital first..."
"I'm fine. I already had today's portion."
She said it as if it were nothing at all. The receptionist's face only grew darker.
Today's portion...? Don't tell me she means medicine.
Perhaps she suffered from some incurable illness, something that demanded a strictly measured dose every single day. The thought made the receptionist's heart ache.
"I see..."
She couldn't hide the pity in her eyes. A few hunters waiting nearby glanced over.
"What's with her?"
"No idea, but she looks really sick."
The whispers drifted across the hall, but Yena had no energy to spare for them. Registration came first. Only once she was registered would she have a way into the towers—and a way to make money.
"I'll walk you through the new registration process first."
Still looking worried, the receptionist guided Yena into a small booth.
"Could you place your finger here?"
Yena carefully reached toward the transparent glass plate the woman indicated—then hesitated, glancing around, unsure which finger to use.
"Um, which finger?"
"Your index finger. Like this."
The receptionist gently adjusted her hand. Yena flinched at the unfamiliar touch, then submitted to it.
A cheerful electronic beep rang out.
Fingerprint registration complete.
She had been through this procedure before. But perhaps because the body was different now, everything felt strangely new. The retinal scan that followed went off without a hitch as well.
New hunter registration complete.
"That's the basic procedure done. Once we finish the rank assessment, you'll be a proper hunter. Simpler than you'd think, right?"
Yena offered a faint smile at that.
"Now, just put your hand into this machine and release all of your mana. Oh—and to release it, simply picture it in your mind. The system will resonate with you."
Yena stepped up to the cylindrical machine and slid her hand inside, her face tight with tension.
Release all of her mana.
...So you want me to die?
That was out of the question. She barely had any mana left as it was. Her fingertips trembled. Even bleeding off a tiny amount was difficult to control.
The machine gave a low, vibrating hum.
Rank: F-Rank
"Huh..."
The receptionist tilted her head slightly. Coming up as F-Rank was common enough. The vast majority of awakened hunters belonged there, after all.
Yes, it was perfectly ordinary. And yet...
"Well, the machine couldn't be wrong, could it...?"
Something about the result still sat poorly with her.
Every living thing, human or otherwise, gave off a kind of natural presence—an aura that simply hung in the air around them. The remarkably pretty girl standing in front of her carried an aura that was somehow different from everyone else's. The receptionist had expected a higher rank because of it.
Did I get my hopes up for nothing?
Maybe she had. Especially since the girl herself looked nothing but relieved.
"I see. So it's F-Rank... Thank goodness."
Yena nodded as if that settled everything, then broke into a sweet, bashful little smile.
"Ah..."
For a moment, the receptionist forgot herself entirely, lost in that smile. To think such a harmless, lovable little creature actually existed. The urge to scoop her into a hug and spirit her away on the spot welled up so strongly she almost acted on it.
She gave her head a vigorous shake and held out a sheet of paper instead.
"H-here's your rank certificate."
"Ah, thank you."
Yena accepted the little slip of paper and gathered it in both hands, hugging it to her chest as if it were something precious.
"And this is your Tower Access Device. I'll give you a quick rundown of how to use it."
What the receptionist held out next was a round machine no larger than a palm. Yena turned it over and over, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
So this is what it looks like up close...
She had never seen one from this near. Back when she'd gone along as a Porter, the most she'd managed was a glimpse of other people using them from a distance.
"It only works at towers registered with the Association. If you press this button here..."
A coughing fit tore through her in the middle of the explanation.
"Cough, cough!"
Even though she clapped a hand over her mouth in a hurry, blood seeped out between her fingers. The receptionist's face went pale.
"A-are you all right? Just a moment!"
She moved in a flash, returning with a damp towel and a glass of water. Yena took them with an apologetic look.
"Th-thank you..."
"Don't mention it. That completes the registration process, so you're free to head home. Or, if you'd like, I could see you—"
Shall I see you home?
The words rose all the way to her throat, but she barely managed to swallow them. She had come within a breath of walking off the job without even noticing.
"...I appreciate the thought. I can manage that much on my own."
Yena had already grasped, from context alone, exactly what the woman had been about to say. She offered a small bow and began to leave, her steps slow and unsteady.
"Will that girl be all right...?"
The receptionist watched Yena's retreating figure with worried eyes.
And then—
"...Huh?"
Still following her with that pained gaze, she glanced back at the mana measurement result, and her eyes went round.
"W-wait! Please, wait a moment!"
It was hard to believe, but the result had changed. She had never seen anything like it, and she hurriedly tried to call Yena back.
"Ah, she's already gone..."
Yena, who had been trudging along so weakly, had already vanished into the crowd.
"What on earth is 'Unmeasurable' even supposed to mean..."
She scratched her cheek. The machine had been working just fine until now—it must have finally gone haywire, she decided.
"Still, she really was adorable. I'd love to see her again..."
She found herself recalling Yena's bashful little smile.
After one ordeal after another, Yena finally made it home. She sank onto the edge of the bed and caught her breath.
She had taken a taxi for almost the entire way and walked only the last few minutes, yet her body felt as heavy as lead.
"Hah... hah..."
Had she overdone it? Even moving as carefully as possible, this was what she got.
"...This body is way too weak."
Going straight into a tower in this condition was out of the question. She needed to recover a little first.
"Ah—while I'm at it, I should watch some tower-clear videos."
She carefully lay on her stomach on the bed and tapped at her smartphone, opening the YouTube app and searching for hunter battle footage.
Countless videos poured in at once. The thumbnails were plastered with type and effects in every lurid color and size, so excessive it made her eyes hurt.
"Not these..."
They were so overstimulating she found herself avoiding them on principle. After scrolling for a while, one thumbnail suddenly caught her eye.
Compared to everything else people had uploaded, the thumbnail was almost boring. A single enormous monster, a few words of text underneath—that was all. And yet the view count had already surpassed ten million. Bewitched, Yena hit play.
A woman appeared on screen, her crimson hair tied back tightly. A scabbard hung at her waist, and she gazed at the monster with indifferent eyes.
Then the monster roared and charged. In that instant, the woman's hand came to rest on the scabbard.
Her fingers seemed to twitch—
Shhk.
A shearing sound rang out, and a beat later the monster's body split along a diagonal.
"Wait, that's so cool..."
Yena held her breath without realizing it. She swallowed, a dry little gulp, and rewound the video again and again as if spellbound.
The Battōjutsu the Sword Princess had used was a movement that far transcended the realm of human capability. Simply watching it was nowhere near enough to copy it; it was all but impossible.
But Yena possessed the racial skill of the Terminal race.
The Forerunner.
So long as she witnessed a skill being used with her own eyes, she could reproduce it to a near-perfect degree in a short time.
I didn't think a YouTube video would count...
Whether she could reproduce it here and now, she had no idea. But it was worth a try.
Mana remaining: 2.9%.
Yena picked up the backscratcher that had been lying by the bed.
Just once. I need to know how much mana it burns, too.
In her mind, she synced her body's movements to the Sword Princess's motions she had just watched.
She fixed the backscratcher at her hip, then in a single instant pulled the handle as if thrusting it forward—and drew.
A chime rang in her mind.
The Forerunner has activated.
Even as the messages appeared, Yena's movement did not stop.
Fwoosh!
In that split second, the backscratcher swept through empty air and cleaved the space in front of her.
Mana consumption has increased due to vigorous movement!
Current Mana: 2.5%
"...Wha?!"
Yena stared at the chunk of mana that had just been gouged away, and was horrified. The fact that she had pulled off Battōjutsu so beautifully was already the furthest thing from her mind.
To think that much mana had just drained away!
0.4%. Converted, that was two F-Rank Magic Stones. Worth a full million won!
A million won, just for waving her arm around a little. Could the world possibly be this cruel?
"Sniff. I really have no choice now but to clear a tower."
Then she thought she felt a cool breeze. Where was that coming from? She turned her head.
"...Huh?"
One side of the wall had been carved away on a perfectly smooth diagonal. Through the gap, the nightscape outside was clearly visible.
Hm.
She was so screwed.