Chapter 44 [Status Window]

"What the hell is this."

To be honest, I had thought about just sticking with Villager since it felt like a rip-off anyway. Sure, I'd had those thoughts, but come on—suddenly dropping back to plain old Villager like this? I figured it'd at least be something like [Hidden] Badass Villager or whatever, but damn, even that's too lazy now?

Job: [Hidden] Villager

No matter how hard I squinted and stared, it was just Villager with a [Hidden] tag slapped on front. Was this telling me to start from the bottom as a villager and build up again? At this point?

"Whatever... What was I even expecting from a job title."

I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up in the first place. But no, it had to dangle this hidden job bullshit, and I got all excited without thinking.

"...Guess I should check the stat window."

I remembered it saying the stat window would show up after a job promotion. Maybe that wouldn't suck as much. Clinging to that tiny hope, I pulled up the stat window.

Eh...? Wait, what?

The base stats were all a pathetic 10, sure. But what the fuck were those pluses?

Everything except agility was blasting past a thousand. You couldn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just ignore numbers like that.

Even in Ruin, the dating sim, there were status and stat windows showing character growth. The protagonist's maxed-out stats topped out around 3,000. I figured that was the cap without cheating with an editor or some illegal shit, so I'd given up on going higher...

"Luck at 3,791...?"

Luck triggered fun events and good endings, so I'd always tried pumping it up. Never dreamed mine would blow past that already.

Of course not, shit. I'd figured maybe a hundred-something at best!

Why the hell was a nobody villager like me—not even the protagonist—getting stats this insane? Or maybe... the game got tweaked here?

I could only see my own status and stat windows. No peeking at Iris or Estelle's, the actual heroines. If I could compare, it'd be easier, but nope. Frustrating.

...But realistically, even with tweaks, could stats this overwhelming really be weak?

"Where the hell are these pluses even coming from...?"

All I had were a few achievements from blocking bad ends, right?

Add up all the achievement bonuses, and it's barely 30. So where the fuck was that +2,582 on strength from...?

"Argh, this thing's so goddamn unhelpful. How am I supposed to focus on growing what I don't even know is boosting me?!"

Showing the pluses like this probably meant other stuff would tag on the same way. But I searched everywhere—no dice.

"Fuck it. I'll figure it out after grinding titles or promoting the job or whatever."

No point obsessing over unknown sources. This shit reveals itself over time anyway.

All I knew was, for some reason, I had busted stats. So I could chill more from now on. If someone picked a fight, I could smash 'em. Even if Iris or Estelle went berserk, the numbers said I could handle it for now.

Though I had no clue how strong they really were. Maybe they let me win in spars. Or maybe I was just that good.

"But still, isn't this way too OP for a villager...?"

If every villager had this power... nah, they'd be weapons of mass destruction, not villagers.

"Hah, whatever. Time to sleep."

Guess I was one of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the elite hidden villagers or something. Sounded lame, but the old job was straight-up Villager. And yeah, each promotion felt like my stamina and strength ramped up.

Probably a ton of plus stats tied to the job. Base was hundreds before hidden, thousands after. Yeah, that tracks. Hidden villager's rare as hell, right?

"..."

Felt like I was rationalizing hard, but that's life. You gotta justify shit to survive.

While I finished rationalizing and crashed out, a woman sat on the rooftop, gazing at the stars.

"I want to go to Theo."

It was Estelle, not in her uniform but thin casual clothes. Most were the flowing white outfits from the Holy Empire for her saintess gigs—ethereal and billowy.

"...Uniforms are comfier."

Usually casual beats uniform, but not for her.

"Ugh, I wanna quit being saintess."

She was an academy student first, but saintess duties meant occasional trips to the Holy Empire. Teleport magic made travel easy for her.

"...Gotta see that creep again."

The Holy Emperor, all smiles and fake kindness to the masses, but rotten inside. Top reason she hated going.

Hated his public grin, hated how he showed his true colors only to her because she was saintess.

Since childhood, she'd pulled every stunt to get fired—her runaway adventure with Duncan nearly did it. But no one else matched her holy power, so they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dragged her back.

If Theo ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had holy power, they'd have snatched him too, right?

Thinking of Theo's talent, she felt relieved. If he'd outdone her in holy power, he'd be stuck as a child saint.

"Nightmare."

Imagining Theo in her shoes made her grateful it was her instead.

"Tomorrow, huh."

Weekends were fun with Theo and Iris—made leaving suck more. She'd planned a break visit, but the Empire forced a weekday holiday via the academy.

'Tell us directly next time, Saintess. Heh.'

The principal, getting the Emperor's message direct, called her in flustered, begging for advance notice.

'How, when I don't even know.'

Even if she did, she wouldn't tell. He knew that, hence the workaround.

"Whatcha doing here?"

A familiar voice cut through her lazy funk.

"Iris, what about you?"

She knew it without turning.

"Just catching a breather. Didn't expect you. But what's with that... saintess-y outfit?"

Estelle hadn't worn it since academy—hell, not since Theo's house. Borrowed his or Iris's clothes, or bought her own.

"Eh, gotta go to the Holy Empire."

Iris sidled up as Estelle grumbled.

"Holy Empire? When?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Outta nowhere."

"Yeah. Found out today outta the blue. I'm pissed, so don't poke."

Normally she'd brush it off, but she was on edge.

"Hmmm, hate it that much? I get it."

"Thanks for understanding."

"How about this, Estelle?"

"What."

Iris shrugged at her grumpiness.

"We all go. Me, you, and Theo—to the Holy Empire."

"...Huh? With Theo...?"

"I'll tag along too?"

Estelle's pissed glare sparkled suddenly.