Schrödinger's Status Window
Schrödinger's Status Window
It might be my home for the next four years, so I gave the place a decent once-over.
A spacious living room, a clean kitchen. Three bedrooms, a bathroom, a storage room, a veranda—the works.
Basic furniture and household items were all provided too.
This world runs on mana, not electricity. Every appliance had mana clustered in specific patterns.
Was that household magic? I could sense the patterns interweaving somehow, but I'm still a total layman. I'll have to check again once I've learned the basics.
My favorite part was the veranda. It's big enough to comfortably grow plenty of plants.
The whole place is spacious—almost too big for one person. You could easily fit two or three people here without issue.
Add in the pool, sauna, gym, and other amenities, and 'top-of-the-line' felt like an understatement.
It's hard to tell if this is a school dorm or a luxury hotel.
As for the exterior... I can't see it. I'd guess they put a lot of work into it. The illustrations made it look every bit as good as a five-star hotel.
And even this might not be enough for the world's finest talents they've scraped together, so there are even better dorm buildings available.
Though those are reserved for top performers.
The highest-ranked students can get an actual house on the estate or a penthouse on the top floor of a dorm building.
'That stings.'
A water cannon (Fire attribute) from the sunflower showerhead on the ceiling nailed me right in the face, and a yelp slipped out before I could stop it.
I tried to hold it in, but the shower reacted to even that tiny squeak...
So the Curse of Silence hit me with a double dose right after.
I threw on some clothes, bought burn ointment, and slathered it all over myself.
My body might be frail, but a superhuman is still a superhuman—thankfully I didn't get any serious burns. The management office staff said this would heal fine with some ointment.
As I was spreading the medicine, the thought of burns made me touch my right hand. An unnatural texture. A burn scar from when I was young.
It goes from my right fingertips all the way up my forearm.
A burn from a fire at the orphanage. Even the doctor shook his head, saying the damage was bizarre.
The doctor said he'd never seen a burn scar like this before.
Even I think it's hideous enough to make anyone wince. It looks like an old tree struck by lightning and charred dry.
That's why I always wear black arm sleeves over both hands when I go out. If I showed something like this off, I'd draw a whole lot of the wrong kind of attention.
Ironically, even though I'd been thrown into a game world, this was still my original body.
I flopped onto the soft bed.
My condition was already scraping rock bottom before the water cannon sent it straight into the basement, but I still had to use this scrap of time to think about the future.
About ten days since the transition.
Day one, my head nearly exploded and I passed out. Day three, I almost starved to death and became a corpse. Just now, I saw something between gates and my head nearly exploded again...
First priority: quickly stabilize my Spatial Perception, which functions as my 'eyes'.
Up until today, I've spent my time Harmonizing with my Spatial Perception.
Now I can maintain a range of about thirty meters in diameter.
The colors are still the same, but the expanded range makes me feel a little less boxed in.
Also, my Spatial Perception has been tingling strangely—it's accelerated even more since I saw something between the gates.
A blessing in disguise, I guess. Nearly having my head blown off seems to have given my Spatial Perception a boost.
I'm getting the feeling I'll be able to shift perspectives at will soon enough.
Also, it's about time to set a goal.
Not that there's much to decide.
'Forget any game-like playthroughs.'
Chapter 1 of the main story is set mostly at Siyoram. According to the lore, the security here is so tight that any events like attacks all fizzle out.
But out in the wider world, incidents and accidents happen all the time.
Players usually get tangled up in major events when they're out doing external activities.
Getting involved with villains, running into variant monsters, getting trapped in mutation dungeons... going around clearing every kind of disaster for rewards to raise my stats—that was my main playstyle from the 2nd Iteration onward.
'I have to drop that.'
Obviously, running around like a maniac in real life is insane. In a game, you just lose some HP. In reality, that's just being a lunatic.
The only reason to chase stat gains outside was greed, not necessity.
I can grow plenty at Siyoram. In fact, I might grow even faster here.
The blessing from the Tower of Growth.
A growth boost applied to all positive development.
In the original, the multiplier was at least five times, wasn't it?
Where else could you find such a broken effect? If I can hold out here, I'll grow at least five times faster than out there.
I don't need to go gallivanting outside.
Plus, the basic assumption of stat gains through external events is that you need a Status Window to measure rewards... wait a second.
A thought flashed through my mind.
'Do I not have a Status Window?'
Like most games, Savior has a Status Window that compiles your character's stats into objective numbers, and a quest system that doles out quests and rewards.
But the Status Window is described as a hologram floating in the air...
I stayed silent for a moment, then muttered internally.
'Status Window? Status?'
Nothing changed.
I reached out and waved my hand through the air. Nothing there. I checked with Spatial Perception too—same result. It just registered as empty air.
'So I really don't have one?'
Seriously, I don't have one, right? It's not that I just can't see it—it's really not there?
It's not the kind of thing you can only see if you actually open your eyes...?
Honestly, if I had one, my Spatial Perception would've picked it up. Definitely.
Anyway.
Spec-up via external activities: scrapped. Growing by the book at Siyoram: adopted.
I also plan to interfere with the main story as little as possible.
'Honestly, the player is unnecessary to the story.'
I'm a player, not the protagonist.
In Savior, the world doesn't end just because the player does nothing.
Sure, depending on how things play out, a whole country might go under, but the main cast handles it somehow.
Player intervention could prevent an event, reduce the damage it caused—or sometimes make matters worse.
The player isn't essential. That, at least, is a relief.
And from what I've confirmed, every main character enrolling in this cohort exists. The previous cohort matches up for the most part too. The ones active as superhumans worldwide are also mostly faces I know.
A few names have changed, but... this is reality, not a game. Unavoidable variables are bound to exist.
The world might not follow the game's story exactly, but the gist should be roughly the same, shouldn't it?
Basically, the story will chug along fine without me. I just have to do my own thing.
My main goal, naturally, was to remove the constraints placed on me.
I have three constraints.
The 「Curse of Sensory Sealing」, which stole my sight, smell, and taste.
The 「Curse of Short Life」, which makes me drop dead young.
The 「Curse of Silence」, which seals off my speech.
I remember one method for lifting a constraint, so I have to find my bearings on that front.
'...But I have to break at least one more.'
If there's one I absolutely have to break, it's the Curse of Short Life. But like I've thought before, I can't live happily carrying around the Curse of Sensory Sealing either, so I have to break that one too, no matter what.
...Truth be told, if I had no choice, I could probably live with the Curse of Silence. Back on original Earth, I barely ever opened my mouth except to talk to myself, so I figure I'd manage just fine as a mute...
Plus, from what I remember, there are artifacts I can collect to indirectly circumvent the Curse of Silence.
'How should I plan my growth route?'
I sank back into thought.
To break one of the constraints, I need to clear a specific dungeon, and for that I need power. I have to reach the necessary level of strength to clear it.
Three constraints I received, along with three abilities.
「Spatial Perception」, which acts like an omnidirectional radar.
「Mana Affinity」, giving me mana compatibility that would put an archmage to shame.
「All-Rounder」, granting above-average talent in every possible field.
'Ah... If it was gonna be like this, I should've taken something else instead of Sensory Sealing and All-Rounder.'
The Curse of Sensory Sealing stripped away half my five senses in an instant.
At best, All-Rounder was an ability for a true master of everything; at worst, it was a half-baked grab bag of a skill.
The reason I picked the Curse of Sensory Sealing was that the risk was supposed to be nothing more than a total crash to sensory stats, and even that was more than covered by Spatial Perception.
And since my goal was solo play this time too, I went with All-Rounder because, pushed to the absolute limit, it could handle tanking, DPS, and healing to some degree.
But this was reality, not a game, and I wasn't confident I could make All-Rounder work that well...
'If this was gonna happen, I should've gone with a single aptitude...'
If I'd at least taken something like the Sword Saint's aptitude, I could've definitely made it big in that field.
All-Rounder, at best, gets you to 'gifted' level.
At Siyoram, where all the world's geniuses gather, being 'gifted' is just bottom of the barrel.
'So the only things I can trust are Spatial Perception and Mana Affinity.'
Spatial Perception, essentially human radar, and Mana Affinity, which is great no matter what class you pick but truly shines on the mage route.
'Should I go the mage route...'
Honestly, if someone told me to grab a weapon and fight monsters in melee... could I even do it...?
I don't know if I'd be any good, but given my traits, the mage route is definitely the best choice.
'My head hurts...'
Once the worrying stopped, a wave of exhaustion hit me and pressed down on my body. I didn't fight it. I just lay down on the bed.
It's still early to sleep, but I'm too tired.
Thanks to the information overload from Spatial Perception, I have trouble staying asleep, but if I really want to conk out, I can.
The Freshmen Welcome Party isn't until next week. Since I checked in early, I've got plenty of free time.
My eyes were already shut to begin with, so drowsiness slowly crept in.
Along with it came the anxiety I'd crumpled up and shoved into a corner of my heart.
The one method I know to break a constraint.
It involves using an artifact buried in a specific dungeon. The dungeon itself is hidden out in the sticks, but dungeon explorers search remote areas for a living.
What if someone finds it first?
What if I dawdle and miss it by a single moment?
I need at least two methods, and the fear of losing the only one I know drove the drowsiness away.
'Ah, shit.'
I grimaced and pushed myself upright. Sitting at the desk in the room, I fiddled with my smartwatch.
[ Opening "Basic Mana Control (Low)." ]
A week until the welcome party.
I should at least memorize some theory before then.
.
.
.
[─The proposed origins of mana are countless. The Natural Theory claims it arose from natural energy, while the Stellar Theory posits it originated from the stars and was transmitted to humanity-y-y-y-y─]
'What's wrong with this thing.'
- Ding!
- Ding!
[Alert. Mana Remaining: 3% ]
'Ah.'
* * *
- Ding!
[Observation... successful.]
[Summoning... successful.]
[Synchronization... succ... ess...]
[The 'Player Correction System' is ready.]