Trait Integration

When my parents heard that my little sister had been summoned to the Abyss, the worrying started almost immediately.

But once I told them that no matter what happened, I was not about to die, they relaxed and headed back out on their travels. They already had hotels and restaurants booked, they said, so they might as well enjoy themselves. I'd made the trip first and come back in one piece, and my sister had always loved exercise and kept herself in great shape, so their minds were eased on that front too.

Either way, my sister and her girlfriend were off to the Abyss, and by the time they returned, I'd be back as well.

"Whew... at this point, the Abyss feels more like home than Earth does. Well, not that this isn't home too."

Back in the Abyss, the artifacts that had piled up from nonstop production were there to greet me. They were my source of funding — but they were also the reason someone had tried to take my life, so my feelings about them were a little complicated. Still, I had no intention of shutting the business down. If anything, I planned to expand the elixir side of things even further.

"Which reminds me — the armor has been selling like crazy."

I'd sold the special forces trio wild spider armor instead of the Spider Queen set, and the response had still been phenomenal. The armor made from ordinary spiders was apparently harder than steel yet soft and easy to move in, and it sold out in the blink of an eye.

"Any quest that involves hunting spiders, I'll take it, anytime. Hm?"

The spider armor had gone for a full 30 million won a set. Returnees were taking on debt, even taking out loans, to get their hands on it — online, people were actually calling them pitiful. In practice, though, a returnee could live comfortably just culling the odd goblin, and mages in particular could make money in an instant. One returnee with earth magic was apparently charging 3 million won to till a single field. The story of him tilling five fields in one day and pocketing 15 million won was spreading like wildfire. Returnee power was being put to use everywhere, so for them, getting rich was only a matter of time.

"Thanks to that, the funding crunch is behind us again. And this time around, my sister's joining the guild too."

The real question was who to appoint as vice guild master. There would inevitably come a moment when someone had to look after the guild in my absence — no one in the Abyss knew what was happening in the real world. Not that I was particularly worried; Raptors were spread across every corner of South Korea, Daegu and the Gyeongbuk and Gyeongnam regions included.

That said, these days people were clearing stage 10 with ease, and with their perfect-clear counts piling up and their trait lists growing, some of them were breezing through stage 20 as well. Plenty of them had bought additional artifacts from me this time around, too.

"By the way, that druid was seriously amazing!"

"Right? Absolutely fascinating."

The video of a returnee with druid abilities commanding plants like some kind of elf had been genuinely mesmerizing. After gaining his power, he'd watched the animals suffering at the zoo and resolved to build a massive sanctuary of his own someday. With abilities like his, he could properly control animals too, so the public reaction had been explosive.

"Anyway, let me check the rewards from clearing up to stage 60."

Last time, I'd pushed past stage 50 all the way to stage 60. I'd confirmed everything through stage 56, so all that remained was to check the four rewards for stages 57 through 60.

"Two enhancements, two randoms, then."

The new traits I'd picked up this time were Agility Enhancement and Swordsmanship.

"Ooh...!"

Sure enough, the individual enhancement traits were gone. From now on, every enhancement-type trait I picked up would presumably feed straight into Body Enhancement. Something had changed, all right — though I couldn't tell whether gaining the agility trait had triggered it, or whether the merged trait had simply grown stronger on its own.

"Still, having that many was a hassle... Hmm. So right now I've got spear technique, while other people have swordsmanship, dagger arts, archery. If I pick those up too, would they all merge into some kind of Weapon Mastery?"

It actually seemed possible. Grinning at the news, I hopped into the community to share it — and stopped cold at the hot post on the front page.

"What... is this? Belzer. Check this out."

I summoned Belzer, who had been gathering intelligence in the real world. Pulling him out mid-task was unavoidable — he needed to see this.

"This is... I'm afraid I don't know either, sir. I have never witnessed a phenomenon like it. It appears to be someone who has made a contract with an evil god."

"That's my read too. You focus on gathering information. Oh, right — let me write up the trait integration post first."

After putting up the info post, I left the intelligence work to Belzer. I asked the special forces trio as well, but they didn't seem to know much about the situation either. In the end, Belzer set about collecting information, and I put the matter aside and went to Rune for training.

"You've come."

Gulp.

"Yeah."

This time, Rune would be teaching me to infuse aura into a weapon. I'd trained Body Enhancement until I could wield it effortlessly, but infusing it into a weapon was still beyond me.

"Drink up."

Gulp, gulp.

The elixir ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I drank this time was the lowest grade.

My heart thumped. It was on a completely different level from the standard-issue elixirs. Pouring mana until my heating mana circuits were brimming, I wrapped the aura around the plain wooden sword in my hand.

"Mana. Magic power. Aura. I did explain the difference between those three, didn't I."

Mana was the most basic form. Circulate it and make it your own, and it became magic power. And finally, refine that magic power to reinforce your body and pour it into your weapon.

"Succeed through this step, and I shall grant you the aura cultivation method I once used. Now — again."

Crack! The wooden sword in my hand ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠burst apart.

"Guh..."

I grabbed one of the dozens of wooden swords piled on the floor. I'd kept practicing in the real world too, but I still couldn't get the feel for it.

"There is doubtless another path. But if you begin searching for a different path from here, what exactly do you intend ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to do afterward?"

She had a point. How many people in this world could train this safely and steadily, the way I could? And yet it was impossible. Maybe I truly lacked the talent for it — but if I died, they would vanish along with me. We didn't know exactly what would become of Pitasha and Rune, but the conclusion we'd reached was that they would most likely disappear as well. They were already bound to me, after all. So even if I didn't strictly have to fight, the power of my true self needed to grow.

"...Bring it in."

At Rune's word, the machine legion beside us began dragging something in. The orc I'd captured while repeating stage 60. A second-tier orc, no less.

"Give it a try. You won't die. Just don't let your brain take damage."

"Right."

Click.

I put on the helmet Pitasha had built — guaranteed, she claimed, to make brain injury flatly impossible.

The difference between a top-grade healing potion and an elixir came down to this: the potion did not restore a broken mind. Feed one to a vegetative patient, and while the body might return to what it was before, the person would remain a vegetable. An elixir, however, healed every mental injury as well. Even if a curse had shattered someone's mind, dispelling the curse would settle the matter — though the shattered mind did not come back. It simply stopped getting worse.

"Of course, just in case, I made two extra elixirs."

When Pitasha heard about this training, she tried to stop me — absolutely not, she said. Rune insisted it was non-negotiable. In the end Pitasha came around, and she was the one who made them.

"Open it."

Screech... THUD!

The door swung open and the orc erupted, unleashing rage at everyone who had never once treated him as the warrior he was. Then he spotted the man standing before him.

"Come at me."

"UWOOOOOO!"

The orc had been captured without a single wound. He was in peak condition, and he came charging at me in an instant, iron club raised. That crudely forged club was a weapon perfectly matched to his physical abilities.

Whoosh. I barely slipped past the club as it came at me with a menacing howl. In my hand: a wooden sword, nothing more. How strong could a wooden sword possibly be? To face him with this, there was only one thing I needed — aura wrapped around the blade.

"Die!"

CRUNCH!

I dodged his club and swung the wooden sword down onto the arm he'd slammed toward the ground. The aura was clinging to the blade — just barely.

More. I have to pour in more.

At this rate, the connection to the aura would snap. Slowly. A little weaker!

CRACKLE! BOOM!

"Shit!"

The wooden sword exploded before it ever reached the orc's arm. I hurriedly snatched up another one lying beside me.

A scornful snort.

"UWOOOOOOO!"

The tattoos on his body began to glow. Channeling the power of those tattoos through his reinforced frame, the orc crossed the distance in an instant. I slipped past his club and coated the blade once more with the aura drawn out of pure Body Enhancement.

"You wield Power Strike through your sword just fine — why can't you manage this? Have you buried yourself so deep in your Traits that you've forgotten how to fight?"

"Guh... take THIS!"

WHAM!

"Kgh—!"

Just as I swung the sword, the orc ducked low and drove a fist into my side. Before I could catch my breath, he brought his club swinging down at me.

"AAAAAARGH!"

My left shoulder caved in, and the orc came ambling closer to finish the job.

"...Now!"

My aura-reinforced hand clamped around the orc's leg.

"UWAAAH!"

Just as he raised the club to swing, the leg muscles crushed by my grip gave out beneath him and the orc toppled over. I kicked him square in the gut to bring him down and swung the wooden sword with my right hand.

"Fuck — just die already!"

THUNK!

"Hah... hah..."

This time, the wooden sword didn't break. It slid into the orc's throat like a razor-sharp shard.

"...Well done."

...He actually pulled it off.

Watching Kim Hyunwoo gulp for air, Rune thought: As expected, he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠has inherited Sun Wukong's talent for the martial arts... Hm. What is that man thinking?