Chapter 2: I Got the Materialization Skill
A translucent blue window popped up right in front of my eyes. Yeah, that thing. The one anyone who's ever dipped into games, novels, or comics in this genre runs into at least once.
Whoa, shit. Jackpot.
My boring life was about to get a whole lot less boring. Heart racing with excitement, I scanned the skill window that had appeared.
Rank: ?
Background: Life is a chain of choices, and unchosen possibilities always linger as shadows. Some dreamed of power to change the world, others sought only what they desired most, and still others yearned to confront what they couldn't leave behind. This skill answers such wishes. It is granted only to those who grasp at shadows.
From nothing to something, the boundary between falsehood and truth—the user is human...
What the hell is this? Cut. No wonder the novel tanked with single-digit views. Even my dog back home would've spat it out the second it saw this skill window.
What the fuck, dude? I swear I heard my friend's voice, but screw hallucinations right now. That wasn't important.
I was scrolling down fast when—knock knock—another knock at the door, followed by a woman's voice, sharper than before.
"Young master."
"...Y-yeah? What?!"
"The lord is summoning you. If you don't come out right now, I'll break the door down and drag you out myself."
A chill shot down my spine. Her voice dripped with murderous intent, like she was ready to beat the crap out of me.
But I couldn't go out there yet.
Need something to buy time...
No matter how I racked my brain, nothing came to mind except the universal stall tactic.
Another knock—thud thud turning into BAM BAM, full of force like she was about to smash the door for real. No time to think. I yelled desperately.
"Sorry! Tell Father—or Mother? Uh, anyway, tell them I'll be a bit late!"
"...What nonsense are you up to now."
"Bathroom emergency—!"
"......Huh?"
A disbelieving tongue-click from beyond the door. A brief silence. Then a low, grinding of teeth.
"Young master."
"Y-yeah?!"
"You have ten minutes. If it takes longer, pants down or not, I'll drag you out of there—so hurry."
"Th-thanks!"
I had no idea where the bathroom was, but I had to at least pretend to head there. To use the skill, I needed to draw something first. I swept pens and paper off the desk and clutched them tight.
Next. Bathroom, bathroom...!
Glancing around frantically, I finally spotted a door on one side of the room. Bathroom or not, I decided to check it out.
Slam— I threw it open and rushed in.
A moment later, what I saw was a room the size of a simple outhouse. Stone walls, a chair in the middle with a hole in it. Nothing else.
...No way.
I peeked down the hole. The bottom was wide open—everything below visible.
......Holy shit, for real?
I pinched my cheek. It hurt like hell. I'd braced myself, but I never expected a medieval toilet this brutally honest.
My eyes drifted back to the gaping hole. In that moment, I thought: screw skills, I wanna go back to my fully paid-off apartment.
Isekai romance? Bullshit. Modern hygiene standards have zero tolerance for this crap.
I'd even held it for days to avoid my grandma's outhouse-style toilet.
Those memories flooded back—the agony of a kid too embarrassed to speak up, sipping water and toughing it out until constipation hit.
I couldn't relive that tragedy forever.
I'll make a modern toilet somehow. For real.
Now my survival was on the line in a whole new way. Desperately, I shouted the skill name.
The blue window popped up again. I scrolled past the useless backstory to the core info.
Description: Allows the user to create drawn objects.
▶ The more detailed the concept and drawing, the higher the completion quality.
▶ The higher the user's proficiency with the object, the lower the creation difficulty.
Yeah. This should've been up front. I'd worried the skill description would be boring and pretentious, but thankfully, it was straightforward and practical. Toss my pretentious friend's ramblings—this was the real deal.
▶ The more detailed the concept and drawing, the higher the completion quality.
▶ The higher the user's proficiency with the object, the lower the creation difficulty.
Design? Piece of cake for a webtoon artist. But proficiency with the object? That was trickier. Proficiency probably meant usage count or how well I understood its structure and design.
What do I know inside out? And something familiar I've never used...
It hit me. My fave character Izuna-chan's signature weapon, Byakuya.
As a gold-handed fanboy, I'd drawn hundreds of fanarts of Izuna. I could sketch Byakuya with my eyes closed.
Perfect. Let's do this.
I pressed paper against the wall and hurriedly sketched. But it was tougher than expected.
Damn, what's with this paper? And why's the ink leaking from this pen?
Lines wobbly against the stone wall, crappy paper, quill like a plucked feather spurting ink everywhere. Grinding my teeth in frustration, I powered through.
"Done. Somehow."
A deadline-crunch sketch—lines crooked, thickness uneven, but anyone could tell it was Byakuya. Zero satisfaction as a diehard fan, though.
Argh, the details suck.
No time to fix it. Hand over the paper, activate the skill.
The paper flashed, and another window appeared. At least I didn't have to shout the skill name like some cringy event.
Target: Byakuya
Category: Weapon
Difficulty: High
Proficiency Bonus: None
Completion: 72%
Available Materials
▶A (Material Acquisition Difficulty: SS / Quality: A)
▶B (Material Acquisition Difficulty: A / Quality: B~C)
▶C (Material Acquisition Difficulty: C / Quality: C~F)
Wait. Materials are tiered? Curious, I checked each one.
A first: True to SS difficulty, a feast of "how the hell do I get this?" stuff.
Ancient Dragon Heart Core x1
Moonlight-Condensed Elven Metal x10
Star Fragment-Infused Fairy Alloy x10
Top-Grade Diamond x1
And? The diamond looks easiest. Even in isekai, high-quality fanning demands cash.
Sighing, I checked B. More reasonable, but still hell for my level.
Then C. Finally something sane-ish. Maybe I could scrape it together if I tried?
Refined Dwarven Steel x10
High-Grade Magic Crystal x5
Magic Beast Core Fragment x3
Eluaez Church Essence x1
Still tough, though. Dwarven steel and beast core fragments? No way that's cheap.
Test complete: copying something familiar but unused.
Now for something I'm used to.
While sketching Byakuya, I'd already picked my next target. The thing I used most, and essential for this skill.
Pencil and eraser. This shitty quill made fast, precise work impossible.
Pencil first.
Paper against the wall again. Drawing a hand holding a pencil was sketchbook staple—done quick.
Skill activate—flash.
Target: Pencil
Category: Stationery
Difficulty: Very Low
Proficiency Bonus: 90%
Completion: 94%
Available Materials
▶A (Material Acquisition Difficulty: S / Quality: SSS~S)
▶B (Material Acquisition Difficulty: C / Quality: S~B)
▶C (Material Acquisition: None / Quality: C~D)
"...Whoa, shit."
A genuine exclamation. Nailed it. What artist isn't proficient with pencils?
Numbers worlds better than Byakuya's. Relief washed over me.
Still, short 10%... Probably structure knowledge or something. I'd used tons of pencils, but never thought about how they're made or work.
Graphite in wood, roughly.
More importantly, C:
▶C (Material Acquisition: None / Quality: C~D)
No materials needed at all?
I rubbed my eyes. Still "None."
How?
No hesitation—hit confirm.
The paper glowed. Light faded, and a pencil lay in my hand instead.
"...Oh."
A real pencil. Checking the result window in awe.
Target: Pencil
Quality: D+
Quality D+. Just a bog-standard pencil, like the cheap ones at a stationery store.
But in this romance-free medieval dump, holding a modern writing tool felt like a miracle. Life quality skyrocketed.
"Kuhuhu, that's more like it."
My solo elation didn't last. A massive KABOOM── echoed nearby, and the bathroom door flew open.
"Ten minutes have passed."
"...Y-yeah."
There stood a red-haired maid gripping a broom, glaring down at me with utter contempt.