Stat Optimization and the First Customer

As I ended the third reality intrusion, the clubroom was completely empty. I sat quietly and opened my status window.

The skills all looked pretty sinister, but I understood why soon enough.

"I've only done two intrusions. One was an assassination, the other was just assault, theft, and stalking."

It didn't seem like the kind of thing a law-abiding citizen like me would do, but since every single act had been for a good cause, I guess they counted as righteous assassination, assault, theft, and stalking.

It was obvious that the stats I had carefully kept as neat multiples of five were now all over the place.

"Huh?"

Looking closer, the skill levels for Sound Sleep, Stealth, and Concealment had all gone up too. The hellish few weeks of avoiding people's eyes, climbing up and down rooftops, and breaking into dark houses must have been worth it.

Anyway, with all the accumulated points, I raised my stats.

I didn't have enough points to push everything to thirty, so I finished the physical specs first. The moment I dumped a bunch into Strength, my body suddenly felt lighter. That's when I realized something I'd forgotten.

This thing was so convenient I'd completely forgotten about it, but the weight gradually piling onto my body had gotten pretty serious.

"Let's see... double-barrel shotgun, food, thick blanket, Japanese-style clothes, a full canteen, and various miscellaneous items... all together that's roughly twenty kilos..."

I used ten points ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to raise Intent Communication. No matter what, I had to make the protagonist do all sorts of things. It would be a problem if we couldn't communicate at all. If I learned the lines I wanted to say through a translator, I figured I could get most messages across.

Points: 2

With two awkward points left, I decided to clean them up with a draw.

"Whoa...!"

The tungsten cube suddenly appeared on my palm and I nearly fell over. If I hadn't raised my Strength stat to thirty, I definitely wouldn't have been able to handle the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠weight. My Agility of thirty didn't let me down either. While I was staggering from the cube, I instantly shoved the lunchbox that was about to fall sideways into my inventory.

I had no idea what authentic Chinese style meant, but a fancy four-layer lunchbox was probably packed with stuff worth looking forward to. Once I stored the tungsten cube, the total added weight exceeded sixty kilos. Good thing I'd raised my Health and Strength; otherwise the walk home would have been brutal.

In Human Disqualification I'd ended up homeless and lived pretty harshly, so now that I was back in reality I planned to rest a bit, stock up on vitamins and protein, then intrude again.

Knock knock. Slide.

"Hello. Is this the book club?"

A woman I'd never seen before stepped into the room and stared straight at my face.

"Welcome to the Heart-Pounding Book Club. The membership application is in the drawer over there, so fill it out yourself and leave."

"No, I'm not here to join. I came to inquire about purchasing some old books."

"A peddler, huh. The president only reads doujinshi, so he probably won't be interested in classics."

"I'm not selling. I'm buying. I collect antiques. By the way, do you always speak so casually to people you've just met?"

"Sorry, but I've never used polite speech even once in my entire life."

"You're certainly a consistent person."

The mention of collecting antiques caught my interest. I had a bunch of troublesome items that were hard to dispose of anyway, so I showed them to her.

"Do you collect stuff like this too?"

"A Chinese-style lunchbox... I'll have to examine this one more closely... This is a Japanese garment. Gold coins? Ecuadorian gold coins? Why is there a hole drilled through it? Do you normally walk around carrying these? Where did you get them?"

"I'd appreciate it if you could decide whether you're buying or not."

"They all appear to be in excellent condition... Hmm... What's your account number? For starters, I'll take the gold coin for ten million won..."

Ten million won! Not one million—ten million...!

I jerked my head up and looked at her again. Long black hair flowing over her shoulders. Clean skin, small charming lips. Rather sharp eyes, tall stature, and generous proportions in all the right places. On second look, she was an absolute goddess.

Setting her appearance aside, she seemed like someone who could regularly take troublesome items off my hands whenever they piled up.

"Please, have a seat. I'll make some coffee."

"...Were you always this kind of character?"

Surprised by the sudden attitude shift, she froze with a dazed expression for a moment before snapping out of it and gracefully taking a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seat.

I brought out the coffee and biscuits the president had hidden for himself. Since the president often stole my drinks, this counted as righteous theft.

I showed her the tungsten cube just in case she might buy it too. She picked it up, examined it from every angle, searched something on her phone, and offered five million won.

"I thought you only bought antiques?"

"Why are you so quick on the uptake...?"

"It's troubling when you suddenly say something that could be either criticism or praise."

In the end she bought the lunchbox for five hundred thousand won as well. I didn't show her the full compartment. I wanted to eat it myself, and a warm lunchbox suddenly appearing would have been suspicious. I'd eat it first and sell it later.

I received a business card. There was no company name or anything—just the three characters for Kang Hae-yeon along with a phone number and address.

"Kang Hae-yeon... That's quite a spirited name. As expected of the woman who caught my eye."

Less than twenty-four hours of real time since I awakened my ability, and I'd already earned over fifteen million won. The whole situation ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠felt excessively contrived, but there were no suspicious details or circumstances that raised any red flags. Maybe I really had just gotten lucky.

"Lucky indeed."