Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Karma Experiments
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Lucia emerged from the attic via the return stone and immediately cast a spell.
“Something like this, right?”
Recalling the sensation of the mask she had worn before, she used wind manipulation magic to wrap around her mouth.
Just as intended, the barrier of wind blocked unpleasant dust and stale air from entering her airways.
“I’m glad I learned at least some basic magic.”
She hadn’t had a proper teacher, so she could only handle simple spells, but Lucia was satisfied with her current level.
Unless one was overflowing with talent, it was impossible to excel in every area.
Lucia thought that if she had dabbled in magic, she probably wouldn’t have achieved her current archery skills.
Catching herself slipping into useless sentimentality, she lightly slapped both cheeks with her hands and looked for Kang Jin-hyuk.
Turning her head, she spotted Kang Jin-hyuk standing just a step away.
She noticed his shocked expression, as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.
“Why are you like that?”
Only after hearing Lucia’s voice did Kang Jin-hyuk regain his composure and straighten his hunched body.
“Is something wrong?”
“Ah…….”
Kang Jin-hyuk hesitated for a moment before answering the question.
Frustrated by his reluctance, Lucia approached him irritably.
“What is it this time? Are you regretting coming all the way here?”
“No, it’s not that. A message just popped up saying my karma value increased.”
“Message? You mean those letters that appear in front of your eyes sometimes?”
“Yeah. It showed up right after using the return stone.”
Kang Jin-hyuk could only come up with one guess at that moment.
“Did it go up because I tricked the dwarf old man?”
“Tricked? That’s a bit harsh. Strictly speaking, I just postponed it a little.”
“But I can’t think of any other reason why it would have increased.”
“How much did it go up?”
Hearing Lucia’s question, Kang Jin-hyuk headed to the mirror at home.
Overlaid on his reflection was the number 65.
“It went up by 1.”
“Just 1?”
“No matter how small, the fact that it increased at all might be what matters, right?”
“Hmm…… You’ve got a point.”
Since they didn’t know the exact reason for the karma value increase, they couldn’t ignore even a rise of 1.
After pondering for a moment, Kang Jin-hyuk thought of one experiment he wanted to try.
“Want to hit me once?”
“Sure.”
Without a second’s hesitation, Lucia granted Kang Jin-hyuk’s request.
Her fist shot out faster than the blink of an eye, striking his abdomen squarely.
“Gahk!”
Kang Jin-hyuk flew backward from the impact, which gave him no time to react.
Staring blankly at him rolling on the living room floor, Lucia tilted her head.
“But why did you ask me to hit you?”
“Ugh…… Couldn’t you have asked why first before hitting me…….”
Kang Jin-hyuk had expected Lucia to at least ask why once.
He never imagined she’d swing without warning.
Thanks to that, he faced gut-wrenching pain without any mental preparation.
Once the shock from the hit subsided a bit, Kang Jin-hyuk propped himself up against the wall and slowly stood.
“If tricking the dwarf old man raised my karma, I wondered if using violence would do the same, so I wanted to test it.”
“What’s the connection between those two?”
“They both harm others.”
“So? What were the results?”
The karma value over Lucia that Kang Jin-hyuk saw showed no change.
It wasn’t because she had hit him lightly—no way.
As someone who had just taken the hit, he was absolutely certain of that.
“No change at all. It’s the same.”
“Then it’s a bust.”
Lucia turned away, sounding disappointed.
Kang Jin-hyuk’s mind grew chaotic when something he was sure was connected turned out wrong.
What was the difference between deception and violence? He had no answer right now.
‘Maybe it didn’t go up because I tricked the dwarf old man after all?’
Lost in thought about what could have caused the karma increase, Kang Jin-hyuk suddenly saw stars flash before his eyes.
It wasn’t from some sudden realization.
It was because Lucia’s unexpected fist had slammed into his face.
“Argh!”
With a scream fit for an extra in a drama, Kang Jin-hyuk collapsed to the floor again.
As he realized what happened, anger surged before the pain.
Springing to his feet, Kang Jin-hyuk glared at Lucia with bloodshot eyes.
“What the hell was that for?!”
“Check my karma value before you get mad.”
“Screw the value! Damn it!”
“Calm down and just check it first.”
Kang Jin-hyuk was deeply annoyed by Lucia’s calm attitude after unleashing unprovoked violence.
Grudgingly checking her karma value, his anger instantly faded.
“It went up? Why?”
He clearly remembered Lucia’s karma value as 82.
But now it was clearly 83, up by 1.
No need to doubt his eyes—it had definitely increased.
“What’s the difference from before…….”
“Maybe it’s the difference between with consent and without?”
Lucia’s guess was enough to resolve Kang Jin-hyuk’s doubts.
As she said, the first hit was something he had brought on himself, with mutual agreement.
The second was pure violence, without warning or consent.
If that difference affected the value, it made sense.
“So this karma value doesn’t just change based on actions alone…….”
“It probably considers the situation too.”
“Then it’s pretty flexible.”
Maybe that’s why the hidden skill he got from self-defense had this trait.
Kang Jin-hyuk felt like he was just taking his first steps.
Having figured out one condition for changes, he now had a rough sense of direction.
“Alright, let’s move on to the next experiment.”
Lucia looked equally enthusiastic, sharing his mindset.
The problem was that her enthusiasm wasn’t in the direction he wanted.
“For an experiment, why’d you suddenly pull out a dagger?”
“I need to check if stabbing raises it differently from just beating you.”
“……Are you sane?”
“You have potions. So as long as I avoid vitals, it’s fine.”
“Crazy.”
Feeling her words were half-serious, Kang Jin-hyuk whipped around and bolted.
* * *
After desperate efforts to avoid getting stabbed, Kang Jin-hyuk panted heavily.
His pale face proved he had fled for his life.
Lucia was the complete opposite of the man who looked ready to collapse.
Without a drop of sweat, she regretfully sheathed her dagger back into its leather scabbard.
“I tried to end it painlessly in one go, but you hated it that much.”
“Would you just take it lying down?”
“It’s for figuring out your skill. You have to take that risk.”
“You say that like it’s not your problem.”
Kang Jin-hyuk wanted to collapse right then, but he wasn’t home—this was outside.
Even on a deserted road, plopping down in the middle wasn’t sensible.
“Hang on…….”
Realizing he was outside, Kang Jin-hyuk turned to Lucia.
Sure enough, her distinctly elven ears were plainly visible to both his eyes, nothing like a normal person’s.
“You didn’t cover your ears? Don’t you not want people knowing you’re an elf?”
“I hid them with magic, so it’s fine.”
“They look perfectly visible to me?”
“You’re not the target of the magic.”
Lucia explained that applying disguise magic to someone who already knew would just waste mana.
Kang Jin-hyuk felt embarrassed for making a fuss over nothing.
“Magic sure is convenient.”
“To me, those skills you guys use seem more convenient. You just shout the name and it activates automatically, right?”
“Isn’t magic the same?”
Lucia let out a hollow laugh and shook her head.
“Magic isn’t that simple. You have to precisely control the mana amount, complete the incantation formula in your head…….”
It required intricate mental calculations, so no one with a dull mind could ever use magic.
Swordsmanship needed talent too, but to Lucia, magic was the true domain of genius.
“Anyway, it’s not something you can just spam whenever you want.”
Lucia figured there was no point in rambling on about magic here.
Explaining her world’s secrets to someone from a different one was pointless.
Unless they had talent, that is—and Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t seem gifted in magic.
‘A human who can’t even sense mana flow couldn’t handle magic.’
While Lucia quietly concluded that in her mind, Kang Jin-hyuk devised a plan to study his skill.
He hurried to think, lest the conversation stall and she chase him with the dagger again.
“To really understand my skill, I think we need to look at various cases.”
“……Stating the obvious like it’s some big revelation.”
“Quiet and listen first.”
Kang Jin-hyuk argued it would be more efficient to observe how low-karma and high-karma people acted, rather than experimenting on himself.
Analyzing the differences between the two would reveal insights about the skill.
“Hmm…….”
Lucia’s reaction to his explanation was ambiguous.
The method seemed decent, but she saw shortcomings.
“What’s the standard for high and low values?”
Without clear knowledge of the hidden skill, setting objective criteria was impossible.
Fortunately, another skill Kang Jin-hyuk had provided a hint.
“Anything over 200 seems high.”
“Why?”
“Another skill says there’s no penalty for killing someone above that value.”
“Penalty? What’s that mean?”
When Lucia didn’t understand, Kang Jin-hyuk took a moment to explain the penalties hunters faced for murder.
After his brief explanation, Lucia made an incredulous face.
“Branding someone for one kill? Tough neighborhood.”
“It’s not tough—it’s safe. Without that penalty, people would be dying in broad daylight.”
Most hunters would do anything for their own gain.
Without such shackles, chaos would ensue.
“Anyway, so over 200 is the threshold?”
Lucia yanked the drifting topic back on track.
She wanted to investigate Kang Jin-hyuk’s hidden skill, not delve into hunter society.
“You, me, and even that shorty old man—we’re all under 100. Finding someone over 200 seems tough.”
“That’s why, since people are getting off work, I’m thinking we go somewhere crowded like the station.”
“Station? What’s that?”
Kang Jin-hyuk figured showing her was better than explaining, so he grabbed Lucia’s arm.
“Come on, follow me.”
Lucia was startled by the sudden grab but obediently followed behind.
‘Cheeky.’
She found it grating how Kang Jin-hyuk, far weaker than her, took the lead.
It wasn’t that she hated it, but it somehow rubbed her the wrong way.