24. My Buff is a Drug
24. My Buff is a Drug
"You were just thinking, 'How did she know what I was only thinking to myself,' weren't you?"
"Uh... yeah."
Nishimoto Kana placed her right hand near her solar plexus as if indicating herself and smiled.
"Heh heh. I can do a little mind reading, you see. It's a hobby."
Huh?
Now that I think about it, she did have an ability like that on her character sheet.
Mind reading.
I remember being told it was fine because this kind of skill seemed impossible to implement anyway, so they just threw in the skill template.
Because this character Nishimoto Kana became the strongest in the anime's world setting using that ability, so it was important.
'Whoa... so this is how it turned out. The thing I just shoved in as a skill without any actual implementation became real... Hrk!?'
Up to that thought, Hye-yong looked at Kana's face and felt his body go rigid with a jolt.
Not literally rigid.
"Hmm..."
He was just startled by Nishimoto Kana, who was studying his face with an expression of deep contemplation.
'Did she read it? Everything I was thinking! She fucking read it?'
As he trembled with that anxiety, Kana's mouth opened.
"Suddenly, I can't read anything at all. It feels like I can't get a grip on it. Strange. I thought our wavelengths matched..."
"Wavelengths... Lee Yo?"
"Yes. The wavelength emitted from the stone in our hearts, Lee Yo. If someone is compatible with me, it's easy to read thoughts off their face. But with you, Junior, it's read, then black, then flickering on and off. Why is that? Nihee hee."
Maybe because she's a Japanese character, she laughs with that distinctive laugh.
It's a little cringey, but it feels more natural coming from an actual Japanese person—
No, not that.
Even if she can read minds, it seems that anything beyond the scope of what a character in this world is permitted to know simply can't be read.
'Right, that's it! As if a creation could read its creator's entire mind.'
Of course, strictly speaking, their creator was Bwitgwitgak.
Hye-yong knew that, but the thought just came out that way.
"But Junior, you really have no firearm-related traits, correct?"
"As you heard, Senior, I'm an F-rank Blessing Mage with no other traits whatsoever."
"Wow. Even hearing it again, I can't believe it. You really shoot well. I think there's a reason Instructor Baek Yun-seo especially likes you."
Hye-yong, caught off guard by the "especially likes" part, asked back.
"The instructor especially likes me? Not you, Senior?"
"No. From what I can see, Instructor Baek Yun-seo cherishes you far more than she cherishes me."
Is... is that so.
I'm not so sure.
'Why, though. Why does Nishimoto Kana think Baek Yun-seo cherishes me more than her? She's cute and gets good grades.'
Hye-yong thought that far and, with a sudden suspicion, glanced at Kana's face.
Sure enough, she reacted immediately.
"Ah! I read that. You were just thinking, 'Why does Nishimoto Kana think Baek Yun-seo cherishes me more than her,' weren't you?"
"Ah jeez, Senior. That's seriously bad for the heart. Startling me like that over and over."
"Hehe, your reactions are fun, Junior."
Hye-yong felt a powerful urge to just get out of here fast.
Nishimoto Kana seemed like a very exhausting type to be around.
"Junior, you're curious about Instructor Baek Yun-seo, right?"
But once she dangled a tantalizing topic like that, he had no choice but to stay.
"Yes! I am curious."
"I'll tell you my speculation about why Instructor Baek Yun-seo cherishes you first. It's probably because Instructor Baek Yun-seo is a 'non-Awakened.' She must feel a kinship with a junior who is F-rank with no traits at all, yet possesses outstanding marksmanship. Honestly, the instructor doesn't really like Awakened all that much."
Non-Awakened?
A non-Awakened as an Awak—
"You were just thinking, 'Can a non-Awakened even work as an instructor at an Awakened training facility,' weren't you?"
Ah, fine. Just read it all. Read away.
Hye-yong gave up on hiding his thoughts.
After all, she couldn't read the trivial details, only the stuff floating right on the surface.
"Yes. That's what I thought."
"Instructor Baek Yun-seo is purely a 'firearms' instructor. Even if someone has a firearm-related trait, the effects vary, so there are cases where you need individual firearms proficiency. Above all, even if a trait provides correction to your shooting skill, honing your natural marksmanship is what makes you stronger."
So even in an Awakened Facility, there's a need for non-Awakened domains...
"You're also curious about where Instructor Baek Yun-seo went on her business trip, right?"
"Yes, I am curious."
Since he knew she'd read it anyway, his answers became more perfunctory.
"She went to the Middle East, so she probably took a contract to assassinate a high-value target in an Awakened terrorist organization. She always has, after all."
Assassinate a high-value target?
Uh, so if they're Awakened terrorists...
"You mean the Awakened doing terrorism, not terrorizing the Awakened, right?"
"Correct."
"And the instructor went to assassinate them?"
"Yes."
"The instructor is a non-Awakened... and she's assassinating Awakened?"
"That's the amazing thing about Instructor Baek Yun-seo. The nickname her enemies gave her was the Awakened Reaper."
As she said that, Kana made a neck-chopping gesture.
'She really was a dangerous person!'
He'd sometimes gotten a slightly dangerous vibe from her and had his suspicions, but he never knew she had killed enough people to earn the nickname Reaper.
'But how exactly does a non-Awakened take down Awakened?'
This time, he decided to just think it and not ask out loud.
When he shut his mouth and stared silently, Nishimoto Kana tilted her head.
"Did you have something to say?"
"No, I was wondering if you might read my mind if I kept thinking."
"My mind reading's only at hobby level! It only works when our wavelengths match, I told you."
If that was the case, he decided to ask properly.
"How can Instructor Baek Yun-seo, a non-Awakened, kill Awakened?"
"First, the basics: sniping. Unlike Heterogeneous Species that have mana barriers even when sleeping, Awakened have to consciously manifest their will to create a mana barrier. If they're not prepared or don't know, they die."
A sniper!
Indeed, if she's a sniper, it makes perfect sense that even a non-Awakened could go around dealing with Awakened.
No wonder she always slept sitting upright in a chair instead of lying down — she was a sniper!
But it didn't seem like she could kill all Awakened just by sniping.
"Wouldn't there be opponents impervious to sniping?"
"Depending on the ability, there are cases like that. Then she just storms in. She barges into the enemy lines and smashes everything to pieces."
"I mean, what does that even..."
So she grabs a heavy weapon and mows them down?
But Baek Yun-seo had definitely said this.
That a mana barrier could simply deflect something like a machine gun.
"How does she smash things to pieces?"
"Half of Instructor Baek Yun-seo's body is made of weapons. When it's time to fight, CLANK, CLUNK! All sorts of anti-Awakened weaponry pop out and spew fire!"
"Uh... half her body is weapons? It was... like that?"
Hye-yong had definitely felt it.
Didn't various places make contact when she adjusted his posture and such?
He'd only felt the texture of flesh through her pajamas, though.
If half of her was mechanical, could it give that kind of sensation?
But on second thought, it could be possible.
It was such an unreal story that he blanked out for a moment, but this is another world.
Could be.
That seemed like the right attitude for accepting something shocking once you'd come to another world.
Not: what the hell, half a person's body being weapons ( X )
But: In another world, technology exists that lets you live with your body in that state! ( O )
That's the way.
Characters with half-mechanical bodies like that were among the custom characters Hye-yong himself had made, so it was fully plausible.
The surprising part was that Baek Yun-seo was an original human of this world, though.
It made him wonder if reality was far more virtual than imagination.
Could the contents of that person-sized bag she was lugging earlier have all been weapons?
"Isn't she truly amazing? Instructor Baek Yun-seo underwent body modification procedures right up to the absolute limit. They say it wouldn't have been strange if she died a hundred times over during the procedures, but she came out perfectly fine and is here now."
So even in the other world, it seemed the odds of dying when you expose your body to that state were very high.
"That... she really is incredible. I see the instructor in a new light now."
"Are all your curiosities about Instructor Baek Yun-seo resolved now?"
"Yes... for the most part... but may I ask why you told me all of this?"
"Because I respect Instructor Baek Yun-seo enormously, enormously, enormously. I thought it would be nice if the junior she cherishes knew about how great the instructor really is!"
So she really told him all those stories just for that reason?
Stories she hadn't even told herself?
"I had a gut feeling that Instructor Baek Yun-seo wouldn't tell you those kinds of things, Junior. So I went ahead and did it. Because I'm a little jealous."
What was that.
Didn't seem like a proper reason.
And what was this jealousy about.
Hye-yong thought that the one who gets to hear such important stories is usually the closer one.
'I really don't get it. Custom character or not, is her mental age basically middle school? It'd be weirder to understand it all.'
Hye-yong dismissed Kana's meaningful words as nothing more than a generation gap.
Anyway, he'd always been curious about Baek Yun-seo, and it was genuinely nice to have learned a lot more.
"Thanks for the talk, Senior. Is it okay if I head out first?"
"Sure! See you next time!"
As Hye-yong walked back to the dorm, he mulled over the stories he'd just heard.
A being called the Awakened Reaper in a world full of Awakened, despite being a non-Awakened themselves.
When it's time to fight, half her body opens up and all sorts of anti-Awakened weaponry pop out to spew fire in unison...
'Hoo-rah, that is fucking badass.'
From another angle, it might look grotesque, but in Hye-yong's eyes, it was just plain cool.
No matter how fearsome and formidable Baek Yun-seo was, hadn't she always treated him well?
He liked her. Had no reason to fear her.
Granted, she seemed to go around killing a fair number of people, but they were terrorists anyway...
Even if she didn't look the part, seeing her formally employed as an instructor made it seem like she'd never harm the facility's students.
He even had the thought that maybe Baek Yun-seo had been hired more as a mercenary to protect the facility in emergencies than purely as an instructor.
'Yeah, definitely. If everything Nishimoto Kana said holds true without sugarcoating, being a mercenary is far more likely.'
Thinking such thoughts, he threw himself onto the bed.
BWEE-REEK!
He'd had plenty of time and was thinking of taking a nap, but about ten minutes after lying down, the messenger rang loudly.
[ Bwitgwitgak : Creator-nim! ]
'What is it now, shit.'
Whenever Bwitgwitgak messaged first, Hye-yong always felt a creeping unease.
[ Bwitgwitgak : It's good news this time! ]
But this time, it seemed not.
[ Choi Hye-yong : Oh. What is it? ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : Didn't you stylishly take care of that Virus last time?! It's been registered as completely dealt with, so I've regained a bit of my power! Just a tiny bit... ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : But still, I can see a sliver of hope now. Sniffle sniffle. ]
Bwitgwitgak : ( emoji of a blonde female character dabbing tears with a handkerchief )
The fact that it was genuinely good news left him with a strange, bittersweet feeling.
[ Bwitgwitgak : When I tried grafting this power with your ability, Creator-nim, I think I can unlock a Growth Buff for you! ]
[ Choi Hye-yong : A Growth Buff? What's that? ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : Simply put, it boosts talent. You've tried before, right? A buff like 'Swordsmanship Proficiency Gain Efficiency Increase,' for example! But it never worked, did it? ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : Now you can invest the World's Power into buffs for faster growth! Check it out! ]
'Ah, right.'
The moment he heard those words, Hye-yong cringed at his own stupidity.
I hadn't even thought to try that until now?
'Wow... am I brain-dead.'
Facing the crashing wave of self-loathing, he tried to make excuses internally.
'It felt so broken to increase talent that I didn't even consider it... but still, you should have thought it through and at least made the attempt, Hye-yong, you dumbass.'
Who else could he blame for his shitty brain.
Even by his own estimation, Hye-yong wasn't exactly a sharp guy.
'If someone smarter with better cunning had come instead, Bwitgwitgak would've had it much easier.'
But too bad!
It was this Choi Hye-yong who got called to the other world.
'Should've chosen your person better. If you were gonna latch onto someone, should've latched onto a famous indie game developer or a master modder. Then again, maybe they wouldn't have accepted that novel.'
These days, Hye-yong was almost starting to feel satisfied about being dragged here.
Rather than living a boring, tedious life in reality, he felt that moving with the mission of saving an entire world was a more rewarding life.
Even with the risk of death if things went wrong, he could bear that much.
Hye-yong decided to open the Buff Custom window and check it.
'She said growth buffs. What should I try making first...'
First, he decided to whip up any random thing as a test.
[ Faster Strength Growth ]
Strength stat growth speed increase, Level 2
'Oh, I can make it in this kind of format.'
He chose to raise the value higher from there.
[ Faster Strength Growth ]
Strength stat growth speed, Level 3 increase
Usable only on self
'Level 3 when it's a self-buff.'
[ Faster Strength Growth ]
Strength stat growth speed, Level 2 increase
Exclusive to Seo Ha-yoon
'Level 2 when it's an exclusive skill for one person. The value must be higher than a normal Level 2, but still not enough to reach Level 3, I guess?'
He didn't know exactly how much efficiency a Level 2 boasted, but it had a somewhat ambiguous aspect.
Namely, he had spent all the cost he had just to create that single buff.
'They're buffs that literally increase talent. It can't be helped that the immediate performance is ambiguous, right?'
Expecting a multiple-times growth speed boost with the amount of cost he currently had was just being a greedy punk.
The fact that he could increase talent at all was something to be grateful for in itself.
Hye-yong gave careful thought to what growth buff he currently needed most.
'There's definitely something that fits.'
Didn't he go out to exercise every day right now?
If he utilized growth buffs well, he could increase the efficiency of gaining stats from exercise.
He figured he should try using it right away when he went out to exercise today.