Ability Sharing
Ability Sharing
"Excuse me, hyung. Still, if you invest about 1 point in an offensive skill..."
Su-bin, who had said he would invest points in defensive (health, stamina, recovery) skills as I suggested, for his beloved Ye-rin.
But when it actually came time to spend the points, he glanced at me and subtly changed his words.
'Why is he trailing off like that again? If he's going to say something like that, he should at least say it confidently to the end.'
At Su-bin's unmanly behavior, I couldn't help but frown.
Should I just abandon him and enjoy Netori another time?
I seriously considered it.
"About 1, 1 point..."
"Su-bin-ah! If a man says something once, he should stick to it! Why do you keep changing your mind?!"
Ye-rin, noticing my dilemma, quickly chided Su-bin.
She must have known.
That if he were abandoned by me like this, Su-bin would never survive.
I thought so too.
Naturally, if I were to abandon Su-bin, I would retrieve Lala's symbiote (Full-body Suit) that I had given him, without much thought.
Even if Ye-rin cried and begged me to let her follow Su-bin, I would never allow it.
Could Su-bin, having both Lala and Ye-rin taken away from him, truly survive in this world?
I believe it would be absolutely impossible.
"Nu, nuna. Why?"
So, Ye-rin chiding Su-bin was an unavoidable choice to protect him.
However, Su-bin, unaware of the full circumstances, teared up and felt hurt that Ye-rin hadn't taken his side.
'Seriously, a guy tearing up over something like that?'
Considering his appearance and everything, no matter how I think about it, Su-bin was born with the wrong gender.
"Hoo~. Su-bin-ah, I'm sorry. Nuna's body isn't feeling well yet, and then the conversation just got unnecessarily long, so I unintentionally..."
"Ah, no, it's fine. I'm sorry too. For being a man and speaking out of both sides of my mouth."
Even though she loved Su-bin, her frustration must have been unavoidable, as Ye-rin let out a small sigh while Su-bin was wiping his tears and couldn't see.
Then, she forced a smile and comforted him.
Su-bin, belatedly embarrassed for bursting into tears over such a small matter, also pretended to be fine and apologized in return.
"Health Maintenance, Stamina Increase, Strong Teeth. I'll choose these."
Su-bin, having regained his composure, said nothing more and invested all 3 of his points into creating defensive skills.
The skills created in this way had simple but essential effects: maintaining health, increasing stamina, and strengthening teeth, just as their names suggested.
Although, due to the principle of Ability Sharing, I could only enjoy 25 percent of those effects, it was still much better than nothing.
"You think so too, Lala?"
Mollang-mollang!
At my question, Lala jiggled her body more energetically than ever.
Well, it wasn't just how it looked; Lala was actually overflowing with energy right now.
Unlike me, who indirectly assimilated with Su-bin by assimilating with Lala, who had assimilated with Su-bin, Lala, who directly assimilated with Su-bin, could enjoy 50 percent of the Physical Body Enhancement effect.
According to the System's explanation, the mechanism of Physical Body Enhancement is to increase physical abilities by a certain multiplier, and 0-rank Physical Body Enhancement increases physical abilities by 20 percent.
Therefore, Lala, who shared 50 percent of Su-bin's 0-rank Physical Body Enhancement, had her physical abilities instantly increased by 10 percent.
While an ordinary human might not see such a significant effect even with a 10 percent increase in physical abilities,
'Our Lala is a slime, after all. And a 5-rank one at that.'
Lala, possessing physical abilities that surpassed ordinary humans, could see a great effect even with just 10 percent.
Mollang-mollang!
Kiiik! Kung!
Kkwaaaak!
As a result, Lala needed a moment to adapt to her increased strength.
Due to the commotion that occurred during this process (buildings collapsing, streetlights crumpling, etc.), nearby zombies gathered, but the even stronger Lala dealt with them in the blink of an eye with a single tentacle.
"Even after seeing that, do you still want to create an offensive skill?"
"No. I was really foolish. To try and create something so useless when we have Lala. Lala, I'm truly sorry."
Su-bin, belatedly realizing his mistake, apologized to Lala.
Leaving that guy behind, I spoke to Seul-bi and Ye-rin.
"Well, since we're done here, shall we properly begin collecting?"
"Yes, let's."
"Do you have some kind of plan? Since it's the first day, I don't want to overdo it."
"Don't worry. It's the same for me. Today, we'll just look around the school. And while we're at it, check on Lala's symbiotes that are on Automatic Hunting."
"Automatic Hunting? Hey! Wait a minute! What's Automatic Hunting?!"
Ignoring Ye-rin's question, I immediately leaped to the rooftop across the way.
After leaping between buildings for a moment, I then jumped down from a rooftop to the ground without hesitation.
Kung!
The moment my feet touched the ground, a dull thud clearly echoed.
Zombies might have gathered after hearing the sound, but I paid no mind and walked towards a car parked on the street.
Ye-rin, who had followed Seul-bi down to the ground, angrily rebuked me.
"Hey! You crazy bastard! What are you doing making such a loud noise?! What if zombies come swarming?!"
"Calm down, Ye-rin-ah."
Before I just kiss you.
"Ugh! Ah, I get it. But you should at least tell me. The reason for making such a loud noise, and what that 'Automatic Hunting' thing is."
When I looked at Ye-rin with eyes glistening with lust, she blushed and suppressed her anger.
It seemed she remembered the time she was taught a lesson with the Flesh Rod.
Still, seeing her say what she needed to say until the end, Ye-rin was still Ye-rin.
"Automatic Hunting? Hyung, what's Automatic Hunting?"
"You'll find out soon enough, so don't pester me. Ah, look, it just arrived."
As I pushed away Su-bin, who was clinging to me with sparkling eyes, a zombie happened to emerge from an alleyway.
Kkwaaaak!
The zombie that came out of the alleyway immediately rushed towards us as soon as it spotted us.
Ye-rin snorted dismissively and reached out her hand towards it.
Before she could unleash flames, I quickly reached out and pulled her hand down.
"What? You don't want to become a zombie, do you? If that's what you want, I won't stop you. Don't worry about harming others. I'll turn you into a roasted whole body right away."
"Thanks, but I'll decline. And I have no intention of becoming a zombie."
"Then why?!"
"Why did I stop you? Because there's no need for us to intervene."
Saying that, I looked back at the zombie.
Just then, the zombie reached our immediate vicinity.
Kra Eup!
"Wha, what?!"
The zombie was there, then it wasn't.
The zombie disappeared in the blink of an eye, to the point where that statement didn't sound strange.
Startled by this, Ye-rin turned her head towards something.
Seul-bi and Su-bin did the same.
The object that drew all their gazes was none other than the car next to me.
"A car?"
Ye-rin, staring blankly at what was clearly a car, asked me in an uncertain voice.
I grinned and replied.
"Ding! Incorrect. This isn't a car, but..."
The car melted fluidly.
The form it took was not unfamiliar to us.
"It was Lala, transformed into a car!"
Deongsil-deongsil!
Lala's car-sized symbiote, which had been transformed into a car, rippled its body in response to my words.
The zombie that had been there and then wasn't, shook around inside the symbiote.
That's right.
The car was actually Lala's symbiote, and the reason the zombie was there and then wasn't was because the symbiote had extended a tentacle in the blink of an eye, captured the zombie, and then swallowed it whole.
"Transforming into an object that doesn't look out of place with Change, and then using Assimilation to eliminate any potential sense of incongruity, we let the symbiotes roam and hunt zombies. That's the essence of Automatic Hunting. What do you think?"
"That's amazing. Could it be that only one zombie appeared because that symbiote had already... the zombies nearby?"
"Exactly. Because it ate them all."
"Then what happens when there are no more zombies to eat? Does it just wait until a zombie appears?"
"No, it moves to find zombies. In cases like this, where it's transformed into a car..."
"It would just move around like a car, then."
While Ye-rin and Su-bin, who had just learned the reality of Automatic Hunting, were completely frozen, only Seul-bi, who had vaguely sensed its existence, poured out her questions to me.
"Naturally, what about the points?"
"They come in. Steadily, whether I'm eating or sleeping."
"That's great. Truly great."
Thanks to this, Seul-bi, who had all her previous questions answered without any interruption, smiled with utmost satisfaction.
As if her husband had won the pension lottery.