The Status Window Is Too Unfriendly (2)
The Status Window Is Too Unfriendly (2)
"Thank you so much for saving us. Is there anything making you uncomfortable?"
"..."
I had already explained that I'd just saved them from those bastards who were about to kill them.
Even so, the mood was still painfully awkward.
Was anything making me uncomfortable? I was dying to say that it was the way they were treating me that felt uncomfortable.
The survivors showed me hospitality — they gave me water to wash off the blood, shared their meager rations — but when I asked to join their group, they refused point-blank.
If I had to find an analogy... it felt like the way students treat the school principal.
They respect him because of his age and position, they treat him with courtesy, but...
If the principal suddenly suggested, "Hey, want to hit the PC bang after school?" they'd desperately want to refuse. That kind of mindset.
By the same logic, there's probably no female student who'd want to date the principal.
Which also meant I had to just let the pretty woman in front of me walk away.
I packed up my dark ulterior motives early on and decided to focus on gathering intel instead.
"So, what's your name?"
"Ahn Gyeong-nam, sir."
"...Ahn Gyeong-nam?"
"Yes. Of the Sunheung Ahn clan. Please, just call me Gyeong-nam."
Surprisingly, the man I'd been calling Ahn Gyeong-nam actually had the name Ahn Gyeong-nam.
Does a person's destiny follow the fate of their name? He had grown up to become a fine Ahn Gyeong-nam, just as his parents had wished.
For the record, the reason I was speaking casually was at their request. They said me using polite speech made them more uncomfortable.
I'm not a rude asshole like Choi Ji-won, who drops formalities without even asking permission first.
"So, Gyeong-nam. The golden orbs. Where did you get them?"
"The golden orbs... well."
Ahn Gyeong-nam fiddled with the two golden orbs in his hand.
He chewed on his words, picking them carefully. It looked like he was wrestling with how to start the story.
"I'm not sure where to begin... The truth is, I have a trait."
The group had kept it a secret from Anchovy and Punk, but Ahn Gyeong-nam had a trait too. He'd just hidden it because it wasn't combat-related.
"The trait rank is A. The name is... 'Analysis Complete.'"
Ahn Gyeong-nam nudged his glasses up with his index finger.
It practically demanded a gleam-and-flash sound effect.
"My trait level is still too low to analyze other people's levels... but I can assess monster danger levels."
"...And?"
"There was one goblin with a conspicuously high danger level. Its clothing and weaponry were different from normal goblins as well."
Yesterday morning, Ahn Gyeong-nam's group had been searching for clues about the orbs when they encountered a special goblin.
"Its build was about the size of an adult woman. Its face was marked with strange tattoos drawn in blood. And instead of some flimsy wooden spear, it was holding a spear with a steel tip."
A goblin that looked absurdly strong at a glance, he said. The kind of physique that made it the Francis Ngannou of goblins, the Jon Jones of goblins.
"...How did it compare to the normal goblins?"
"If a normal goblin is danger level 1, this one looked to be at least danger level 5."
I still didn't know exactly how the danger level criteria were determined, but...
Even a danger level 1 goblin, weaker than a child, could inflict serious wounds if you slipped up.
They were monsters. Frenzied beasts that attacked without regard for injury.
And yet they'd encountered a danger level 5 goblin and obtained golden orbs? Something didn't add up.
"The truth is... over 99% of our party's combat power came from two people."
Ahn Gyeong-nam gestured with his eyes toward Anchovy, who was still sprawled on the ground, trembling.
"That bastard's ability... if he keeps his hand on a monster's head for 10 seconds, he can dominate it. There are grade restrictions, of course, but..."
"...Hm."
So that was how he'd dominated the goblin squad lying prostrate alongside him.
"But is it even possible to keep your hand on a monster's head for 10 seconds?"
They'd be clawing, biting, doing every damn thing to stop you.
"Because we had a telekinetic with us."
"Ah."
I could picture it easily enough.
Punk would use telekinesis to restrain a goblin that had split off from the pack.
Then Anchovy would approach from behind, place his hand on it, and just like that — a new goblin soldier was born.
"A dominated goblin looks no different from a normal goblin on the outside. We ambushed the large goblin that way."
They had a dominated goblin stroll past pretending to be ordinary, then ambush it with a wooden spear.
With telekinetic support on top of that, not even a danger level 5 goblin could have come out unscathed.
"Unfortunately, domination didn't work on the giant goblin, so we had no choice but to kill it... Maybe that was a blessing in disguise, though. If the domination had succeeded, it might have killed us all on the spot."
Ahn Gyeong-nam let out a self-deprecating laugh. He'd apparently just remembered the near-death experience from earlier.
"When we killed the large goblin, we leveled up, and it dropped food along with two golden orbs."
"...You leveled up?"
"Yes. We all reached level 10."
"...I see."
I stood up and brushed the dirt off my pants.
"Alright, well. Thanks for the good intel. I've got somewhere to go now, so I'll be taking Anchovy here."
"Ah, I understand."
The survivor trio made a show of gesturing how sad they were to see us go, but they didn't exactly try to stop me.
They found me impressive, sure — but uncomfortable at the same time.
Still, I couldn't exactly choose fear instead. I had to accept this was the best option.
Once I'd confirmed the survivor group was far enough away, I spoke to Anchovy, who was still lying flat on the ground.
"Hey, Anchovy. Come with me."
"Y-yes! Understood!"
He immediately sprang to his feet and trotted along behind me.
His face was stiff as a new recruit who'd just been through hell week.
"..."
The emotions that bastard felt toward me were fear, disgust, and awe.
And since I'd chosen awe out of those, the awe would've only intensified.
"This should do."
I'd brought Anchovy to a spot with relatively little grass and plenty of soft soil.
"Anchovy."
"Y-yes!"
"Write out your Status Window here. On the ground."
"Yes!"
Anchovy scrambled to grab a twig and began scratching letters into the dirt.
[Name: Choi Jun-woo] [LV:1] [Level: 22]
[Traits]
-Monster Domination [S]
[Stats]
[Strength:9] [Agility:13] [Intelligence:18] [Health:11] [Mana: 24]
"...What the hell is this?"
"Excuse me?"
"The stats. What are they?"
I'd asked him to write it out to check whether other people's Status Windows were different from mine... but I hadn't imagined it would be this different.
There were quite a few things I wanted to point out.
For one thing, there was a whole Stats window I'd never seen in my life.
For another, there were two whole levels.
And while the rest of his group had said they were level 10, this guy alone was level 22.
To show mine for comparison, my Status Window looked like this:
[Name: Kim Jun-ho] [LV:5]
[Traits]
-Regression [EX]
-Awe [C]
A Status Window that looked utterly pathetic compared to that bastard's.
"...I'm not sure what you're referring to, sir."
But the person in question looked genuinely clueless about what was wrong.
Fine. I could accept that my side was the weird one here.
"First off, why do you have two levels?"
"Ah, about that..."
Anchovy started to explain, then stopped and furrowed his brow.
"But... how should I address you?"
"Just pick something, you little shit."
"Then I'll call you Boss..."
Anchovy drew a circle over [Level: 22].
"This one — well, I'm sure you're familiar with it yourself, Boss..."
This time he drew a circle over [LV:1].
"This guy. You're asking about this one, right...?"
It was actually the other way around, but I kept my expression under control and gave a solemn, silent nod.
"This one... I got it from defeating the large goblin. I landed the finishing blow, you see."
"...Explain in detail."
"When we took down the large goblin... a message appeared saying 'Legendary Venture!' and I got a second level. All my stats went up by 5, too..."
"..."
"Ah, if I tap on this... it says 'First Mutant Goblin Kill.'"
"..."
I was speechless.
What I'd been considering my level all this time wasn't actually a level.
Legendary Venture. A legendary adventure. Apparently, without even knowing it, I'd completed five achievements.
When I thought about it, it did make sense.
The level that never went up no matter how many goblins I killed would occasionally rise by 1 at completely random moments.
But the infuriating part was: why didn't it notify me?
It's not like I'd turned off the app notification settings. Why didn't it tell me? Why am I the only one who has to learn how the Status Window works through other people's mouths?
"When did you get your basic level?"
"That? Well... in the tall grass when I first left the clearing. I got it after killing one goblin."
"...Really? Hang on."
I could tell something had gone seriously wrong, but I wouldn't know for sure until I checked directly.
With trembling hands, I opened my Status Window, then pressed firmly on the empty space next to [Name: Kim Jun-ho] [LV:5].
As if it had been waiting, messages flooded my vision.
[The difference in rank between you and the monster is too extreme. You cannot gain experience points.]
[The difference in rank between you and the monster is too extreme. You cannot gain experience points.]
[The difference in rank between you and the monster is too extreme. You cannot gain experience points.]
[The difference in rank between you and the monster is too extreme. You cannot gain experience points.]
[The difference in rank between you and the monster is too extreme. You cannot gain experience points.]
[The difference in rank between you and the monster is too extreme. You cannot gain experience points.]
[The difference in rank between you and the monster is too extreme. You cannot gain experience points.]
...
The wall of messages stretched on and on below.
A splitting headache made me press my hand to my forehead before I knew it.
The basic levels and stats that everyone else got.
There was only one reason I alone couldn't obtain them.
"Fuck..."
[Regression], which had the nerve to bear an EX-rank.
It was because of this motherfucker.