The Replica Skills

"Fuck." The moment I stood up, a curse flew out of my mouth. Seriously, I can't live without swearing. Even through my blurry vision, I could see the pool of bright red blood. Naturally, anyone who'd fallen asleep on top of that would be covered in it. The blood that had soaked into my clothes and hardened was unpleasant in its own right. Washing this off was going to be a chore... But what was even more fucked up was that all my plans had gone to shit.

I grumbled inwardly. 'No, why the hell did it go berserk right there...' Even thinking about it now, it was absurd. There are limits to how difficult something should be. If you're going to massively boost the enemy's stats, at least don't mess with the strategy guide. Isn't that the bare minimum? The Demon King and the system had basically shoved a massive middle finger in my face.

With that one move, I'd lost quite a lot. I'd lost all trust in my future strategies, and on top of that, I'd wiped out what little faith my party members still had in me. In short, I was screwed.

"Haa..." A sigh escaped me. The stress made me furrow my brow. But that only lasted a moment. I decided to just accept reality. 'Well, what can I do?' Complaining wasn't going to change anything. All I could do was keep moving forward while shouldering countless strokes of bad luck. Because that was the only path given to me.

'Whew, first things first, I need to wash up.' After calming myself for a while, I rose from the pool of blood. Then came the sound from my body. Crack—

"Ughhh..." My whole body screamed in protest, probably because it had been overworked after so long. Every movement made my muscles throb and my joints ache. It felt like I'd turned into an old man... Still, thanks to Pain Resistance, it was bearable for now. This is exactly why I need to raise my skill levels. It helps even in daily life.

As I found some peace of mind, one thought occurred to me. 'Come to think of it, I have to listen to those kids' nagging too.' Since the plan failed, it was only natural they'd come at me with questions. A hollow laugh escaped me. I wonder which would break first—my body or my mind. I'd bet on the latter. Those girls' lectures aren't easy.

"...Have you woken up?"

"Hm?" While I was thinking that, a voice came from beside me. Turning my head, I saw Yulise kneeling there.

"Uh, Saintess?" I couldn't help but be flustered. Hadn't she gone to rest? Why was she still here? I asked her with clear doubt in my voice. "Are you sure you don't need to rest?"

"Don't worry. I rested plenty while you were asleep, Hero."

If that was the case... there was nothing more to say. I briefly wondered why she'd come. She hadn't left anything here, so maybe she'd come to confront me? That was a reasonable guess. Back then, she'd shielded me for the sake of rest, but now that I'd slept and woken up, there was no reason for that anymore. She'd probably demand answers about how things had gotten this bad.

In times like this, there's only one method. 'Strike first, win first.' I should bow my head as quickly as possible. I've heard that people can't be too harsh on someone who's apologizing. Following the wisdom of my ancestors, I did just that.

"I'm truly sorry. I never expected it to go berserk there... I should have planned more carefully. This is all my fault..."

"Ah, no no! It's fine. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠didn't come here to question you about that."

She waved her hands dismissively, accepting my apology. Her expression carried a hint of pity, as if she were looking at something unfortunate. Had I really apologized that pathetically...? Well, it didn't matter. At least this way I could avoid the lecture.

Just as I was feeling relieved, she spoke again. "The reason I came here is... just to check if you were all right. Even so, sleeping in a pool of blood... No matter how tired you are, isn't that a bit much?"

"Huh? Ahaha, that's..." I was momentarily flustered by her unexpectedly gentle words. But that only lasted a moment—because she did something even more shocking.

"Oh dear, look at all that blood on you. Wait a moment. I'll clean it for you right now."

With those words, she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠extended both hands toward me. Soon, a warm light like sunlight began to emanate from her delicate palms. The blood staining my skin and clothes burned away and evaporated. What remained was my now-clean body and clothes. A fresh, crisp sensation enveloped my entire body.

It was Purification, one of the holy arts the Saintess could use. A versatile skill exclusive to priests that could remove anything from dust to deadly poison depending on how much divine power was infused. The Saintess had just used it on me. Of course, since she'd only removed blood, she hadn't used much power... But I was surprised she'd used it at all.

'What the hell.' Seriously, what? Normally, even if I begged for healing, she'd refuse to the death. Questions began popping up one after another in my mind.

Regardless, the Saintess patted my shoulder and said, pat pat. "There, all done. You're clean now. You won't need to wash up, so you should go inside and rest, Hero."

"Uh..."

"As for the others... don't worry. I'll try to persuade them as much as I can. It's just one failed plan. Don't be too discouraged. Fighting."

"Uh, yeah... Thank you."

With that, the Saintess turned and walked calmly into the tent.

"Whoa..." I felt a chill run down my spine. No, what was she thinking these days to be treating me so kindly? If I knew her intentions, maybe it wouldn't matter. But since I couldn't even guess, even receiving this favor felt incredibly uncomfortable.

I checked to see if she'd done something to my body. I was clean, sure, but who knew if she'd subtly pulled some prank. I circulated mana through my blood vessels and swung my limbs a few times. As far as I could tell, nothing strange had happened to my body. She hadn't tried anything.

I rested my chin on my hand and pondered. 'It definitely can't be goodwill.' Given my curse trait, it could never be goodwill. Then what was her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠real intention... I thought for a while but found no answer. With no other choice, I decided to focus on something else.

'Now that I don't need to wash up anymore...' There was a lot to do. Since the plan had gone awry, I needed to rebuild a more precise strategy, and persuade the others to follow it. Also, since we'd nearly reached the Insect King's castle, I'd need to power up to deal with that bastard Valcan. Defeating the mid-boss Minotaur meant the real Heavenly King conquest had begun. In many ways, I was busy.

While thinking about all that, one thing suddenly came to mind. 'Ah, come to think of it, I got the quest reward, didn't I?' The quest I'd received before defeating the mid-boss. It had said that defeating the Minotaur would let me choose one skill. I didn't know what skill list it would show, but I was looking forward to it. Right now, with so few skills, even something small like this would be a huge help.

So I began claiming the reward. I opened the system window and clicked the 'Claim Reward!' button floating in the corner. Then a list of selectable skills appeared before my eyes. And I couldn't help but curse.

'What the fuck...' Because the reward list was far better than I'd expected.

My mouth hung open and wouldn't close. Even replicas were fine. No, the fact that they were replicas actually made more sense. Because having the original versions of those skills was impossible to begin with.

Skills I'd seen hundreds of times while playing this game hundreds of times. Skills I'd never once obtained, even after all that.

"Th-this is..." I muttered in a trembling voice. "These are the Heavenly Kings' authorities..."

The system was handing out something insane.

In the game I'd possessed, The Demon King and the Hero's Party, each of the Four Heavenly Kings possessed their own abilities. Powers that made them not just strong individuals, but monsters threatening humanity. Abilities that were their very identities and tools of torment for the party members.

The game company simply called them skills, but I called them authorities. Because skills this broken deserved to be called authorities. I'd worked incredibly hard to obtain them... 'I never thought I'd get them here.' I looked at the system window with a rare expression of satisfaction. "You bastard, I always believed in you."

That's right. If the difficulty was this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠high, it should give corresponding rewards. I'd believed that The Demon King and the Hero's Party wasn't that much of a trash game. Of course, I couldn't deny it was a trash game... But at least it didn't make the impossible mandatory.

After praising the system for a while, I fell back into thought. Well then. I'd realized that good skill options had come my way. Now it was time to choose which one to pick. 'What should I choose?' Any of them would be more than enough for one person. But I couldn't think that small. Skills this good would influence a character's growth direction. In other words, this was where I'd primarily decide my growth path. Which skills would synergize with this one as a base. And which skill would help when fighting the Heavenly Kings...

I thought and thought again. Slowly, I approached it through elimination. 'First, pass on Insect Magic and Puppetry.' They were undeniably good skills, but too difficult to use. Also, a battle of attrition through sheer numbers would eventually hit its limit.

'Aeon is a pass too...' Honestly, in terms of performance alone, this might be the best. But it was equally difficult and ambiguous to use. To use it, I'd definitely need that guy's level of mastery... It would require considerable practice. Especially considering I needed to defeat Valcan, the Insect King, in the near future, it was practically useless.

'In the end, what's left are Regeneration and Iron Spirit.' I pondered. Let's see... Which one would suit me best? One that synergizes well with me, is necessary for future strategies, and can be used usefully no matter which class I choose...

'What the...' When I thought about it, the answer came surprisingly quickly. 'I already knew which one I'd pick, didn't I?' I'd just been momentarily confused by the overly flashy options. Even though I knew the simplest choice was the most efficient.

Regeneration. A skill whose effect was obvious to anyone who saw the name. A simple ability that greatly enhanced the user's healing capabilities. But considering the upcoming battle with the Insect King and its versatility, there was no other choice.

Without hesitation, I selected option 4. Then the system window chimed.

Shhhhhh— The effect appeared quickly. The muscle pain that had been throbbing throughout my body disappeared, and the joint aches vanished. The scratches on the floor also disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Whew..." I let out a light sigh as I felt the new power flowing into my body. Done. Now I could fight a little more comfortably. With a satisfied expression, I was about to head toward the tent. No, wait a moment first...

"Just in case, I should wash up anyway." The Saintess had purified me, but you never know, right?