The Best Path, Gulp
I swallowed hard. Thump. Thump. My heart hammered against my ribs with a completely different kind of intensity than when I had taken Moyong Sunae to the adult toy shop.
Would you like to purchase 'Telekinesis' for 1,200,000 won?
[YES / NO]
It wasn’t game currency. This was one-point-two million won of real money. Now that the moment had arrived, part of me hesitated. One-point-two million won was no small sum. But when I looked at it from another angle—if that amount could grant me the power of Telekinesis—it suddenly didn’t feel expensive at all.
“Ah, screw it!”
You have purchased 'Telekinesis'.
1,200,000 won has been deducted.
You have acquired the skill 'Telekinesis'.
The explanation for the skill was concise: the ability to interfere with objects without physical contact. And then—
Telekinesis (Lv. 2) — 5,000,000 won
Level Two was immediately added to the shop. Which meant the version I had just bought was Level One.
“Hmm… I wonder how strong Level One actually is?”
I’d been worried it might be so weak it was practically useless, but that wasn’t the case.
Just so you know, I will shoulder the entire mental burden required to use the skill. You need not worry about that aspect.
The only resource consumed on your end, Master, is stamina.
For once the ring was actually being helpful.
I always only tell you things that benefit you, Master.
“……”
I didn’t answer. Instead I stared at a ballpoint pen lying on my desk and activated Telekinesis. Teeth clenched. Eyes narrowed with effort. In my mind I commanded the pen to move.
“……!”
The pen rose slowly into the air, then began flying exactly where I wanted it to. It zipped and swirled through the air in perfect obedience.
Fast… it’s fast.
From a distance the speed was easy to track, but the thought of something like this hurtling straight at my face was chilling. Then again, anyone would be shocked if an ordinary object suddenly took flight. It wasn’t as if people made a fuss over magic tricks for no reason.
“Whoa… this is insane.”
I tested whether I could control multiple objects at once.
If I were not carrying the mental load for you, Master, you would have fainted long ago.
The mental power required for Telekinesis is enormous.
It is not something a human can withstand.
Yeah, yeah, you’re amazing. After the pens I moved on to heavier objects.
“Ugh—!”
I started with a thick major textbook shoved in the corner. Before the book even budged, my own body began trembling violently, as if throwing a tantrum.
So… so fucking heavy.
I thought my eyes might pop out from the strain. “Huk… huuuk… Let’s try something lighter.”
I had only experimented a little, yet my mouth was already dry and I was gasping for breath. The ring might be handling the mental burden, but the stamina drain was no joke.
Is that not obvious?
It is a power an ordinary human could never obtain even after devoting an entire lifetime to training.
Simply ‘thinking’ about using it is enough to activate it. Of course a price must be paid.
You already knew this, Master.
“High risk, high return.”
There is no outcome in this world without a price.
“Then why the hell did a guy who knows that give me a quest like that?”
Goodness, how long are you going to sulk about that? So petty.
Besides, both Moyong Sunae and you enjoyed yourselves, didn’t you?
You even witnessed with your own eyes how overjoyed she was when she received the dildo as a gift from you.
“T-That’s…”
I couldn’t argue. Moyong Sunae really had been ecstatic. She thanked me over and over right there on the spot.
Why?
It made no sense according to any common sense I possessed. The fact that the whole thing had prevented a murder was even more absurd. I gave her a dildo and somehow stopped a killing? Had she used it to subdue a criminal she ran into on the way home or something?
“Ah, forget it. Let’s just focus on Telekinesis.”
As you wish.
With the ring’s curt reply, I resumed my experiments and analysis of the new ability. After exhausting myself several times, I finally gathered solid information about Telekinesis.
First, the maximum number of ballpoint pens I could control at once was four. Moving all four simultaneously drained my stamina in roughly thirty seconds.
Second, I couldn’t move thick textbooks, but thinner books were possible. Moving more than one at a time, however, was impossible.
Third, even if I couldn’t move an object, I could still interfere with it to a degree. For example, I could slow the fall of a heavy textbook the instant it dropped.
Fourth, Telekinesis only affected the surface. The interior was impossible. I had tested whether I could influence something like a person’s internal organs. The answer was no. In other words, the energy I emitted had to make contact with the outer surface to work.
Furthermore, while I could handle four pens, I could only manage one picture book or two thin notebooks. It appeared there was a limit to the total weight I could influence.
“It really is exactly what it says—the power to affect objects without touching them.”
It was a little disappointing for someone who had imagined the flying swords from wuxia novels, but there was no denying it was an absurdly good ability. After all, it was a genuine superpower.
“I’m getting used to it the more I use it.”
I flopped onto the bed and sent the ballpoint pen spinning through the air above me. Watching it twirl, I let out a helpless laugh.
“If I filmed this for MeTube, wouldn’t I make a fortune?”
I was half serious.
I would not particularly recommend that.
They say the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.
A little mischief is fine, but if you become famous enough to earn a fortune, your ability will eventually reach someone’s ears.
Once that happens, the FBI, the CIA… similar organizations from various countries will begin to move.
Ah, of course the first to act would be South Korea, the nation where you are registered as a citizen.
“……So those things really exist.”
Is that not obvious?
Looking at South Korea’s police and detectives alone, they are already quite capable.
That was true. The police in dramas always seemed utterly incompetent, but the speed with which they had responded during Hwangbo Ji-eun’s stalker incident was like lightning. I didn’t know who called them, but less than five minutes after the stalker appeared, sirens were blaring through the streets.
And even though I hadn’t done anything wrong, the sound of those sirens still made my heart drop.
It seemed human psychology couldn’t be explained by theory alone.
No, it can be explained by theory. Most humans are simply not theoretical creatures.
It is only natural. It is God’s power, after all.
Why the hell had God turned his own power into such an obnoxious chatterbox?
“Anyway, what happens if those organizations come after me?”
Recruitment or elimination would be the natural course, would it not?
They can fabricate anything. For example, if the CIA requests national cooperation from South Korea one night, assassinates you, and then tells your family with a plausible alibi that you suffered an unexpected accident—do you think your family would suspect murder?
“……”
I quietly shook my head after considering the ring’s words from the perspective of an outsider. “No… not at all.” If it had been me, I probably wouldn’t have suspected anything either. But—
“Still, if I got famous on MeTube and then suddenly died, at least one person would suspect something, right? Especially in an era where social media is so developed.”
Master, you really are quite naïve.
Seventy percent of humans are fundamentally stupid, and the remaining thirty percent usually have little interest in others.
It is precisely because this is the information age—and AI is now being introduced—that those with power find it even easier to manipulate the public.
People are becoming addicted to stimulating information. Reading, once common, is now rare. Many simply ask AI for answers instead of thinking for themselves.
If the government has already tampered with that AI, would you suspect the answer it gives you?
What a complacent thought. If there is even the slightest chance you could become an obstacle in the future, organizations that routinely sacrifice the few for the many would have more than enough justification.
In short, this world contains organizations and personnel that ordinary humans cannot even imagine.
You may be able to laugh while watching MeTube Shorts every day, but those in power must constantly consider the possibility of assassination or terrorism.
Of course, now that you have distanced yourself from ‘ordinary,’ it is not a bad thing to know these facts in advance. I did not speak at length for no reason.
Is that not obvious? There is no way the Master who obtained ‘God’s power’ could live an ordinary life.
“……”
I will remind you once more. Completing the quests I provide is the ‘best path’ for you to survive.
At the same time, a clear ding rang in my ear.
Boldly declare to Moyong Dahae that you will shamelessly two-time her.
Reward: 2,000,000 won
“……”
I stared at the quest window and once again found myself at a loss for words. Was this really the best path for me to survive?