Overlord's World-Shaking Aura

"Hey, mind if I ask why you picked this skill of all things?"

"? This one looked the best to me?"

Why was he so bothered about this?

"No matter how I look at it, the Overlord's Club Technique seems better. Sure you don't want to change your mind?"

"It just doesn't really appeal to me."

"This one's really good, though..."

Xiang Yu looked thoroughly disappointed. For some reason, even his domain seemed to be trembling slightly.

Hey, what am I supposed to do? This one looks the best to me.

Xiang Yu had shown me the skills he possessed. First was the Overlord's Club Technique, a martial art for swinging a club more effectively. Apparently it packed profound principles into even a single swing, but honestly, it didn't interest me. They said that at mastery you could punch through mountains and freely control the club's weight, but... eh?

There were other skills too — Overlord's Dominion Step, Overlord's Blazing Fist — but the one that caught my eye was this:

Overlord's World-Shaking Aura.

The name alone has "world-shaking" in it. Sounds ridiculously strong.

...Okay, that joke was pretty weak. I was gonna use it later, but yeah — scrap that.

Anyway, this skill supposedly overpowered enemies with pure presence alone.

"It has zero ability to deal direct damage — it just radiates aura?"

"That's exactly what makes it good?"

This was totally that thing. Conqueror's Haki.

You gotta have something like this.

Way better than some mediocre attack skill.

"...I'll ask one last time. Are you truly set on this?"

"Yes. I'll take this one."

"...Haa. I've done all I can to talk you out of it."

Xiang Yu said this while looking somewhere that wasn't me.

"What? Is there something over there?"

"No, nothing. Heh heh."

And just like that, I got my hands on Overlord's World-Shaking Aura.

"So how do I use this?"

"It'll settle into your mind on its own, so don't worry. Well then, this was fun."

"Wait, hang o—"

Xiang Yu hurriedly said his goodbyes, and then light flooded in again, blotting out my vision.

Geez, I wanted to chat a little more.

When I could see again, I was back home.

"...Oh."

Everything about Overlord's World-Shaking Aura poured into my head.

Nice.

Exactly the skill as described. I needed this one anyway.

Why? Because in combat, monsters would be scared shitless of me. One hit with the club and status effects would kick in immediately — monsters would be easy pickings.

Honestly, that wasn't the only reason.

With this, people won't ask for my number anymore.

Every time I stepped outside, someone hit me up for my number. I needed something like this. Even when I just went out for a quick bowl of gukbap, someone asked for my number. Daily life was rough.

Is this the life of a beauty?

I heard that if you're truly gorgeous, people don't even dare ask for your number. Was I not at that level?

No, this world is the problem.

I saw online last time that after the Great Cataclysm, the constant fear of dying anytime made people way more aggressive about going after what they want.

Someone loving me could actually be a wound for me, you know.

Okay, not a wound. Just ridiculously burdensome. Who the hell starts dating guys the second they become a woman? That's just a psycho. Or someone who always wanted to be a woman in the first place.

I've never wanted to become a woman. Sure, I wished I'd been born one, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I was already born a guy — what can you do?

...Well, I did get hit by a truck and become a woman, but still. I've worn skirts, I've legally walked into women's bathhouses, but adapting is still hard. No — adapting to this world itself is hard. I've only been here for four days, so I guess that's only natural.

The Constellations' chat wasn't all that different from regular stream viewers, so adapting to it had been pretty easy.

"How was it? Well, light poured down and then I could see again..."

A world where monsters come out of gates, you go into gates to kill monsters, and Constellations watch it all like an internet stream...

Well, it was a pretty livable place, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all things considered.

The next day arrived.

I got up a bit early today. Lots to do. Gotta hit the bank, stop by the Association — something about settling revenue and needing to meet face-to-face. I was also meeting with the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Eclipse Guild to pick up the Quick Gate clear reward.

No gates today, right?

Day four in this world, and two of those days I'd gotten dragged into gates. If I got sucked into a gate today too, the world was just trolling me.

It's been trolling me since the truck hit, honestly.

But I got a second life out of it, so maybe it wasn't all bad?

I opened the door and headed for the bank.

About thirty seconds later.

I'm hungry.

Walking made me hungry. They say once you become a hunter, you barely need sleep and can go days without eating. Sure, things were way better, but if I skipped meals, the hunger still crept up. And yesterday all I'd eaten was one bowl of gukbap.

Maybe I should grab something quick.

I'd hit a café and grab some bread at least. My blood sugar was low — my brain felt foggy.

The moment I walked into the café, every eye turned toward me. And it was rush hour, so the place was packed. Crowds meant number requests. Hell, even without crowds they asked. Someone had asked for my number mid-gukbap and wanted to share a table, for crying out loud.

Please, nobody ask for my number.

I was already inside — it'd be awkward to just leave. I picked my order on the kiosk, already prepping my rejection speech.

...Huh? Nobody's talking to me?

I glanced around just in case. I could still feel the stares. But instead of the usual blatant, lingering looks, it was just quick glances.

Is this... the power of Overlord's World-Shaking Aura?

Holy shit, this was amazing.

Thanks to that, I comfortably ate my coffee and cake. The cake was delicious. I don't usually like cake, but for some reason it tasted incredible.

The coffee made me need to pee, so I headed to the bathroom. I was used to going into the women's restroom by now. How different can bathrooms even be?

Ah, there was one difference.

There's always soap here.

And it was clean, too. For someone who always washed their hands with soap anyway, this was a clear win.

I finished my business and was about to step out of the stall when—

"Holy shit, isn't she ridiculously pretty?"

"No way, you're pretty too, unnie."

Voices from outside.

"That's not what I mean. I genuinely thought she was a celebrity."

"Yeah, for real. Her vibe was insane."

Two women chatting at the sinks.

...I think they're talking about me.

Could be delusion, but looking at it, it was definitely about me.

"Haa... plastic surgery, right?"

"Obviously. Eyes and nose for sure."

No I didn't.

"Think I could look like that if I got surgery?"

"Totally! Just do your eyes, nose, lips, cheekbones, forehead, and jaw and you'd be close. Oh, and a little epicanthoplasty too."

"Pfft—!"

Ah. Fuck.

I couldn't hold in the laugh.

"...What the hell. Creepy."

"Whatever. Let's go, unnie."

They left.

Whew.

Come on, that was funny. They said I only got eyes and nose done, then told her she'd need her entire face rebuilt.

I came out of the stall, washed my hands, and stepped outside—

"……."

"……."

Those same people were watching me.

Hmm...

But their eyes looked a little scared?

Ah, whatever.

I poked and prodded my nose, proving there was no silicone. I watched their expressions slowly curdle. Then I gave my eyes a little poke too, and at some point they just vanished.

I win.

Meaningless fight, sure, but winning beats losing.

I went back to my seat at the café, and what greeted my eyes was—

"Ah."

A full-scale note assault.

I left the café, hit the bank, and headed to the Hunter Association. I threw out every single note, of course.

"Hello! Hunter Park Sohee!"

Han Nami was waiting at the entrance, so we headed in together. She'd offered to help with the revenue settlement. When I asked if she was busy, she said she had free time today or something.

Why is she so nice to me?

We'd killed some orcs together and gone to a bathhouse, but that was basically the extent of our relationship.

Chatting about this and that with Han Nami, we boarded the Association elevator. Just the two of us inside.

"By the way, your vibe seems a little different? Is it because you got stronger?"

Han Nami knew I'd drunk Diluted Elixir — the mint chocolate kind. I'd told her about it last time.

"Not that — I picked up a skill."

"Ah~ that expl— wait. A skill?"

She looked shocked at the news that I'd gotten a skill.

"Already? Skill books are pretty expensive, aren't they?"

"It just kind of happened."

"Wow, as expected of you, Hunter. You've got talent!"

She gave me a thumbs-up, hyping me up.

"Any chance you'd put that talent to work for the Hunter Association? I'll take really good care of you. I can even set you up with a guy if you want..."

Ah, so that was the goal.

"No, I'm not really thinking about that yet."

And what's this about setting me up? I had zero interest in dating.

"Tch. Well, if you ever change your mind, just give me a call. Oh, so yesterday something happened..."

We talked about all sorts of things while riding the elevator. The elevator wasn't slow — the building was just big, so it took a while.

Around the time we got off—

"Oh, and feel free to call me unnie anytime!"

Apparently we'd built up some internal closeness — Han Nami wanted me to call her unnie. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠She was older than me. Well, this body had made me younger, so.

"Uh, you can drop the formalities too, unnie."

"Okay!"

And with that, Han Nami and I headed to where the Eclipse Guild was.