Cherry Blossoms and Fireworks

The Prime Hotel was the name of the luxury hotel where Han Yugyeong and I had stayed. I figured he'd know about it. The moment we were alone, Taira Danzo asked me the question. The old man even knew my underwear size, so it was no surprise he'd found out one way or another.

Strangely, he didn't seem particularly shocked that I'd killed people.

"Didn't you already know I trained in martial arts?"

"Hmm. Of course I know you've trained in martial arts. I also know your master is the UMC champion. Your father knelt before him and begged the man to teach you after his son came home covered in bruises from being bullied."

I had assumed the old man was the one who assigned me Fujigasaki Rinka as my master, but it had been Taira Saburo. Even so, it seemed my father couldn't bear watching his own son get tormented.

"Anyway, I used that martial art to take down the four attackers."

"Hmm... Is that martial art truly so powerful? On another note, you stubbornly blamed the hotel itself for the incident."

He was referring to how I'd pinned the entire attack on the hotel's security.

"You did well. A man of the Taira family must never bow his head easily."

Just as I expected. The old man's words weren't "never bow your head," but "don't bow it easily." If there was enough to gain, this grandfather would tell you to lower your head as many times as necessary. At its core, the Taira family was a clan of merchants who chased profit above all else.

"I won't bow my head easily."

"Good. And it seems you've been quite busy with women lately. See that nothing like this happens again. I won't complain about you sticking it in one woman or another, but don't you dare bring home any bastards from outside."

Just how far did this old man's information network reach? Had he really stationed ninjas around me? I'd have to stay alert and check my surroundings more carefully from now on.

"Understood."

"Take this."

What Taira Danzo tossed me was a single business card. Oddly, it contained no name, only a phone number. What was this? Did it carry some special meaning?

"If you need to dispose of bodies like this incident, call this number. Never leave it to the hotel or some shady company. Call here without fail. Understood?"

"Yes, Grandfather."

"Then let's go eat lunch."

When I answered with genuine sincerity, Taira Danzo gave a satisfied nod and strode ahead toward the dining room.

Lunch was sushi. The kind where they summoned the chefs to prepare each piece right before our eyes. True to their mastery, every bite was exquisite. They must have known my appetite in advance. While the other chefs handled two people each, the one in front of me focused exclusively on me, crafting sushi with mechanical precision.

I had enough sense not to eat until I burst. I set my chopsticks down at roughly the same time as the old man. Though when he ate one piece, I ate three, which kept the craftsman's hands extremely busy.

"You worked hard coming today. I'll see you in two weeks."

Two weeks from now would mark the forty-ninth day since Taira Saburo's death, so it seemed he wanted to meet then.

Taira Yukiko and I said our goodbyes to Taira Danzo, Taira Shizuku, and Taira Kanna before getting into the car to head back.

Upon returning to the residence at the Human Resources Development Center, I lay down on the bed and stared at the translucent window. Truthfully, I should have checked it yesterday after sending Han Yugyeong off, but the combination of combat and sex had left my body drained. I'd collapsed the moment I got home. This morning I'd had to visit the main house, so only now could I finally examine the window that had appeared yesterday.

The Abyss stat had risen by a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠total of five, bringing it to nine. The gap with my Willpower stat of fourteen had narrowed considerably. I'd need to manage it more carefully from now on.

With the stats confirmed, it was time to examine my new skill, Shadow Control.

A Legendary skill. My arsenal wasn't lacking in that department. Between Shinkai Yatsude being a Mythic martial art and Shadow Control being Legendary, I wouldn't lose out on technique rank anytime soon.

The slight strengthening of Golden Pillar had added a new line. I checked it immediately.

This reinforcement seemed to stem from kissing the Daughter of the Abyss. Since the system said I'd gained initial favorability with her, Golden Pillar must have activated properly. A kiss counted as a form of sexual activity, so even if only slightly, it had raised her affection.

Next was the new trait. Seal of the Daughter of the Abyss... The name alone made it hard to guess its exact function.

The effects let the Daughter of the Abyss track me, caused mid-tier and lower spiritual entities to fear and avoid me, and granted absolute resistance. Spiritual entities referred to ghosts and spirits. In MegaCorp's Youngest Son, they appeared occasionally as monsters. They were annoying because purely physical fighters couldn't touch them.

The defense calculation for their attacks used the mental stat Willpower rather than equipped armor, which made life difficult for physical-oriented players who neglected that stat. But from the moment I obtained the Seal of the Daughter of the Abyss, I gained absolute resistance against attacks from mid-tier and lower spiritual entities. That made things much easier.

Of course, it wasn't all upside. The final line about mid-tier and lower spiritual entities fearing and avoiding me meant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that any path toward becoming a spirit summoner was now closed off. In this world that wasn't pure fantasy, the Spirit Master class was extremely rare anyway.

After confirming what I'd gained from the Daughter of the Abyss, it was time for the trait gacha from the level-up I'd earned by killing the attackers. Before that, I invested two points into Strength. My Strength stat had now reached ten—the maximum a normal human could possess.

Since I was now level six, at least one of the three options would definitely be related to the skills and traits I'd acquired so far. Let's see what appeared.

Regeneration had risen to level five after I took so many bullets this time. But it was still early, so there was no need to pick it yet. It only became worth taking around level fifteen. Using a precious early trait slot on it would be wasteful.

High-Speed Driving and Marksmanship Mastery weren't traits I needed to take either. Picking them now only to have driving or marksmanship traits appear later when they weren't my focus would bring nothing but regret. I passed on all three.

I would, without question!

The moment I shouted it in my mind, the previous options vanished and new ones appeared.

Shadow Weapon Forging seemed to be the ability to create weapons from shadows. It probably appeared because I'd acquired Shadow Control. Since I was a martial artist, I decided to pass on it.

The remaining two both appealed to me. Telekinesis scaled with my highest stat, Willpower, and was something I'd wanted for a long time. Linguistic Knowledge belonged to the "Knowledge" series of traits that occasionally appeared during level-ups. It raised the Knowledge stat—which normally only increased through reading or learning—and granted related information. If I chose it, I'd be able to learn foreign languages easily when traveling to America or other countries later.

In the end, I selected Telekinesis. I could learn other languages through hard work even without a trait, but Telekinesis was something effort alone could never obtain.

The description was simple, but it was one of the most useful traits available. Even though it was a trait, it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was affected by proficiency, which meant I would need to practice regularly.

I focused my mind on the pen lying in front of my computer. The pen twitched and trembled in response to my telekinesis. It could only twitch for now, but it would improve with time.