Chapter 2
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Lesson 1: This Is Your Status Window - 2
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People tend to stay calm when shocking events happen one after another.
This wasn't some theory proposed by an academic—it was exactly what Ban Yu-won was experiencing right now.
Opening the Authority, Babylonia Code, in response to external stimuli. Displaying in hieroglyphs, the most familiar language to the Authority's possessor.
'Hieroglyphs I'm familiar with... Hanja?'
He was right.
Not phonetic characters that represent sounds with symbols, but a language where the characters themselves carry meaning.
The Babylonia Code appeared before his eyes, neatly organized in the form of those very Hanja characters.
Stealing the common concepts from two goblins: Demon (魔鬼), Life (生), and Body (肉體). Other concepts are too minor or overly complex to absorb at the current possessor's level.
Absorbing Demon (魔鬼) 0.2. Demon (魔鬼) is a concept humans cannot inherently possess. The power of the Babylonia Code allows temporary storage within the body, but you cannot wield it yourself. Recommended: Separate it or bestow it upon another object or creature.
Absorbing Life (生) 0.4. Possessor's Life (生) is now 10.4. Prerequisite abilities and potential of existence are enhanced.
Absorbing Body (肉體) 0.2. Possessor's Body (肉體) is now 10.2. The body becomes more robust.
Messages written in a language that felt palpably powerful—clearly different from the Academy's guide—filled Ban Yu-won's vision one after another.
In the midst of that chaos, Ban Yu-won could see it.
Three strings of characters emerged from each of the two goblins' bodies... found their pairs, merged in sequence, and were sucked into his own body.
'Ah...'
Mysteriously, he could even sense how those strings moved once inside him. Two of them—likely Life (生) and Body (肉體)—were fully absorbed into Ban Yu-won's body, seamlessly merging with the strings already there.
The remaining one, Demon (魔鬼), tried to rampage wildly the moment it entered him but was quickly suppressed by a mysterious force and isolated in a corner of his body.
Once all the absorption was complete, the goblins' corpses dried up in an instant, crumbling into dust and scattering away.
'...My body's changed.'
He knew it instinctively.
He'd never used an expression like that in his life, but in this moment, he was absolutely certain.
He had gotten stronger.
He could vividly feel his grip strength increase, his kicking power surge, and even his previously somewhat fragile skin toughen up a bit.
He'd often been surprised by his own linguistic talents before... but without a doubt, this moment topped them all.
No—this wasn't even about language skills!
As Ban Yu-won touched his changed body, more messages kept appearing.
Truth be told, despite the shock, accepting this message window wasn't all that hard.
It resembled a status window so closely—almost as if the Babylonia Code had taken its place.
It made perfect sense why it had stolen his status window.
Stealing linguistic concepts from the dead goblins was like gaining experience points, and now this cascade of code was simply displaying the status window!
'Life—that's obviously like a game level. If this grows, it's my level going up. Body, Soul, those are stats. Why is Soul so high? No idea, skip for now. All-Reading Eyes, All-Hearing Ears... those must relate to my language skills. So, skills. Ah, maybe that's why Soul is so high.'
At this point, it was just a status window that worked a bit differently from everyone else's.
Just roll with it!
'Digging into why I have this power would just complicate things. Whatever! Knowing won't help me right now anyway...'
Or would it?
Ban Yu-won's gaze lingered on the last concept listed: Demon (魔鬼).
It had clearly said humans can't possess it, so get rid of it quick.
It had also mentioned separating it or bestowing it on objects or creatures.
That finally gave him a rough grasp of his ability.
'So it's not just understanding all languages— I can perceive, distinguish, and manipulate the elemental concepts that make up living beings as linguistic units.'
Absorb them directly to strengthen himself.
Or bestow them on objects to reinforce or alter them.
Or perhaps release the language independently for use.
The idea that words equal power had never felt so literal.
'Magic Words... ahem!'
He figured that was probably right.
Maybe because he was the ability's master, but Ban Yu-won accepted and understood it without the slightest resistance—surprising even himself.
And this was likely why Union Academy had admitted him via the Lower Dimension Special Admission track.
That had to be it.
'Meaning, with this power, I might actually survive this monster-infested madhouse...!'
He'd just awakened the Authority and devoured the linguistic concepts from two goblins, growing a little.
But he knew full well this wasn't enough to face goblins head-on.
So what should he do now?
Ban Yu-won suspected the answer lay with Demon (魔鬼).
'It said I can bestow it. And luckily, I have a target.'
He brought the club he'd just been wielding right up to his face to check it.
Despite being covered in goblin blood and brains, it remained sturdy, exuding a solid presence.
He doubted holding a weapon he'd never touched before would let him take on goblins, but it was better than bare hands.
"Hold on."
A sudden realization escaped his lips involuntarily.
He panicked and glanced around, but the surroundings remained silent.
Probably because this was the overlapping territory of those two goblins.
'If I can steal linguistic concepts from corpses, I should be able to from objects too, right?'
Ban Yu-won hurriedly scanned the ground.
Goblin 1 and 2 had vanished completely, including their rag clothes, but thankfully, both clubs remained.
He reached out to Goblin 1's club on the ground and activated his power.
Though he'd only realized it minutes ago, wielding it felt utterly natural now.
Ownership of the object secured. Possible to steal the object's linguistic concept. Absorb Blunt Weapon (鈍器) 1?
'Absorb.'
Blunt Weapon? That's just the club as-is.
Ban Yu-won let out an involuntary wry smile as he initiated the theft.
The same scene unfolded as before.
The club crumbled without a trace, and golden strings poured out from within, flowing into Ban Yu-won's body.
But like Demon, this was a concept he couldn't hold himself, so he decided to test 'bestowal' right away.
Bestowing Blunt Weapon (鈍器) 1 onto the object in contact with your hand. The object now possesses Blunt Weapon (鈍器) 2.
Simpler than expected.
Strings flowed out from his body into the club, and that was it.
No visible change in the club's appearance.
Maybe Blunt Weapon 1 wasn't enough for big changes, or perhaps possessing a linguistic concept didn't alter the outward look...
Either way, bestowal had gone smoothly, so Ban Yu-won tried the next idea that came to mind.
Ownership of the object secured. Possible to steal the object's linguistic concept. Absorb Blunt Weapon (鈍器) 2?
'Good, reabsorbing something I just bestowed doesn't reduce the amount.'
This was a surprisingly crucial detail.
Exchanging money alone incurs fees, right?
No one would do it endlessly, but repeatedly converting won to dollars and back would steadily erode the principal.
Fortunately, his ability had no such fees, so he could bestow and steal freely.
Just be careful not to suck out every concept from an object, lest it collapse entirely.
'Cancel absorbing Blunt Weapon, then... bestow Demon instead.'
Right before executing, Ban Yu-won hesitated slightly.
He clearly remembered the notice: language could not only be bestowed but also separated.
And that might allow direct application to his own body.
'Demon... could this be Magical Power (魔力)?'
Honestly.
He was very tempted.
But even anticipating the result, he held back because gaining just 0.2 Demon wouldn't bring dramatic change.
Plus, he could always reabsorb from the club if needed.
'Yeah, this is the smart play. Better to infuse the weapon with Demon than try wielding Magical Power myself right now.'
Impulses from his chuunibyou days bubbled up, but he desperately suppressed them.
He extracted all 0.2 Demon (魔鬼) from his isolated storage and bestowed it onto the club.
Of course, bestowing Blunt Weapon 1 had shown no change, so 0.2 Demon probably wouldn't either.
That's what he thought.
The result was vastly different.
The object now possesses Demon (魔鬼) 0.2, faintly taking on artifact properties. Destructive power slightly amplified. Durability markedly increased. Critical hit chance additionally granted.
"...What?"
As he froze in shock at the unexpected notice, the Academy's message appeared.
Created a temporary artifact during the exam. Truly astonishing. Major bonus points awarded to your evaluation! We recommend advancing to the Artifact Creation Department!
"Ha, haha."
He'd hit the jackpot.
But it felt exhilarating.
'Major bonus points.'
This proved his innate unique ability held its own even at Union Academy.
'I can do this. They're all dead meat now!'
...Of course, it didn't make him able to take on Blind Goblins one-on-one yet, so he still had to walk that tightrope for a while longer.
Using deception, trickery, mimicry, backstabbing—abilities beyond the Babylonia Code's perception—he repelled goblins and pressed on.
Before he knew it, a massive door utterly out of place in the cave loomed before him.
—The club in his hand now possessed Blunt Weapon (鈍器) 15 and Demon (魔鬼) 1.5.