Chapter 58 : Chapter 58

Chapter 58 - Assembly (2)

To survive, one must become stronger.

It was a goal I thought about every day, but just vaguely thinking about it and having a clear guideline were two different feelings.

So let's examine it a bit more closely.

What I needed right now was a part that would become clear as soon as I checked my own status.

<Job List>

[ Qigong Master ]

[ Survival Expert ]

[ Vanguard ]

[ Rear Guard ]

<Skill List>

[ Menacing Blow ] + [ Barbarian's Strength ] = [ Double Pulse ]

[ Hawkeye ]

[ High-speed Maneuver ]

[ Observation ]

[ Bullet Time ]

[ Mana Vacuum ] - Enhancement: [ Beholder ]

[ Sensitive Senses ] + [Mana Accumulation ] = [ Qi Accumulation ]

[ Shadow Secret Arts ] - [ Forceful Blow ] , [ Shadow Step ]

[ Dexterity ]

[ Mastery: Sword ]

‘How luxurious.’

No matter how you looked at it, it wasn't a skill set that a character who hadn't even reached level 30 should have.

If level 20 in the game was the gateway to shedding the beginner tag and starting the main game, level 30 was where you entered the stage of being able to apply the basics.

In fact, most skills that had shed the beginner tag were unlocked after level 30.

‘But...’

Though it was luxurious, it wasn't without its flaws.

In fact, there was one glaringly open flaw.

‘I don't have any proper attack skills.’

Of course, Double Pulse was a cheat skill, and if you combined it with Shadow Secret Arts: Forceful Blow, it was safe to say that I wouldn't have trouble with firepower for the time being.

But that was a story that only held true when progressing through the game normally.

The nature of the work I was trying to pull off now meant that with half-assed specs, I'd get nowhere.

My goal wasn't just to ‘clear’ it, but to race through it at a speed that would twist all the paths originally set in the game.

The fortunate thing was that there was still quite a bit of time until the second trial, which could be called the next main quest.

Even the gateway to the 12th floor was something I…

‘To get a proper skill, I need to be over level 30 anyway...’

For now, I'd put on hold the skills I could learn myself with skill points.

So, what could I take as a substitute?

”Avatar of the Savior! Over here!“

It was to make the most of the girl who was currently waving her hands enthusiastically in front of my eyes.

That was also why I attended this grand assembly.

“...Are you really a cleric?”

“Yes?”

It was an honest impression that popped out as soon as I saw the other person.

On the outside, it was just an ordinary nun's habit.

But from a veteran's point of view, it looked a little different.

“Are you going to war?”

I stared intently at the rosary around her neck.

Mana protection treatment, built-in physical force field, engravings with area-of-effect attack formulas.

This was a pretty decent item even by my veteran standards.

“Ah, as expected, you recognize it?”

She said so and spun around in front of me.

It looked like a girlfriend showing off new clothes to her boyfriend.

If she hadn't been wearing combat equipment that could easily build a house, I would have accepted it with a fresh smile too.

“It's just the two of us today, you and me, Avatar of the Savior! I thought it would be best to minimize any interruptions!”

What kind of interruption in a social gathering.

In the first place, what was she trying to reduce by wearing all that stuff?

“...Let's go in.”

It was too much to argue further, so I just dragged her inside.

The inside was filled with a worldly atmosphere that was hard to believe for a meeting hosted by a religious organization.

Waiters serving wine. Chandeliers. Carpets. People dressed up in suits and even a band.

It was a scene that lumped together the typical image of a ‘high society party’.

‘Well...’

Their name might be Daeshinjeon or whatever, but in the end, they were also guys who made a living by selling support-type Climbers.

They knew that acting like a strictly religious organization wouldn't do them any good, so they deliberately indulged in such luxuries.

As soon as I entered, I scanned everyone inside the party hall.

Hmm.

Good.

The ‘ones who should be here’ were all here.

“What should I do? What is your command? Whose mind should I read? If you just ask for anything, I...?”

As I was thinking that, Darien's words poured out like a machine gun as she waved her hands excitedly beside me.

It subsided soon enough, though.

Because I had picked up a glass of champagne from a tray and handed it to her.

“There's no need for that.”

“Yes?”

“I didn't call you for that today.”

At the very least, her value as the leader of a rapidly growing new religious group was enormous.

“Let's talk about you in this place. I called you because I'm more interested in that.”

Saying so, I also grabbed a glass and sat at a suitable table.

Well, it was true that I came here to build my image.

But the most important thing was this girl's condition.

Darien was famous even in the game as a byword for having a glass mental.

‘I'm sure...’

If the protagonist didn't personally stick to her and care for her, she would go off the rails in one way or another.

Typically, it was distrust of humans, social anxiety.

Or conversely, she could lean towards extreme dependency, and her self-esteem could plummet through the floor.

Whichever way she went, she was very unstable, so a check-up on her current state was essential.

‘...And probably.’

At this point in time, I was the only one who could do that.

Having watched this girl until now, I was certain.

This girl ‘can't read’ my mind.

Otherwise, there were too many actions that couldn't be explained.

In the original work, it was a system where proper dialogue choices only opened up when the player wore an accessory that completely blocked mental interference.

But in this world without a player, it meant that I was the only one who could have a conversation with this girl on an equal footing as ‘person to person’.

“Uh, you, you want to hear my story...?”

“Yeah.”

The girl, who had been jumping up and down excitedly, gradually calmed down.

Then she hesitantly sat down across from me.

“I, I don't really have any great or interesting stories...”

“I didn't call you to hear great or interesting stories either.”

The sharp alcohol passed down my esophagus.

Alcohol was a free pass that opened the blocked passage between the brain and the heart.

I don't even remember his face now, but it was a fact that a guy who had clashed with me terribly before I came over here had taught me earnestly.

“As I said before, anything is fine. Just your story is enough. I'm curious about that.”

“...”

Darien stared at me blankly with unfocused eyes.

No.

Why is she like this again.

What's the problem now.

[ Darien Anfeld ]

[ Information about the target can be updated. Would you like to proceed? Y/N ]

“...”

It was a window I felt like I had seen once before.

Back then, it only popped up after I confirmed it.

But now, it popped up right in front of my eyes without me doing anything.

As if it were an important matter.

‘...This is ominous.’

I couldn't help but have such a thought.

Still, I touched Y for now.

[ The target's skill share slot will be opened. ]

[ The target's skill share slot will be opened. ]

[ The target's skill share slot will be opened. ]

[ The target's skill share slot will be opened. ]

[ The target's skill share slot will be opened. ]

.

.

.

[ The target's skill share slot has reached its maximum at the current skill level. ]

[ You have partially fulfilled the level-up conditions for the ‘Share’ skill. ]

“...”

Well.

When you think about it, good news is good news.

But was it really okay for her rapport to skyrocket like this just from a single word?

Just how far will this girl evolve in the future...

“My, my, just my story, you mean. Ahem. Ahem.”

As I was rubbing my temples at the dizzying situation, Darien, who seemed to have had a drink in the meantime, cleared her throat with a flushed face.

Thanks to having avoided alcohol like a nun, it seemed her tongue loosened up after just one glass, and she soon poured out all sorts of trivial stories.

They were more ordinary stories than I thought.

Managing the church was harder than she thought, but it was quite encouraging that the faithful sincerely believed in her... such small stories.

‘She's fine for now.’

In game terms, her mental health meter was at a good 90%.

Later, when the red lights start to come on one by one and she really starts to lose it, even a normal conversation like this would be out of the question.

And.

“Oh my. Who is this.”

This voice that suddenly came from the side.

It belonged to ‘Darien's mental breakdown culprit number 1’.

***

In fact, as most large groups do.

Daeshinjeon, as one of Korea's leading support-type Climber guilds, or rather a conglomerate, had done a lot of bastardly things.

Especially from Darien's perspective, it would be even more so, as they were the ones who took the lead in treating her father as a heretic and erasing his records after his suicide.

Most large guilds would have agreed with that stance, but as a fellow religious group, it was Daeshinjeon that had trampled on Gusegyo most thoroughly.

And.

In the lore, the will of ‘one person’ played a very important role in all that oppression.

As soon as I heard that voice.

The fact that Darien's expression, which had been beaming at me, completely vanished, made me feel that truth on my skin.

“Sepia.”

Darien growled to the side.

Standing there was a beautiful woman with neatly braided blue hair and a pure white robe.

Engraved on her chest was the insignia of crossed wings. The mark of Daeshinjeon.

Sepia Cavael. One of the ‘Archbishops’ who currently had the loudest voice in Daeshinjeon. She was also a top-tier support-type Climber.

It's about right to think of her as having a status similar to Seo Hye-in in the Hunting Alliance.

Furthermore.

“...”

She was also a person very closely related to the death of Darien's father.

In the lore, these two would have clashed often even before, but the current terrible atmosphere was all due to that.

Well, I would also get entangled in that inner story soon enough.

“What brings you here, Darien? I thought you were keeping quiet for a while.”

As I was thinking that, Sepia opened her mouth.

Her voice was calm, but what resided in her low-sunk eyes was a contempt that could cut flesh.

In fact, as soon as she recognized this woman, Darien's expression rapidly hardened.

To repeat, this girl could read ‘minds’.

It meant that she was perceiving in real-time all the harsh words that were being thrown around in that mind.

“...Just stay for a bit and then leave. I don't want to see you for too long in such a nice place.”

Leaving only those words, Sepia turned around.

Well, it seemed that side didn't want to start a fight in a place like this either.

But Darien didn't seem to agree.

“Sepia. Just a moment.”

“...?”

Perhaps not expecting Darien to call her first, Sepia furrowed her brow and turned her head.

“...What is it? I don't really have anything to talk about with you.”

“No. Neither do I. Originally.”

Darien tilted her head and continued.

“But, there is one thing I want to say.”

“Yes?”

“I don't care what you say about me. You can curse me for being an orphan, call me a lowly wench, or a psycho, I don't care.”

“...What are you talking about now?”

As Sepia was completely flustered by all her inner thoughts being exposed, Darien lifted her chin a little more and stood up from her seat.

“You just cursed him too, didn't you.”

“...Yes?”

“You thought he looked unimpressive, like a pathetic low-life. Didn't you?”

Uh. Was I cursed too?

Considering the character of Sepia, it was natural that she would bite at anyone with Darien, even if it was Buddha or Jesus.

“...I don't know what you're talking about. Keep your paranoia in check-”

As Sepia's expression slightly contorted and she was about to say that.

“Sepia.”

Darien smiled brightly.

“You could have messed with me. But you shouldn't have messed with him. You bitch who deserves to be torn to shreds.”

Subsequently.

Darien brought her hand to her rosary.

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