NOVEL SIMPLE 144 – Settlement: Futuristic World
"From here on out, we owe each other nothing," Genji declared as the exterminators concluded the battle. "You two can keep planning your revolution. I'm leaving."
"Before you go, could you revisit my lab? I have something for you," Deep Blue said, surprising Genji with this unexpected request.
"Why? I don't think we're close enough for you to be giving me parting gifts."
"It's more of a mission, similar to your interactions with the Vultures."
"I'll head over then. Just don't try to get rid of me now that I'm leaving. It won't end well for both of us."
"Am I that petty in your mind?"
"Who knows? You've been acting strangely the whole time, so it's hard to tell if it's genuine. Plus, I've had my fair share of silencing attempts, so I'd rather not deal with any more."
"Don't worry. I won't start anything since I still need your help."
"If you say so," Genji shrugged and approached the slum borders. With Deep Blue's permission, he didn't need to trouble himself with sneaking past security. Deep Blue would open a path for him, making his departure much easier. This sentient AI had control over the entire city. He just chose to not use it.
When Genji arrived at the forbidden lab, the guards stepped aside without bothering him. Deep Blue led Genji down to the third floor, where his main body was hidden away in a series of metallic hallways.
These hallways snaked around the area in unpredictable ways, often leading to dead ends. Without Deep Blue's guidance, Genji would have easily gotten lost, possibly wasting days navigating it.
'What a troublesome place. I'm glad I don't have to deal with it,' he thought, memorizing the route they had taken.
A few minutes later, they entered a small room filled with supercomputers. The narrow lights on the walls flickered rapidly, displaying a processing power beyond that of most machines. Genji realized the entire room was made from supercomputers instead of normal materials.
"Is this your body?"
"Part of it. To be specific, the entire floor is my body. Everything you've walked past contains a part of me. They're just disguised so that you can't tell."
*Sigh* "I don't even want to know how long this took to build. So, what did you want to give me?"
"That." Deep Blue pointed to a counter space where a bluish-silver cube and a titanium floppy disk sat.
"What's this?" Genji asked, picking up the items.
"The mission item and its reward. I heard you encountered the sentinels before. Give them the disk if you get the chance."
"And if I don't?"
"Then leave it be. I'm merely tossing pebbles into the sea at this point. If I get results, I'm content. Otherwise, I'm not bothered. Of course, I won't ask you to do it for free. The cube is yours, regardless of the outcome."
"Thank you. I'll make good use of it."
"You'd better. That's the last of my stock."
With those words, Genji walked out of the room, waving his hand goodbye.
Settlement: Futuristic World
Achievements:
- Broke out of the experimental lab (2)
- Survived the deadly fall (2)
- Escaped the pursuit of robots
- Drastically damaged the experimental lab (2)
- Defeated a Liquid Silver Model of the Exterminating Series (4)
- Reached the Farlands
- Intimindated the Vultures' mechanic Joe
- Found the Lab of Inheritance
- Discovered the history of the Mecalans (3)
- Discovered the burial room for Researchers of inheritance
- Survived the encounter with the Vulture leader (2)
- Entered the forbidden zone of Deep Blue
- Broke into Deep Blue's lab (2)
- Defeated Slasher Model of the Exterminating Series (3)
- Battled and obliterated the group exterminators (12)
- Convinced Deep Blue to kill Sinclair of LuminalRealm (2)
- Winning the unfair deathmatch (counts as a trial badge)
- Exposed a loophole in World Designation items (counts as a trial badge)
- Killed the Vulture Leader (2)
Total Achievements: 44
Total World time: 18 days, 7 hours
Rating: Champion
Note: Your combat abilities are amazing, but there's not much for you to fight
Coins rewarded: 375,429 (After healing costs)
Stat points: 20 (This is the limit of this world)
Other rewards are being calculated...
As EverRealm performed the calculations, Genji examined the two items Deep Blue had given him.
[Liquid Alloy Type: N-451, Perfect Quality]
Rating: Legendary (Degraded once)
Type: Material
Effects: Devour a piece of equipment and transform into an item with similar effects.
Note: The chosen equipment will be destroyed, regardless of the result.
Note 2: Due to the limited quantity, only small equipment can be devoured.
Description: A versatile alloy created by the Mecalans through the fusion of their advanced technology and mana research. It was praised for its ability to adopt any trait it devoured, allowing the Mecalans to create alloys with the exact properties they were seeking. Under EverRealm's influence, this quality now extends to equipment, although not flawlessly.
[Titanium Disk D-12-A-6]
Rating: Rare
Type: Machine part
Note: The rating evaluates only the material quality, not its true value.
Description: A disk encrypted with an unknown cipher. If you manage to crack it, you might uncover a surprise or realize you wasted years of your life. Proceed at your discretion.
Genji had no intention of messing with the disk and stored it away. It felt good to be able to use his storage again. However, the alloy garnered Genji's full attention. While the limitations were clear, its flexibility couldn't be denied. The only question was which item Genji should feed it.
There was no point in using his primary equipment because they were crucial to his combat powers. Losing a single one would mean redesigning how he fought. This also didn't factor in the risks of a flawed result, potentially ruining the valued effects.
Following this logic, the ideal choices would be items with lower ratings but unique effects. That way, if the result was subpar, the loss wouldn't be too significant. However, this raised an issue as such items rarely possessed effects. They were decent but didn't justify the use of a legendary item.
This left Genji in a dilemma. Should he search for a special effect or gamble with epic items? After some consideration, Genji settled on a feasible option.
[Badge of the Red Fox]
Rating: Rare
Requirements: None
Effects:
- Honor (passive): +1 Dex, +1 Spc. The effect applies even if this is in your storage.
- Stalker's Mark (active): Allows for tracking of a target that meets a condition. Only one condition can be set at once. 1-day cooldown between uses.
Description: A badge of honor rewarded for your ability to kill the Red Kitsune.
It was an old badge, having accompanied Genji since his first world. At that time, his opponent had been insurmountable, with stats surpassing Genji's in every aspect. Under normal circumstances, Genji should have lost the battle, but he had an epiphany mid-battle.
This allowed him to create Flashstep, a core technique in his fighting style, catching his opponent off guard. To this day, his blood still boiled with excitement when he recalled that battle.
Since then, Genji had derived a lot of use from this badge, but it was no longer sufficient against the foes he now faced. That's why Genji didn't mind gambling with this item.
With his choice made, Genji pressed the button in the middle and watched the cube melt into molten metal. It flowed aimlessly in the void for some time before Genji dropped his badge into the stream. As the badge touched the liquid, the stream bubbled violently and swirled around the foreign item.
Bits of the badge broke off, dissolving and merging with the concoction. After the entire mixture became homogenous, the contents gathered into a sphere that rippled with random frequencies.
[Analyzing item... Estimated time: 8 hours, 7 minutes]
As this was happening, Genji drew the scarlet card he obtained from Sinclair.
"Fourth option, enhance the spirits of both legacies."
The card vanished from his hand, and his legacies underwent another upgrade.
[Lethal Opportunity]
Rating: High Legendary
Damage: 38 (+1)
Durability: 425/425 (+5)
Effects:
- Growth (passive): After every world, this set will grow with you
- Effortless Slicing (passive): +45 sharpness (up 3)
- Nigh Unbreakable (passive): +195 durability (up 5)
Legacy Liberation: Deadly Severance
- +25 Sharpness for 45 seconds. Wounds inflicted during this duration can't be healed for 15 seconds. Cooldown of 1 month. (+15 seconds to duration, +5 seconds in healing lockout)
Description: A pair of deadly daggers with spirits approaching maturity. Maybe they will reach that point after one more push?
[Shroud of Terror]
Rating: High Legendary
Defense: 42 (+1)
Durability: 260/260 (no change)
Effects:
- Growth (Passive): After every world, this equipment will grow with you
- Undetectable (Passive): Your stealth now has low priority.
- Untraceable Movement (Active): Multiply your speed up to 3x for 40 seconds, cooldown of 30 seconds (+10 seconds to duration). Any excess time will reduce the cooldown by that amount of time when canceling the effect. This effect has medium priority.
- Like a Feather (Active): Reduce the effects of gravity by 90% for 1 minute. Cooldown of 12 minutes. (-3 minutes to cooldown)
- Essence of terror (passive): no change
Legacy Liberation: Terror Unleashed
- +60% energy intensity for 3 minutes. Cooldown of 1 month. (+10% energy intensity)
Description: A dark cloak that seeks to inspire fear in the hearts of others. The spirit is shy, but it doesn't hide its abilities.
The next moment, Genji returned to his room, the sphere of liquid metal hovering behind him. Genji paid it no mind and pulled out Bruce from his storage. The sheath glowed bright red before transforming into a teary-eyed pony.
"Alright, I get it. You're upset about not getting any action. No need to be like this. You'll get your chance in the next world."
Bruce neighed and gestured wildly, expressing the discomfort he experienced inside Genji's sealed storage. 'It was so dark in there. I thought I was going to die of boredom.'
Genji comforted the dramatic nightbane for some time before Bruce noticed the floating sphere. 'What's this, master?'
"Hopefully my reward for my troubles. It's going to be a few hours before it's finished. Don't worry about it. Here, take some money and go have fun."
Bruce took the card and manifested a blood tentacle, waving it to draw the training hall symbol.
"I probably won't be going there today. I have something else I want to do first."
The tentacle tip split into two parts before Bruce tilted his head in a questioning manner.
"Yeah, tomorrow sounds good. I'll meet you there at the 7th hour."
Bruce nodded in understanding and headed out to alleviate the boredom he'd experienced for the past few weeks. After Bruce left, Genji opened his friends list and messaged Cake.
Enigma: Are you free right now?
Cake: Yeah, what's up?
Enigma: Help me contact the buyers. I want to sell more potions. Don't bother with auctions. Keep it at the base price. First come, first serve.
Cake: Sure, but where did this come from? I thought you wanted to keep the supply low to raise prices.
Enigma: I need some money fast. For now, raise 15 million for me.
Cake: Alright. I'll be right back.
A few minutes later, Cake walked into the room with a couple of shopping bags. She set them aside before approaching Genji.
"Here. Sell everything," Genji said, emptying his storage of all potions.
"Wow, that's a lot. Did something happen? Why do you need so much money?"
"Nothing big. I found a weakness I want to fix."
"Oh, that's a relief. For a moment, I thought you went into debt or something. Alright, I'll let you know when I have the money. Do you want to sell everything at normal price or stop when I reach the threshold?"
"Sell everything. If they can buy it, let them. I can always use more funds."
"Okay."
Then Cake busied herself with contacting potential buyers. The timing was awkward since most regular customers were still engaged in their missions. This meant that at present, most clients were other servants, whom parties hired to oversee the marketplace. They didn't have much money on hand, but Cake had enough connections to fulfill Genji's request within two hours.
After obtaining the money, Genji headed for the strengthening hall, eager to complete everything in one trip.
[Enigma]
Health: 5,160/5,160 (Con x 120, up 600)
Energy: 860/860 (Int x 20, no bonus from cloak)
Con: 36 -> 41 + 2 from equipment = 43
Str: 36 -> 41 + 2 from equipment = 43
Dex: 38 -> 43 + 1 from equipment = 44
Int: 39 -> 43
Spc: 48 -> 49
Although this strengthening brought an unprecedented boost, Genji's primary goal wasn't the stats but his mastery. Specifically, the new mastery he purchased and upgraded from scratch.
[Pay 12.61 million to upgrade Hand-to-Hand Combat to Grandmaster?]
"Pay." The moment he uttered those words, a massive wave of information flooded his mind. A raging headache assaulted him, but Genji endured, doing his best to digest these new memories. It was as if a lifetime had passed, with every moment dedicated to fighting using only his body.
Genji purchased this mastery because he realized he was utterly helpless without a weapon. That was the main problem he encountered in his previous world. While [Curse Bearer] and his combat experience allowed him to break out of the trap, Genji knew it wasn't enough for his current stats.
If this situation hadn't occurred in a first-step world, Genji would have perished. The reason was simple: his heavy dependence on weapons. With them, he could easily fight opponents stronger than himself using his cutting intent.
However, if someone took that advantage away, Genji was certain he would lose to someone weaker, especially if they were proficient in their techniques.
It was a glaring weakness, one Genji couldn't tolerate, especially considering it would worsen with higher stats. Since he realized this, why wouldn't he fix it? That's why he spent so much money without hesitation.
He wasn't expecting much, but he wanted to at least hold his ground until he obtained a weapon. Then he could transition to his cutting intent and resolve the situation without risking his life.
Additionally, Hand-to-Hand combat could assist in obtaining a weapon. After all, nothing prevented him from breaking nearby materials to form his weapon, just as he did in the last world.
As Genji processed all this information, he had a sudden epiphany.
'Hand-to-hand combat is about using the body as a weapon, becoming deadly enough that you don't need anything else. A single punch to break bones; a kick to destroy muscles; and a chop to kill.
Leverage the body to generate force; concentrate the force to increase impact; and narrow the impact to increase penetration. With these principles, weaponize the body and embrace the profundity of nature.
If I want to strike fiercely, reference a tiger; for precision, a hawk; for speed, lightning; for stability, a rock; for agility, the wind. Everything in nature is the inspiration, and the body, a conduit. Channel the intent with the body's motion and unleash the world's power. With the right mindset, anything can be channeled. So what's stopping me from channeling cutting intent? Isn't it all in the mind anyway?'
When Genji realized this, a streak of cutting intent manifested around him. He hadn't drawn his daggers, but the sharp light wove around his fingers like a playful goldfish. He clasped his hand around it, and shook it gently, before letting it go, his hand unharmed.
- Dodging (Grandmaster - 83%, up 5%)
- Stealth (Grandmaster - 14%, up 6%)
- Firearms (Grandmaster - 17%, up 8%)
- Total Weapon Mastery (Grandmaster - 10%, up 3%)
- Hand-to-hand Combat (Grandmaster - 20%, up 20%)
- Dagger Mastery (Supreme - 13%, up 11%)
Just that realization alone had increased Hand-to-Hand Combat by 20% and Dagger Mastery by a decent amount. This was the result of connecting two masteries and compensating for his lack of comprehension—a rare occurrence not achievable by everyone. To do so required a deep understanding of one mastery and the audacity to learn an unrelated one.
"Now, that's a surprise I wasn't expecting," Genji chuckled to himself, rising from his seat.
[Item analysis and transformation have been completed. Please check the results.]
At this moment, Genji received this notification. It seemed almost too coincidental, but Genji noticed this as a repeated prompt when he checked his inbox. Five other prompts were there, all sent 30 minutes apart. Including the current one, it had been three hours since the process had finished.
Unknowingly, so much time had passed since his epiphany. However, that was to be expected. Time always seemed to flow like sand when everything came together.
When Genji returned to his room, he spotted a floating silver compass. It possessed a sleek design with elegant tracings and a soft metallic sheen. As he entered the room, the compass gently descended into his hands, allowing him to inspect its stats.
[Stalker's Compass]
Rating: Legendary (Degraded once)
Type: Accessory
Durability: 100/100
Requirements: 20 Spc
Effects:
- Ultimate Tracking (Active): Designate a target. This compass will point to them until you designate a new target or until you injure them. 24-hour cooldown between designations.
- Persistent Stalking (Active): Bypass the cooldown of Ultimate Tracking by providing the cells of a target. If this target is different from the designated one, you can choose which target to follow. The lighter end of the pointer will be used for this effect while the darker end for Ultimate Tracking. A maximum of two targets can be tracked at once. Only one target can be followed at once. The duration of this effect varies with the provided cells. The more prevalent the cells, the longer it will last. The maximum duration of this effect is 24 hours. After that, more cells are required.
Description: You can run, but you can't hide. And even if you run, I'll still find you. It's only a matter of time.
While the compass lost the stat buffs of the original badge, it enhanced the tracking abilities to an entirely new level. Genji didn't mind this change, as the primary attraction was the tracking effect. He looked forward to using this upgraded ability in newfound ways that the previous badge couldn't support.
"Truly a compass made for stalking. I doubt anyone will escape this unless they leave the world. How fun," Genji remarked, a crazy smile curling his lips. "For me, that is."