Worthless Skill Escape (WN)

Chapter 105

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TL: ALT

Chapter 105 – Reward

After entering the portal, I emerged in the usual Dunjio Jinja.

I ran up the stone steps to the front of the main shrine.

A fox-eared, white-haired child woman was waiting for me, sitting on a wooden platform and swaying her feet.

“Oh, sorry to bother you.”

God said as she jumped down from the platform.

“I’m sorry, God.”

I apologized right at the beginning.

God looked confused.

“What are you apologizing for?”

“It’s about the sword.”

I used the only Philosopher’s Stone Fragment I had left for the Skill Burst.

Skill Burst is a skill that once increases the effect of a targeted skill by a hundred times rather than making the skill unattainable again.

With the Philosopher’s Stone Fragment, the disadvantage of never being able to acquire the skill again was removed.

However, there was another use for the Philosopher’s Stone.

Weapon Throw.

Weapon Throw is a powerful skill that produces S.Lv times the attack power of the weapon, but the weapon thrown is broken.

The disadvantage of ‘thrown weapon breaks’ could be removed by using the fragment.

But there is only one fragment.

If I use it for Weapon Throw to avoid the destruction of the Kusanagi Sword, the disadvantage of Skill Burst would still remain.

I would never be able to acquire powerful skills again.

After much deliberation, I decided to put my own convenience ahead of the Kusanagi Sword that God had entrusted to me.

“Yuto. You have nothing to apologize for. I am not angry.”

God shook her head softly.

“But…”

“I entrusted it to you. You have the freedom to do whatever you want with it, even destroy it. You did it because you felt it was necessary, didn’t you?”

“That is true…”

If I had used the fragment for the Weapon Throw, I would have limited the number of skills to use the Skill Burst.

It would have hurt too much to permanently lose useful skills, no matter how much the world was at stake.

If I had used the fragment for the Weapon Throw, I might not have broken the Kusanagi Sword, but the power of that strike would have been greatly reduced.

The resulting failure to write the rules into the void would have been a real eye-opener.

Besides, even if I went that far to remove the disadvantage of the weapon throw, it did not necessarily mean that “Kusanagi Sword” would be absolutely safe.

It couldn’t withstand the power of the skill combo, and there was a chance that it would break normally.

Even if it didn’t break, there was also the problem of how to retrieve the thrown sword.

After all, I had thrown the Kusanagi Sword into the rift in the world.

In the end, I don’t even know how far the sword flew.

I couldn’t even see it break, but even if it was miraculously safe, there was no way to save it.

In short, even if I removed the disadvantage of “Weapon Throw,” the “Kusanagi Sword” would probably be lost.

But other weapons (Karakuri Lance, Laser Blade, etc.) would not be able to replace the “Kusanagi Sword,” which is a sacred weapon.

“Even though it is a sacred weapon, it is still a weapon. It would be a great honor for it to be used in a battle that will decide the fate of the world.”

The God closed her eyes and said this sincerely.

She was obviously not really angry.

“I was sure you would be angry with me.”

“Do not put me in the same boat with that inflexible system. Do you think I would complain to a hero who saved the world? I would be more offended if you thought I was such a fool.”

God says, looking seriously displeased.

“I’m sorry. That’s right.”

“Umu. Then this conversation is over.”

God said, clapping her hands.

“Then what is it that you called me here to talk about?”

“I summoned you because I felt I had to reward you.”

“A reward?”

“Umu. First of all, I need to tell you something. This matter has truly been a great opportunity. It is only because of your dedication that a crisis of this magnitude was brought to an end without any apparent loss of life. I want to thank you again.”

God bowed deeply to me.

“N-no, no, it’s okay. If I had left it alone, the whole world would have perished.”

“That is true. But there are not many people who can choose to stand against it. Heroes and great men… or, in the language of the other world, ‘brave men.’ It is a behavior that deserves to be called that. What can I praise you for if not this?”

“I don’t need that. …Well, to be honest, I don’t think it was worth it because I had to take so much out of it.”

I shrugged,

“Isn’t it the skill combination thing? My goodness… that system is so inflexible. Instead of praising the hero who saved the world, they took away his power… As long as he saved the world, he should be rewarded with a prize equal to the world itself.”

“Well, it’s not hard to see what the Voice of Heaven is saying.”

Skill Burst is a skill that comes at a high cost in lost skills.

The disadvantage was removed with a rare item, and on top of that, Skill Burst was applied to multiple skills at the same time, stacking them as a combo.

On top of that, I used the Kusanagi Sword, the sacred weapon of this country, for my attack.

No wonder they said, “We weren’t expecting that.”

“You are too discreet. You should be more outraged than you are!”

God seemed even more angry than I was.

It was cute to see the little God get angry.

It made me feel less angry.

“If the system takes, I will give. Fortunately, there is still quite a bit of the world that has flowed in from between the worlds. If you interfere with me, I will give you the rewards you desire.”

God says.

“As I desire… really?”

“Yes. But even that would be a mere haze in the face of this accomplishment. As far as the Son of Man desires, I can grant most desires.”

“Really…?”

God’s proposal came as a pleasant surprise because I thought I’d be in the red this time.

God’s little chest puffed out,

“Come on, say it. Anything you want. Anything you want, just ask. But not anything that will have a direct negative impact on other people’s children… You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

So if you want to take someone’s valuables, make the opposite sex fall in love with you, or cause the death of someone who gets in your way, that’s out.

Of course, I wouldn’t have wished that without being told…

No, it wasn’t like that.

If such a wish was possible, there was no way to wish for the death of Seiji Tozaki.

Even without killing him, I could have wished for “Seiji Tozaki to forget me completely” or “Seiji Tozaki to show no interest in me in the future.”

But those wishes have a direct negative effect on others, so they are out.

…Well, even if they don’t, I can’t tell God, who went to the trouble of offering me a reward, to kill him.

What else do I want?

Well, I want enough money to live on for the rest of my life, and I’m sure if I said so. I’d get it.

But right now, I can save that much money quickly just by continuing to be an explorer.

I don’t want to be extravagant, so a few hundred million yen would be enough.

That’s not to say that if I sold even one of the otherwordly items I stole from Clovis, it wouldn’t be less than a few hundred million.

Billions… or even more than ten billion, would not be out of place.

Even if that is indeed a waste, just selling a few of the stored elixirs is definitely in the hundreds of millions.

Then I’ve already earned enough for a lifetime, so I’ll give up being an explorer and live a carefree life… But that’s not the case.

After all, exploring dungeons is fun.

There are a lot of skills I haven’t learned yet.

In that sense, I don’t want to ask God for anything right now.

So… I guess so. Let’s look at it the other way around.

What is it that I don’t have right now?

That would be… power.

As Kudave said earlier, if I continue to live the way I’m living now, the fire will surely come down on me in the future.

Clovis’ problem is taken care of, but Seiji Tozaki’s problem remains untouched.

Clovis was an easy enemy to deal with.

I just had to beat him to a pulp.

A king without subjects, no matter how strong he is, is always just a simple explorer.

Even if I had to kill him, it would hardly be a problem because he was a person who never existed in this world.

He was blatantly evil and had a red name.

But that is not the case with Seiji Tozaki.

Seiji Tozaki is a politician.

He is a member of the Diet of the ruling party, and it looks like he has influence within the Prime Minister’s office.

Making an enemy of Seiji’s strong influence in the political and business world would be like making an enemy of this country.

I don’t know where I stand in terms of strength right now.

If I face an explorer who has just raised his level with common sense, I can handle him even if his level is over 10,000.

Even though my skill level is temporarily lowered by the Skill Burst, it should still be higher than that of an explorer above 10,000.

I have a variety of attack methods and can deal with all kinds of opponents.

If there is any concern, it is when the opponent has a special, unique skill.

Or if several researchers with a certain level of strength are simply thrown into the fray, I would be in some trouble.

However, the most difficult situation to deal with is when the person tries to kill me socially by using his political position.

Or he might try to surround me to take advantage of me.

That is more likely.

It is unlikely that killing me will benefit Tozaki, but there are plenty of ways to make a profit by exploiting me.

Of course, if it were a fair deal, there would be no loss for me.

But even if I put aside my personal grudge, I don’t think I want to be used as a tool by Tozaki.

To begin with, “personal grudge” alone is more than enough reason to play his hand.

All I need to resist his interference is either as much power as… or absolute competence.

The former is not realistic, so I’ll inevitably choose the latter.

It’s a solution that sounds like Kudave.

So what should I ask God for to get absolute competence?

Powerful equipment?

Powerful skills?

Or an increase in ability?

It’s not the end of the world if I get something, but something that will lead to further growth beyond that point.

Then there is only the thing I have wanted for a long time.

I looked up,

“Have you decided?”

God asks me.

I nod slightly and state my request.

“Yes. Give me the ability to integrate abilities.”

I had thought about this for a long time.

It is true that my high Agility allows me to use multiple skills with great dexterity.

As for weapons, I can easily switch between them thanks to Quick Draw.

But still… there are too many skills.

I can say that I can handle any situation, but there are too many options to consider at a moment’s notice.

Thought Acceleration can only be used in a pinch, and Escape from Reality requires time to push yourself.

Also, the downside of using Escape from Reality repeatedly is that you don’t want to return to reality.

I know I had that before when the fight was over, and I had to deactivate my Escape From Reality.

I had this feeling of not wanting to go to school or work on Monday mornings, and it was a pretty intense feeling.

…Well, compared to the worst of my high school and office days, I was still able to get through it with a lot more energy.

I had side effects even though it had been so long since my last use.

If I was forced to use it continuously during a battle, I might not be able to return to reality while I was locked in subspace.

As a former shut-in, I can imagine this situation quite realistically.

Because I can imagine it, it is also a very realistic fear.

In the subspace where I am locked, there is no one to pull me out.

I’ll be stuck in a subspace where time has stopped, and I’ll be a shut-in forever… No matter how much I’m a former shut-in, it’s just not a good way to end up.

The diversity of skills is both a weapon and a weakness.

Could I have done the same thing without Escape from Reality in the fight with the fiber I mentioned earlier?

Impossible.

At that speed of attack and defense, a moment’s hesitation can be fatal.

Weapon or magic?

Sword or spear?

Whenever you are faced with such a choice, you are lost.

Even if you could make the right choice without hesitation, it would still take you a moment because you have a choice.

If there were no choice, you could attack without hesitation, but because there is a choice, you have to take two steps: choose, attack, and so on.

It’s the same with the fight I just had.

Compared to Kudave, where the only choice was Megiddo Breath, you can see how much trouble I’m in.

Still, it was good as long as I had skill combos.

The firepower and coordination of the skill combos made up for the mental cost of switching between complex skills.

It meant that even though it was a frustrating and tedious task, the payoff was more than worth it.

Besides, if I decide the flow of the combo beforehand, the only thing I have to worry about is the first hit.

Skill combos also had the hidden benefit of making combat procedural and automatic.

But skill combos have been suppressed.

You can still do them, but they are not as immensely powerful as they used to be.

This means that the advantage of having many skills has diminished.

It is better to integrate similar skills.

The number of skills is the number of hesitations.

The more skills I integrate, the less room I have for hesitation.

It would be great if I could integrate them… and develop them to a higher level of skill.

Of course, if such a thing were possible.

There are countless skills in the world, but there are no known skills that create new skills or synthesize multiple skills.

In this crazy modern world, skills are like “building blocks.”

Famous colored blocks for children, made by a foreign manufacturer.

Each skill corresponds to its colored block.

It is possible to combine skills to achieve an ideal shape.

However, it is against the law to transform the color block itself.

It would be frowned upon if you submitted a color block melted down and poured into a mold for a color block contest.

The basic rule of the world is to use blocks as they are.

The status of an explorer, apart from the level, can be said to be nothing more than a combination of existing color blocks.

Should it be Spear Technique or Spearmanship?

Fire Magic or Water Magic?

It is the explorer’s skill to assemble the blocks with care and create the three-dimensional image they envision.

There are limitations, of course, but that is what makes the game interesting.

Games require a moderate level of abstraction.

If you made a VR game that was completely realistic, playing in it would be exactly the same as playing in the real world.

Deform the annoying parts of reality and make only the interesting parts sharp.

In the real world, it takes a lot of effort and talent to master the sword, but with the Sword Technique skill, you can acquire it as long as you save enough SP.

Blocks have their own advantages.

Blocks have a specific color and shape.

There is no skill that allows you to change the color and shape of a block.

This was the common sense of the explorers.

However, I know of two exceptions.

Eliminating the disadvantage of using the Philosopher’s Stone Fragment.

The increase in the skill level cap offered by the Scroll of Essentials.

These two things force partial modification of a finished color block.

If such a thing were possible, or――

“Hmm. A skill that integrates skills, right…?”

God puts her fingertips to her chin and tilts her head thoughtfully.

“It would be even better if it was a skill that not only integrated but also allowed for evolution.”

Even if there is no such skill, this time is special.

The void that flowed in from between the worlds, a void with no rules engraved on it.

God will make a reward for me by processing it herself.

It doesn’t matter if such skills don’t exist in the skill library.

I can ask God to create it for me.

There will never be another opportunity like this again.

If I were to ask God for anything right now, it couldn’t be better than this.

That’s what I thought.

“Hmmmm…”

God’s forehead wrinkled, and sweat trickled down her cheeks.

It must have been more than ten seconds.

God looked up, clasped her small hands together, and said,

“――I’m sorry! That doesn’t seem possible!”