In the hall, there were two girls hovering in the air. One of them humming while the other had a complicated expression.
"I know you have many questions to ask, so ask them~"
The silence was broken by the light blue hair individual.. After hesitating for a while the blonde girl opened her mouth.
"..You gave him a high-ranking potion. He can only get such a high-rank potion if he clears a hidden dungeon with a difficulty level of 'hard'. If that wasn't enough you also told him about the 'World's Will', about how to rank up and how to distinguish between hidden dungeons. Didn't you give him a bit too much information, it seemed like you were favoring him. Why, Lia?"
"That potion was a personal gift of mine to him, my dear, Eliza. Besides, if I hadn't given it to him he might have died, that would have saddened me." Lia said with a smile on her face, a smile so mesmerizing that could easily charm anyone as she continued "As for your other concern, yes, I am favoring him. Why, you might ask?
Because he is interesting"
"Interesting?" Eliza muttered, it wasn't that she didn't know. She completely realizes how incredible Noah's fight with the minotaur was.
Honestly, it was beyond incredible. It wasn't the fight itself but what Noah did during the fight itself was something she had never expected. It simply left her baffled.
This was the reason why despite the hidden dungeon with the mode of being 'easy', Eliza was going to give Noah a dagger, a transcendental dagger, a weapon that went beyond SSS+ rank. With a weapon like that Noah would be able to cut through anything in his world, even the attacks of his opponents, at least as long as he doesn't face someone who is also beyond SSS+ rank. This was precisely why Eliza was flustered when Noah refused the reward without even bothering to look at the rank of the weapon.
Instead, Noah chose multiple rewards, which resulted in having a quantity over the quality situation. Since Noah wanted multiple rewards he can't get high quality for them. That was one of the rules about how the distribution of rewards works.
Eliza had instantly branded Noah as an idiot in her mind, completely disregarding the fact that Noah has no way of knowing that such rules exist.
"Eliza, did you truly fail to notice? Do you not remember his fight against that minotaur? You are focusing on his fight so much that you fail to notice the other things that transpired."
"What do you mean.." Eliza couldn't help but ask wondering what exactly she failed to notice. To begin with, was there anything worthwhile except his fight against the minotaur?
"You know, even if we have restricted Minotaur's stats, it wouldn't change the fact that it was a D-ranked monster and he was G+ranked. You know what that means right? The pressure and fear that must have been exerted by that monster should have paralyzed him but ...nothing like that happened. He didn't even flinch against that minotaur. "
"That.."
Eliza thought back on the fight she had seen between Noah and the minotaur. Lia was right. Noah in that regard was undoubtedly incredible, he warded off the pressure with no problem, as if it never existed.
"That's not all. Let me ask you, do you remember what happened back then? His bones were shattered, his blood vessels all torn apart, and his organs ruptured. Remember how his body was spasming and twitching? The pain he felt must have been excruciating but ..the next moment after drinking the potion he talked with us as if it never happened. That's not normal. The potion I gave him doesn't cure PTSD or anything of the sort. Those types of things need different methods to cure. My point being, it's absolutely ridiculous how he seemed completely unaffected and had a conversation with us."
"Huh," Eliza looked at Lia as the sudden realization dawned on her "W-wait.."
It was just as Lia had said. After going through such pain and agony, one can't be in their right mind. They would need time but that wasn't the case for Noah. After drinking the potion Noah got right down to the business, he did check his injuries but that was all.
"It might be because he has high pain tolerance.."
"That might be true, except how could he get such a high pain tolerance without going through it? And if he got that level of injuries then he would have died long ago. Such types of potion that could cure his level of injuries simply don't exists out there"
"T-that..."
Eliza couldn't retort.
At that moment, Noah's image in Eliza's mind started to distort. Lia was right, it was ridiculous for Noah to hold a conversation with them as if nothing had happened.
"Eliza, who are we?"
"Huh"
Eliza couldn't understand what Lia meant.
"You still don't get it. It's one thing to ward off pressure from a minotaur but we are different"
"Ah.."
Eliza understood. She understood what Lia meant as she gulped.
"He conversed with us as if it was the most normal thing."
At that remark, in an instant, Eliza's expression crumbled as she realized what she had overlooked.
There are only so few people who have challenged hidden dungeons, that's why meeting others isn't regular for her kind.
1300 years, It was the first time in 1300 years that Eliza met another person.
She had totally forgotten.
"That's right, my dear~. There have already been few hidden dungeons in this world that were attempted by the people, so it's natural for the people in the world would know about our existence but ..the people who have actually seen us are few, very few. Our conversation back then with him was as unnatural as it could get. No greetings, no introduction, he showed no surprise towards us, no curiosity. From the beginning to the end his face remained indifferent, his voice devoid of any emotion and his eyes completely unconcerned."
Eliza thought back and it was just as Lia has said. Noah had been too apathetic which should have been impossible. They are beings far above from mortals. Their charm, their words, their voice, their strength, everything about them is far above.
Every person who has seen them has shown an emotion, mesmerized by their voice, charmed by their beauty, bowing their heads, showing fear as they realize the difference between them, respect.
But no matter how many times Eliza replayed their conversation she couldn't find it.
She couldn't remember a single trace of emotion from him. He remained apathetic, far too apathetic.
Not only that she had talked with him! Eliza talked with a human, a mere mortal like she would talk with her friends!
"Even a person who has given up on life would show some form of emotion towards us. Interest, nervousness, awe, terror, vigilance, anything. After all, the difference between a mortal and us is far too big, our mere presence is enough to ignite emotions in those mortals and yet he didn't show any emotion. He wasn't tempering with his brain like he did during his fight either. Do you understand what that entails Eliza?"
Eliza didn't want Lia to finish, she wanted her to stop talking, it was ridiculous, totally ridiculous, completely unheard of! But to Eliza's wish, Lia spoke, in a very low voice but an audible one with a smile etched onto her face.
"It means, from his view, we meant nothing to him. Absolutely nothing and you must know what that means, right?"
At that moment, remembering Noah's gaze, Eliza felt a chill run up her spine.
She recalled something.
The rankings.
Mortals.
Immortals.
Transcendentals
Constellations
Celestials
Primordials
Observers.
Deities.
A God.
And for Noah to not register their presence could mean only one thing, either he was a deity which he of course wasn't, or ...the only option that was left, something Eliza couldn't believe, something that couldn't be anything less than absurd, that, he had killed a deity.
"Do you understand now? He is interesting, so very interesting~" Lia said twirling around with a huge smile on her face with a simple question on her mind, a topic she hadn't said anything about to Eliza.
Why was Noah trying to kill himself? It bothered her.
His actions were reckless but what Lia wanted to know, were they intentional or unintentional.
If she had to give an answer then they were intentional.
To her, it was like he was trying to force someone, something to happen but what exactly was completely beyond her.
And she wasn't wrong.
Noah simply had one question.
If someone truly brought him to this world, would they let him die just like that or interfere?
If they decide to directly interfere then Noah would be able to meet the person who brought him to his world.
Well, in the end, Noah did get the help of Lia instead of the person he wanted it from.
At any rate, no matter how much Lia tried to think about it, it wouldn't matter. After all, she is missing a crucial piece of information and that was Noah's transmigration.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
(Noah's Pov)
Sitting inside the cab that I booked a while ago to go to my next destination I ate my cheese hamburger.
I recalled everything that transpired in the last few hours.
I did it.
I f*cking did it.
I managed to have a proper conversation!
I survived hell!
Oh, man. That was so nerve-racking...
I knew it. I can easily manage to have conversations when it's related to important stuff. I just can't handle normal conversations since I don't know how to reply in those situations.
As an outcast, I lack social skills. I have no idea how to have a conversation but formal or business-type talks. I can deal with them.
Phew.
It was hard, incredibly hard but I managed it.
I deserve some praise.
Man, that sure was tiring but now I am not dying, so that's good news.
My body felt light, my headache was completely gone, no nauseating feeling, and no trouble breathing. I feel like I am in bliss. I can concentrate way better now. My complexion has gotten better as well.
I can feel my body burning with life!
Okay, that sounds weird as hell.
Taking the final bite of my cheese hamburger and sip from my cola, I decided to review some concerning news that I have learned about.
Mainly, about the system.
Apparently, Noah had found about system's secret and he also cleared the conditions except the last one and I can see why Noah wasn't able to clear the last condition.
No way in hell that guy would bother talking with the system without expecting anything in return, while it can't be said that expecting something in return is an ill intention it's definitely isn't a good intention.
…and at least from what I can discern about him from his diary he definitely isn't the type to talk about his failure, so that's probably the reason he never talked about system conditions in his diary.
Asshole.
Regardless, what came as the biggest surprise to me is the condition that makes me the system's 'Absolute master'.
It probably means it's more loyal to me than its own creator.
If not, then I don't have a single clue what it's about. Maybe, I can ask it?
"Hey, system-san. Are you more loyal to me than your creator?"
[..Please, don't ask such difficult questions. TwT]
So, you are just good for scouting, gotcha.
Well, I guess, that's that.
But this isn't all, the biggest news is the fact that I learned about systems origin.
No one knows its origin, it was never revealed in the novel either but now I know the truth.
The system is designed by them, those observers. When the second plot arrives, all of the system of all individuals gets overwritten with a new one, even, the protagonist.
Right now, the protagonist has a system that is better than us average Joe's out there.
It's just ..I can't help but wonder if the protagonist is a damn beta-tester for the new system that will get introduced.
No.. at least beta testers are aware of their job. In this case, our protagonist doesn't know it, so he is a free beta-tester for those observers.
Damn...
The protagonist is just being used. No wonder, mf got yeeted at the end of the novel. He never had the chance to win.
This is the reason I don't know if I should be happy about that 'absolute master' thing or not.
Is it just an illusion created for me to think I am in control by those guys or am I just overthinking?
Whichever the case, I think it will be better to find a way to get abilities outside the system help or something along the lines and I have the perfect idea of how to.
But this isn't the problem that I need to worry about right now. One step at a time, as they say.
It's not like I can do anything right now, so I will focus on what I can.
This means, there's only one thing to do
"System Status"
=======================================================
Name: Noah
Rank: G+
Strength: G+
Stamina: G+
Agility: G+
Perception: G+
Mana proficiency: F+
Luck: C
Intelligence: B+
Charm: B+
=========================================================
My agility and strength got raised to G+. That's a good thing to see. Now, I am a max G+ ranker.
But that's not important! What's important is my charm.
It went from B- to B+.
Proof of how healthy I am. But still, B+. Goodness me.
I will say it again, as your rank increases, your body structure changes as well which inevitably gives rise to your charm. So, imagine when I already had a B+ charm while being a G+ ranker, how high will my charm be when my rank rises?
There are only a few humans who have a charm of S rank and I think I can go past that S rank.
It's not like there don't exist people with charm beyond S rank. There are many Elves who do. They got natural rizz. When it comes to which race has the most beauty, it's Elves.
"We have arrived at the destination."
The mechanical voice of the AI reached my ears as my thoughts came to a stop.
"About time"
I paid and left the cab as I entered the park.
That's right, it's a public park with a pond.
And the place where the hidden dungeon is.
But before going in...
"System-san, show me the status when I temporarily increased my rank"
I wanted to know what changed during that time. I went berserk and all but I don't know the exact change in my stats, so I am curious about it.
[You didn't ask me to record those stats, so I didn't. >.>]
....
That absolute master thing was just a crap, wasn't it? And if it wasn't then this system is crap, isn't it?
"Next time, please do record them"
I asked politely.
Even trash can be used, it all depends upon the user.
[Understood. o7]
I walked towards the pond.
And guess what? I took the dive.
I remember back in the day when my mom forced me to come with her to learn swimming. During those times, I always thought what good is it? All I do is study for school, watch some anime, read manga, and stay inside the room all day long. How will swimming help me?
Now, I am grateful for it.
Sorry for doubting your teachings Mom, you were absolutely right. Learning how to swim is important
30 feet deep inside the middle of this pond is the hidden dungeon.
Now then, it's time to check the validity.
What validity, you ask?
Well, it's about how hidden dungeons manage difficulty.
No, I get it. Okay.
I took items with me so they kept changing the difficulty based on my usage of those items.
I am not talking about that. What I am wondering is if I could use materials from inside the hidden dungeon.
Like if I had extracted poison from poison slime or a higher-ranked monster and or made a bomb from the stuff that was available there.
Basically, if I had used the things from inside the hidden dungeon instead of bringing stuff from 'outside' would they have still interfered with the difficulty?
That's why, this time I am not taking things with me.
I left all my potions, short sword, and both daggers back in the cave, even my stealth shoes and burger and drinks, and my smartphone is taking a ride in the cab.
Such a huge loss.
Of course, I didn't leave everything.
I put a hand on my marine necklace and it disappeared into thin air. I put it inside the inventory, and with this, the inventory showed 3/25 storage.
One box stored high uncommon healing potion x90. One box stored low epic healing potion x10 and one stored marine necklace while all others were empty.
I didn't materialize my ring, so it means I can store stuff in it even when it's in dematerialized form. Not gonna lie, sounds neat.
They are all the things that I got as rewards for clearing the hidden dungeons. So they shouldn't be considered things from 'outside'.
Soon after, I saw the blue-colored portal and dived right into it.
Once again, just like before, the moment I entered the portal my vision blurred and I felt as if my body was being stretched and shredded into pieces.
'I don't like this experience even a little bit..'
I grumbled to myself as I looked towards the purple screen that greeted me telling me my mission.
"Uh-huh, nothing's different. That's great."