Max's journey finally ended as he approached the border between a D-rank and a C-rank danger zone.
The shift in the environment was undeniable: the D-rank area was lush and vibrant, while the C-rank zone ahead seemed darker, with jagged trees and an unsettling air. The towering mountains loomed, their peaks veiled in eerie mist.
He landed on a plateau near the tallest mountain, taking a moment to absorb his surroundings. The distant cries of unknown creatures echoed through the heavy air.
Max planned to settle here for around two weeks until the special dungeon opened.
After confirming the location on his phone, Max opened his pet space. His ten ash crows emerged, settling on nearby ledges and rocks. Their glowing eyes gleamed as they fixed their gaze on Max in anticipation.
Finally, Lucy appeared. Her tiny figure hovered in front of him, and her mental voice immediately chimed in.
'Phone.'
Max sighed, holding the device out of her reach. "Not happening, Lucy."
'Be careful. Won't break.'
"Yeah, remind me, where did my first phone go? Oh, right, you threw it out the window," retorted Max.
Lucy flew around Max, her mental voice defensive. 'Was dangerous! Could explode.'
"It wasn't dangerous, Lu. And it definitely wasn't going to explode," Max replied, exasperated. "You threw it because it made a sound you didn't like."
'Sound dangerous. Could hurt.'
Max pinched the bridge of his nose. "Lucy, that sound was just a wake-up alarm."
The ash crows shuffled closer, their heads tilting curiously at the exchange.
Craw! Craw! Craw!…
"And you lot, don't even think about it. You're no better. I still remember the time I caught you trying to balance on a stolen phone."
The crows stared back innocently, their eyes unblinking.
Lucy wanted to argue more, but Max stopped her.
"No means no."
With a huff, Lucy floated back, clearly displeased. The crows gave a few low caws.
Max shook his head. "Alright, enough. Lucy, I need you to take control of this mountain."
Lucy straightened up, determination gleaming in her eyes. She was convinced that if she worked hard enough, Max might let her play with that phone.
But Max, all too familiar with Lucy's playful nature and endless talent for chaos, wasn't about to risk it.
The last thing he needed was waking up to find the biggest news channel hijacked, airing a cartoonish teddy bear, declaring itself the supreme overlord.
Lucy turned into a bundle of green light, merging with the mountain.
The ground trembled as the mountain began to shift. Rocks reshaped themselves, and a somewhat hidden entrance formed on the side of the mountain.
When the rumbling subsided, Max walked into the newly created mountain house.
Max entered the mountain house, checking the simulator. The cooldown had ended almost an hour ago, and he was itching to use it.
But first, he placed the phone inside his space ring.
"Simulator, switch to Consecutive Simulation Mode."
[Ding, executed.]
This time, he would simulate two crows: lightning crow Raad, and mirror crow Mraia.
Max had already informed the two of their tasks beforehand and provided them with a few survival instructions and some information from Lucy's map.
"Raad, Mraia, come here. It's your time to enter the dream world."
Craw! Craw!
The two flew excitedly towards Max while the other crows watched with envy.
"First, Mraia. If you can survive the radiation, then, as I told you before, just practice Mirror Prison and ignore everything else."
Craw!
Max took out two small injections and vaccinated both the unwilling Raad and Mraia.
-G-2 Serum:
Duration: One month.
Effect: Increases the chance of learning skills from the environment and encounters.
For Mraia, it would help reach the perfect proficiency faster for [Mirror Prison] since gaining a perfected effect or similar to learning new skills.
Without further ado, Max placed her in a region filled with mutated worms with reflective, glass-like heads. Unfortunately, that place was heavy with radiation, and Max didn't have much hope.
"Start simulation."
[In the 1st year, you found yourself in a barren land.
The sun blazed too hot, and radiation filled the air.
Informed of these conditions, you flew through the landscape, searching for shelter.
All you saw were strange earthworms scattered across the ground. Using (World of Mirrors), you hid and rested by using the worms' reflective glass heads as an entrance.
However, due to your weak spirituality stat, you could barely maintain it for half an hour.
By the fifth day, your wings weakened, your once-shining feathers dulled from exposure to both the sun and the radiation. Despite attempts to seek safety, radiation finally overtook you.]
[You died. Simulation ended.]
[Ding. Host, please pick a reward.]
1. Complete memories.
2. Complete body stats.
3. An ability, skill, or talent.
4. An item or equipment.
Max wasn't too disappointed since he expected this outcome. However, he struggled to decide on a reward.
Checking the items, he found a worm head. It seemed Mraia had killed one and kept its head to enter the mirror world when her cooldown ended.
Max retrieved the worm head.
Instantly, a mirror with a strange shape appeared in his hand. It was very reflective, just like a normal mirror. Without knowing its origin, Max wouldn't have guessed its uniqueness.
Max took out the map and analyzed it. Back when Lucy simulated, she spent excessive time traveling between regions to record everything and find anything of value.
However, the world wasn't particularly large. Five days of flight sufficed to cover long distances.
Since Max read Lucy's simulation, an idea kept popping out in his mind from time to time, but it wasn't time for his crazy ideas, at least not yet.
Max switched the starting spot to the lightning region, free of radiation.
"Start simulation."
[In the 1st year, you found yourself in a stormy mountain region.
Before you could examine your surroundings, you were struck by a lightning bolt suddenly.]
[You died.]
[Ding! Host, please pick a reward.]
Max sighed and chose full memories, as there was nothing useful to take. At least the memory of being struck by lightning might inspire her in some way.
He considered the situation. Most likely, only Raad, with his lightning affinity, could sense lightning before it struck and either evade or possibly survive a direct hit.
Max didn't want to give up on Mraia because of [mirror prison.], but for now he had to Focus on raad.
At the very least, he needed to see how Raad's simulation would progress.
"Raad, it's your turn. Survive and try to feel your surroundings. Maybe you can learn some new skills. Don't bother with practicing your skills in the dream world for now."
Max didn't want to waste the simulation time for skills the crows can just practice in the real world.
Craw! Craw!
"Simulation, start."
[In the 1st year, you found yourself in a storm-filled region with a crackling sky.
Thanks to your lightning affinity, you were able to sense the charge in the air before a lightning strike and avoided getting hit by flying upwards.
Following your pet master's instructions, you focused on basic survival, searching for food and water in this dangerous region.]
[In the 2nd year, you survived. Water was abundant, so you didn't worry about it, and you stumbled upon clusters of mushrooms. You ate some, but they tasted awful. While edible at first, you later realized some were toxic.
The toxins caused a burning sensation in your stomach, and your body trembled as the poison coursed through your veins. You died in agony.]
Max paused and picked full memories as a reward.
"Simulator, focus on memories of food and water sources as well as locations. Raad should be able to recognize the deadly mushrooms now."
Craw!
Raad was stunned, as it was the first time he remembered something from the dream world.
"get yourself ready Raad, you're going in again."
Craw!
"Simulator start."
[In the 1st year, you died after drinking water contaminated with radiation.]
"Full memories again."
[In the 1st year, you died flying into a zone with heavy lightning strikes. You couldn't dodge all the bolts and perished.]
"Full memories and start again."
Over several runs:
[You died…]
[You died…]
[You died…]
[In the 2nd year, you were struck mid-air by a lightning bolt. Thanks to your lightning affinity, you survived. However, you couldn't survive the crash as you plummeted to the ground.]
[You died.]
...
As Raad's accumulated memories grew, his survival time gradually extended beyond one year. From that point, progress came more steadily.
[In the 1st year, once more, you found yourself in that stormy landscape.
With your knowledge of the area, you flew to a relatively safe location where lightning rarely struck, though the water wasn't drinkable.]
[In the 2nd year, you made a home for yourself in a cave and grew more adept at surviving with your familiarity with the terrain.]
[In the 4th year, your body began to adapt. Your feathers shimmered faintly with an unnatural glow. However, these changes seemed to attract more lightning bolts. Thankfully, you survived by staying within your cave.]
[In the 5th year, you had to drink radioactive water. This accelerated changes within your body as your feathers and skin fundamentally transformed. By the year's end, your changes stabilized, and you gained the passive skill Electromagnetized Skin.
It was the process of gaining this skill that attracted the lightning, and now that it is formed completely, you no longer attracted lightning.]
[In the 6th year, while searching for food, a single lightning bolt struck you directly.
You died instantly.]
[Ding! Host, please pick a reward.]
"Huh? Simulator, is this skill dangerous to bring back?"
[Ding! Reporting: The passive skill Electromagnetized Skin holds no danger on any level, either to you or your pet.]
"In that case, take it as a reward. Show me its details."
[Electromagnetized Skin (Passive)
Grade: Green
Modes:
1. Off – Provides 40% lightning resistance.
2. On – Allows you to hold onto lightning as if it were physical.]
Max felt a tingling sensation as his feathers and skin underwent a subtle transformation.
"Interesting. Let's study it later. For now, start again.
"Raad, expose yourself to radiation outside the lightning region. Do it in moderation."
Max was intrigued by the process of how Raad obtained the skill and wanted to experiment more in that direction.
Craw!
"start."
[In the 1st year, under your master's orders, you began exposing yourself to radiation. This caused great harm, but you persevered.]
[In the 3rd year, while performing your routine, you passed out after prolonged exposure.
When you woke, your body was mutating. You had four heads, glowing feathers, and multiple sets of wings, some of them fleshy and featherless. Your body pulsed with lightning. The mutation granted you immense power, including the innate ability (Lightning Weaver), the ability (lightning prodigy) and the ability (Confused).
Despite this newfound strength, you weren't happy because of how ugly you were. Your only hope was that your master could reverse this process.
Most importantly, your body began breaking down, unable to hold together.]
"Wow," Max whispered in amazement.
[In the 4th year, your body was failing. However, one day, as you focused on the lightning-filled sky, a new sensation emerged within as you understood something.
Your eyes crackled with energy, and with a concentrated gaze, a massive bolt of lightning struck the ground below.
You learned the skill Thunderous Gaze.
Shortly after, your body collapsed completely.]
[You died.]
[Ding! Host, please pick a reward.]
[Ding, you pet lighting crow Raad has mutated during this simulation, would you like to bring the full mutation back?]
Max knew that the simulator was capable of bringing evolutions/ mutations that occur inside the simulation world, on the condition that it will enter a longer cooldown.
But this mutation was clearly harmful. Instead, he chose the blue-grade ability lightning prodigy.
[Ding! Your choice is invalid. The ability is tied to the mutation and cannot exist independently.]
"huh? Than can I bring the full body stats?"
[Ding! Your choice is invalid. The body stats in this simulation are tied to the mutation and cannot exist independently.]
"Fine. What can I pick?"
[Thunderous Gaze is available.]
"Take it," Max decided. He didn't stop to examine the skill's details, choosing to focus on further simulations.
"Raad, throw yourself in radiation a bit more and focus on practicing your new skill, Thunderous Gaze."
Craw!
Raad's next simulations involved repeated exposure to radiation, mutating in multiple ways, gaining a platter of abilities that Max couldn't bring back, and refinement of Thunderous Gaze skill.
After spending 32 simulation year, Raad achieved advanced mastery with the skill.
"this mutation thing is going nowhere. Let's try one more time. Ready Raad! "
[the first year, at the tenth day of coming to this world, you stood bathing in radiation, locking your gaze at a certain cliff.
You were bleeding heavily, but you were unblinking.
Your body mutated, but your gaze didn't move.
As your new mutated body was breaking down, you finally comprehended something as a gigantic Thunderbolt fell down from the sky breaking the cliff.
Your skill thunderous gaze reached its peak, gaining the perfected effect 'stack' which makes it stackable.
You died right after as your body couldn't handle it.]
[you died].
[Ding, Host, please pick a reward.]
Max didn't hesitate to pick the skill again.
Skill: Thunderous gaze
Grade: Green
Proficiency: Perfected 'stack'
Description:
You can focus your gaze on a location within 50 meters. The skill charges the area with intense undetectable static electricity, calling a lightning bolt to fall down after a brief delay.
Stack: You can activate the skill and delay the lightning strike until you choose to release it. During this delay, each subsequent use of the skill accumulates additional static charge, intensifying the upcoming lightning bolt.
"wow! This is just great."