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[Congratulations to the host for acquiring the skill •Observe•]
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A notification screen appeared before me, informing me that I had gained a new skill due to the effect of my inherent skill, "Overlimit."
"Hahhhh, I suspected I'd grow stronger much faster... but I didn't expect to obtain such an overpowered skill. This is the first time I've heard of a skill that can help acquire other skills," Lathan muttered.
"Whatever, I can't be surprised by anything anymore with everything that's happened. Rather than thinking about things that can't be explained, I should check out this new skill I've obtained," Lathan said.
Lathan then said "Status" and saw a new skill had appeared in his skill list. The skill Observe was now displayed on his status board.
Alright, since I've obtained a skill that lets me view others' skills, it's only natural to try it out, right? The first target for this skill experiment will be that beautiful black-haired girl who just arrived. I'll try to view her status board.
"Observe" Lathan said.
The girl's status board appeared before me. As expected, her appearance and details were the same as before, but something was different—my status board was red.
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||Name: Aurelia Mutiara
||Level: ???
||Age: 17
||Race: Human
||Job: ???
||Affiliation: ???
||Str: ???
||Agi: ???
||Int: ???
||End: ???
||Luck: ???
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Hmm? Why does it only show her name, age, and race? Usually, analysis skills in comics reveal all the information. Maybe it's because the skill is still at level 1? That's why not everything can be seen through this skill.
"Her name's Aurelia... She's a year younger than me. I can't learn much since the information is still filtered due to my low-level skill, but my instincts tell me she's a strong girl," Lathan said.
As I kept examining my skill, I didn't realize that the girl had glanced at me and was now walking toward me.
"Hey, what have you been staring at for so long? Is it fun for you to watch a girl while hiding behind a food display?" Aurelia asked.
Khhhgg—I was too absorbed in my status to notice my surroundings.
"Ahh—no, it's not like that..." Lathan responded, trying to think of a good excuse.
"Then what? If it's not that, why were you staring at me? I don't know you, and I'm pretty sure we've never met before... Are you trying to be a creep by staring at random people for a long time?" the girl asked more firmly.
"Damn... I can't think of anything," Lathan muttered.
She kept pressuring me to explain, but how could I explain my skill? If people found out about it, that would be the day of my death. Many would come to me with endless questions. Sure, some might not believe me, but just thinking about it is troublesome, especially when I'm still learning about my skill.
Suddenly, a silly but somewhat plausible excuse came to Lathan's mind.
"Ahh, no, it's not like that! I wasn't staring at you—I was looking at the job recruitment poster on the wall next to where you were standing. I'm curious about it because I need more work, so it seemed like I was staring at you... but I wasn't really looking at you! I was looking at the poster!" Lathan explained, slightly panicked.
Even though I've already been contracted to work at a guild as a cleaner, this was the only ridiculous yet believable excuse that could get me out of this situation.
The girl turned her head and, sure enough, there was a recruitment poster there. Her expression still showed some displeasure, but because of my excuse, she had no choice but to accept it. Her expression shifted from slightly annoyed to more neutral.
"Hahh, alright, if that's what you meant... I apologize for assuming the worst," the girl said, bowing slightly, in a manner similar to a Japanese apology.
"N-no worries, it's also my fault for staring at a pretty girl like you," Lathan replied.
"Heh, alright then," the girl said.
"So? Why were you staring at that poster for so long? You said you need a job, right?" the girl asked.
"Yeah... I need a job to support my daily life. I hadn't awakened yet, so I was just looking for manual labor," Lathan responded.
"Not awakened yet? Did you awaken later than most people? If I'm not mistaken, most people awaken their systems around 16 or 17 years old. It's pretty rare for someone to awaken late, and from what I can see, you're still in high school, right?" Aurelia asked.
She's right. I guess I forgot to mention this earlier, but ever since the "System" blessing appeared, people would automatically awaken their systems at the age of 16 or 17. If someone missed that, they could force an awakening by hunting monsters. So, even though the conditions for awakening were a bit tricky, war veterans could awaken because they were the first to fight monsters, allowing them to trigger their system awakening.
Basically, there are two ways to awaken the system:
1. Natural awakening – for young people.
2. Forced awakening by hunting monsters – for those who missed the natural window and older people.
These conditions were discovered several years ago by portal and system researchers.
"Yeah, you're right. I'll be 18 this year, and until yesterday, I still hadn't awakened, for some unknown reason... so it's been a bit difficult to hope for work as a Hunter," Lathan answered.
"Until yesterday? So, does that mean you had your first awakening today?" Aurelia asked.
"You could say that," Lathan replied.
"Wow, in that case, congratulations on your awakening," the girl said, congratulating me.
"Oh, by the way, I haven't introduced myself yet. It's rude to ask questions without introducing ourselves, right?" she continued.
"I thought it was a bit late for that..." Lathan muttered.
"Hmmphh?? What did you say?" the girl asked, looking confused.
"Ah, nothing. I also forgot to introduce myself. My name is Lathan Louvain. You can call me Lathan... I live around here," Lathan said, introducing himself.
"Lathan, huh... alright, let me introduce myself too," she responded.
"Nice to meet you! My name is Aurelia Mutiara. I'm here to shop for some drinks. Oh, and I'm also interning at a guild, so it's nice to meet you!" Aurelia said.
"You can call me Aurelia or Lia," Her said.
~~To be continued~~