Kino was a quintessential "short sleeper." While the average person requires 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night to maintain their energy, he only needed 3 hours.
However, this particular night, even those 3 hours of sleep were not afforded to him. He sat by the window, the candlelight flickering before him, reading a book while waiting.
He was calculating the single-day time of this world.
Within the Mark of the Refuser, the countdown slowly ticked away, beating with an unchanging, constant rhythm.
As the night gave way to dawn once more, and the sun reached the same position in the sky, he calculated the difference in the countdown between this moment and the same time the previous day. He discovered that the world's single-day time was identical to that of his past life—24 hours—without deviation.
Upon completing his calculation, he glanced at the Threefold Shackles domain.
[Respect: 32]
[Fear: 525]
[Awe: 0]
Opening the details, he could see the sources of these values:
[Respect from Paladin Jones: 12]
[Fear from Paladin Jones: 23]
[Fear from Tevin Williams: 96]
[Fear from Jack Millro: 57]
...
The flow of information gathered in Kino's mind, and from these values, he derived three key insights:
The method of acquiring the Threefold Shackles values was to harvest the emotions of those around him. As long as he elicited the corresponding emotions from others, the values would rise.
The values depended solely on the emotional state of the individual at the time of the harvest. Once harvested, they remained; the subsequent fate of the individual—whether dead or alive—did not affect the values, and they would not be deducted.
Respect, Fear, and Awe were three distinct values, incapable of being combined or separated.
Regarding the third point, it was evident from Paladin's emotions: he held 12 points of Respect and 14 points of Fear, but his Awe remained at 0.
This meant that, in the value calculation, the former two could not be combined to form the latter.
Kino accessed the exchange interface, and it was much as he had anticipated. The Mark of the Refuser was both a limitation and an expansion.
As a Refuser, he could not evolve through the conventional reincarnation method, but he could make use of the harvested emotional values.
Respect could be exchanged for currency, materials, medicines, weapons, and other "external items."
Fear could be used to "internally enhance" his genetic structure.
Kino also noticed a hint provided by the Mark of the Refuser:
[Depending on the individual, the emotional maximum differs, but all have an upper limit on the total value.]
This meant that when harvesting emotions from an individual, the host needed to maintain balance.
For example, if a person's emotional limit was 100, and today, to enhance his genes, Kino caused harm to that person and harvested 90 points of Fear, the individual would only have 10 points of emotion remaining for future harvest.
Next time, even if Kino did good deeds to earn their respect, the maximum respect he could harvest would only be 10.
In theory, with so many people in the world and newborns constantly coming into being, the emotional values available for harvesting should be infinite, provided enough time passed.
But that was not the case, for a person could not live forever.
Kino paused in thought, his gaze settling on the value of "Awe," which was still 0.
Logically, with the external items gained from Respect and the internal enhancement from Fear, these two should encompass all the conventional means of strengthening. So what was the purpose of this "Awe" value?
Because Awe was 0 and inaccessible, Kino had no idea what it might contain.
The emotion represented by Awe was also unclear, but it certainly was not about inspiring both respect and fear in a person—such a situation would lead to something like Paladin, who separately contributed to both Respect and Fear.
Awe was a distinct emotion, unrelated to respect or fear.
Kino sifted through the information he had gathered in his mind, then began preparing for the exchange.
In 13 days, a reincarnation squad would enter this world, and he needed to prepare in advance.
Respectable system, both cold and hot weapons were available, yet he had no intention of immediately exchanging for firearms.
Firstly, in such a feudal age, the possession of firearms would attract undue attention, making it highly disadvantageous for one to conceal their identity.
Secondly, firearms were exceedingly costly. A PPK, his favorite during his lifetime, would require 1,200 points of respect, not including the price of ammunition.
In contrast, the cost of cold weapons was far more affordable. A tungsten steel cold-forged dagger could be obtained for a mere 40 points of respect.
Unprocessed raw materials were even cheaper.
Clearly, the prices of these items were directly related to their technological complexity: the more advanced the processing, the higher the technological content, and thus, the greater the cost per unit.
The difference between exchanging for raw materials to craft a weapon and exchanging for a finished product was staggering—the former could be up to ten, even several dozen times cheaper than the latter—provided, of course, that one had the ability to produce them.
Kino, still unfamiliar with the production capabilities of this world, had no immediate intention to exchange for any weapons or materials.
Moreover, with only 32 points of respect, there were no weapons worth exchanging anyway.
He decided to first try using a portion of his respect points to exchange for the universally accepted Moon Coins in Dugaland.
The exchange rate for Moon Coins was 1 respect point to 1 silver moon.
Kino experimented by exchanging 2 points of respect.
Two silver moons appeared in the air, clinking softly as they fell to the ground.
At that moment, Kino's brow furrowed deeply, as he realized that the supreme existence was even more terrifying than he had anticipated.
Had these coins been handed to him by someone after the exchange, it would be safe to assume that the supreme existence was likely a tangible entity in this world—perhaps a powerful financier or a minister with control over the economy, someone who could eventually be uncovered.
But the fact that they had materialized in such a manner, defying the basic laws of nature, indicated that this was some unimaginable force.
"Thank you." Kino trusted that the supreme being could hear his words. "Next time, remember to bring a bag."
He picked up the coins and stored them carefully, then used the remaining 30 points of respect to exchange for a box of Amnesia Capsules.
[Amnesia Capsule: 24 capsules, after ingestion, erases memories from the past 48 hours; low-tier version, ineffective when used on the same individual twice; effects do not stack; can be diluted to reduce the duration of memory loss; this drug is only effective for individuals with ordinary genes.]
Kino took a small vial, opened the capsules, poured the powder inside, and added water.
It would soon prove useful.
Next, he accessed the Fear system.
Compared to 32 points of respect, his Fear points totaled 525, and the selection of items available for exchange was considerably broader.
Fear points had many applications for enhancement, ranging from strengthening basic genes to various bloodlines, cultivation systems, meridians, and supernatural abilities—all of which could be continuously reinforced.
However, with only 525 Fear points, his options were still limited, and he could only exchange for the most basic of upgrades.
Soon, Kino selected a foundational gene called "Wasteland Creature," which required 500 Fear points. This gene would increase his resistance to foreign pathogens and enhance his immune functions.
In Dugaland, the Beast Plague was rampant, and the medical standards were far below modern levels, making it easy to unwittingly come into contact with sources of infection. The Wasteland Creature gene would provide him with a much-needed safeguard.