Chapter 10
Translator: Kell Editor: Weasalopes
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Unlocking Initial Attributes (Without Permission)
For breakfast, Hikaru went to the same hotdog stand as yesterday . It wasn’t as if he liked the food, but the owner kept staring at him . That, and a different aroma from yesterday floated in the air .
He had dinner at the yakisoba place last night . Freshly-cooked yakisoba was even more delicious . The man remembered Hikaru so he gave him extra . It was too much, in fact, that Hikaru had difficulty finishing it .
「Hmm?」
The hotdog sauce was different from yesterday . This time it was brown .
「……… 」
Hmm… What’s this? It’s not sweet like yesterday . It smells… fishy .
「Honestly, it tastes horrible . 」he said without thinking .
Hearing Hikaru’s comment, the owner ground his teeth .
「Ugh…」
「Did you taste it? What did you put in this thing?」
「It’s special-made sauce with fish sauce as base . 」
Hikaru stood there, dumbfounded .
「Good grief . You gotta have ketchup and mustard for hotdogs . That’s textbook stuff!」
The man had no idea what ketchup and mustard were so Hikaru told him . He knew how ketchup was made, but not mustard . He could only tell him what it looked like and how it tasted .
As soon as Hikaru stepped into the Adventurers Guild, he felt several gazes on him .
「Hey, it’s that kid…」
「The brat who gets special treatment not only from Jill-chan but also from Glorichan…」
Hikaru didn’t notice them whispering to each other . As to why…
「Hikaru-kun!」
The moment she saw Hikaru, Jill came running to him from behind the counter .
「Are you okay?! Did they do anything to you?!」
「Wh-What’s up with you?」
She touched his head and pretty much his whole body . Hikaru was clueless as to what was going on .
「What?!」
Jill grasped his hand .
「Come with me . I want to talk to you」
Her hand was soft and warm . She was so close that Hikaru could smell a delightful scent drifting from her . The adventurers whined as they watched Jill pulled him by the hand . Hikaru felt the same as well .
This girl’s attitude turned a complete 180!
His mind was calm, but he was not used to being around women . They both entered the booth that Gloria showed him to yesterday .
「I was shocked to find out this morning that you had taken a request . Gloria made you do it, didn’t she?」
「It was more like she recommended it to me and I accepted . I didn’t expect that I was delivering a letter to a big shot from the Thieves Guild . 」
Jill heaved a deep sigh .
「If you know that, then I guess you completed it . How’d you do it?」
「It was just a simple delivery . 」
「There’s no way Gloria would urge you to do a simple delivery . Seeing as it went well, you must be extremely lucky . 」
Hikaru’s Stealth Skill was being chalked up to pure luck . He didn’t really mind it, of course .
「So Gloria is quite the hypocrite as well . 」
「She is . Wait, what do you mean “as well”?」
Hikaru shrugged .
「You’re not seriously thinking I’m like her, are you?! Sheesh… You should stay away from Gloria, Hikaru-kun . Take requests when I’m around . I’ll give you priority over the other adventurers . 」
「I can choose requests on my own . 」
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「You took Gloria’s suggestion yesterday, didn’t you? If you just take requests without careful consideration, your future will be grim . 」
「I think the bigger problem here is the guild hiring someone like her as a receptionist . Besides, it wasn’t like I didn’t give it proper thought . I took the request because it seemed like there was a catch . 」
「What? Why?! Normally you’d turn something down because there’s a catch!」
「It sounded fun . 」
Jill gave an exasperated sigh .
「Hikaru-kun, lady luck won’t always be by your side . They call that “beginners’ luck” by the way…」
「Fine, fine . I get it . I’ve had enough of your lectures . 」
「I didn’t even say much!」
「More importantly, I want to take a request . 」
He was about to say “I don’t want to waste any time”, but he swallowed the words as it would only lead to another lengthy conversation .
「O-Of course . I have to give you requests while I’m here . I recommend these . 」
She took out a bunch of request forms .
「Cleaning Request」
「Shopping for the Church」
「Roof Repair」
「Coal Replenishment for a Blacksmith」
「Chat with the Elderly」
…
「Rejected . 」he said, turning them all down .
「Why?! These are all important requests that benefit the town!」
「Let kids from families that need the money or jobless people do those . Why would they send those kinds of requests to the Adventurers’ Guild anyway?」
「Quest Hunters love these, though . 」
Probably like some sort of collectors . Except in this case, they collect quests . They don’t care what the job is; they just want to take requests .
「I want to make money efficiently . 」
「You want to become rich? Yikes . 」
Jill gave him a disgusted look . Hikaru was pissed . He wanted to tell her she was the one with the horrible attitude .
「Actually, there’s a profitable request that even you can handle . 」
「You could’ve told me sooner」
Hikaru snatched the form from Jill .
【Monster Hunter】【Continuous】
. . 【Red-Horned Rabbit】It doesn’t matter how many . Just deliver them .
. . 【Reward】Basic Reward: 0 gilans . 10,000 gilans for each rabbit .
「Continuous quests are always ongoing so you can take them anytime . Red-Horned Rabbits are fast, but that’s all . You can kill them with only a knife . 」
「Hmm . This much reward for something that easy?」
「You’ll find out once you try it . 」
「…You’re not sending me somewhere dangerous again, are you?」
「You’re making me sound like I’m a horrible person! And no, I’m not . There’s zero risk in this quest . Oh, but you’re gonna have to go outside town, so it’s dangerous in a way . Personally, I’d recommend something like Babysitting…」
「All right . I’ll take this . 」
「You don’t have to actually formally accept it . It’s a continuous quest, after all . It’ll probably take days for you to kill one . Good luck . You look feeble, though . Will you be okay? How about wiping windows around town instead…」
「Oh, give me a break . I said I’m doing it . 」
「Fine . Red-Horned Rabbits give high rewards . It’s an initiation quest for beginners to let them know that if they work hard, they can get whatever they want . It’s perfect for you so you’d keep giving it your best in the future . 」
「………」
「The line’s getting longer now so I have to go back to the counter . Be careful out there . It’s okay to be lily-livered . In fact, being too much of a coward should be to your benefit . All right? Even if you come up empty, under no circumstances should you camp outside town . The gates will close at dusk so make sure you return before then . 」
「………」
「That’s a promise, okay? Later . 」
「………」
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She was just like a mother warning her kid . Hikaru saw Jill off with a sour look on his face .
「So it takes days to kill one of these rabbits, huh?」
His expression changed to that of a child up to mischief . He was aware of the several gazes resting on him .
After entering the reference room, Hikaru positioned himself as close to the wall as possible . In a five meter-radius… there . One of the adventurers who was glaring at him .
It’s the perfect opportunity . I’ll have you be my test subject in my experiment .
Hikaru focused his mind .
So I don’t have to actually see them to summon their Soul Boards .
He had booted up another person’s Soul Board .
【Soul Board】Zernenko Rigalow
Age: 22 Rank: 11
18
【Vitality】
. . 【Natural Recovery】1
. . 【Stamina】2
. . 【Immunity】
… . 【Magic Resistance】0
… . 【Disease Immunity】1
… . 【Toxic Immunity】0
. . 【Perception】
All right! There we go! He has his Immunity unlocked! I see . So it’s immunity to magic spells, disease, and poison .
He wanted to check the details, but it seemed he couldn’t bring up the descriptions . Perhaps because it wasn’t his own Soul Board .
Whatever . They’re pretty self-explanatory . The only additional info I’d get is the maximum points that could be allocated . All right, let’s check out the other boards .
There was nothing noteworthy under Magical Power . Intuition and the hexagon board weren’t unlocked either .
【Physical Strength】
. . 【Strength】3
. . 【Weapon Mastery】
… . 【Sword】1
… . 【Great Sword】0
… . 【Short Sword】0
… . 【Short Spear】0
… . 【Long Spear】0
… . 【Bow】0
… . 【Throwing】0
… . 【Shield】1
… . 【Armor】1
So there are nine different weapons under Weapon Mastery… But what about axes or clubs? What’s the basis for choosing these weapons anyway?
Hikaru had various guesses but no definite answer .
I lack data to actually arrive at a conclusion . On to the next . I haven’t seen this board… Oh, the pentagon one .
The pentagon board had Dexterity .
【Dexterity】
. . 【Dexterity】1
. . 【Tool Mastery】
Hmm, so Tool Mastery has to be unlocked first . It’s not combat-related . Going by RPGs, I suppose it has something to do with production? Though it sounds like Dexterity might affect weapons mastery as well .
Hikaru folded his arms, thinking .
He has 2 points in Agility so that’s a total of 15 points used . It’s confirmed . Total points = Age + Rank .
Roland didn’t have knowledge about Soul Boards . Which means it’s not something a normal human being can access . So that begs the question: how did this Zernenko guy allocate his points? No, that’s not it . Jill would’ve told me something . Gloria only asked me about my class . The owner himself allocates the points without him noticing? Or…
Or perhaps by achieving a certain level of proficiency, points get automatically allocated . Yes, that’s more likely the case . Like a bonus for those who trained hard . Man, this ability really is amazing . Allocating points freely is basically a shortcut . I don’t have to train and all that .
Hikaru was deep in thought when he heard voices .
「What’s he doing in the reference room?」
「Beats me . I can’t wait until he gets out so we can “socialize” with him . 」
「Hehehe . Socialize, eh? You mean he’s gonna get some thrashing . 」
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It was Zernenko and his buddies . It seemed they’ve been eyeing Hikaru because he was being pampered by a receptionist and it ticked them off .
Huh… Big words . I really don’t like you guys either . In fact, y’all get on my nerves .
An idea sprang up in Hikaru’s mind . He could allocate others’ Soul Board points himself . Now normally, that would be favourable for the owner . But what if he used the points to unlock attributes? It wouldn’t result into anything . Hikaru also wanted to know what other attributes and Skills were there on the Soul Board .
Hikaru’s mouth curved into a wicked smile .
【Unlock Soul Board? 1 point required . 】
「Yes . 」
I’m going to use the rest of your points to decipher the rest of the unlockable attributes . First is the hexagon board .
【Willpower】
. . 【Mental Strength】0
. . 【Faith】
. . 【Charisma】0
. . 【Appeal】0
Oh, willpower! With this, the list is complete – Vitality, Magical Power, Physical Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Willpower, and Intuition .
Hikaru felt great having his curiosity satisfied .
Zero for both Charisma and Appeal, huh… That’s just sad . Nah . The Soul Board merely provides a little extra . I have zero points in Physical Strength, but it’s not like I have no muscle strength . It’s safe to assume that the points from the Soul Board are simply added bonus .
He felt awful using up only Zernenko’s points – though it was a little bit late for that – so he used his two buddies’s points as well .
The results were as follows:
【Vitality】
. . 【Natural Recovery】0
. . 【Stamina】0
. . 【Immunity】
… . 【Magic Resistance】0
… . 【Disease Immunity】0
… . 【Toxic Immunity】0
. . 【Perception】
… . 【Sight】0
… . 【Hearing】0
… . 【Smell】0
… . 【Taste】0
… . 【Touch】0
【Magical Power】
. . 【Mana】0
. . 【Spiritual Affinity】
… . 【Fire】0
… . 【Air】0
… . 【Earth】0
… . 【Water】0
… . 【Magic Creation】0
He already knew everything under Physical Strength and Agility .
【Dexterity】
. . 【Dexterity】0
. . 【Tool Mastery】
… . 【Axe】0
… . 【Loom】0
… . 【Pottery】0
… . 【Musical Instruments】0
【Willpower】
. . 【Mental Strength】0
. . 【Faith】
… . 【Holy】0
… . 【Evil】0
. . 【Charisma】0
. . 【Appeal】0
【Intuition】
. . 【Instinct】0
. . 【Insight】
… . 【Invention】0
… . 【Fine Arts】0
… . 【Music】0
. . 【Intelligence】
… . 【Arithmetics】0
… . 【Language Comprehension】0
… . 【Language Output】0
. . 【Memory】0
. . 【Detection】
… . 【Life Detection】0
… . 【Mana Detection】0
Tsk . Damn it . I couldn’t use up a lot of their points .
Hikaru clicked his tongue at something completely trivial . Incidentally, the other two guys had their points allocated similar to Zernenko with three points being the highest . These men were fighters and already this powerful . Hikaru realized how ridiculous it would be if they had their attributes maxed out .
I now know all the initial attributes . Next would be to check how many of those derivative Skills (e . g . Assassination and Sniper) there were . Unfortunately, I can’t study them .
In order to check, he had to allocate points to the Skills of the men who despised him .
Whatever . I don’t really need the information right now . If I bump into someone skilled, I’ll just check their Soul Board .
Hikaru nodded to himself as he studied information he needed for his quest .
「Is he coming out or what?」
「I’m getting sleepy . 」
There were still men waiting for Hikaru outside .
After leaving the Adventurers Guild, Hikaru bought lunch from a stall . He could be out of town all day . He got a sandwich worth 30 gilans . He filled his flask with water as well . Several gazes followed him from behind .
「There he goes . 」
「Looks like he took a request . 」
「Outside of town?」
「Based on the direction he’s going, probably . 」
「Let’s do it outside, then . 」
「Good idea . If we “socialized” with him in town, guards might come . 」
They were fans of Jill and Gloria and their numbers have increased to six . Keeping their distance, they tailed Hikaru . They were awful at tailing that a common adventurer would notice right away that he was being followed .
「Hmm? Out for a quest again today?」
The man who talked to Hikaru was the gatekeeper at the time he went out to get glimmering poisonous plants .
「Be careful out there . Remember: there’s no such thing as being too cautious . You’re an adventurer, not a guard like me . Being scared is not a bad thing . 」
「I know . But thank you for the advice . 」
「You’re welcome . Kids should listen to words of advice . 」
「………」
Treating me like a kid, I see . Well, there are a lot of tall, muscular men in this world so compared to them, I might look like a kid . But it’s not like I’m small either! I’m not small! Hikaru thought as he bowed .
The gatekeeper smiled pleasantly .
「All righty, then . 」
He couldn’t think properly last time since he was starving . But it’s different this time . He could now survey his surroundings properly .
Just outside the gate was a coach station . There were different kinds of beings there, not just humans . Demi-humans . Elves . There were also travellers and merchants .
Past the station were several inns and as he went farther, he saw farmhouses . Unlike the ones inside the town, they were wooden and poorly-made . Behind the structures were wide fields that the families have cultivated . Despite being unfortunate, these people lived strong .
As he went farther, there were less and less houses . He was now face to face with Mother Nature .
The road before him stretched for miles and miles . Blue mountaintops loomed in the distance . Grass on meadows gently undulated like silver waves in the breeze, revealing the paths of the wind that blew by . A stream flowed softly nearby . Birds soared high up in the sky, singing .
「It’s finally beginning . 」
Hikaru was getting a tad bit excited . And behind him were six adventurers .
「All right . We should surround that kid now… Wait, what?」
They couldn’t believe their eyes . Hikaru supposedly hid himself behind a tall thicket, but when they checked, he was gone .
No one could sense Hikaru once he had his Stealth on and his class set to Stealth God: Darkness Wanderer . There wasn’t anyone in Pond – no, the whole kingdom of Ponsonia who could .