/
In the game, switching between the scenes was very simple.
[After escaping from the pursuers, I arrived at the magical city of ‘Arcanium’.]
It usually happened in this way.
But the reality was different. Whether it was a change in the scene or something else, I had to do it and go there myself.
Fortunately, the setting was closer to the modern era than the Middle Ages, so there was no need to go through the troubles of riding a horse.
Trains were operated only in safe cities where the monster was judged to be completely eradicated, and ‘Warp Halls’ were installed in airships and certain other cities, to facilitate long-distance movement and travel.
‘I’m glad there is no further pursuit.’
I was familiar with the identity of those pursuers.
It was known in the media that ‘bandits’ ran amok and raided the nearby villages; later, it turns out that this incident was the work of the ‘Black Demon Church’ to seek sacrifices in the early days.
However, from the moment they exit the cliff, it is completely the realm of wizards.
Black Demons can’t pursue me anymore, and they treated me like a sacrifice anyway. Since they didn’t know who I was, there was no need to worry about future consequences.
Thanks to this, I was able to put down my worries and mind at ease for the time being.
With the help of these Wizards, I was able to travel in a car, no, a wagon, which was a bit shakier compared to the modern ones.
“Huh, Is this your first time in a city?”
“Where the hell did you learn that kind of magic?”
I didn’t know what to say, so I just smiled. It was an implicit rule among wizards, and it was in line with the meaning that if you smile softly when asked about magic, it meant you had a hidden master and no further questions should be asked.
“Well, that’s right.”
“However, I’m glad that our destination is the same. We are on our way to Rezoica, one of the 12 satellite cities of the magical city of Arcanium.”
The magic school Stella Academy was located in Arcanium. I’m really glad that I saved myself from the trouble of going there separately.
On the way, I asked questions about this world. From small details to the trivial culture.
I even heard him say, ‘Tutttttt, you’re a real peasant,’ while looking at me when I asked for the currency unit, but it didn’t matter.
It’s better to be treated like a peasant for a short time than to be bullied for not knowing later.
“Well, why don’t you sleep a little bit. The airship to Arcanium will depart at 8 o’clock tomorrow, and we’ll be able to make it to Rezoica before that.”
“Hey, I’m sorry, how are you?”
“Are you sleeping well?”
When I turned around following the wizard’s finger, I saw the grey-robed girl, who was on board as a guest, crouching in the corner and trying to sleep.
“ha…Then excuse me for a little bit.”
“Okay. Well, you’re going to make it big in the future, so let us take good care of you. Don’t forget us later on, okay?”
“Yes, of course.”
I was able to lie down on the back seat under the careful consideration of the wizards and looked at the sky before going to sleep.
I couldn’t do it before because of the frantically progressing episodes and acquiring information, but my priority now was to check my physical condition.
‘… Muscularity is not a joke. ‘
According to my age in the game setting, my body was almost 10 years younger, and I had a fairly youthful appearance.
As if it was not enough, I also had a strong body which was quite different from my original body. The original me never exercised.
For that reason alone, I had strong chest muscles and engraved abs.
Because I was still young, I was still far below my original height of 180cm, but if I eat well, I am sure I will grow again.
Next, I checked the “Skill Window”.
[Magic Leakage Delay Lvl.1]
*Strength increases by 03%
*Agility increases by 05%
* Sense enhanced by 10%
*Sixth Sense: Activated by consuming the user’s ‘heart’. Occurs within a radius of 12m.
Once mana is faintly detected, ‘Cognitive Acceleration’ would activate. It gets automatically triggered when it is judged that the user is facing a crisis.
The second identity of the character Baek Yu-seol, and the culprit who turned me into a magic eunuch.
Ironically, it was funny to think that I was still alive thanks to this magic delay.
‘Cognitive acceleration and sixth sense. Without them, I would have died earlier than expected.’
The ‘Sixth Sense’ made it possible to know where the attack was coming from without looking, and the ‘Cognitive Acceleration’ increased my sense allowing time to pass at a slow pace when a threat of an attack exceeds the human cognitive speed approach. A passive effect that depends on the magic leakage delay.
However, it seemed that the sixth sense could not be used for a long duration.
Maybe it was because of the exhaustion of mental power, but I had a severe headache right after the battle.
‘Still… I’m glad this magic leakage delay amplifies the character’s overall stats.’
Next, I checked the entire status.
< Baek Yu-Seol>
* Ability
[Strength: 1-star 59%]
[Sense: 1-star 97%]
[Agility: 1-star 81%]
[Health: 1-star 51%]
[Charisma: 0 star 97%]
[Heart: 1 star 43%]
[Mana: -]
* Remaining experience points: 10
*Skill
[Blink Lvl.0]
*Characteristic
[Magic Leakage Delay Lvl.1]
As one of the key points of Aether World, there was no separate character-level system, but the abilities and skills had levels attached to them.
Skills were shown with ‘Level (Lv)’ and abilities were denoted with ‘Star’.
In the game system, the ability could be raised to 9 stars, but it was said that very few such characters existed in the history of Aether World.
I’ve been playing this game for over 10 years, but 8-star for strength and 8-star for senses was the max I could raise.
The 9 star was a divine realm that could only be achieved by those who have received the blessings of heaven.
But how come my abilities are so good for starters?’
On average, the muscular strength of an adult male was [1 star 0%].
When you reach [1 star 20%], you hear that you have exercised a little, and when you reach [1 star 40%], your body becomes a bit muscular, and wherever you go, comments like, ‘Wow, he’s in shape,’ is frequently thrown.
On the other hand, if you go down to [0-star |, it would be the very definition of a weak body.
While most wizards start with 0 stars for abilities such as strength and flexibility, the character Baek Yu-Seol starts at 1 star 10%, which was higher than average. However, for me, it was even higher than the usual starting point of the character.
‘It seems that I have received a small portion of my character’s abilities that I had raised in the past, judging how high my sensory ability is.’
The original Baek Yu-Seol had a very low sense stat, and for 10 years, I was engrossed in raising his sensibility.
Although the effect of ability stat succession seemed small, I was fortunate that it was better than the original starting stats.
After thinking about the allocation of experience points for a while, I invested all of them in ‘sense’.
‘Sense’ as an ability to increase sixth sense and reaction speed was one of the essential things in the game because it determined ‘how fast a character reacts when I press the button,’. However, in reality, its importance increased more because it was directly linked to my ‘reaction speed’.
[Sense: 2-star 07%]
There were many ways to raise muscle strength and flexibility, so there was no need to experience points for them. But there was no way to raise ‘sense’ unless it was through experience points.
I let out a deep sigh as I looked at the status and the magic leakage delay alternately.
As usual, my final goal would be to defeat the final boss ‘Black Demon Dragon’ and save the world. If I can achieve the ‘True Ending’ too this way, it would be an added bonus.
After then, whether I go back to Earth, or have a happy ending here, it doesn’t matter.
Is it possible to use the ‘game’ system in this other ‘reality’? That’s what it’s about.
In the game, I succeeded in raising stats only because it was a game, where I could experience points and farm items through a lot of hard work (hunting, crafting, etc.), items that I obtained by intentionally breaking human relationships, potions that I got by dying dozens of times and clearing dungeons with a survival rate of 0.01% by dying hundreds of times. Trying to clear them was impossible in reality.
Therefore, it will be impossible to restore my original strength even if I died trying.
Even if it was possible to restore all of the game character’s stats, there were people stronger than me in the setting.
The future seemed bleak.
‘What are some hidden pieces that I can use for the future?
Many things came to mind, but unfortunately, there were many more that I couldn’t remember.
I wasn’t smart to begin with and my memory was limited after 10 years had passed.
Since the destruction of this world seemed like a certain fate, I thought of giving up and going to the countryside to meet a real woman and grow beans and potatoes and die of old age… However, such optimistic thoughts are impossible.
In the first place, this ‘Magic Leakage Delay’ was close to an incurable disease, thus if you didn’t treat it with proper training, I won’t be able to live long and die anyway.
To survive, I must upgrade to the ‘Natural Divine Body’ as soon as possible and the methods and hints to strengthen the magic leakage delay exist in the Stellar Academy.
To prevent the destruction of the world and cure my incurable diseases, it was my destiny that I had no choice but to head to the Stellar Academy.
“Uh-huh…what should I do next?”
I was in a gloomy mood when a message suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.
[The ‘Constellation Project’ presents a special reward for you.]
[1. A downgraded version of an item used in-game.]
[2. A downgraded version of skill acquired in-game.]
[3. Experience Points.]
“… Wow.”
It seems those friends who dragged me all the way here seem to at least have some morals.
[Would you like to select a reward right now?]
I thought about it for a while, but it was late at night to check my status. I also felt like sleeping now.
‘I’ll do it tomorrow.’
My first day in an unfamiliar world.
Maybe because it had been really hard and difficult, I fell asleep more easily than I thought.