“Up until now, I’ve only ever summoned about thirty people at once. There were always plenty of skills to choose from. A lot of people even saved skills for the people who came after them. But this time, I had forty-three people, so even the ones at the end had to scramble for the best skills.
“I’ve never dealt with someone far enough from the summoning circle that they arrived after everyone else already left,” he continued. “All of the skills here are the remnants of people who have achieved something in this world, recognized by the gods. That is a list of all the talents that have earned the recognition of the gods—talents that belonged to heroes who became gods, or even surpassed us. And it’s not just a list—these are actual remnants of those heroes’ souls, each one alive with its own feelings.
“Even a god cannot fully understand someone who’s surpassed him. It’s up to you to choose a skill, feel its soul, understand its way of life, and receive the power it bestows upon you. Each skill here comes from someone who has achieved greatness, you see? True mastery comes from understanding the soul of a skill—how its original bearer achieved what they did. If you can’t do that, then even the most powerful skills become meaningless, or even an annoyance.”
The old fart continued between overwrought sobs, “Even I don’t understand all of this. There are so many skills that I’ve never seen before. However, each skill has some meaning, some purpose. They wouldn’t be on the list otherwise.”
Tears streamed down his cheeks. He stood up at times for emphasis, but his legs trembled like those of a baby fawn. This is bad, his eyes look totally deranged! It was like a demon had possessed him; he was practically foaming at the mouth. And what he said about those skills—that was crazy! The concept was way too dangerous! He was talking about souls that surpassed gods! Souls?! These were more than souls, they were straight up demons! Old dude, you’ve got to get out of here, too!
“They surpass the truth that I know and the providence I dispense, even as a god,” he said.
That’s messed up! You can’t surpass a god!
“This perilous position is a golden opportunity! Over the precipice I go!” he shouted wildly. “Here it comes! Here it comes!”
This is bad. He’s gone off the deep end.
“Here it is, this is the truth!” he cried.
Did he have a nervous breakdown?
“Here it is! I’m baring my soul! My gift!”
What was he talking about?
“I’m giving you everything!” he wailed.
Everything? Even delivery service for all my books? What was he talking about now?
“All the skills! You can take every last one!”
Every last one?! Was he giving me everything…no, was he trying to surpass his god form and become one of those souls—or demons—himself?! Even a god shouldn’t go that far!
“Hang on, hang on!” I yelled as I realized what he was doing. “I don’t want them, dumbass! That’d be like playing on nightmare difficulty!”
“Hah! Do you suffer? Laugh through the pain!”
You stupid old man! He was raving mad.
“Farewell!” he roared.
As the world faded to black all I could do was scream, “Farewell my ass!”
I was in the middle of a forest. My head hurt. He really did send me to the other world.
There was no one around. I didn’t want to look at my stats, but I couldn’t avoid it any longer.
“Status,” I said.
“Please roll your dice,” said a voice inside my head.
Oh, so now I need to roll the loaded dice? Hang on—he really did give me all of those skills?! I wanted to scrub the stench of those garbage skills off of me.
Two dice manifested in my hand. I chucked them blindly. Both of the dice landed on a side that read “M.”
“What the hell is going on?!” I shouted.
“Please assign your first roll to an attribute,” the voice said.
Was M some sort of ability modifier? If my ability scores were 10 points by default, how many points would M add? It must raise my stats, it has to. Unless M was short for minus? There was only one way to find out.
“I’m betting it all on luck,” I said.
After all the misfortune of today’s events, I was desperate for some luck. I didn’t have time to worry about strength.
“Luck plus M,” the voice said. “Please assign your second roll.”
Was that the most it could boost my luck? If M meant minus, then that meant my luck just dropped to 0.
Worst-case scenario, it could go negative. But I had to choose luck—If my HP went to 0, then I’d be dead. Any other stat was just as risky. Plus, I could use as much luck as I could get. Maybe it would even reduce damage dealt. I’d have to deal with the consequences down the line, but I was desperate.
“Luck,” I said.
“Luck increased,” the voice said. “Displaying Status.”
NAME: Haruka
RACE: Human
LV: 01
JOB: —
HP: 10 MP: 10
VIT: 10 POW: 10 SPE: 10
DEX: 10 RES: 10 INT: 10
LUK: Max (Above Limit)
SP: 0
COMBAT: Cane Mastery Lv1
MAGIC: Heat Lv1, Movement Lv1, Packing Lv1, Weight Lv1
SKILLS: General Health Lv1, Sensitivity Lv1, Calisthenics Lv1, Walking Lv1, Consultant Lv1, Servitude Lv1
TITLES: Shut-In Lv1, NEET Lv1, Loner Lv1
ABILITIES: Corporate Proactiveness Lv1, Master of None Lv1, Blockhead Lv1
EQUIPMENT: Cloth Bag
My luck was above the max limit. Which means that M meant Max! Why not just write the damn word, it’s only three letters! I should’ve used it on power or speed. I screwed up.
It wasn’t a total waste. Luck was also a necessary attribute. And since I didn’t know what “M” meant at the time, it was the right call. I couldn’t just gamble my life on those dice.