Things progressed really smoothly for both Lain and Kaku.

The important information being passed by telepathy users makes things faster.

Lain, like actual heroes, goes to the East of Java Island to help other regions. While Kaku (and me) cleared the small West area, clearing the 'rubbish' left behind by him.

Each day, notifications of regions becoming safe zones keep popping. Also some other regions from other nations started their crusade.

From Texas, Beijing, Pyongyang, Hokkaido, Makkah, and so on, and so forth.

And now, a whole week has passed since the start of 'catastrophe'.

Right now, I am doing nothing.

I also gained nothing from helping clearing region bosses no matter how many contributions I dealt.

The random skill box from the first boss is still there, waiting for me to use it.

'Random Skill Box', a plot tool to make it, so the main character became overpowered simply by luck.

Luckily, I am not a 'main character', so I opened it, hoping for something to synergies with the two skills I have.

A set of cards, ten cards to be exact, were flying in my vision.

I can't see what is in front of it, as no matter how fast I move, the back side of the cards is always blocking me.

And then, something clicked.

What about Astral Vision?

I activated Astral Vision, and jackpot!

I can see, and heck, even read the description.

[Black Bone]

[Flagging Rights]

[Lock-in]

[Fly Magic]

[Mana Absorption}

[Sword Mastery]

[Hawk's Eye]

[Owl's Ears]

[Strike]

And lastly, good-looking ones. The card design itself is so flashy, screaming that it was 'High Rank Skill'.

[Magic Nullification]

Yeah, no way.

[Nullifies 'Known' Magic]

[Passive]

[Activation Condition : Body Parts getting critically damaged by magic once.]

This was practically tailor made for me.

But, I don't know whether Astral Vision 'damage' was a 'magic' one.

Stella has magic capabilities anyway, she could damage me to critical points if I asked her, I guess?

I took Magic Nullification.

The moment I grabbed it, a feeling, a warm breeze was circling around me.

[Random Skill Box has been used.]

[Congratulations!]

[You Gained 'Magic Nullification'.]

[Magic Nullification activated.]

[List of Known Magic:

Waterball

Wind Slash

Wind Bomb

Wind ]

As I expected, the magic that I saw through Astral Vision is also listed here. But, has it really become 'known' just from seeing it once?

[Oi, You Human of the Earth, is adapting way too fast!]

[This left US no other choice, other than advancing the plan sooner!]

[Rejoice!]

Suddenly, a huge tremor was felt.

Astral Vision was forcibly activated for unknown reason, and the world once again, getting some changes.

Huge towers, domes and 'buildings' are popping out from underground everywhere I see.

Whether it is in forests, mountains, desserts, even on...no it is more like underwater. There's an underwater tower..what the heck?

[We decided to speed up the plan and Summoned these dungeons just for you earthlings!]

[Have Fun and Good Luck!]

I tried to enter one of these 'dungeons' with Astral Vision, but something invisible was really blocking me from entering, that Astral Vision forcibly got cut.

Yeah, something fishy about these so called dungeons, it even got its own section on the status screen albeit it still had nothing in it.

===============================

"Kaku, you know what those dungeons mean right?"

Kaku, currently looking in the horizon, that full of out-of-place buildings sprouting from the ground like they were a plant.

"Yeah."

"I want to go there, but first teach me Apprais-"

"Already did, you already have it." Oh, c'mon. I know it was predictable, but don't cut me.

"What do you mean?"

"You used the random skill box right?"

"...how do you know?"

He looked at me.

"You have two new skills in my appraisal box." What? I tried to check my status screen.

Rinka ● Human Male

HP : 100/100

Creativity : 40/40

Skills

Astral Vision

Pain Intolerance

Magic Nullification

Appraisal (Low)

"But, Magic Nullification huh? Not bad, but not the best since it's a countermeasure by knowledge and not spontaneous one."

"Anyway, you just need to re-imagine, what you were doing when you acquired Appraisal,"

"Also, that one dungeon with tower-like buildings near Monas monument was good for you, I suppose," He paused for a while.

"Don't die there, or someone would be sad." His tone changed.

"Will you?"

"You know who, right?"

Appraisal already acquired, huh?

No way it's because Astral Vision reads random skill cards, yep no way.

I activated Astral Vision, and went straight searching for the tower-like dungeons he suggested me to enter.

Dungeon spotted, and woah, the monster carcasses from a week ago already gone but the battlefield stays the same except a random tower sprouting from underground, of course.

=====================

"Hey, Stella."

What is she doing? No, I know she is cooking, but what kind of food is she cooking right now?

No, why am I even interested in that? Don't ask the obvious, captain obvious.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"Push me with your water magic."

She…instantly turned off the fire, the heat of the cooker.

"what." ah, her expression is the best right now. I can't describe it, I don't think the usual me that always opposes me would not agree with this.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Absolutely, me.

"Like, use your magic with all your might to kill me."

"Do it yourself." Her response was instantaneous, almost like a scripted canon event.

*Sigh* She turned the fire back on.

"Who do you think I am, Rinka?"

"Someone that loves me?"

"Exactly, and losing something precious is hard for humans."

But…what do you even lose here? It's me that's going to get hurt for my own self-interest.

"I want to get water magic immunity. I have a skill so strong, it needs a bunch of preparation to activate."

"Well, we could do it next time."

She doesn't get it, huh? What about playing her game~

"There's no next time, I'll go out."

"Huh? "Where are you going?"

"Death."

"what?"

"Just think about it. In a game, if you're given an excessive power boost or an almost infinite resource in a resource management game, the game expects you to use all of it to beat the next content, right?"

"No, I don't relate to that…but, you know what? I don't think I even have the power to stop you. Just do whatever you want."

Aww, she is sulking.

=================

Sigh, she really is following me.

"You can get out of that." I wanted to make a joke…but nah, not now, maybe next time. "While yes you're slim, but you're forgetting that I have cheating area detection in my arsenal. A mere tree won't help you."

Stella, she is slowly coming to my actual field of vision.

"I can be of help!"

She looks so smug about it, while projecting some water balls around her. Protection Magic?

"That's new, can you do that again?"

"Hmm? This?"

Another set of waterballs move spirally around her body.

I quickly activated Astral Vision, hoping what I theorised was true.

[Appraisal]

[Water Bubble Dance]

[Casts waterball to move spirally around the user body]

Woah, I can use Appraisal during Astral Vision.

"I see, well why not I suppose."

"Why don't you seem to be interested, or happy that I followed you??"

…she's contradicting her own words.

"Exactly, you followed me to this danger, how can I be happy about it?"

"Well..."

"Whatever, do what you fancy."

"Are you angry?"

"Nope."

"You are angry."

Stella is doing her best to get her pretty face in front of me…

"Fine, I need to make another plan simply because another random variable is showing up. That's all, now if you excuse me."

I stopped by the Garage, where almost every vehicle is stored here. Of course, all owned by Kaku…there is also the newly-made prototype like the tank-jeep last time.

But what is Owning if not using? …and ownership in current situation is kinda stupid

Innumerable vehicles were stored there, it was like a showroom, or heck it could be called a branch of a car factory by how many were stored there.

For some reason, my eyes fixated on one of them.

A SUV-like car, no, it was indeed an SUV.

I took the key for it from the location Kaku told me, opened its door, and woah, he really was storing all kinds of keys here.

From motorcycles, cars, even doorkeys.

"Rinka, where are you?"

Stella's voice echoing from each side.

"I'll be there, let me start the engine."

I opened the SUV car door, hopped onto it, and started it.

I'm not a car-nerd to know everything, but I know enough to have a license for driving at very least.

"Hop in."

"You can drive?"

What? Why are you asking the obvious?

"If I can't, you are definitely able to do this anyway. Foolproof plan."

I smiled at her.

"Fine, let's go then."

I stopped for a second, activating Astral Vision to check back the route.

"What are you doing?"

"GPS died, needed the routes, and I forgot the destination."

"Let me do the driving then, you be the GPS."

"Really?"

"Aren't you planning to do this too?"

"....alright, you do you. Thanks."

We switched our positions.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?"

Hmm, I can hear but I still can't feel. Should I go back to the car and see what my body is actually doing? Nah, not needed.

"Heh, sorry. I was still using the Vision. Testing something and it's actually working, even though it was really confusing."

I tried to move myself while watching my own body from above using Astral Vision, but I didn't expect it'll be that hard, and now I was trying to do it while my vision was all over the world.

But, another theory was cleared, I could in fact, move and think with my body while Astral Vision was activated. This now cleared even more suspicion I had when Kaku told me there was an Astral Vision user that is blind and deaf, yet moves in precise and fast.

Gotta need another brain for that, though. It's overwhelming and, confusing, definitely.

"So? Where is our destination for this time?"

"A familiar one, the now ruined National Monument."

"I don't need a GPS for that."

"You definitely want one."

She started driving, not fast, but a stable one.

"Woah there, wait a minute." What is Stella talking about?

"We're on track though?"

"Really? I feel like I was missing some turn-around here. That just shows how the actual road can make you navigate easier huh?"

"I'll notify you the moment we get further than the destination, keep calm."

"Actually, how would you drive without me intervening and forcing my way to accompany you?"

"Multi-tasking between driving, Astral Vision for looking at the route, and looking at my body that is doing the driving, or at least what I planned to do."

"What the heck."

"The plan was to take it slowly but surely, and it's actually not that bad in that sense."

"The destination and the routing are already familiar enough. So the Astral Vision would see less uses simply because I only used it if I thought I was getting off-railed.

"What is wrong with your brain??? Anyway, can you stop talking, Rinka? It's making me think useless things!"

"You're the one that asked though."

"Just, shut up, OK?"

"I can see your face, in front of you, right now."

I feel like if I go one more step in this, the landmine that is her patience, would be broken.

Next time, Next time~