Kaymelin watched as the auction was held. Items came up, and people made their bids. There was nothing unnatural about what was happening. In fact, to the untrained eye, it would be rather boring.

"Hmmmm,"

However, Kaymelin was furiously writing notes down on his notebook. The items that were appearing held many implications when paired with their bids, and he was keen on making an appropriate analysis. After a few paragraphs had been imprinted, a dozen or so items had already been sold.

However, Kaymelin's frown was filled with confusion.

"Have I made the wrong assumptions? Is it not Grand Pantheon that has merged with the world?"

His suspicion grew with each item introduced. Whenever the auctioneer advertised the item on stage, he would always use the following words no matter what:

"This item, once refined, will one to learn the Skills..."

It was as if Skills no longer came from one's profession. Kaymelin's narrowed gaze and deep frown was apparent.

"...This isn't within my calculations,"

Had all his information collecting been a lie?

"No," He muttered.

Perhaps his direction was correct, but the details were all skewed. Kaymelin glanced at his notebook. After a brief moment of thought, he tore out all the unnecessary pages.

"I've been making too many assumptions."

With pursed lips, Kaymelin slapped himself. He recalled all the 'seems like' and 'most likely' phrases he had written down. What had gotten into him?

"How idiotic."

***

Kaymelin asked if the staff had a spare notebook he could use. He also decided to hold some pleasant conversation with the one who had answered his call.

"Tell me, have you experienced refining an item before?" He asked the maid who stood nervously to the side. His gaze was still on the ongoing auction.

"N-no Sir, I am not allowed to practice Skill Refinement."

"...Hm," Kaymelin nodded. "Are you familiar with Experience Points?"

"Experience Points, Sir? Like in games?" Confusion appeared on the maid's face.

"...Yes. Why is it that we don't learn Skills and Level Up the same way we do in games?" Kaymelin was now playing with words.

"Wouldn't that make life... very weird?" The maid blinked.

And thus came Kaymelin's shock. His expression threatened to morph into one of astonishment. As if the world he knew had come crashing down. However, Kaymelin reined it in.

Seeing as how the mysterious master she had to serve had gone silent, the maid spoke up in a hurry.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"The closest thing we have to games are Quests!" She blurted, "I find it weird that such a thing exists, but history said it was caused by some rogue, god-like Artificial Intelligence. Could there be another AI that will give us Experience Points as well, Sir?"

Stunned by yet another revelation, Kaymelin forced himself into a chuckle. To the maid, it seemed like he was amused by her enthusiasm. However, to him, it was one of resignation.

This world wasn't exactly the one he knew.

'Now that I think about it, I brought Grand Pantheon into reality, yes. I was reincarnated, yes. But did I ever consider that I was brought to life in a different reality altogether??'

Kaymelin sighed. His mind was in a furious frenzy as he tried to make sense of all these answers. He also scolded himself for his arrogance. Not once had he had a proper conversation with the people around him, deeming them unintelligent and useless.

"You may leave. Thank you for this notebook, little girl."

"T-thank you Sir!"

As a scholar, he needed humility.

***

[ This... Game Menu is unique to me. ]

Kaymelin was stuck on this one sentence. That was the only explanation he could come up with. From what the maid had said, and what the Auctioneer had been mentioning, Levels did not exist in whatever world this was. Experience Points were also nonexistent.

Humans cultivated strength through a different system altogether — Treasures. They would kill monsters, harvest resources, craft items, and unearth gems and artefacts from ancient civilisations, all so that they could gather one more Treasure to refine. Refining a Treasure meant absorbing its Skills, or at least a variant of its Skills.

[ Whether or not the Skills people gain from Treasures are exactly the same as the Skills my Appraise uncovers is a point of contention. ]

This was why Kaymelin was at least confident in the uniqueness of his 'system' and the fact that he could learn Skills through the conditions he was familiar with.

[ Mana is also another thing that I am sure exists. ]

At least there was another thing that Kaymelin was sure of.

[ That, and the concept of Ranks, despite the nonexistence of Levels. ]

"Haaaah," Another sigh left Kaymelin's lips. He was having such a headache that he belatedly realised that a certain young lady was stirring up trouble.

Kaymelin lazily looked up and saw that she was already being dragged away by security with her father helplessly following them out.

"That bracelet is mine! It was stolen from me! Give it back!" She thrashed about, but the guards could only feel a tickle. "Father, please help me get it back!"

"Hailey, please, be civil." Her father shook his head. "Unfortunately, without sufficient proof, we cannot make such a claim. That is a Treasure. Your bracelet was a gift from your grandfather — a regular item."

Hearing her father's words, Hailey looked betrayed. She did not expect that her own father would brush her off like this. The image of the powerful A-Rank Warrior began to crumble before her eyes. First, her arm had been cut off and he could do nothing but shout and appear by her side when the enemies had left. Now, he was bowing his head to all these stuck-up rich people.

"FATHER—!" Hailey yelled one more time.

However, her screams were cut short. She was thrown out of the venue as her father bowed to the bidders with an apologetic smile.

Kaymelin looked at all of this with an inquisitive look.

"This is also beyond my expectations." He muttered. "Was there some psychological effect to that Earthling's attack?"

Kaymelin sensed something off. The cruelty of those who came from Earth was something he would never forget.

After all, he was from Earth too. In his rise to power, he created weapons and highly-contested products that annihilated half the planet's population through war and violence. It was a fulfilling experience, simply because Earthlings were that evil. It was as if something on humanity's home planet was fuelling all that hatred.

For comparison, humans on other planets were nothing like those on Earth. They were a lot less... bloodthirsty and more united.

Many studies had already been done on such a difference, with no proper conclusion. All of their experiments yielded varying results no matter how perfect they conducted them. The only constant was evil.

Thus, Kaymelin wore a look of intrigue as a whopping 4.8 billion base credits were poured into his account. In just a moment, he turned from being decently rich from thievery into a one-man billionaire thief.

Kaymelin would've smiled if not for yet another realisation.

"Earth... exists here?? Then what about—"

Knock knock knock—!