River Stream was strolling down the street, minding his own business, when he noticed a commotion in the distance. Intrigued by the uproar, he followed the crowd and found himself squeezed around a stall. As he struggled to secure a viewing spot, exclamations of astonishment filled the air.
"Hot damn! How does he have so many scarlet cards?"
"And what's with his ridiculous loot? Did he raid a military base or something?"
"I'm not even sure if all this could be obtained from a military base. Just look at those effects."
"The most unbelievable part is that these are the weakest items. Take a look at that blood vial."
It was at this point that River Stream finally made his way to the front and saw the source of the commotion. Literal hundreds, if not thousands of items, overflowed the stall as people selected what they wanted without haggling over prices. The prices were already reasonable, and the seller had plenty of other buyers to scoop up the scraps.
River Stream observed this scene and felt a sense of familiarity from the vendor. Perplexed, he circled around the stall and found Genji leaning back in a rocking chair, his feet propped up on a stool.
In Genji's hand, scarlet cards dissipated, transforming into items and adding to the ever-changing pile.
"Hey," Genji greeted River and continued with his business.
"Enigma? What's going on?"
"I'm selling stuff."
"I can see that. I'm asking why there are so many people here."
"Oh, that? Probably that sign over there," Genji replied, pointing to the wooden plank that River had missed in his approach.
"Origin blood will be sold after I clear my junk," River read aloud. "Origin blood? What's that?"
"You'll see. For now, let me keep using these cards."
"Hey, vendor. Did you massacre an entire world or something? How did you get so much?" One buyer asked jokingly.
"What do you mean? How can anyone... actually, on second thought, I might have done that," Genji chuckled, causing some to take a step back.
'Why does he look so casual about it? There must be something wrong with his head. Let's quickly buy the stuff and leave. After all, it's bad luck to associate with psychopaths.'
[You have received 37.3 million coins.]
Genji ignored the strange looks from his customers and headed for the strengthening hall. Now that he had plenty of coins, it was time to upgrade his masteries, which he had neglected for some time.
* Dagger Mastery (Grandmaster - 99.9%, previously 87%): You have pushed your dagger techniques to the absolute limit and are awaiting a breakthrough.
* Dodging (Grandmaster - 26%, previously 4%): Few things can hit you at this level.
* Stealth (Master - 12%, previously 0%): Advanced machinery can't detect you, but you should still be careful.
* Firearms (Grandmaster - 6%, previously 0%): As long as it's a firearm, you can't miss.
* Total Weapon Mastery (Master - 36%, previously 0%): You're equally skilled with many weapons.
[Upgrade Stealth? Each percentage costs 100,000 for a total of 8.8 million]
[Upgrade Total Weapon Mastery? Each percentage costs 100,000 for a total of 6.4 million]
While Genji didn't know how much help Total Weapon Mastery was for him, he upgraded it anyway. It was always better to have more options than less in combat. As for his grandmaster-level proficiencies, they were still locked to him, which he couldn't understand.
From the beginning, he was told there were 10 ranks to masteries, with Grandmaster being the 6th level, but he had no way to advance beyond that.
Otherwise, why would he spend half of his income on two semi-relevant masteries when he could be improving his primary combat skills?
Genji took his remaining coins and returned to his room to convert them into potions. After finishing, he restocked his supplies and set aside some for his regular customers. Once he confirmed the excess potions, he sent a message to Celine, 7156's prophet friend.
Enigma: I'll be hosting a little auction for my potions. Bring some customers, and I'll give you a discount on your next purchase.
Celine: How much are we talking? Will it include the stuff from last time?
Enigma: 15% and yes.
Celine: You're on!
Then he informed Cake about the event and asked her to host it.
"Just make sure the prices start at a certain point," he explained to her bewildered look.
"That's not what I'm confused about. Why are you having me do this? Shouldn't you be the auctioneer since they are your customers?"
"A few reasons, really. I plan on making you my spokesperson, given that you have more time in EverRealm than I do. This way, you can build connections and have an easier time obtaining the necessities for your missions. To me, these connections don't matter much since all I care about is the money. But for you, they could be life-changing. Besides, right now, I'd rather focus on my training."
"If you wanted to be lazy, you could have just said so. No need to come up with such a high-sounding reason." Although she sounded annoyed, she couldn't hide the smile at the corner of her mouth.
At that moment, Bruce walked into the room with a crestfallen expression.
"What's wrong? Why do you look so glum?" Genji asked.
Hearing his question, Bruce's eyes lit up, and he approached Genji with pleading eyes. Genji was initially confused about what he wanted, but he quickly understood when Bruce handed him an empty allowance card.
"I thought you promised to control yourself," Genji asked, his eyebrows raised. 'So that's why he's so upset. It's about food.'
In response, Bruce gave him a look of grievance, trying to convey his frustration. 'Is it my fault that everything smelled so good?'
"Fine, I'll give you a bit more. Just don't go too crazy, okay? We only have a week left." Genji then transferred another 2,000 coins to Bruce, who jumped for joy.
"What a glutton," Genji said, puzzled by Bruce's incredible enthusiasm for roast meat.
----------------------------------------
[You have returned to your world of origin.]
Genji found himself in the middle of a barren forest as his time came to an end. Surveying his surroundings, he admired the colorful autumn leaves drifting gently in the breeze, which helped soothe the tension from his rigorous training.
Though his body still ached from the intense practice, he considered it a productive session since he accomplished everything he set out to do. Now, he had three days to fully relax before his next mission.
Strolling among the fallen leaves, Genji comforted his sullen horse companion.
"Don't be too upset, ok? You'll get to feast later. For now, why don't you sleep? I'll wake you when I need you."
Before they left EverRealm, Bruce was forcibly reverted to his sheath form and returned to Genji's storage. And since the transformation ability was an active skill, Bruce had nothing to do but contemplate all the meat he couldn't enjoy.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Unwilling to continue this train of thought, Bruce followed Genji's advice and entered a slumber.
Genji continued his walk and soon returned to his regular shop to purchase firewood.
"You're quite an unusual customer, you know? I've never seen someone who comes so irregularly but consistently," the shop owner remarked as he prepared Genji's order.
"I try to come when I have free time."
"Then you must be quite the busy fellow."
"I suppose you could say that. My job can be rather demanding at times."
"Well, whatever your job is, I appreciate your business. People love your items, especially one little girl."
"A little girl? That's surprising."
"I know. She's such a cheerful one. Strange, but cheerful."
"Why do you call her strange?"
"Some time ago, she came in, saw your items, and bought them all without hesitation. She did the same thing when you last sold me your carvings. It's odd how she knew the exact date they were created, but that's not why I call her strange. No, that part comes in when I asked her why she's buying so many carvings..."
At this point, the owner paused and gazed at Genji, waiting for him to inquire further.
"What did she say?" Genji entertained him and asked.
"Something about learning from the best and analyzing the cuts, which I didn't quite understand. If she wanted to learn how to carve, couldn't she have found a tutor? Her family seems wealthy enough for it, so why would she learn this way?"
Upon hearing these descriptions, Genji had a good idea of who this fan might be. There was only one girl who was obsessed with his wood carvings, after all.
Genji thanked the owner and paid for his order before pulling his wagon to the usual spot. An hour later, Alysha and Kosa strolled by to greet him.
"Genji, what a coincidence," Alysha exclaimed with excitement and walked over to accept the carving knife offered by him.
Upon hearing her words, Kosa clicked her tongue in annoyance. 'Coincidence my butt. You clearly dragged me out today to check if he's back. She's even learned to lie like this. See how you've influenced her, Genji?'
As if sensing these thoughts, Genji looked her in the eye with a playful glint.
'You aren't thinking ill of me, are you?'
Detecting his intentions, a string of profanities ran through her mind, concluding with, "Oh, fuck me. This guy has become even more unhinged."
"By the way, Alysha, if you wanted my sculptures, you could have just asked," Genji mentioned while in the midst of carving.
"So you found out, hehe? I didn't want to seem like a nuisance after all you've taught me."
"I couldn't care less. I only sell them to the wood seller because it's convenient. If you like them, feel free to take a few."
"In that case, I won't hold back," she responded, completing her carving. "Hey, Genji, is there anything I can do to improve? I've studied how you make your cuts, but no matter how much I practice, I can't seem to replicate them."
"I'd be more surprised if you could. Do you know how long I've been practicing to reach my level?"
"No?"
"Decades."
"Wow! So you've been carving since you were my age?"
"A little younger, actually."
"That's so cool! I want to be like you when I grow up. I'm sure that with as much practice as you've had, I can reach your level someday."
'I don't think you should consider him a role model. He's quite a peculiar character,' Kosa thought but didn't dare express it.
As they carved, both of them practiced their own sets of skills. Under Genji's guidance, Alysha's abilities reached new heights as she emulated a fraction of his techniques. In doing so, she identified inefficient movements she hadn't previously noticed and slowly corrected them.
By the end of the day, her knife skills had transformed from laborious to artistic. It was an incredible transformation that she never could have expected and made her further enamored with the craft. After all, this was her original goal when she started this journey.
"By the way, Genji, I'm on fall break right now, and my parents have agreed to take me to a carving festival hosted by a master. Can you come with me?" After all this time, Alysha finally revealed the reason she wanted to meet him today.
"When is it?"
"It starts in two days and lasts for three days."
"This..." Genji wanted to decline, but her hopeful eyes made him hesitate to reject her so bluntly. Torn by this, he sought EverRealm for a final answer.
'Can I stay past the deadline?'
[Due to your rank, this is permissible. Note that you will still enter a world, and the mission difficulty will increase proportionally to the time delayed.]
Genji was surprised by this response but didn't waste any time agreeing to Alysha's proposal. Considering everything, Genji was the least concerned about increased difficulty. After all, every world he'd entered had seen an increase in difficulty at some point. It wasn't like it would surpass the previous world's hellish despair, right?
And even if it did, Genji was confident in his ability to overcome the adversary. After all, he had spent an entire two weeks developing this trump card.
"So where should I meet you?"
"How about you stay at my house tonight? Then we can leave first thing tomorrow morning."
"Sounds good."
'No, that doesn't sound good! She's only eight, and she's already inviting a man over! See how you've corrupted her?!'
Genji and Alysha ignored Kosa's little mental breakdown and continued to discuss carving-related knowledge, much like a student consulting a professor. Although Genji had little knowledge of different woods, his dagger skills provided plenty of inspiration for Alysha.
"So you never rely on your eyes when carving? Aren't you afraid of cutting yourself like that?"
"No. With enough experience, you can directly bypass this and use your other senses. In fact, this is the preferred method if you want to work quickly. If you need to stop to process what your eyes are seeing, you're slowing yourself down. It might not feel that way, but it becomes more evident the faster you go. Let me demonstrate."
Genji reached inside his wagon and retrieved a small, uneven piece of wood and a blindfold. He wrapped the blindfold around his eyes, felt the wood, and then took out a knife.
Then he burst out with rapid movements that left many afterimages in the air. Alysha's eyes darted in multiple directions, trying to follow his movements, but failing. Halfway through, she gave up and simply admired the show.
Seconds later, Genji handed Alysha a perfect miniature of herself and removed his blindfold.
"THAT WAS AWESOME!" she exclaimed, breathless with amazement. "But how did you not walk into anything while blindfolded?"
"When you train your senses to a high enough level, it doesn't matter whether you can see or not. The idea is to react to the slightest changes and form a mental image of your surroundings. I won't go into too much detail right now, but it's possible."
"Can you teach me to do that?"
"It's a lengthy process and quite challenging."
"It doesn't matter! If I want to be as good as you, I have to learn, no matter how long it takes."
"Ahem, ahem," Kosa chimed in, "I'm not sure how your parents will take this."
"I'll manage," Alysha replied sheepishly. "At worst, I'll learn this in secret. You won't tell them, right, big sis?"
"I, uh, yeah..." Kosa's brain momentarily short-circuited from the cuteness overload and she dumbly agreed.
'How cute, but when did she learn to weaponize it?' Kosa asked herself as she recovered. 'Oh no, what did I just agree to?'
A few minutes later, they arrived at Alysha's house. It was spacious but far from a mansion since her parents preferred a simple lifestyle free of unnecessary luxuries. They were well-off, they didn't want to lose themselves in the pursuit of material goods.
"We're back," Kosa called out as she unlocked the door.
"Did you two have fun?" A woman's voice echoed from the kitchen.
"Alysha certainly did. She even invited her friend to stay the night."
"A guest? Welcome. Just give me a few more minutes as I finish making dinner."
"Okay, Mom," Alysha replied and led Genji to the living room. Then she continued to ask him questions about how the world appeared to his senses. What does he look for in this hypothetical scenario? What about that one?
As she slowly picked his brain, her admiration for Genji grew.
"Wow, I never knew there was so much to carving. How did you figure all this out?"
"A lot of trial and error. When you want to improve, you tend to try new things and see what works. I'm sure you did the same, just not to the extent I did."
"I did, but I gave up after a while. There's no comparison to when I learn from you."
"This might be true at first, but you will need this skill set later. It's better to start now so your brain is trained to learn this way. If you want to be as good as me, you can't just copy me; you need to learn from me."
"Is there a difference?"
"A big one. When you copy someone, you only replicate the surface level. When you learn from them, you need to understand the essence of it and create your own version. That's the only way to make something unique to yourself."
At first, Kosa wasn't interested in this conversation, but the more she eavesdropped, the more intrigued she became. Then it hit her.
'Holy moly! Is he imparting his training mentality to her? Please, you're strange enough. You don't need to influence other people like this.' Then she saw Alysha seriously pondering his words and hung her head in defeat. 'You know what? I think it's too late for that. She's already converted.'
"Dinner's ready," Alysha's mom called as they sat down at the table.
"I don't think we've ever met. I'm Vanessa," she introduced herself as they sat down.
"I'm James," Alysha's father followed.
"Mom, Dad, this is Genji. He's the one who taught me to carve," Alysha cheerfully introduced Genji.
At her response, two sharp gazes instantly locked onto Genji, as if they wanted to devour him. 'So you're the one who made her like this.'
"That's me. The food's pretty good," he commented, ignoring the subtle glares.
"Mom, can Genji come along with us tomorrow? I want to attend the festival with him since he taught me so much."
"Fine," James answered with a sigh, aware that disagreeing would only upset Alysha. This guest might not be very likable, but he couldn't start a commotion during dinner.
"Thanks, Dad. I'm finished now. Genji and I will be in my room."
Seeing how their daughter quickly scruffed down her meal and dragged the stranger upstairs, their eyes twitched. 'Isn't she a bit too enthusiastic about this?'
"Kosa, can I ask a favor of you?" Left with no choice, they turned to Alysha's bodyguard/babysitter for help. "Can you go up and make sure nothing outrageous happens?"
'Depending on your definition of outrageous, I'm afraid it's already too late. Plus, what makes you think I can do anything? I'm certain that if he wanted to, he could knock me out in a second.'
Yet Kosa didn't voice these disparaging thoughts and responded with a simple nod. They were already dealing with enough, and they didn't need her "help". As Kosa walked to Alysha's room, more curses about her bad luck stormed through her mind, and she prayed that she wouldn't wake up tomorrow with a sore neck.
"Please, Genji, for old times' sake, don't make my life any more difficult."