Leveling Up by Executing Monsters

Chapter 146: Chapter 146: All the Effects I Needed

Excellent! A very strong effect, and exactly what I needed!

I’ve always been a fan of defensive abilities like this. After all, I’ve always been a cautious and level-headed young man.

Lloyd was more than satisfied with the new effect of [Twisted Realm].

He especially liked that it activated passively, requiring no reaction or control on his part. It would be great for defending against sneak attacks and cheap shots.

’I’d actually been a little worried before. What if someone gets jealous of my handsome face and outstanding talent and decides to shoot me in the back?’

That’s a terrifying thought. Even someone as powerful as the Advisor was temporarily killed by a sneak attack from behind.

Besides, with Lloyd’s current physique and reaction speed, he still couldn’t stop a bullet...

Now, with this new feature, he wasn’t so worried about that anymore.

Of course, bullets enhanced with a whole mess of different abilities would still be dangerous.

The effectiveness of this defensive Twist depended on the disparity in power and Attributes between the two parties, as well as the effects of their various abilities.

For example, the Advisor, who possessed such a defense, could deflect the Grand Judge’s sword, yet I still managed to successfully ambush him from behind.

But if the Grand Judge were to strike at me, I’m not confident I could deflect it...

In any case, I’ll have to find a chance later to test this defense’s specific effects.

’The Dream Theater would be a good testing ground...’

Lloyd then went on to inspect the upgraded [Blessing Distortion].

It was a Fusion Skill. The description for the original [Veto Declaration] effect hadn’t changed, and no new knowledge about it surfaced in his mind, which meant it was the same as before.

However, the effect of [Seed of Distortion] had gained the one function Lloyd wanted most right now—’Pause’.

Literally, it could pause the continuous Distortion effect on a target.

This was perfect, as Lloyd’s previous mistake had accidentally caused everyone at the Human Future Conference to be afflicted by a [Seed of Distortion], and now he needed this exact pause function.

But after he carefully examined the new information that had appeared in his mind, he couldn’t help but frown.

’This Pause function isn’t quite what I imagined, is it?’

It seemed it didn’t just pause the Distortion’s effect, but also a person’s thoughts and consciousness...

It was just like the feeling of suddenly hitting the ’pause button’ while watching a video.

It was a good thing Lloyd hadn’t rushed to use this function. Otherwise, not only would he have failed to help, he would have made the problem even worse.

But on the bright side, this [Seed of Distortion], which was originally only good for insidious, underhanded tricks, could finally be put to use in a direct confrontation.

Take today’s vicious battle, for instance. If I’d been able to pause the Advisor’s consciousness, I definitely would have had an easier time winning.

Moreover, this pause effect was something even [Twisted Realm] lacked. It might produce some miraculous results at just the right moment.

Of course, how long he could pause someone, and how much setup time was required to do so, still depended on the relative power and abilities of both parties.

As for the finer details, Lloyd would have to figure those out through experience.

Lloyd set that skill aside for now and moved on to inspect [Orbital Control], for which he had high hopes.

’Hmm... another set of [Twist]-series Orbits for messing with people. And it’s the one I’m familiar with—the kind that silently Twists people’s minds and makes them behave strangely.’

Just like the upgraded effects of [Twisted Realm] and [Seed of Distortion], this also allowed Lloyd to set a direction for the Distortion, and with even greater detail.

The people on that enormous dance floor in the Underground City, for instance, had been lured there by this very kind of Orbit.

It wasn’t just limited to tricking people into dancing; it could also trick them into Venmoing me $50, or stripping naked in the middle of the street, that sort of thing.

It’s just that the more outrageous the behavior, the more numerous and complex the conditions required for it to work.

For example, tricking someone into dancing only required relatively simple materials and exposing them to the Orbit’s influence for half an hour.

But to trick someone into sending you $50, the required materials were much more troublesome, the process was very time-consuming, and it also depended on the victim’s mental state, mood, and so on.

Anyway, at first glance, it seemed pretty useless.

Fortunately, this type of Orbit was highly miniaturized and covert. The new knowledge he gained from it brought him another step closer to his goal of making a fortune.

At the same time, an alternative use suddenly occurred to him.

Swindling money was obviously bad, but what about tricking people into studying hard? Or exercising? Or performing good deeds?

Although such an application didn’t have much practical use, it did open up a new line of thinking.

[Twist] could be positive or negative; it all depended on the user’s choice.

As Lloyd thought of this, a new question popped into his head:

If this system could be used for both good and evil, why was it classified as a Taboo System?

He couldn’t help but turn to look at the Saint Statue on his nightstand.

This time, the Saint Statue was simply silent. It wasn’t even gazing at him gently anymore.

’Forget it,’ he thought. ’It’s best not to overthink the intentions of a powerful being. Don’t Ask Too Much.’

Lloyd admonished himself, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

...

「The next day」

Lloyd woke up only two hours later than usual.

"Humm~ hmm~ hmm~"

He gave a mighty stretch to clear his head, then took a look inside his [Thought Realm].

He mainly wanted to check on the four new sprouts, afraid that something might have gone awry.

But when he entered, he found that his [Thought Realm] had undergone a series of visible changes?

First, on the double Spiral Tower closest to him, he could clearly see a new, fine ring of text on both the white and gray spiraling bands. It faintly glowed with a cold, dark light, making it look even more mysterious.

However, it seemed to be only a visual change. When he stared intently, the white band was still slowly learning knowledge, and looking at the gray band for even a moment still made him dizzy and light-headed, as if someone were whispering in his ear.

Next, the grassy field at his feet had suddenly expanded, its farthest edge now reaching the base of the double Spiral Tower.

’If it expands one more time, maybe it’ll completely encircle the double Spiral Tower?’

The small blue-and-white flowers and jade-like corals on the grass had also multiplied, adorning the entire field and making it more beautiful and mysteriously dreamlike.

The Tentacle Grass under the glass dome seemed very excited by these changes, dancing about with joy.

And I mean that literally—it was ’dancing with its hands’...

For some reason, the thing had sprouted two new, smaller tentacles from its body, like a pair of human arms, and was waving them around joyfully.

As soon as it saw Lloyd, it quickly raised its newly grown "hands" and began to prostrate itself repeatedly, appearing even more devout.

Lloyd observed it carefully, then glanced around the environment, rubbing his chin. ’What do this thing’s changes signify?’

’It grows on the grassy field, and the field seems to symbolize [Veto]’s domain, right?’

’But it also seems to really like me. What does that represent?’

’And... this is my [Thought Realm], isn’t it? Why am I not aware of changes happening within it?’

The more Lloyd thought about it, the more he felt like he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He shook his head and went to check on the four new sprouts.

Hmm, despite the major changes elsewhere, the four of them were still well-behaved and hadn’t changed.

Except... there was now an extra one.

And this one wasn’t emerald green, but blood-red, reminding Lloyd of those threadworms the Advisor had left behind.

The aura it gave off was also incomparably foul and bizarre...

This new sprout must be the [Seed of Distortion] he had planted in the Advisor’s brain.

However, Lloyd didn’t sense any life or vitality from it. It felt completely different from the other four, which were lush and vibrant.

This indicated that the Advisor was in a terrible state; making a comeback would likely not be a simple process.

’In that case... couldn’t I...’

Lloyd rubbed his chin again, thinking carefully.

Then, he summoned his panel from Earth. With a series of THUMPS, he activated a slew of functions, placing himself in multiple states of invincibility before finally reaching out to touch the blood-red sprout.

He was preparing to set a surprising direction for the Advisor’s Distortion.

’So you’re a great fighter, huh? So good at placing a Curse on others? You even dared to provoke the entire Radiant City all by yourself?’

’So, what kind of face will you make when you finally revive, only to discover you’ve become a righteous young man who despises evil as his mortal enemy?’

Lloyd mused to himself as he gently tapped the blood-red sprout.

[Beep~ Madness Value +1000]

’Huh? An unexpected bonus?’

Lloyd hurriedly tapped it a few more times.

Unfortunately, there was nothing more...

’Was that some kind of counterattack for trying to harm him?’

So, Lloyd tried changing the direction of the Distortion, attempting to twist the Advisor into the "yasashii" type—the gentle, caring man often found in Japanese stories.

The skill failed to activate; he could only direct one type of Distortion at a time.

"Oh well. In your current half-dead state, who knows if you’ll even revive in a few hundred years."

Lloyd smiled, manifested a glass dome, and placed it over the blood-red sprout.

In his heart, he didn’t actually expect this Distortion to have any significant effect on the Advisor.

The effect of [Seed of Distortion] also depended on the relative strength of both parties, and the Advisor was, after all, the strongest of the Eighth Tier—just a tiny bit more powerful than him...

Besides, the Advisor himself had dabbled in the [Twist] system, so turning him into a righteous young man who despised evil was obviously impossible.

So, Lloyd’s little maneuver was just a way to harass the Advisor while he was down, to see if he could slow his recovery.

’Who knows? Maybe with just these few prods from me, he’ll die even faster?’

Finally, with a faint, ambiguous smile, Lloyd asked one last question:

"But then again, for a guy like you to dabble in both the [Curse] and [Calamity] systems without going mad... you’re really something else. Since you were already so powerful, why did you have to get involved with [Twist]?"

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