The night sky was filled with countless shining stars, resembling silver powder spread throughout a black satin fabric. The sky was so close to the surface that it looked as if the stars were about to fall to the ground.
One man looked up at the sky with his hands behind his back. A cute blonde girl in a pink dress and black Mary Jane patent leather shoes chattered excitedly behind him.
“And then, and then Lapsus fired his arrow, like this! Pyuu!”
“Is that so?”
“Is Lapsus the protagonist of the new story that you mentioned, Daddydaddy?”
“He is not, Dolly.”
His voice was so mysterious that one couldn’t identify his age. Dollores stared at the man’s back, her eyes filled with curiosity, but the man did not sate it.
“Did the errand I sent you on to Creo go well?” the man asked.
“It did!”
“Great job. Now, go give Dopper a hand.”
“Okay, Daddydaddy!” Dollores answered as she vanished.
An inexplicable silence enveloped the man, who continued to observe the night sky.
He then mumbled, “At last, you’ve risen.”
One couldn’t see his face, but he was undoubtedly smiling.
“This time, for sure...”
***
[Cheon Seong-Hwi
Health: S(11+15) Strength: S(4+15)
Dexterity: A(79+20) Sense: A(5)
Magic: S(16) Destiny Force: S(34)
Karma: 209.939,300
Coins: 420,034,225
Destiny Weapon: Tarot Deck of Destiny S(10)
Skills (7) Traits (6) Items (10) Cubes (0)]
[Common Skills: Rust of Ruin S(5)]
...
“Hmm,” Seong-Hwi expressed as he examined his status window, clenching and relaxing his fists.
I promoted my Strength stat to S-rank to receive the full effects of the Silver Bracelets of Queen Consort Muryeong. Thanks to that, it went all the way up to nineteen.
Although there was a difference in caliber between the two stats, his Strength was higher than his Magic in terms of stat numbers.
I also promoted Rust of Ruin to S-rank and invested in my D Weapon.
With that, Seong-Hwi was now a Quad-S even without borrowing power from the Fruit of the World Tree. On top of that, he had five S-rank stats among his D Weapon and the skills and items in his arsenal.
Nice, he thought as he smiled in satisfaction, and it widened even more once his gaze shifted to his Destiny Force stat, which was now S(34).
He had invested the most into this stat this time around since it was the core stat to his power.
Destiny Force still holds secrets I don’t know.
It was the same as the power of the star, which one could use to record history in the Akashic Records.
It helped me use the power of my star before I even obtained it. Now that I’ve realized my unique caliber, it should be even more effective!
Seong-Hwi closed his eyes to enter the place that he formerly could only enter when he was on the brink of death. He used to call it the sea of genes, but its real name was the Aether Plane, and he could now enter it freely.
[You arrived in the Aether Plane.]
The whole world turned black, and Seong-Hwi felt like he was floating up due to the lack of gravity. The void world resembled outer space, filled with as many stars as there were grains of sand on the beach. Among them, a silver star resembling a konpeito shone the brightest.
[Desire
Description: A star that desires the entire world to fill an unsatisfiable deficiency.
Magnitude: 9
Star Power: Gluttony.]
Desire’s magnitude is still at nine, but Lord Bafor said that it’s enough to try for a spot in the world ranking.
According to Bafor, fewer than three hundred individuals possessed a unique caliber in the Mirror World, and even that was being generous—only three hundred, in a world where three billion humans alone resided. The odds were likely one in hundreds of thousands—no, millions.
He also mentioned that the magnitude of the stars of over half of those three hundred were stuck at ten.
However, Seong-Hwi’s Desire had reached a magnitude of nine not long after he had acquired it. His history of devouring the Fruit of the World Tree and the World Ranker Bodonchar had been acknowledged.
But it’s not enough! I need even more Karma! Even more causality!
Seong-Hwi had no intention of being satisfied as one of the three hundred. Since his return to the past, his objective had always been the peak—number one. Desire shone brightly as if supporting his thoughts.
Just then, he heard a voice.
“Hmm, it’s a decent item, but its potential is a shame.”
Seong-Hwi’s consciousness left the Aether Plane and slowly returned to reality.
***
Seong-Hwi opened his eyes and saw Lina sitting at the table across from him, taking her eyes off her Microscope of Truth.
“It meets the conditions, but it can’t endure the power of the Fruit of the World Tree,” she said as she lifted the crown made of a coin, a pendant, a brass ring, and the like.
It was the Scrap Crown, which Oliver had given to Seong-Hwi.
“That’s a given. It’s F-rank, after all,” Seong-Hwi remarked.
“Yeah, it’s such a shame.”
“So, I can’t use it as RAM?”
“Of course not. Hmm... Let’s take a restaurant kitchen, for example.” Lina pointed at Seong-Hwi and continued, “You’re the head chef, and you decide what dish to put on the menu. In terms of computers, you’re the CPU.”
Seong-Hwi nodded. Lina had already guessed intuitively that overclocking the CPU’s processing speed would reduce the hardware’s lifespan, or Seong-Hwi’s life.
“And I’ll call the unidentified storage apparatus you obtained from who knows where, the HDD. Consider it the refrigerator that holds the ingredients,” Lina said.
Desire is a refrigerator, huh? Seong-Hwi thought as he smirked and nodded. It made sense since Desire was holding the Fruit of the World Tree inside it.
“Let’s say the chef grabbed a tomato from the refrigerator and a knife. What does he need next?” Lina asked.
“What?”
“A cutting board. That’s the RAM.”
RAM was commonly referred to as a digital workspace. The loading process when opening large programs was the result of data being moved from the SSD or HDD to RAM. The more RAM there was, the more data it could store and the more tasks the computer could handle simultaneously.
“Look at this Scrap Crown. It could act as the cutting board, but its potential is F-rank. It has a tiny amount of RAM,” Lina added.
“So, it’s like cutting a tomato on a cutting board the size of a palm,” Seong-Hwi compared.
“Exactly! Not only that, but your tomato isn’t a tiny cherry tomato, but the biggest tomato known to man!” Lina shouted as she stretched out her arms as far as she could.
Seong-Hwi nodded and examined the skill Save, built into the Scrap Crown.
[Save (Item Skill)
Rank: Shared - F(0)
Description: The wearer can save a small amount of mana in the Scrap Crown and use it when needed.]
In other words, it can act as a secondary filter for the rough and coarse energy of the Fruit of the World Tree, allowing its wearer to use the power more efficiently, Seong-Hwi thought.
Compared to when the Fruit of the World Tree was still inside him, it was much safer now that Desire had devoured it. However, Seong-Hwi was certain after hearing Lina’s RAM theory that he could make the system more efficient.
Instead of receiving the Fruit of the World Tree’s power directly from Desire, having an item act as RAM should considerably reduce the burden it places on my body.
Although the effects had significantly lessened, Seong-Hwi still felt exhausted after using the Fruit of the World Tree’s power and had to deal with various debuffs.
Using Lina’s analogy, it’s like I’m grabbing the largest tomato known to man from the fridge and trying to swallow it whole. As a result, my mouth and jaw would rip apart.
However, having a cutting board to cut the tomato into bite-sized pieces would allow him to eat the tomato more comfortably.
Is it... just an incredible coincidence? Seong-Hwi thought as he stared at the Scrap Crown.
The 128 children at the orphanage, including Oliver, had gathered their strengths to repay the favor to Seong-Hwi, collecting their treasured items to make a crown. To others, it was nothing but dirty scraps, but it held the children’s feelings.
Then, is it also a coincidence that you left this behind? Seong-Hwi thought as he grabbed a small dark green fragment with white borders from his pocket.
[Fragment of Communication
Description: The fragment of the star of a man who dreamed of communicating with all things. It has lost most of its power, but holds enough power to communicate with one item once to change its rule.]
It was the fragment of Lee Kang-San’s star, uncategorized like a Race Stone. The conversation he had with Kang-San flashed in Seong-Hwi’s head.
“Does that mean... You forcibly increased the item’s limit—its potential?”
“Not all unique caliber holders are capable of it. It’s just how my unique caliber works.”
I’m holding... all the puzzle pieces, Seong-Hwi said inwardly.
The Scrap Crown could act as RAM, but it had low potential. However, that flaw could be made up for by using the Fragment of Communication. Seong-Hwi initially thought about using the fragment on the Wings of Evolution, Bulgasal, or one of the items in the Queen Consort Muryeong set.
But I still haven’t reached the full potential of the Wings of Evolution, nor do I know it, and Bulgasal also has more than enough potential.
On top of that, the Queen Consort Muryeong set only rose stats. He would gain a stable way to boost his stats through the Fruit of the World Tree if the Scrap Crown performed its role, so using the fragment on the set was unnecessary.
I’m a deviant. Other unique caliber holders have at least Spare Ranker-level stats.
Compared to them, Seong-Hwi’s highest stat, Destiny Force, was only S(34). In that sense, using the Fruit of the World Tree wasn’t optional to him; it was mandatory. Hence, if there was no choice but to use it, he would require RAM that allowed him to use the power more safely and long-term. Seong-Hwi had made his choice.
“Huuu, it really is a shame. You probably won’t come by many items with this kind of effect. It’s my first time seeing it, after all,” Lina remarked.
“Then I suppose I have to use this,” Seong-Hwi said with a smile.
“Were you even listening? It’s impossible.”
Seong-Hwi had the Scrap Crown in his right hand and the Fragment of Communication in his left. Once he brought the two items together, the Fragment of Communication seeped into the Scrap Crown. A mysterious light mixed with dark green and white filled the Scrap Crown, and the item began to pulse like a heart.
“What... are you doing?” Lina asked.
However, Seong-Hwi couldn’t answer because voices were echoing inside his head.
[Activating the skill dormant inside the Fragment of Communication.]
[Activating Star Power: Communication.]
“I will become an artisan and contribute to the orphanage’s finances. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.”
“I won’t cry anymore, Ahjussi! I will become a proud swordsman and repay the favor you’ve given me!”
“Thank you very much. I use this pencil to write words of gratitude to you every day.”
“Thank you very much, Ahjussi. You and Dwayne are my heroes!”
“I hope my arrows will be of help to you one day. Thank you.”
“T-thank... Thank you... Thank you... I will let you have a bite... of my chocolate bar one day.”
The voices of Oliver, Toby, Hassan, Thiago, Sun Jian, and Lan Yan echoed from the Scrap Crown. The voices of the other children also played one after another like recordings. This was the effect of Kang-San’s star power, which had allowed him to communicate with all things.
“What would you like from us?”
“We will do anything within our power!”
“Just say the words! We want to help you!”
“Anything!”
“Anything!”
“Anything!”
...
Seong-Hwi’s mind was filled with overwhelming favor and gratitude. Kang-San’s star power, Communication, was exactly as it sounded—it allowed one to communicate, not necessarily persuade. Hence, even Kang-San had to take a long time communicating with items to gain what he wanted from them to actualize their potential. However, Seong-Hwi was communicating with the Scrap Crown, filled with infinite gratitude toward him. He did not need to go through that long process.
Seong-hwi remained silent until he heard all of the children’s words of gratitude, and said, “I would like your potential to rise.”
“We can do that!”
“We’ll do our best!”
“Our gratitude toward you is limitless!”
“We’ll do it!”
“We’ll do it!”
“We’ll do it!”
...
A golden light flashed from the Scrap Crown. The various objects sticking out of the item melted and smoothed. The golden crown resonated and rose to Seong-Hwi’s head, situating itself like an angel’s halo. Although it wasn’t as finely detailed or decorated as Elementum’s tiara, the simple and durable-looking gold crown serenely floated on Seong-Hwi’s head.
[Absolute Crown (Item)
Rank: F(0)
Description: An absolute crown made from the treasures of 128 children, each holding the desire to help their benefactor. A special skill is available when equipped by Cheon Seong-Hwi.
Skill: Perfect Save]
...
[Perfect Save (Item Skill)
Rank: Shared - F(0)
Description: The wearer can save a large amount of stats in the Absolute Crown and use it when needed.]
The Scrap Crown had converted to the Absolute Crown, and the name of the skill and its effect had also slightly changed. It was the same phenomenon as when the Ancient Fairy Queen’s Wings, which had lost most of their power, had converted to the Wings of Evolution.
“What in the... Hah, are you Basquiat’s muse, or something?” Lina mumbled as she stared at the gold crown floating over Seong-Hwi’s head.[1]
Seong-Hwi walked across the room to the full-length mirror on the wall and looked at himself in silence. To him, the Absolute Crown in the mirror resembled the diadem of Alexander the Great, but also Jesus’s crown of thorns he had seen in Longinus’s memories.
Just then, Jurie swung open the door of the underground laboratory with a phone in hand. She ran into the lab and shouted, “Seong-Hwi! I just got word from Mister Radix! The situation is turning worse than—Huh? What’s that on your head? Is it a King Lear cosplay?”
“Jurie, King Lear is that crazy king, isn’t he?” Seong-Hwi replied.
“Oh, is he?” Jurie giggled and continued, “But you are crazy. I think it’s a fair comparison.”
“Jurie’s right,” Lina agreed.
Seong-Hwi smirked as the two women laughed with each other and said, “I can’t argue with that.”
Yeah, I’m neither a king nor a hero. I’m just a lunatic. It’s not good to put excessive meaning into things.
However, now that a crown was over his head, Seong-Hwi would have a hard time lowering his head.
“Did you say you got word from Sir Radix, Jurie?” he asked.
“Oh, right! He said...”
Crimson bloodlust slowly filled Seong-Hwi’s eyes as Jurie continued her explanation.
***
A crown will drop if one bows his head.
1. Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist with a signature three-pointed crown motif in his artwork. ☜
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