SSS-Rank Awakening: My Talent Multiplies Everything

Time passed quietly.

Before Kael realized it, another two days had slipped by, and the fourth day of the Rift exploration had finally arrived.

The past few days had been relatively uneventful, marked only by the occasional appearance of a Yeti or several Snow Serpents lurking beneath the snow.

Yet even when these creatures showed themselves, nothing proved capable of causing the group serious trouble, for Kael dealt with each threat quickly before the situation could escalate.

Most of their time had been spent on exploration.

Mapping the terrain.

Surveying the environment.

Mining resources and collecting whatever treasures they discovered along the way.

The specialist teams had also continued gathering environmental data, checking the surrounding area for anything that could pose a threat to the Hunters who would eventually enter the Rift after its exploration was complete.

Kael was standing near the temporary camp when Sean approached him from the side.

"Team Leader Kael."

Kael turned toward him.

"We’re done surveying the area. There isn’t any toxicity or anything harmful in the air that we need to be concerned about." Sean glanced at the device in his hand before continuing. "We’re also estimating that we’ve covered around eleven percent of the Rift so far."

"Eleven percent."

Kael fell silent.

If their team alone had already covered eleven percent, then with the other teams working simultaneously across different sections of the Rift, they should already be somewhere around halfway through the mapping process.

At least, that was what Kael assumed.

He had no idea how they were calculating the percentage of a Rift that had been explored in the first place. The specialist team obviously had their own methods and equipment for measuring such things, so he didn’t bother asking.

Instead, he looked at Sean.

"That’s good."

Kael paused for a moment before something else came to mind.

"By the way, I’ve always wanted to ask. What exactly is the edge of a Rift? How do you identify it? Is there some kind of barrier?"

Sean looked slightly amused by the question.

"Not really. There isn’t any boundary that we know of."

Kael raised an eyebrow.

"We just know that if you continue walking and eventually reach a certain point, you’ll simply be sent back to the entrance of the Rift."

"Oh, I see."

Kael nodded slowly.

That answered quite a few questions.

There were still countless mysteries about Rifts that Kael knew nothing about. His future self had never climbed high enough in either influence or power to gain access to this kind of information, so even something as basic as understanding how a Rift’s boundaries worked was a new experience for him.

"So that’s how we know we’ve finished exploring the Rift?"

Kael looked toward Sean.

"Once we reach that point and get teleported away?"

Sean chuckled.

"Not exactly."

He lifted the device in his hand.

"We have equipment capable of detecting the spatial readings of the surrounding environment. Once we reach a certain reading, we know we’re getting close to the end of the Rift, so we stop moving forward."

Sean paused before adding, "I’ve heard it’s not exactly a comfortable experience to reach the boundary and get thrown back to the entrance."

"Oh, I see."

Kael nodded.

His gaze briefly settled on the device in Sean’s hand.

He couldn’t help wondering just how many different devices the specialist team actually possessed.

Over the past few days, he had watched them pull out different pieces of equipment depending on the situation.

They really were a specialized group.

"That would be it for the report," Sean said.

"Okay."

Kael rose from where he had been sitting and looked toward the rest of the group.

The Hunters had established a temporary camp in the area, using the brief pause to rest before continuing the exploration. Some were eating, while others were simply sitting down to recover their strength.

Kael looked around at them.

"Alright, everyone. Get ready to continue."

His voice wasn’t loud, yet everyone heard him clearly.

"Maintain the same formation."

There was no hesitation.

Everyone immediately began preparing to move.

Over the past few days, something had changed within the group.

They had begun to accept Kael as their leader.

Not simply the team leader assigned to them by the Association, but an actual leader.

At the beginning, there had been a clear distance between them. Some had respected his position because the Association had placed him in command, while others had simply been wary of him after witnessing what happened when Oswald questioned his authority.

At first, fear had been the strongest emotion.

But fear had gradually given way to something else.

Respect.

Kael had repeatedly demonstrated that he wasn’t merely carrying the title of team leader.

His strange ability had allowed him to create a protective layer around the lower-level members of the team, shielding them from the merciless cold of the Rift. Whenever danger appeared, he was also the first person to step forward.

Yeti.

Snow Serpents.

None had been able to cause serious trouble once Kael entered the fight.

Strength alone wasn’t the only reason the group had begun accepting him. He had also consistently made decisions that kept the team moving efficiently while ensuring that the weaker members weren’t needlessly exposed to danger.

The combination of everything they had witnessed over the past few days had slowly erased the doubt they once held toward him.

Kael didn’t need to demand their loyalty.

He had earned it.

Once everyone was ready, Oswald moved ahead to begin scouting.

The group waited for his signal.

Several minutes passed before he finally returned.

"There are a few Yetis ahead."

Kael looked toward him.

Oswald’s expression was somewhat unusual.

"It looks like a swarm of them."

"A swarm?"

Kael’s brows furrowed.

That was the first time he had heard Oswald use that word.

They had encountered Yetis several times since the exploration began. Usually, there would be one or two. Sometimes a small group of them would appear together, but even then, it rarely exceeded a handful.

A swarm was different.

"How many?"

"I couldn’t get an exact number."

Oswald shook his head.

"But there are a lot of them."

Kael’s eyes narrowed.

"Let’s go check it out."

The group immediately followed.

They moved through the snow-covered terrain, maintaining their formation as they advanced. The farther they went, the more signs of movement they began to notice.

Large footprints.

Deep grooves carved into the snow.

The distant sound of something heavy moving through the frozen landscape.

Then they reached the location.

Everyone stopped.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

It really was a swarm.

Thousands of Yetis were scattered across the enormous snow-covered area ahead of them.

Some walked around aimlessly.

Others stood in groups.

Several could be seen digging through the snow while others simply remained stationary, their massive bodies creating dark silhouettes against the white landscape.

Yet despite their numbers, something was strange.

They weren’t spreading out.

They weren’t wandering far from the area.

They remained concentrated around one particular location, moving back and forth as though guarding something.

Kael’s eyes narrowed.

"Strange."

He carefully observed the Yetis.

"Are they guarding something?"

His heartbeat quickened slightly.

Could this finally be it?

After four days of exploration, had they finally discovered something genuinely important?

Something that had caused thousands of Yetis to gather in one place?

Kael’s curiosity immediately intensified.

But before he could investigate further, a sudden pain exploded inside his head.

His expression changed.

"What’s going on?"

The pain intensified almost instantly.

It wasn’t an ordinary headache.

It felt as though something had driven a blade directly into his skull and was now twisting it from within. His vision blurred as the world around him began losing its shape.

Kael staggered slightly.

The voices around him became distant.

The Yetis.

The snow.

His teammates.

Everything began to distort.

Cracks appeared across his vision.

It was as though the world itself had suddenly turned into a gigantic glass mirror.

Then it shattered.

Kael’s pupils contracted.

The entire world around him fragmented into countless pieces, each fragment separating from the others before disappearing into darkness.

And then, through that darkness, a system notification appeared before his eyes.

[Host in critical condition.]

[Activating Emergency Protocol.]

[Infinite Reward Multiplier Activated.]

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