90 Patience

Exploring the mid-level at a leisurely pace.

Having eaten eel, my stomach is full. No risk of collapsing from hunger, then.

Given this, no need to actively hunt. Can proceed at ease.

Mood is good. The heat of the mid-level is tolerable now.

Ah, no—this heat is still unpleasant.

No monsters in sight. Might as well check my skill points, which have been on my mind.

My recent evolution granted a sudden increase of five hundred points. A worthwhile skill might be found with a search.

All skills besides Perception are high-value acquisitions. If I can get a good one in this trend, that would be ideal.

Pride has no drawbacks so far, aside from raising the level of Taboo.

Taboo doesn’t seem likely to change immediately either. In that case, is it effectively without downside?

The benefit outweighs the drawback in terms of sheer magnitude.

It's still baffling how this skill was obtainable for only one hundred points.

Given the effect alone, one could easily accept a thousand-point valuation.

Even something as extreme as Pride, a skill far outside standard parameters, is probably too ambitious to expect at such a low cost. Still, if a promising skill appears, actively acquire it.

Holding onto points indefinitely serves no purpose.

The true value lies in use.

Delaying further accumulation to unlock higher-tier skills might actually reduce efficiency.

Therefore, esteemed Judge, proceed with it!

Perform a double鉴定 on the skill point allocation.

Review the resulting list.

Hmm.

Looking at it this way, there are still quite a few skills available for one hundred points.

Didn’t feel the need for most of them, so I didn’t take them. But if I have free time later, maybe I’ll just boost a few at random.

Still, better to invest that time in skills that’ll actually be useful.

Ah, but skills can evolve unexpectedly—like prediction—suddenly becoming usable.

Hmm.

Uncertain.

For now, though, I should check the skills above two hundred points, ones I couldn’t see last time.

Hmm.

Not likely to find a broken-tier skill like Pride, really.

Still, I had a small bit of hope, despite myself.

Yeah, that makes sense.

That’s what I was about to say.

But—there it is.

A broken skill.

[Endurance (500): 5% of the power required to reach divinity. Expands one's divine domain. As long as MP remains, survives any damage with 1 HP. Also surpasses the W system, granting interference rights over MA domains.]

Another enigmatic skill, filled with cryptic language...

And the absurd performance remains intact.

Is this activated by consuming MP, clenching teeth?

Even if I don't know the exact MP cost, does it mean I can keep using Zombie Attack as long as MP remains?

Makes no sense.

What is this outrageous ability?

And this time, no hesitation.

Click.

[Current Skill Points: 500.

Skill 'Endurance' can be acquired using 500 Skill Points.

Acquire it?]

Yes.

['Endurance' acquired. Remaining Skill Points: 0.]

There is no retreat for me, who has taken Pride!

Acquire all skills of this type!

Let whatever taboo it may be come at me!

[Proficiency has reached threshold. Skill 'Taboo LV5' upgraded to 'Taboo LV7'.]

I'm sorry.

Maybe it would have been better if it hadn't come.

[Condition met. Acquired title 'Master of Endurance'.]

[Title 'Master of Endurance' effect granted skills 'Heretic Resistance' and 'Judgment'.]

[Skill 'Heretic Resistance LV4' integrated into 'Heretic Resistance'.]

Ah, as expected—Taboo level increased.

Two this time.

No choice.

But more important is the title.

Can't afford to be like this!

Time to check the title just acquired!

[Title Acquired: Master of Endurance – Skill Acquired: "Heretic Nullification", "Judgment" – Condition: Acquire "Endurance" – Effect: +100 to Defense and Resistance. Unlock Eye-based Skills. Gain bonus to proficiency in Resistance Skills. Gain Dominator-class Privilege. Description: Title bestowed upon those who master endurance.]

Ah.

As expected.

It really was an overpowered title.

Defense and Resistance both increased!

Both rose by 100. Defense now 351. Resistance now 380.

What even is this?

Isn't this a bit too overpowered?

The increased proficiency gain in Resistance Skills is significant too.

I specialize in evasion. I rarely take damage, so Resistance Skills never leveled up much.

This directly compensates for a weakness. Very useful.

Also noteworthy: the unlocking of Eye-based Skills.

I want this one.

If I get some kind of cursed eye, I could say things like “Ugh, my right eye hurts!” or “This is what it means to kill something!”

It’s just so full of delinquent fantasy vibes.

I really want it, but I’ve got no skill points left!

Ah, I need to level up fast and accumulate skill points again.

Then there’s the newly added Heretic Immunity and Judgment skills.

Heretic Immunity appears to be the highest-tier skill of Heretic Resistance.

Whereas Heretic Resistance increased defense against attacks that directly assault the soul, Heretic Immunity completely nullifies such attacks.

Now I can face enemies using Heretic Magic or similar attacks without worry.

[Judgment: Inflicts resistance-immune damage proportional to the total accumulated罪科 value against targets with罪科 stored in the system.]

Wow.

So it’s an attack that deals more damage the more sins a target has committed.

The fact that it cannot be resisted is frightening.

But this... it smells just like Naraku.

Seems useless.

Tried it. As expected, it didn't work.

Maybe it just failed to activate due to no target. Still, I have a firm conviction it won't work.

Still, even if I can't use Judgment, it's not a complete loss.

Taboo has increased. But there's nothing I can do about it now.

As long as it's not something like Taboo 10 causing instant death, I'll accept the drawback.

And still, my stats have skyrocketed. Skills are fully developed.

Am I not the strongest now?