Episode 380: How to Develop New Skills

Regular communication with the standby group from the "Unreal Kingdom."

While talking on the radio, Yonetsu Ginsho casually puffed on his cigarette, his kind baritone voice asking,

"Is what you want to discuss with me basically about 'The Iron Fist of Justice'?"

"Yes."

Nodding slightly through the radio, I replied.

"There's only one person among our allies who's developed a new skill—Nightku-san. So, about sharing information..."

"Ah, that's right."

After a brief pause on the radio, Nightku Ginsho said,

"Okay, fine. I'll tell you. But it's going to be a somewhat complicated story, so you might want to have a notebook ready just in case."

"No need to worry. I'm all set here."

Of course, a brand-new notebook was already open in front of me.

The specifications for "Players" tend to be fairly complicated, you know.

"Alright. That'll work."

With that, the lecture begins.

"First and foremost, you should know that the 'New Skill Creation' ability was unlocked right after reaching 'Phase 3'—a new capability granted to 'Players'..."

"Yes."

The information about 'Phase 3' that I'd heard from Yeku-san before.

Reiterating it here:

▼

・Activation of powerful "hostile lifeforms."

・"Zombies" scattered across various regions converge toward the city center.

・Reactivation of "zombies" in "hidden" status.

・"Zombies" will now exhibit "infinite spawning."

・Detailed tutorial on "magical control."

・Tutorial on how to learn new "skills."

・All players will earn the achievement "Phase 2 Completed."

A "quest" is presented to every player.

The timing at which the "quest" is presented will be randomly determined within the next month.

▼

It should have been.

Then, I'd like you to know that not many people are currently utilizing this new ability... The reason being, acquiring a new skill requires relinquishing the right to obtain several existing skills.

"From a game perspective, it's like you need to spend additional skill points."

"Yeah, that's right. Skill points... Yeah. I'll be using that term from now on."

Tracing a pen across the notes in his hand.

"The general process for creating a new skill is as follows:

① Choose an already learned skill A.

② Select another skill B.

③ Assign arbitrary additional effects or usage conditions to the newly created skill C."

④ Pay the skill points calculated in total.

That's how you acquire the new skill C."

"Wow. That's easy to understand."

It's less about creating a skill from scratch and more like merging existing skills together.

"By the way, in my case, I used《Karma Judgment》and《Knight's Hammer》to create《The Hammer of Justice》."

Wasn't《The Hammer of Justice》a skill that automatically judges the target's karma and attacks based on it?

It seems like it now incorporates the functionality of《Karma Judgment》.

"How many additional skill points are needed?"

『Honestly, I'm not sure.』

"Oh?"

'I tried various things myself, but there's still a lot of research needed. It seems the requirements change completely depending on the conditions and skill combinations. For reference, creating《Justice's Hammer》required three skill points.'

'Three...'

That means you, Yozuka, sacrificed a total of five skill slots.

A new skill whose usefulness is uncertain, weighed against a skill I already know— one that's reliable and clearly useful. Of course, that's a risky gamble.

It makes sense that I haven't seen many people with skills like that before.

Of course, I'm an exception, since I have plenty of skill points to spare.

'To be honest, the effects you can attach to completed skills are quite flexible. I mean, you might even be able to recreate the abilities of anime characters.'

Seriously?

You're saying someone could aim for becoming a wielder of the Evil Eye at this age?

"Then again, that doesn't mean anything goes. Skills like 'absolute invincible swordsmanship' or 'a cursed gaze that kills instantly upon sight' would require an enormous amount of skill points, even if you tried to create them. Practically impossible to learn, in other words."

Dejected.

Still, that was more or less expected.

This world doesn't like one-sided games. It's somewhat like an MMORPG—using powerful skills requires a corresponding cost.

'Also, there's one more clue I've managed to piece together so far.

The more conditions or weaknesses tied to using a skill, the stronger the effect it grants.'

Using this mechanic, I've set it up so that the more evil a person's actions, the greater the attack power of "The Hammer of Justice." Conversely, it deals almost no damage to good people.

"Like the taboo (geis) in Celtic mythology?"

I've heard that the hero Cu Chulainn gained divine blessings by making vows, such as not eating dog meat.

"Well, maybe it's even simpler—like how in poker or mahjong, the rarer the hand, the higher the score. You've probably figured it out already, but our abilities are all built upon game-like theories."

"Hmm, I see..."

So far, that wasn't too hard to grasp.

Now it's just a matter of actually trying things out.

"So, my dear. What kind of skill are you planning to create?"

"Curious, are we?"

"I'll listen to your consultation. But as I said earlier, creating a new skill isn't exactly cost-effective. I do like my 'Iron Fist of Justice,' but whether it'll actually turn out well is a fifty-fifty shot."

Even so—frankly, I have no choice but to rely on that.

The truth is, the higher-tier jobs I can currently choose are all rather inconvenient to use.

But if I ever face a crisis down the line, I believe this "New Skill Creation" will be the one that truly comes in handy.

"Yeah, well, what I'm currently thinking about is—"