"Aurora hovered near the bed, circling Alex like an impatient firefly, her eyes gleaming with barely restrained curiosity.
"So?" she pressed, leaning closer. "Show me more. What else did your system get? You were grinning like an idiot the whole time."
Alex chuckled under his breath. "You're way too invested in this."
"I have to be," Aurora shot back. "I can't see the interface myself. Your reactions are literally my only window into the cheat system you're blessed with. Now spill."
Her eagerness was so genuine it was almost infectious. Alex gave her a quick rundown and pulled the interface open again, letting the transparent blue windows hover in front of him.
"Then what are you waiting for? Buy those skills and test them out!" Aurora urged, practically vibrating.
"Can't," Alex sighed. "C-rank skills cost ten thousand shop coins each. And I've got… 2055 SC only. Barely a fifth of what's needed."
Aurora stared at him as if he had personally disappointed her on a spiritual level. "Wow. You're broke."
Alex leveled a flat stare at her. "Excuse you. I'm only broke in system currency."
"That's still broke." she declared without mercy.
Despite himself, Alex's lips twitched. Because the truth was—he wasn't broke. Not even a little. He was sitting on a small fortune.
The Wilderness Training Course had been… productive.
He had killed a lot of monsters. A lot.
The D-rank and C-rank cores? Gleam and Bellio had inhaled those like snacks. But the real treasure? The B-rank and A-rank monster cores.
He and Sherry had killed about 1200 B-rank monsters together—and split the cores evenly. Six hundred each. And the A-ranks…
Out of 210 A-rank monsters, he'd walked away with 200 A-rank monster cores.
Sherry had tried to argue at first—ironically because she wanted him to take more. She insisted the split should've been 3:7, since he'd done most of the work.
Alex smiled faintly at the memory. Shy, quiet Sherry… could be surprisingly stubborn when she wanted to be.
Aurora floated closer, excitement sparking off her. "So? What now? Thinking of selling some of the monster cores?"
"Yeah." Alex tapped open the Shop interface. "A-ranks are valuable outside, but the system might give a different price. High-grade and peak-grade mana stones usually give the best SC-to-value ratio. B-rank cores are close. But A-ranks…" He exhaled. "I want to know how much the system values them."
Aurora clasped her hands. "You're actually going to sell one right now?"
"Yes, I need to know how many I'll have to sell to afford even one."
The anticipation thrummed in his chest. Even thinking about them made his heart beat faster.
He pulled an A-rank core from his inventory, its deep glow pulsing softly in his palm.
"Alright," Alex murmured. "Let's find out."
----------------------------------------------------
[The host has successfully sold an A-rank monster core.]
[Shop Coins: 2055→52055]
----------------------------------------------------
Alex's eyes widened. "Fifty thousand…? For one?"
That was far more than he'd expected.
Aurora let out a low whistle. "Well, look at you—rich boy."
Alex didn't deny it. The corner of his mouth even twitched upward. 'With just one A-rank core… I can already buy five C-rank skills.'
Without wasting a second, he opened the skills section and purchased the three he'd been eyeing the most—Critical Hit, Medicinal Adaptation, and Swap.
The weapon-based C-rank upgrades tempted him, but he forced himself to hold back.
"Not Sword Expert," he muttered. "Not yet."
Aurora blinked. "Why? That one seems pretty convenient."
"Exactly the problem," Alex said. "If I raise my swordsmanship level too suddenly, Principal Elena will definitely notice. And tomorrow is my first day of training with her." He exhaled slowly. "I… want to improve something else first. Naturally. If everything jumps at once, it'll be way too suspicious."
Aurora nodded. "Fair enough. Wouldn't want your new instructor thinking your talent is jumping dimensions overnight."
With that settled, Alex focused on the newly unlocked abilities.
Two of them—Critical Hit and Medicinal Adaptation—were passive. He couldn't test them here.
But the active one?
Swap.
Alex straightened, excitement flickering again. He placed two objects on the table. "Alright… let's see how you work."
He visualized the exchange.
Swap.
The two objects reversed positions instantly—silent, seamless.
Alex blinked. "…That was instant."
Aurora leaned in, eyes wide. "Wait—no mana fluctuations? No spatial ripple? Nothing?"
Alex kept experimenting, pushing the skill in small, controlled increments.
A pen for a pencil. Swap—effortless.
A spoon for a fork. Swap—smooth and instant.
Aurora raised a brow. "So it doesn't have to be the exact same item—just… similar?"
"Yeah," Alex murmured, testing again. "Same general mass and volume… that seems to be what counts."
He tried a cup with a mana crystal—and failed. Then swapped the cup with a pebble of similar weight.
This time it worked.
The smaller and lighter the objects, the cleaner the exchange. But when he attempted to swap a book—
"Nrgh—" A dull pressure pressed against his skull. He forced the exchange through, but the strain was obvious.
He tried a heavier object next. The moment he activated the skill, a sharp spike of pain lanced behind his eyes.
"Okay—nope!" Alex hissed, pulling back and clutching his head. "That one's not happening."
Aurora crossed her arms thoughtfully. "That feeling… this is just like mental magic." She tapped her temple. "You aren't straining your mana. You're straining your mind."
Alex exhaled slowly. It made perfect sense. "So if I want to move bigger things… I need to train my mind."
Aurora nodded. "Yup. Mental endurance, focus, clarity. Push too hard too fast and you'll give yourself a real headache—or worse."
Alex rubbed his temples, but despite the ache, he couldn't hide the grin tugging at his mouth.
This skill had insane potential.
Now that Swap was tested to his satisfaction, Alex finally turned toward the other plan he had been quietly crafting in the back of his mind.
"Alright… time for the main thing." he muttered under his breath.
Aurora tilted her head at him. "You're scheming again."
"It's called planning." Alex corrected dryly. "Since I'll be using magic openly from now on, I should at least control which magic I'm known for."
Aurora blinked once, slow and baffled. "You mean… you're not going to reveal Dark magic?"
"Of course not." His expression sharpened instantly. "Dark magic is practically synonymous with trouble. I don't need that added, at least not now."
Aurora nodded; no one understood better than her how the world reacted to that affinity.
"And since I already have Ice affinity," Alex continued, "I'll lean into that. If I'm going to use Ice magic publicly, I should raise its rank first. Right now it's only D-rank. Too weak. I need it higher—something respectable."
Aurora narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure that's a good idea? You already told them your Ice affinity was F-rank. If it suddenly jumps to something higher, won't that raise questions?"
Alex shrugged, entirely unbothered. "Not really. I'll just say the affinity test was wrong."
Aurora stared at him. "…That's your excuse?"
"Yes. That's it."
"That's not convincing." she said bluntly. "Affinity tests don't just fail. She was already skeptical, when you told Priscilia you awakened affinity for Ice magic."
"She was," Alex admitted calmly. "Right up until she tested herself and realized I was actually right."
Aurora opened her mouth to argue… then shut it with a defeated sigh.
Much as she hated it, Alex had a point.
"Your case is ridiculous," she muttered, massaging her temples. "If it was anyone else, I'd call it impossible and suspicious. But with you… somehow it might actually work."
Alex grinned shamelessly. "Exactly. So if my affinity goes up, everyone will just assume the testing device had glitched earlier."
Aurora huffed. "It should have been impossible."
"And yet," Alex replied with a serene nod, "completely possible."
He spoke with the same casual confidence as someone announcing the sky was a perfectly normal shade of golden-blue.
Aurora let out a long, long sigh of surrender.
Alex stretched his fingers once, excitement sparking behind his calm expression.
"Then it's settled." he said softly. "Time to upgrade my Ice affinity."
----------------------------------------------------
[Improve Magic Affinity]
-Ice (D→A): 1110000 SP
----------------------------------------------------
Alex had assumed that with roughly forty-two million system points stored up, he'd be able to push his Ice affinity straight to S-rank.
The system swiftly crushed that dream.
'...the max I can go is A-rank?' he thought, staring at the system screen. Each rank-up price multiplied tenfold. Worse, from S-rank onward the cost didn't just jump tenfold—it skyrocketed a hundred times over.
Even with his massive stockpile, S-rank was still an unreachable star. Still, A-rank was nothing to scoff at. He hit Yes without hesitation.
Instantly, his Ice affinity shot upward in a single leap, from a modest D-rank straight to A-rank.
Alex couldn't stop the grin spreading across his face. "Aurora, I did it. I increased my Ice magic affinity to Rank A!"
Aurora froze.
Then detonated.
"You what?!" she shrieked, eyes ballooning like she was witnessing a cosmic horror. She stared at him as though he'd just casually announced he cured death.
Alex blinked at her, shrinking a little. "S-So… I overdid it?" he asked, scratching his cheek timidly.
Aurora opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
"Overdid—? This is… unbelievably ridiculous."
He winced. "…Right. I guess saying the last test was wrong won't cover this anymore."
Aurora paused. Then rubbed her forehead with a defeated sigh.
"Actually… considering how horrifically irregular your entire existence already is… maybe people will just accept it." A helpless smile twitched at her lips.
Alex let out a soft laugh. "Then let's hope everyone else thinks so too."