Chapter 74: Great Sin Reincarnator... Vincent?
This time, the tearing pain in his muscles didn't come. Instead, Kaito felt a momentary searing sensation in his nerves. The pain was so sharp that even he, with his extreme tolerance, couldn't help but flinch.
Fortunately, the pain vanished as quickly as it had arrived.
[Spirit attribute has increased. Current: 13]
Kaito frowned. Was he just the "unluckiest" type of Reincarnator in the Nexus? The system had once again, "coincidentally," added his free attribute points to his weakest stat, [Spirit]. If they had all gone into [Agility], he would already be on the verge of his first attribute limit break.
While the [Spirit] attribute did affect his perception in combat and the amount of information he received from the Nexus, it had the least impact on direct physical combat in the early stages. Almost no one, aside from those who started with a special ability, would ever voluntarily put points into [Spirit]. This allocation was extremely inconvenient for him.
However, Kaito recalled a rumor the Professor had mentioned. The [Peerless] of the Nexus weren't just the champions of a single stat. There were supposedly an extremely small number of Reincarnators who possessed the aptitude for multiple attributes, who were invited to participate in a more secretive tournament to compete for a hidden [Peerless] title. Those "balanced" [Peerless] were the ones truly qualified to contend for the title of "Strongest."
But, as the Professor had said, it was just a rumor. He had never seen or heard of any such title or ability. There were only two possibilities: one, the so-called multi-attribute [Peerless] didn't exist, it was just an urban legend. Or two, everyone who had ever encountered one had been killed.
Kaito frowned for only a moment before shelving the thought. His time in the Nexus was limited. Because the time flow between the mission worlds, the Nexus, and the real world was inconsistent, he had to avoid missing his optimal window.
He did a quick review of his harvest from the last world. Aside from the [Secret Rite - Strike of Inari] curse mark and the [Breathing Method (D+)] skill he had acquired, he hadn't gained much else of value, though he had exchanged for a few consumables. In addition, thanks to the side quest and hidden quest, he had acquired a total of 3 C-rank Singularities and 1 E-rank Singularity. All things considered, his gains from this mission had far exceeded his first. His Dimensional Points, thanks to the sheer number of demons in that world, had reached an unprecedented high of 9750. And that was after spending over a thousand points to heal his injuries, otherwise, he would have broken ten thousand.
This number of points confirmed to Kaito that the [Training Hall] and [Appraisal Office] must be massive point sinks, otherwise, the Nexus's economy would have already collapsed from inflation. Of course, Kaito was ignoring one key fact: he himself was a rare newcomer with an abnormal combat ability, who had also brought [Hamon] into a world overflowing with demons that had been mutated by an external force. From a certain perspective, the Demon Slayer world had been his perfect personal grinding map.
Kaito reappeared on the familiar bridge. He could designate any entry point into the public space, but he still chose this one. Sure enough, the moment he appeared, several Reincarnator brokers looked over. But seeing his "Visage of an Elder God," they knew he wasn't a rookie and looked away.
Kaito, however, smiled, revealing a set of perfectly white teeth.
"Yo, hyenas of the Nexus. I have a very valuable piece of information. Anyone interested?"
His words drew the attention of several of them. When they looked closely at his face, they all took a sharp, reflexive intake of breath. But in the Nexus, resources were the capital needed to survive. They still gathered around.
"What info? You'd better start talking," said one, dressed as a ninja, complete with a Konoha headband and gray hair. He looked like a second-rate cosplayer.
Kaito held up one finger and lowered his voice. "It's about one of those [Cards]… and a [Special ID] Reincarnator. How about it?"
The brokers froze, unable to believe their luck. If you put a price tag on all the information in the Nexus, the most precious—aside from the basic knowledge you could scam rookies with—was secret clues for plot worlds and the methods to acquire and advance abilities. But even above that was information that the truly massive factions and teams were willing to pay a high price for. Information about... [Cards] and [Special Reincarnators].
The man with the Konoha headband instantly moved close to Kaito. "I'll pay 1000 Dimensional Points, as long as your info is real."
Another man, dressed in a clean black suit like a butler, stood a few steps back, frowning. "How do you prove your information is genuine?"
Kaito wasn't bothered by their suspicion. He waved his hand, holding up one finger. "[Azure Sky]'s new rookie was in that world too. There's a Special ID Reincarnator who, in a Demon Slayer cooperative mission, killed another Reincarnator and received a Crimson Drop."
The man dressed as a butler frowned, adjusting the monocle on his left eye. He's not lying. A Special ID Reincarnator really has appeared?!
"I'll pay 1500," the butler said.
Seeing that the [Black Butler] was also bidding, the others realized this might not be a scam. Within moments, a group of brokers had surrounded them, ready to haggle.
But Kaito shook his head. "I can give this information to all of you for free. But on one condition: you cannot tell anyone you got it from me. Also, that Reincarnator has disguised his ID. I can't guarantee his appearance or his ID are still the same as what I saw."
When the [Black Butler] heard this, he became even more convinced the info was real. He guessed that this person had probably suffered a huge loss in that mission world and was using this method to get revenge on that [Special Reincarnator]. It didn't matter. Being used as a gun was fine. As long as the information was even partially true, he could make a tidy profit selling it to the major factions.
A few minutes later, the news—[A suspected new Great Sin type Special Reincarnator has appeared]—swept through the East Sector's public space and began to spread further.
"Vincent? Able to get a Crimson Drop in a cooperative world… that is indeed the hallmark of a Great Sin Reincarnator…"
In the Stall District, a man lay on a sun chair at his stall, his hat covering his bearded, weary face. He listened to the discussions of the surrounding Reincarnators, mulling over the name "Vincent." A blond, muscular build… that's not much of a feature. There are thousands of guys like that in the Nexus. But the old codename, [Lu Ziyang]… that's a clue.
SLAP!
He suddenly slapped himself across the face, startling the nearby stall owners.
Hey, hey, what are you thinking about this for, Kenji Ando? Just let the rookies make their own mess. You just enjoy your retirement.
"Um, excuse me. I heard this is the most accurate divination stall in the entire district. I'd like to get a reading."
A voice interrupted Kenji Ando's thoughts. He shifted his hat, opening one eye. The next second, he burst out in a stream of curses.
"My god! What an ugly face!"