Richard felt like a gambler returning to the casino after a long absence; seeing the stats on his panel stirred a bittersweet sense of time's passage. Now, with some cash in hand, he'd come to place a high-stakes bet.
He hadn't spent any skill points in over a year, yet Richard had still single-handedly raised English and Phantom Spirit Body by one rank each through sheer effort and talent.
English was straightforward—living abroad, reading and speaking every day, he'd passively improved. Add to that his life as a student; studying daily was basically free experience.
As a student, his actual Spanish remained hopeless, but he kept up in every other class. Even if he wasn't planning on college right after graduation, he still needed a decent GPA as a safety net.
Phantom Spirit Body's improvement came from Richard constantly shifting into spirit form to "chat" with the house ghosts. As veteran specters, they had no trouble teaching him a few soul-cultivation tricks.
Phantom Spirit Body was a top-tier skill—his only means of fighting Anomalies on the spiritual plane. Whether dealing with the ghost-doll this time or facing Henry in past and future battles, it was invaluable.
So Richard decided to pump points into Phantom Spirit Body first; refining a derivative skill could wait.
Self-skills like Culinary Arts and Phantom Spirit Body gave Richard real, practical value. Upgrades to Culinary Arts, All-around Housework, Shooting, and the like directly strengthened his body, gifting him tremendous physique and razor-sharp senses. Boosts to Programming and Phantom Spirit Body, on the other hand, mainly sharpened his thinking and bolstered his mental power.
If you pictured it like a game, leveling his personal skills raised corresponding attributes across the board. True strength starts with the self.
Derivative skills were more like bonus abilities; they granted no stat boosts and only had a chance to unlock through luck. Weighing cost against benefit, Richard—whose luck stat was hardly stellar—decided not to push his gambler's instinct too far.
Enhance Phantom Spirit Body (C-rank)? Standard upgrade costs 340 plot points; Refinement upgrade costs 500 plot points. Current refinement success rate: 40%. Please choose.
Enhance.
Ding! Your Phantom Spirit Body has risen to B-rank!
Enhance again!
Ding! Your Phantom Spirit Body has risen to A-rank!
Total cost: 910 plot points.
Phantom Spirit Body (A-rank)—Are you a spirit wearing human skin, or just someone a little… off? A question worth pondering. Freddy waves hello from across the street.
Richard ignored the skill panel's occasional quips. Right now he could feel spiritual power flooding him. How so?
He was wide-awake on the inside; even while his body slept he sensed every stir within a hundred meters. And this was only a sliver of perception leaking out in idle state. If he focused, he wagered nothing on Randolph Road could escape his notice.
Is this what cultivators call divine sense? Richard chuckled to himself. Seeing 559 points left, he wondered if he could push another skill to A+.
I'll try the cheapest ones—Culinary Arts or All-around Housework. If refining odds go up, all the better, he thought.
Enhance Culinary Arts (A-rank)? Standard upgrade costs 40 plot points; Refinement upgrade costs 160 plot points. Current refinement success rate: 70%. Please choose.
Enhance All-around Housework (A-rank)? Standard upgrade costs 50 plot points; Refinement upgrade costs 100 plot points. Current refinement success rate: 70%. Please choose.
Enhance Culinary Arts.
Ding! Your Culinary Arts has risen to A+!
In that instant Richard felt a torrent of information crash into him. His brain vibrated, vision blurred; culinary knowledge from other dimensions flashed past. A force scoured his body as though waves had pounded a shoreline for centuries, tempering his flesh.
Yet it was largely perceptual. When the rush faded he realized his physique hadn't soared; he was simply inching closer to the human ceiling.
Culinary Arts (A+)—If everything can be plated, why not Anomalies?
Among the new recipes, Richard spotted several specialties: dishes using The Upside Down vines and Dimo Creatures as ingredients.
Recalling the finished plates, his mouth watered.
Easy, he told himself, exhaling. A gourmet at heart, he still had to stay practical.
Where would he even find Dimo Creatures now?
Every Mind Flayer in town was dead; the local Dimo Creatures should be wiped out as well.
In Anomaly cuisine, The Upside Down vines and Dimo Creatures were like puffer fish or wild mushrooms—poisonous if mishandled, but ambrosia if prepared right.
Never had he imagined that vine sashimi or slow-roasted Dimo hound could rival Earth's finest delicacies.
If the chance ever arose, he'd definitely give them a try.
Next he pushed All-around Housework to A+, giving his body another modest boost.
All-around Housework (A+)-Your meticulous care could make even Anomalies dread sinking into your tender embrace.
Time to refine, he said, 469 points left. He'd pick between his two cheapest options.
Shooting (A-rank) refinement cost: 100 points, 70% success.
All-around Housework (A+) refinement cost: 100 points, 78% success.
After mulling it over, he gambled on Shooting.
He could face Henry head-on now, maybe even jolt the man awake. A combat-oriented derivative would be icing on the cake; if nothing triggered, no harm done.
He chose Shooting over the safer All-around Housework because he wanted to test whether battle-type skills were likelier to yield combat-useful derivatives.
Four hundred sixty-nine points—four tries at worst. With luck he'd score within four. Then he remembered his D-rank Misfortune and winced.
Ding! Enhancement failed.
Ding! Enhancement failed.
Ding! Enhancement succeeded!
You have unlocked a new derivative skill: Bullet Time.
Bullet Time-When a bullet flies at you, or when you will it, you gain 2 seconds to move at over twice sniper-round speed with matching reflexes. Warning: extreme bodily strain; risk of permanent injury. Use sparingly.