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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Enrollment Was a Mistake (2)
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Lesson 1. This Is Your Status Window - 2
People tend to stay calm when one astonishing event follows another.
It wasn't some academic theory proposed by an expert—this was exactly what Ban Yu-won was going through right now.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Opening the authority Babylonia Code due to external stimulus. Selecting ideograms from among the languages most familiar to the authority's possessor for display.
"The ideograms most familiar to me... Hanja?"
He was right.
Not phonetic characters that represent sounds, but a language that carries meaning within the characters themselves.
The Babylonia Code manifested before his eyes in the very form of those hanja.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Stealing the common concepts Demon, Life, and Body from two goblins. Other concepts are too insignificant or overly complex to absorb at the current possessor's level. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Absorbing Demon 0.2. Demon is originally a concept humans cannot possess. The power of Babylonia Code allows temporary storage within the body, but you cannot wield this power yourself. Recommend separating it or granting it to another object or creature. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Absorbing Life 0.4. Possessor's Life has become 10.4. Fundamental abilities and potential of existence improve. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Absorbing Body 0.2. Possessor's Body has become 10.2. The body becomes more robust.
Messages written in a language palpably brimming with power—clearly distinct from the academy's guide notices—filled Ban Yu-won's vision one after another.
Amid the chaos, Ban Yu-won could see it.
Three strands of string-like text emerged from each of the two goblins' bodies... found their pairs, merged in sequence, and were sucked into his own body.
"Ah..."
Mysteriously, he could even sense how the strings moved once inside him. Two of them—likely Life and Body—were fully absorbed into Ban Yu-won's body, seamlessly merging with the strings already there.
The remaining one, Demon, tried to rampage wildly the moment it entered but was soon suppressed by a mystical force and isolated in a corner of his body.
Once absorption was complete, the goblins' corpses dried up in an instant, crumbling into dust and scattering away.
"...My body's changed."
He sensed it instinctively.
He had never used such an expression in his life, but in this moment, he knew for certain.
He had grown stronger.
He could vividly feel his grip strength, leg strength, and even his previously somewhat fragile skin toughening up, if only a little.
He had often been surprised by his own language abilities before... but without a doubt, this moment took the cake.
No—this wasn't even about language abilities!
⚔ STATUS ⚔ 🌱 Life: 10.4 ― Concept possessed by all life. Tied to the rank of existence. 💪 Body: 10.2 ― Concept of the body. ✨ Soul: 300 ― Concept of the mind. 👁️ Omniread Eye: 100 ― Eye that reads all things. Unique concept of the possessor. 👂 Omnihear Ear: 100 ― Ear that hears all things. Unique concept of the possessor. 💬 Omniloquent Lips: 100 ― Lips that speak all things. Unique concept of the possessor. 👹 Demon: 0.2 ― Concept possessed by all impure existences born of bewitchment. Humans cannot possess it, but it is held by the authority's power.
Even as Ban Yu-won touched his changed body, more messages continued to appear.
Truth be told, despite the shock, accepting this message window itself wasn't all that hard.
It resembled a status window so closely, as if the Babylonia Code had simply taken its place.
It made perfect sense why it had stolen his status window.
Stealing language concepts from the dead goblins was like gaining experience points, and these messages popping up in sequence were just displaying the status window!
"Life—that's clearly a level from a game. If this grows, it's like my level rising. Body, Soul, and such are stats. Why is Soul so high? No idea, so skip for now. Omniread Eye, Omnihear Ear, etc., must be tied to my language abilities... So, skills. Ah, maybe these are why Soul is so high."
At this point, it was just a status window that worked a bit differently from others'.
Just roll with it!
"Digging into why I have this ability would just complicate things. Whatever! Knowing won't help me right now anyway..."
Or would it?
Ban Yu-won's gaze lingered on the last concept listed: Demon.
It had clearly said humans couldn't possess it, so get rid of it quick.
It had also guided that he could separate it or grant it to objects or creatures.
Seeing that, Ban Yu-won finally grasped the gist of his ability.
"So it's not just understanding all languages—it's perceiving and manipulating the elemental concepts that make up living beings as linguistic concepts."
Absorb them directly to strengthen himself.
Or grant them to objects to reinforce or alter them.
Or perhaps release the language independently for use.
The idea that words equal power had never felt so literal.
"Magic Words... Ahem!"
He figured that was probably right.
Perhaps because he was the ability's master, Ban Yu-won accepted and understood it with astonishing ease, even by his own standards.
And this was likely why Union Academy had admitted him via lower dimension special admission.
That had to be it.
"Meaning, with this power, I have a shot at surviving this monster-infested madhouse...!"
He had just awakened the authority and devoured the language concepts from two goblins, growing a bit.
But he knew full well this was nowhere near enough to face goblins head-on.
So what should he do now?
Ban Yu-won suspected the answer lay with Demon.
"It said I can grant it. And luckily, I have a target."
He brought the club he'd just been wielding right up to his eyes for a look.
Despite being smeared with goblin blood and brains, it remained sturdy, exuding a solid presence.
He doubted holding a weapon he'd never touched before would let him take on goblins, but it was better than bare hands.
"Hold on."
A sudden realization escaped his lips unbidden.
He panicked and glanced around, but the surroundings remained silent.
Probably because this was the overlapping territory of those two goblins.
"If I can steal language concepts from corpses, doesn't that mean I can from objects too?"
Ban Yu-won hurriedly scanned the ground.
Goblin 1 and 2 had vanished entirely, including their rag clothes, but fortunately, both clubs remained.
He touched the one rolling on the floor—Goblin 1's—and activated his power.
It was a power realized just minutes ago, but once grasped, wielding it felt utterly natural.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Ownership of the object secured. Stealing the object's language concept is now possible. Absorb Blunt Weapon 1?
"Absorb."
Blunt Weapon—just the club as is.
Ban Yu-won let out an involuntary wry smile as he initiated the theft.
The same scene unfolded as before.
The club crumbled without a trace, and golden strings poured out from within, flowing into Ban Yu-won's body.
However, like Demon, it was a concept he couldn't hold himself, so he decided to test "granting" right away.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Granting Blunt Weapon 1 to the object in contact with your hand. The object now possesses Blunt Weapon 2.
Simpler than expected.
Strings flowed out from his body once more and into the club, and that was it.
No visible change in the club's appearance.
Maybe Blunt Weapon 1 wasn't enough for big changes, or perhaps possessing language concepts didn't alter external looks...
Either way, granting had gone smoothly, so Ban Yu-won tried the next idea that came to mind.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Ownership of the object secured. Stealing the object's language concept is now possible. Absorb Blunt Weapon 2?
"Good—reabsorbing after granting once doesn't reduce the amount."
This was a surprisingly crucial detail.
Doesn't exchanging money incur fees by itself?
No fool would, but repeatedly converting won to dollars and back would whittle away the principal.
Fortunately, his ability had no such fees, allowing free granting and theft.
Just be careful not to suck out all concepts, lest the object collapse entirely.
"Cancel absorbing Blunt Weapon... Grant Demon instead."
He hesitated just before executing.
Because he clearly remembered the notice that language could not only be granted but also separated.
And perhaps that could be applied directly to his body.
"Demon... Could this be Magic Power?"
Frankly speaking.
He was very intrigued.
But even anticipating the outcome, Ban Yu-won held back because gaining a mere 0.2 Demon wouldn't bring dramatic change.
Plus, he could always reabsorb from the club if needed.
"Yeah, this is better. For now, infusing the weapon with demon beats me wielding magic power."
Middle-school syndrome impulses from his past bubbled up, but he desperately suppressed them.
Then he extracted all 0.2 Demon isolated in his body and granted it to the club.
Of course, granting Blunt Weapon 1 showed no change, so 0.2 Demon probably wouldn't either.
So he thought.
The result differed greatly from his expectations.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The object now possesses Demon 0.2, faintly taking on artifact properties. Destructive power slightly amplified, durability markedly increased. Critical hit chance additionally granted.
"...What?"
⚙ ACADEMY NOTICE ⚙ Created a temporary artifact during the exam. Truly astonishing. Major bonus points awarded to evaluation! Recommend advancing to Artifact Creation Department!
"Ha, haha."
He'd frozen in shock at the unexpected notice.
But it was thrilling.
"Major bonus points," it said.
This was proof that his innate unique ability held its own even at Union Academy.
"I can do this. They're all dead meat now!"
...Of course, it didn't mean he could take on a Blind Goblin one-on-one yet, so he still had to walk a tightrope thereafter.
For a good while, he repelled goblins using deception, trickery, mimicry, backstabs—abilities beyond Babylonia Code's detection—and pressed forward.
Before he knew it, a massive door utterly out of place in the cave loomed before him.
The club he held now possessed Blunt Weapon 15 and Demon 1.5.