(Not) A Vanilla Levelling System

16

"I was never told about this," I said, looking at Michael through the window.\

The beautiful engineering memories I had experienced earlier were now slowly changing their form in my mind. 

It wasn't Susan's hand that reached up and grabbed my neck, it was Michael's. He was trying to strangle me and make me out of breath.

What a crazy psychopath!

I stared at Elena with unbearable irritation. I felt so betrayed. "You said I was your valued partner!"

"You are and always will be."

"So? Who's that?" I exclaimed, pointing at Michael.

Elena looked over, sighed, and nodded. "We apologise for the inconvenience and misunderstanding that occurred between the two of you. However, for the record, from the beginning, we never said that the only partner we had was you."

That's a valid point, but that's not what I meant. "I thought we were co-operating and mutually beneficial here."

"That's right. You give us information, and we give you money. Nothing less, nothing more," Elena said, this time more calm and controlled. "Once again, we are truly sorry the two of you had to meet like this. However, you need not worry, Mr Hughes is a friend and completely harmless."

So harmless that he almost killed me with his bare hands, huh?

I mean, okay, I know what he used to distort my perspective was a Skill, but what kind of skill? That's too perfect an illusion!

Speaking of abilities, I think he has another Skill. A shapeshifting ability. The very thing he did to trick me and Fletcher!

If you learn from what I have experienced, like almost everything in the world, this skill does not come without restrictions.

There are taboos that must be practised, conditions that must be met, or limitations that need to be observed.

This is just a wild scenario, if that man can transform himself as Liz, and (hopefully my assumption is not correct) the restrictions are related to killing, that means Liz is already...

"You seem to have a lot of questions," Elena said, breaking the silence.

I looked up. Of course I do. Why should I speculate when I can ask them myself. "Sure. First of all---"

"However, once again, I apologise, Mr McKane. If you've read all the points of the contract, it says we don't have the authority to disseminate even the slightest partner information to anyone, so... if you have any questions, you can ask the person over there yourself."

*#*

I was hit by my own words and it felt ironic.

It was bitter, irritating, and definitely not a sensation you want to remember.

In the end, I; Elena; and Luminova were a group of professional colleagues who had their own boundaries and authority. While I was willing to help, I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up.

Relying too much on others would only make me useless anyway.

That's why, when I found her sipping alcohol at one of the tender tables, I immediately said. "Did you killed her?"

The casino was crowded at the time. Just where I was standing now, there were five other people sitting around the table doing their own thing.

My loud words got some attention, but it didn't faze me.

Michael looked at me, then at the people watching us (it didn't take long for them to become interested again), and then nodded silently. "If you were like me, you would understand."

Of course not. I'm not a murderer, and have no intention of becoming one. Let alone doing it to someone like Liz. "So what? Yours is a System that makes someone to become a madman? A cold-blooded killer?"

"Be careful what you say," Michael said, turning away from me. 

"And what if I don't?" It's a stupid challenge, I know. But, again, as before, my body acted faster than I thought it would.

There was a long, puzzling pause. Michael sighed, then patted the empty seat next to him.

I frowned, not wanting to comply. Michael seemed to realise this and started talking again, "Are you her boyfriend?"

"No, I'm not. He's..." Just a colleague. Yes, he is. Again, I reminded myself that, after all, Liz is just a colleague. Why am I this angry?

No, I'm not. I don't think it's that. It's the uncomfortable feeling when someone you've known for a while suddenly disappears due to a tragic incident. While the perpetrator of the incident is right in front of you.

This is not a subjective emotion, but a rational thought.

So... in the end, is this all fear?

My throat constricted again and my goosebumps bristled. I shouldn't be here.

"I apologise," Michael said again.

I looked up, more alert than before. "What?"

"For all the mess I caused. It won't happen again."

I looked into his eyes, which were not as cruel as I had imagined. Those blue pupils may seem heartless at first, but if you look at them, you'll realise that they're not.

I looked into his eyes, which were not as cruel as I had imagined. Those blue pupils may seem heartless at first, but if you look closely, there are emotions that are hard to interpret there. "If you're so sorry, don't ever do that again. That cursed skill."

"Skill?"

"Yes, the one you did to trick us. That..." I shook my head and hissed. "That's disgusting. Let her go in peace!"

"Sure."

Surprisingly, right after that, there was a notification that echoed in my head.

[DETECTIVE EXPERINECE] COMPLETED!

"What?"

[As a token of appreciation for completing impressive missions and using the Calculative Skill to its full potential, you can now open the <Skill> Menu to manage your Skills]

You've got to be kidding me.

*#*

That's not a joke. There is a new menu besides <Inventory>, <Profile>, <Shop> that appears.

When clicked, a text appeared, similar to when I first got this power.

<Skill>

[Welcome to the Skill Menu. Here you can adjust the projection of the Skills you have as you wish to be more efficient]

[Do you want to go through Guide Mode?]

[Yes]     [No]

<Guide I>

[Skills can be obtained in two ways: buying them in the Shop Menu or being exclusively gifted after doing certain activities both on and off missions]

I knew about this from the beginning. Is this a repetition? Therefore, without paying further attention, I immediately pressed the Continue button.

<Guide II>

[Skill Management. Skills that have been acquired will be displayed through the Profile Menu, and can be viewed in detail in this Menu. Skills obtained can also be maximised through the Evolution and Enchance methods]

This is new.

<Guide III>

[Evolution is to encourage the continuation of existing Skills. So, when doing Evolution, the Skill you have can be upgraded to add new effects; amount of damage; durability, etc. without removing the previous effects that already exist].

<Guide IV>

[Enhance is combining two or more Skills that are still related to each other into one new Skill. There will be changes in effects, damage, durability, etc. The attributes of the previous Skills will not be removed].

<Rules>

[1.Enhance and Evolution require predetermined Skill Points.

2.Skills that have evolved cannot be downgraded

3.Skills that have been Enhanced can be 'split' again, but the Skill will return to its pre-evolution form (if the Skill has already been evolved). In the process of breaking, Skill Points will not be returned

4.Skills obtained from and or outside of missions are exclusively Permanent and cannot be removed under any circumstances. Skills purchased through the Shop can be removed].

There are some confusing things, but I feel like I understand most of it. So it's like crafting in an RPG world?

After the troublesome guide was over, I found the Skill column that I could 'manage'.

{Skill}

Calcualtive

Body Control

There are only two. 

It's sad, and it's even sadder when you look at the description.

So, instead of fretting and crying over what had happened, I chose to apply what I had learnt.

{Calculative}

[Evolution]      [Enhance]

We all know what I'm doing with this.

[You want to Evolve the Calcuative? This requires 100 SP.]

Ah, right. I also read about Skill Points earlier, but do I have any? It feels like it's also a foreign term to me. I never saw it on the Profile Menu.

And if it's also part of the payment method, then it should be alongside Gold and Charisma.

But, then again, I don't think I've ever seen...

Ah! Here it is!

Apparently, it was only displayed in the Skill Menu.

It says here that I only have 100 SP.

Wait, that means, if I do this, it's an all in?

Risking it all in one uncertain endeavour left me with a dilemma. What if the effect is not what I expected?

What if [Enhance] is a better choice.

Then I'll try it first.

[The system did not find a match between the two proposed Skills!]

Huh? In that case, everything already clear. I just have only one choice

However, is this the right decision?

Should I upgrade Body Control instead? Or buy another Skill at the <Shop>?

That's when my phone rang.

It was an alarm notification.  A reminder that it's almost six o'clock at night. What the hell is six o'clock at night today?

Akh!

Akh!

How could I forget?

I have a date with Susan Becker!

OK, OK, OK. Okay. Let's get this over with quickly, and start thinking about which outfit I should choose to at least appear non-embarrassing.

Eeny, meeny, miny

I'll take this!