Chapter 22 :Enhancement (1)

Half a step.

I took a step forward and twisted my body.

Whoosh!

The arrow passed through the air in vain.

As if it never intended to hit me in the first place.

It was a paper-thin difference.

But I wasn’t scared.

Because I knew it wouldn’t hit me.

‘It’s so big and inconvenient.’

A lingering movement remained.

Soft curves spread out like waves.

I wanted to stop the vibrations.

Squish.

Two small hands grabbed the shaking breasts.

Finally settling down, the laws of physics.

After that.

Slide.

I used stealth.

My presence fades.

All the traps became fools.

And while doing that.

I recalled the brain structure I saw earlier.

That dazzling circuit.

‘Due to the damage to the left brain, most of the logical language processing functions were impaired, but the pattern recognition, spatial thinking, and geometric calculation functions of the right brain were abnormally enhanced.’

Arkeus obtained mathematics at the cost of damage to his left brain.

Social functions were lacking, and the brain was in a state of constant overload.

So Arkeus—

Read the world in numbers.

The world flows in equations, and everything changes into functions.

Movement is broken down into vectors, and meaning is reduced to calculations.

Because he interprets it as a pattern.

If I had to name it, an algorithm.

Prediction and optimization, an infinitely repeating feedback loop.

‘In other words, an autistic person. That’s probably why he didn’t get a perfect score on the written test during the entrance exam.’

His brain was unparalleled in remembering vast amounts of information and analyzing it precisely, but it inevitably revealed flaws in areas that required literary sensibility.

Problems interpreting the implications of classical essays.

Problems that require consideration of the atmosphere of the times, cultural, and social contexts.

Choices that require grasping hidden intentions within the context.

Metaphors, allusions, word frequency, logical structure, flow of conjunctions, and so on.

He’s weak in processing Unstructured Data.

Because the illogical sense that humans intuitively understand is lacking in savants.

So, it’s extremely difficult to derive the ‘answer the examiner wants’.

So, not a perfect score.

He probably missed problems that others easily solved.

‘Still, considering he got second place, he must have put in a lot of effort.’

The realm that can only be reached by having such a brain is.

Light absorption magic, Abyss Cradle.

Could I use that?

‘No. Knowing something doesn’t mean you can do everything. At the moment, I don’t have the causality to unfold Abyss Cradle.’

I saw the blueprint of magic with my own eyes.

I definitely acquired the information.

But understanding and implementation are impossible.

Because, I am.

A elementry school graduate.

Moreover, from a special school.

It’s not an environment conducive to proper study.

I’ve lived my life feeling braille.

No matter how much I have eyes that can see everything.

I lack the ability to calculate that magic.

But.

What if even that talent converges on me?

‘Hoo.’

Focus.

Discard the disadvantages.

Take only the advantages.

Ideation went deep.

Recalling the brain with the excessively open upper dantian, I looked into the neural network.

Occipital lobe, temporal lobe, frontal lobe.

Fine fiber bundles.

Tangled neurons and brain tissues.

Reversing the principle of heaven and earth, I rewired the neural network.

Forcing Neuroplasticity.

I controlled BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) and maximized synaptic connections between neurons.

I made the most of neuronal plasticity to push parallel processing capabilities to the limit.

The Neuronal Firing Rate increased.

Betraying the speed allowed by nature.

‘Is this also going against heaven ?’

Instantly, my body underwent a rapid change.

The Cheonmajiche (Heavenly Demon Body) reacted.

Like a bound beast released.

It ran wild, breaking the reins.

‘…Control is impossible.’

But.

Strangely, I wasn’t afraid.

Just as I have ideation.

Magi also has will.

Like a torrential rain that wets dry land after a long thirst.

As if the bolt of a tightly closed castle gate is broken, that power stretched out unreservedly like the roar of a thunder tiger The Cheonmajiche laughed.

In that joy, the suppressed energy was released and soared through the Conception Vessel  and Governing Vessel .

The nervous system tangled like a burning golden thread, and within that entanglement, something completely new seemed to be conceived.

Cough!

There was no pain, but I coughed up blood.

Black blood.

Was there still some kind of turbid energy remaining?

Sweat poured out endlessly from my entire body.

Instead, gradually, a mysterious energy appeared in my eyes.

‘Last time when I underwent a complete transformation, it dipped and then went down.’

This time it’s not a dip.

The Conception Vessel and Governing Vessel extended to the Baihui point.

The magi had completely taken root.

And with that.

An eternity of time was compressed into a single moment.

A massive flow, as if all the time in the universe had been condensed, overwhelmed me.

A sensation like a giant machine rolling in my head.

‘No. Time isn’t flowing slowly.’

My brain.

Is calculating at an incredible speed.

The neural network is explosively reconstructed.

The center of my forehead became hot, and a heavenly fire  blazed.

Ideation was concentrated there.

The Baihui point expanded.

I exhaled hot breath with the sensation of my skull becoming transparent.

‘Ha. It’s hot.’

My brain was boiling.

As if several brains were thinking simultaneously.

An overload that would overwhelm an ordinary human.

But the Cheonmajiche could handle it.

The frontal lobe overheated, and the speed of thought increased explosively.

The temporal lobe expanded, and information acquisition and pattern interpretation were synchronized.

The occipital lobe opened, transcending the normal speed of information processing.

I felt it.

Change is coming.

The upper dantian  opened.

Flash.

I opened my eyes.

Information opened and closed all at once in my head.

Like an endlessly vast library unfolding in an instant.

If I think of a single word, all the concepts connected to it expand like a net.

It’s not thinking, it’s an ‘automatic reaction’.

Yet there is no confusion.

Everything is naturally organized.

The feeling of seeing things I hadn’t seen before.

‘So there’s a world seen like this too.’

This is—

The way Arkeus constructed magic.

That logic.

That structure.

That essence.

I understood it all.

Instantly, the air vibrated.

A circle bloomed.

The laws of the world are modified through the circle.

The ideation I possess was unfolded through the magical formula.

A 3-circle magic.

I converted the design of Abyss Cradle to fit a 1-circle.

Converting the surrounding mana into a particle state.

Forming a filter that traps attributes.

There were many options because there was a lot of essence.

‘Shall I put in fire?’

According to the sense of handling unique mana, fire-attribute mana was condensed within the mana filter.

The shape?

There is only one thing a sniper should forge.

Whoosh!

‘This is a magic bullet. I won’t have to worry about bullets anymore.’

I should try it right away.

I loaded a magic bullet into Asadia.

The greedy dedicated weapon automatically adjusted the caliber.

When I lay flat on the ground.

Soft curves touch first.

Squeeze.

My chest is like a cushion.

A buffer is created between the cold ground and my skin.

‘I didn’t expect this to be a support.’

It’s useful in an unexpected way.

Thanks to the lowered center of gravity, there’s a good sense of stability.

My posture is naturally fixed, and the barrel doesn’t shake.

It was a bit stuffy to breathe.

But it was bearable.

What’s left to do?

Pulling the trigger.

Bang!!

The magic bullet was fired.

Thanks to the sufficiently stacked ‘Enhancement’ stacks, the power of the magic was amplified by 200%.

Recoil came.

A strong impact hit my shoulder.

The absurd elasticity absorbed the recoil, but it couldn’t completely absorb it.

Vibrations spread through my upper body, and the aftereffects of the explosion wrapped around my small body.

Slide.

I slid and was pushed all the way across the floor.

‘Crazy. What’s with the recoil?’

Belatedly.

My palms graze the dirt floor.

I tried to stop, but my weight was insufficient to prevent being pushed.

My body flipped over.

Tumbling insignificantly.

Instead.

Far away, at the end of the land, a heavy sound rang out.

Boom!

Something huge collapsed.

Thick dust spread.

“Cough. Aww. Dust.”

The air was rough and thick.

My throat became dry, and the sensation of dust filling deep into my lungs was unpleasant.

The surroundings were stained with the traces of destruction and upheaval.

The area was devastated.

It was an area-of-effect skill.

The Friday dungeon collapsed.

The Saturday dungeon was also swept away.

I opened the treasure chests with multi-kills.

And the monster waves were no longer a threat.

‘Especially the Saturday dungeon, where monster waves appeared and it was difficult to deal with them one by one, it became much easier to clear after acquiring the magic bullet.’

A sniper having an area-of-effect skill.

In the past, I looked at a single target through the scope.

But the magic bullet is different.

A single snipe becomes magic that engulfs space and sweeps away everything.

Now, I was able to aim at space.

That alone was enough to satisfy me.

‘But, isn’t it too much to give me a Box when I open a treasure chest?’

The result of opening the chest.

What touched my fingertips was.

Not a splendid treasure, nor a rare grimoire.

I grumbled and shook the bottle.

The liquid inside sloshed.

I let out a hollow laugh.

‘This…… I should take this during exam periods.’

Still.

There are other things left.

I soon checked the other rewards.

First, the mask.

The surface was smooth.

But, infinitely cold.

Something.

I felt a spiritual energy, I guess?

It was obviously unidentified, but I opened my eyes and looked through.

“Crazy. This is amazing.”

No way.

It’s a unique item.

One letter, one letter.

I read the description.

And realized.

Its value.

Transformation? It wasn’t just that.

For 24 hours, I can become anyone I want.

I ran my fingers over the mask.

In a fleeting moment, the mirror-like surface rippled.

As if it would swallow my face.

“Perfect transformation, and perfect finitude.”

All power comes at a price.

This mask is no different.

1,000 times.

After that, it disappears.

It’s a flaw that it has durability.

But depending on how it’s used, its utility is endless.

And.

Echo of the Dimension.

A World Boss appears probabilistically.

It’s a huge risk.

‘If the probability is 0.1%, I should assume it will definitely appear at least once.’

A World Boss, huh.

Achilles was a guy with clear weaknesses.

Fortunately.

In the end, he was conquerable.

But.

A World Boss is not such a being.

Before I was even born.

A disaster engraved in history.

When it appeared in New York.

The United States, which was the world’s strongest hunter superpower, was devastated.

There are still videos recording that time.

Flames dividing the city.

Collapsing skyscrapers.

The desperate resistance of hunters exploding in the air.

But.

It didn’t stop.

That one entity ended the era of the United States.

If.

If the World Boss hadn’t appeared on the US mainland at that time?

The world would be different now.

Korea wouldn’t have become a superpower like it is now, nor would it have this much prestige.

But.

Who am I?

The eye genius.

My eyes pierce even probability.

If I observe the timing of the World Boss appearing, I just won’t use it.

No risk, yes gain.

This is as good as mine.

I laughed.

“Good. I really like it.”

The 12-year-old body had many inconveniences.

Now, all of that will be resolved.

I put the mask in my arms and moved my gaze to the next reward.

Next is the skill enhancement scroll.

A total of 3, including the Saturday dungeon reward I obtained last week.

I intuited the probability.

Three 50% scrolls.

Only one of them is destined to succeed.

Crazy.

All three scrolls have a 50% chance, but only one of them will succeed.

“I, have really bad luck.”

Pouting, I unfolded the scroll.

The lower the probability of the scroll, the better the effect.

The lower the probability you break through, the stronger the power you receive.

The number of upgrades possible is fixed for each skill and item.

What should I enhance?

I decided without hesitation.

The S-rank skill, [Existence Denial].

I’ll leave this until I can apply a stronger scroll.

‘Let’s enhance composure.’

I opened the skill window and placed the scroll on it.

I slowly raised my hand and inhaled.

“Enhance.”

Fwoosh—

Light shimmered.

Two choices popped up in front of me.