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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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Sonia, having achieved the highest score in the shooting competition, was awarded a voucher for Colson Atelier.
“Wow. You got this expensive thing. When are you going to get your gun made?”
“After I graduate from the orphanage?”
Amon nodded at Sonia’s reply.
Colson Atelier was a luxury custom firearms company.
Their rifles were said to be worth their weight in gold, incredibly expensive.
Even in Punk City 3, their guns were extremely difficult to obtain, requiring players to complete almost all of the end-game content.
Sonia had just earned a chance to have one of these ridiculously powerful weapons custom-made for free.
‘Good start.’
Whether she became a mercenary, a bodyguard, or a soldier, it was clear that Sonia had a high chance of making a living with guns.
And to start with an end-game weapon?
Considering that most people who lived by the gun spent the majority of their income on equipment upgrades, her life was sure to be much easier.
‘And that company’s after-sales service is top-notch, so…’
Moreover, these weapons were difficult to acquire but easy to maintain, making them perfect for Sonia.
Seeing the envious look in Amon’s eyes, Sonia hesitantly offered him the voucher.
“Um… if you want it, you can have it…”
Amon shook his head at Sonia’s offer.
“No. You should keep it.”
His envy was that of a collector, not a genuine desire for the voucher itself.
Besides, even if he did get a gun from that company, he doubted he would use it as his primary weapon.
He thought it would be better utilized by Sonia.
“Then I’ll protect Amon from behind with this gun!”
Her statement implied that Amon would also be involved in the gun-slinging life.
Amon chuckled wryly and nodded.
He didn’t know what path he would take.
It could be the hacker route, the swordsman route, or even the corporate executive route.
However, in this dangerous world, having a skilled gunslinger as an acquaintance wouldn’t hurt.
Amon gratefully accepted Sonia’s cute declaration.
The two then headed to their next destination: an archery dojo.
The purpose was to assess Amon’s talent for archery.
On the way, Amon briefly considered Sonia’s talent.
‘That recoil control…’
Her shooting skills were exceptional. But her recoil control was something beyond mere skill; it defied explanation.
Countless possibilities ran through Amon’s mind.
He listed the special abilities available to characters in Punk City 1 through 3.
‘First, it’s not implants.’
She’d never had any augmentations, so that was ruled out.
Rune tattoos and engravings were also out of the question.
This wasn’t an external modification, but an innate talent.
If it were magic, there would have been visible signs, so that was also eliminated.
By process of elimination, the most likely candidate was Divine Power.
‘That’s the only explanation, really.’
Amon couldn’t sense Divine Power.
Even in this world, only those who had undergone specialized training could do that.
But he had knowledge.
According to his knowledge of the game’s lore, if a phenomenon in this world couldn’t be explained by either magic or science, the answer was usually Divine Power.
Got a bullet hole in your head, but you’re not dead and it heals on its own? Divine Power.
Trapped in an abandoned building, and the only way out is to kiss someone? Divine Power.
Someone died, and you have no idea who the culprit is? Divine Power.
This might make Amon sound like a Divine Power fanatic, but this was a scientific fact, separate from his faith.
In this world, unexplained phenomena could often be attributed to Divine Power.
And despite the name, the things Divine Power could do weren’t always divine.
It could perform miracles like healing people with holy light, but it was also the energy source used by Entities.
It could even turn a normal person into a crazed, cannibalistic monster.
‘That’s why people these days call it Mystic Power instead of Divine Power.’
Since the modern era, with the decline of religious authority, the term Mystic Power had become more common than Divine Power.
Amon himself, with his weak faith in his previous life, had used the term Mystic Power as a gaming term.
However, having witnessed the Goddess directly and received Her grace, Amon’s heart was now filled with faith.
Therefore, he stubbornly used the term Divine Power instead of Mystic Power.
‘Mystic Power originates from Divine Power, after all.’
Back to the main topic,
Sonia’s recoil control was highly likely due to Divine Power.
No, it wasn’t just likely, it was certain.
No implant, magic, or genetic modification could completely negate recoil.
It had to be Divine Power.
‘Divine Power… could it be what the orphanage director was talking about?’
He did have a possible clue.
The director had once told them,
Listen carefully. You two have a special power, different from other children.
So, if anyone ever needs your power, you must choose carefully.
When they asked what that power was, she simply said she would tell them when they were older.
At the time, both Amon and Sonia had accepted her words without question.
But looking back, it seemed that she had been referring to Divine Power.
He cautiously speculated that this was what the director had been referring to.
‘Come to think of it, donations to the orphanage suddenly increased after that day.’
If he assumed those were preemptive investments by corporations trying to gain favor, everything made sense.
He also understood why the director hadn’t explicitly mentioned Divine Power.
Considering the average moral compass of corporations and the government in this world… Keeping it a secret was far more beneficial for everyone.
‘She could have at least hinted to me that it was Divine Power…’
That was Amon’s thought, but he didn’t feel particularly resentful.
Honestly, he wasn’t delusional. No matter how mature Amon was, who would think he was someone reincarnated with knowledge from another life?
No matter how much the director cared for him, there was no reason to tell an elementary school kid about something like this.
Amon understood the director’s choice.
‘Honestly, I’m grateful enough that she’s providing food and shelter for an orphan with no connections.’
It would be inhumane to doubt her goodwill any further.
Amon finished his reflection on the director and returned to the topic of his and Sonia’s Divine Power.
He felt a surge of excitement, grateful for the Goddess’s generous blessing.
‘How will my Divine Power manifest?’
He was eager to find out.
Naturally, his pace quickened.
Before he knew it, he had arrived at the archery dojo.
To put it bluntly, archery wasn’t Amon’s forte.
In fact, he was even worse at it than shooting.
“How can my highest score be a 1 even after shooting like that?”
“Don’t be too disappointed. 2 points was my limit.”
Sonia consoled the grumbling Amon.
They were both terrible at archery compared to shooting. And “terrible” was an understatement.
Their talent, in this area, was cursed.
The archery instructor reassured them that it was normal for beginners, but seeing an elf child next to them, shooting for the first time, consistently hitting 5 points or higher, it was clear this was a matter of talent.
‘Archery is a no-go.’
Amon crossed archery off his list.
Sonia looked at him with concern.
“Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Amon was puzzled by Sonia’s reaction.
Contrary to her concern, he had no reason to be disappointed.
He still had plenty of talent candidates left to test. Plenty of dojos to visit.
There were swords, spears, wires, throwing weapons, and even hand-to-hand combat.
Even if he had no talent for weapons, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
He might have an aptitude for hacking.
And even if, by some remote chance, he had no talent in any area, it wouldn’t matter.
He was confident he could achieve the true ending even then.
‘I’ve beaten the final boss with a dildo, even with all talent values set to 0.’
If all else failed, he could simply learn. There was no need to worry.
Seeing Amon’s genuine nonchalance, Sonia’s worried expression eased.
Putting archery behind them, they visited various other establishments.
And finally, they discovered a decent talent.
No, it wasn’t just decent.
It was quite good.
This was how they discovered it:
A swordsmanship dojo was offering basic swordsmanship lessons and sparring matches as a Thanksgiving event.
Since both Amon and Sonia were handling swords for the first time, they started with the basics.
They learned the fundamental stances, the equivalent of the Three Talents Sword Technique in wuxia novels, and then proceeded to spar.
That was when it happened.
“The winner! Amon!”
The judge declared Amon the victor.
The tip of Amon’s sword stopped precisely in front of the student’s solar plexus.
A perfectly executed thrust. No one could dispute his victory.
Sonia, too, was dominating her matches against the students.
At first, the instructor thought their victories were flukes.
But seeing them consistently win, even against more advanced students, he was forced to acknowledge their talent.
‘Those two are monsters.’
The instructor evaluated Amon and Sonia’s talents individually:
Amon had an innate ability to predict and manipulate his opponent’s sword movements through psychological warfare, while Sonia’s reflexes were simply superhuman.
While most swordsmen possessed such talents to some degree, theirs were overwhelmingly potent.
Moreover, the instructor noted that neither of them had any swordsmanship-related augmentations.
‘They’re this good with their natural bodies, imagine what monsters they’ll become with augmentations…’
In this world of bullets and bombs, wielding a sword usually meant having specialized augmentations.
Therefore, the students at this dojo all had various augmentations to enhance their swordsmanship.
Yet, Amon and Sonia had defeated them with their natural bodies and talent alone.
If he couldn’t recognize their talent after seeing this, he should give up his title as an instructor.
‘I must bring these children in.’
The publicity generated by having such talented and attractive young students would make their tuition fees seem trivial. It was an investment.
‘No, that’s just an excuse.’
Honestly, it didn’t matter if they became famous or not.
His pride as a swordsman who had lived by the sword his entire life demanded that he nurture their talent.
Therefore, the instructor made them an unprecedented offer.
“You two. You seem to have real talent. How about you join our dojo? No tuition required.”
The instructor made the offer with a serious expression.
Sonia, standing beside Amon, bounced with excitement at the opportunity.
However, Amon was hesitant, pondering the offer.
‘Is this… right?’
Amon recalled their performance at the dojo.
He knew it was unusual for him to defeat students with specialized augmentations using his natural body alone.
Based on this performance alone, his talent was undeniable, enough to tempt the instructor.
The problem was, while it was clear with Sonia, Amon wasn’t sure if his own case could be considered talent.
‘To call it talent…’
He wasn’t sure himself. His swordsmanship was, after all, just imitation.
It was a collection of overpowered sword techniques and boss patterns from the game, a mass of data that he reproduced with his body.
How to parry an overhead strike and target a vital point,
How to dodge a low sweep and counterattack,
Things like that.
So, while he could react well to familiar patterns, he was lost against unfamiliar ones.
Because of this, Amon hesitated to call it a talent for swordsmanship.
He couldn’t distinguish whether it was true talent with the sword or simply a veteran player’s knowledge cheat.
After much deliberation, Amon made his decision.
“Okay, I’ll do it.”
‘Whatever. I’ll figure it out as I go.’
If he didn’t have the talent, he would simply fail and move on. If he did, then all the better.
Since it wasn’t going to cost him any money, Amon accepted the instructor’s offer.
They agreed to come to the dojo every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and left.
Having spent the entire day running around the city, fatigue was starting to set in.
As the sun began to set, they started heading back to the orphanage.
On the way, Sonia spoke, silhouetted against the sunset.
“It’s been a very fulfilling day.”
“It’s not just fulfilling, it’s been a blessed day.”
“Hee hee. Thanks to you, I discovered my talent. Thank you, Amon.”
Though unintentional, it had been a very fruitful day for Sonia.
Not only had she discovered her talent for guns, but she had also received a voucher for a custom-made weapon and found a swordsmanship instructor.
It was the perfect day for her.
For Amon, however, it was a bit anticlimactic.
He hadn’t definitively identified his desired talent.
But he wasn’t anxious.
‘Life isn’t just a single day.’
Amon resolved to try again another time and was about to call it a day.
But just as he was about to board the bus, Sonia stopped him.
“Hey, want to try that one last time?”
She pointed towards a cosplay competition being held nearby.
Amon checked the time. Even if they participated in the competition and then took the bus, they wouldn’t be late for the orphanage curfew.
‘Come to think of it, there’s also disguise.’
This was a chance to test his aptitude for disguise.
Amon readily agreed to Sonia’s suggestion.
They headed towards the competition venue.
Up until that point, Amon hadn’t given it much thought.
That is, until he heard the receptionist’s explanation.
“Huh!? A gender-swap cosplay competition?”
“Yes. Men dress as women, and women dress as men. It’s a competition designed to promote understanding of the opposite gender’s perspective.”
The receptionist’s professional smile was directed at Amon.
Sonia’s eyes sparkled.
Amon, feeling a wave of dizziness, pressed his hand to his forehead.
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Little disappointed swords are there talent