Chapter 18 (1/2)
I ended up being confused momentarily by Mins.h.i.+k's absurd outburst. When I saw Syria, I did get the feeling that 'this guy is trying to form the Avengers!', but I hadn't expected him to fit me in as well.
It's because this guy Mins.h.i.+k knew…just how sick and tired I was of playing hero. He had also said it himself, how he envied me to the point of hate. After the both of us returned to the past, I had thought that maybe our relations.h.i.+p could have gone differently but we remained the same, unable to escape our 'love and hate relations.h.i.+p'. And yet, he would have me join him?
”Is the world going to be destroyed or something?”
”It will be destroyed, in the near future. But if you follow me, you can obtain a special power beyond ordinary people.”
”It's all too sudden so I can't quite understand.”
It felt like I just got uppercutted right in the chin.
A month was just barely about to pa.s.s since I've returned to the past, and yet Mins.h.i.+k had already contacted Syria, recruited a pair of unusual Chinese, and also wanted me in his team to boot.
'Looks like the future is going to turn out alot more differently than before.'
I was cautious when it came to this point. I took action while considering and predicting as much variables as I could, but it looked like Mins.h.i.+k was thinking of creating a big scene of things. I could tell he intended to make his moves with even greater haste while taking into account that the future will deviate from its course.
'He's just like a speeding train.'
The problem was whether or not Mins.h.i.+k knew when to put on the brakes. His current pace was going too fast. Of course the current situation was urgent so acting with haste on its own was alright. The problem was that Mins.h.i.+k was about to take things to the surface.
People were more narrow-minded than you could expect. Would the people accept those 'beings' that escaped the boundaries of their own understandings and simply accept them as heroes? No, it was the opposite. They would definitely be labelled as evil and shunned as such.
In my case (in the past) I had made my appearance after the existence of 'Gates' and 'Awakened' rose to public attention so I hadn't met much opposition, but Mins.h.i.+k would be no different than Superman dropped into the middle of Seoul city all of a sudden.
Ordinary humans and Superman. A Superman who didn't know how to control his own power was bound to cause problems even if unintentional. Tough times would definitely be ahead, and there was no guarantee that Mins.h.i.+k's heart wouldn't change through it all.
'Mind's Eye.'
I opened Mind's Eye just in case, keeping the possibility of going as far as using 'Dominate' on Mins.h.i.+k.
Name: Mins.h.i.+k Kim (Value – Impossible to Dominate)
Occupation: Magic Swordsman
t.i.tles:
? Outstanding Novice (Lv1, Str+1)
Stats:
Str 35(45+1)
Agi 24
Con 30
Int 20
Mag 15
Potential(123+1/399)
Special Note: None
Skills: Three Form Sword Art(Lv2), Elemental Magic(Lv3)
His value was displayed as 'impossible to Dominate'.
What? Was there some sort of criterion to this? This had never happened with the gnolls.
Frowning inside, I looked at Syria and the two Chinese siblings.
Name: Syria (Value – 30,000)
Occupation: Priest of Light
t.i.tles:
? Holy Light (Lv3, Int+5)
Stats:
Str 24
Agi 21
Con 20
Int 31(26+5)
Mag 30
Potential(121+5/455)
Special Note: She is under the effect of the Blessing of Light.
Skills: Holy Light(Lv3), Providence of Light(Lv2)
Name: Linlin (Value – 23,500)
Occupation: Cait Sith(猫族)
t.i.tles:
? Fearsome She-cat (Lv3, Agi+5)
Stats:
Str 29
Agi 35(30+5)
Con 21
Int 20
Mag 15
Potential(115+5/433)
Special Note: She has made a contract with the King of the Cait Siths.
Skills: Scratch(Lv2), Instant Reflexes(Lv2), Breakfall(Lv2)
Name: Shaoting (Value – 20,000)
Occupation: Beast Warrior
t.i.tles: None
Stats:
Str 40
Agi 18
Con 32
Int 11
Mag 10
Potential(111/420)
Special Notes: None
Skills: Beast Transformation(Lv3)
The number of their values were clearly shown. Perhaps because their potential exceeded 400, their a.s.sessed values were all high. There may be some other reason to it, but I couldn't find a reason why only Mins.h.i.+k's value turned out as 'impossible to Dominate'.
'Is it because he returned to the past with me?'
Was that why he wasn't a target of Dominate? At any rate, this was the first variable of its kind I had come across; I couldn't Dominate Mins.h.i.+k no matter how much points I gathered.
As I sat there blankly, Mins.h.i.+k asked,
”What's wrong?”
”No…I was just, doing some thinking. It's hard to accept having to leave home so abruptly.”
”I understand. You're also going through a hard time. But you won't have to leave forever. It's okay to come back at any time.”
I tried putting up a reluctant act, but it appeared he wouldn't give up.
”It's a bit complicated for me right now.”
”I know. But seeing how you've even made a girlfriend and did your hair, you're trying to move on aren't you? That's great. Because what we're going to do will definitely change you.”
I couldn't say no at this point.
Mins.h.i.+k nodded once and continued to speak,