章 6: Novel 1-The plan is Completed
.
.
.
---
/Meanwhile…/
/Clack!/
Rulio closed the door behind him, and once he confirmed no one was around…
"Haaaa…"
'Finally, it's over.'
'Pretending to act shellshocked wasn't as easy as I had imagined.'
Ruilo's expression eased as he laid down on his parent's bed, his thoughts running wild as he relaxed.
To a certain degree, it was true that Rulio was shocked by what he saw.
But he was an adult at the end of the day, the shock he felt was… Nothing great.
He felt disgust more then anything, and anger.
Yet, he acted as if he was appalled, it was the right course of action, otherwise, people would've found it strange.
'I'm sure that I'm not entirely free of suspicion either, there is always, for as stupid and little as it may be, that I'm part of this.'
'There were cases in the past where criminals tried to get themselves off suspicion by snitching on their companions and trying to deflect blame, and those that succeeded… Well, they're free men now.'
'I had to act to reduce suspicion on me, and I think I did it.'
'As for my phone… It's only a spare one, there are a few photos in there, but everything's sent to the cloud automatically.'
'If the police doesn't take it, I'll get rid of it to avoid others tracking me.'
'There are already several individuals who are aware of me, the fact the Detective was here to meet me is clear proof that they're much more capable then I imagined.'
'But this doesn't mean I'll just flaunt my connection to this case, I want it to end, as soon as possible.'
'I'll lay low for now, move to another city, get what I want, and train in peace until the National Competitions begins. By then, I'll maybe join a higher University and continue my career as a Card User.'
'From there, I only need to follow the original Plot.'
Yes… This was Rulio's greatest secret, first even to his reincarnation…
He knew how this world ended… He knew the story of its main protagonist!
And he had planned for years… To steal it from him!
/Close…/
Rulio closed his eyes and slept, setting an alarm for the early morning.
Tomorrow would be a busy day for him.
…
The night progressed as expected, with much discussion between his and Lin's parents.
The Detective was the first to leave with the other Police Officers. Lawyer Kim went with him to ensure Rulio was represented adequately throughout the investigation.
Mr. Don left soon after, eager to meet his daughter.
His wife had gone to fetch her, although by now, they were likely in a hospital being questioned by the police.
He had to be there, and he couldn't stay here any longer.
So he thanked everyone one last time before leaving.
As the night went on, there were many calls, troubled expressions, and other complications, but eventually, Mr. Xang left with his wife after he picked Lin from Rulio's bed.
"... Good luck, Xang. She likely won't take these news easily. She's a strong girl but still too young for these things."
"Haa… I'll try my best, but she'll treat me like a sandbag. I can't just put her to sleep like that rascal." Xang said with a chuckle as he looked at the stairs leading to the second floor
"Ha! She definitely will… Make sure to update us, okay? We care about her as much as we care about him… She and her sister, too."
"We will… Once this is all over, let's meet again."
"Sure thing."
…
As the hours passed, Rulio's parents remained awake as they followed through with the case's development.
Not only them but many other parents as well. Especially those that had daughters.
This case was quickly inflating, like a balloon… Ready to burst.
A few hours deep in the night, around 5 am, his parents finally moved to their room, and without much difficulty, moved Rulio back to his bed before going to sleep themselves.
Like that, the night ended.
/TRIM TRIM TRIM!/
/Open…/
"Yawn…"
But while they went to sleep… Rulio opened his eyes with a loud yawn under the loud ringing sound of his alarm clock.
'I want to sleep…'
At around 6 Am, Rulio opened his eyes.
He was meant to be at the airport within an hour, so after a few minutes of gathering energy, he went to take a shower.
At 6:20, he left home with Dav, carrying a small, singular luggage.
He arrived at the airport at 6:44 and embarked on the airplane—First Class at 6:49.
Exactly At 7:00, his plane took flight, going towards the South… And at 8:51, it landed.
[All passengers, this is a message from your pilot…]
"Hum?... We're finally here… Yawn…"
'The first step towards my endless growth… Searma City.'
'The Main character's hometown.'
…
Following their departure from the plane, Rulio went on a small stroll around the airport.
He wasn't in a hurry.
He bought food as neither had he eaten dinner, he also skipped breakfast. The food on the plane was good, but it barely fed him.
Mostly because he just closed his eyes and slept throughout most of the journey.
After everything was done, they went to fetch their rented car and left towards the city!
Rulio had long prepared for this day, and he had everything written out on his notes…
But something weighed on his mind:
'Searma City… It's kind of a backward town.'
'Despite its proximity to mine, the strongest Card Users here are only Advanced Rank with a few rare Experts spread out.'
'Its a sea city built around wide open plains, with very welcoming and warm citizens, but it was also clad in corruption, mostly around Card Users and the way they bent the laws to their profit.'
'Murder for self benefit was almost commonplace amidst their ranks, it was a terrible place to start as a user… Although some may say its a place it best represents the mind of Card Users.'
'For me, I don't really care, it's Human nature, their nature… I can't change it. Nor can I do much even if I wanted to.'
'And I don't.'
'It is hypocrisy… But its how I feel. I can't save everyone nor avenge the dead.'
'I can only grow and protect myself, and once I do grow strong, protect the few as well.'
'Until then, I'm only a 15-year-old conceited brat with big dreams.'
'As for my goal, it's simple. I'm here to rob the Mc of his Talent.'
'Rudimentary Card Alchemy… The Talent that allows the Mc to limitlessly enhance cards without penalties nor the chance for them to break.'
'Enhancing Cards has their own benefits, they're so great that even a single enhancement can often increase a Card's effectiveness by 10% if not more.'
'However, enhancing Cards pushes them to their limits, improving their abilities and foundation.'
'Each enhancement strains them further and further, increasing the chances of them breaking, and eventually, reaching the point where they just… Snap.'
'Centuries of studies have made Card Enhancement safer and more understood, with professions dedicated solely to enhancing and repairing Cards, but even so, no one can guarantee anything, such is their nature, the rule of the Card System.'
'Every 10 Enhancement Levels there is a large clif where the difficulty of enhancement Spikes, together with its costs…'
'Every 20 Enhancement Levels a Card receives an Option, a boost to their abilities.'
'And at first, the boost is "small", like an increase to their Stats, and other times, it can do things like summoning two minions instead of one, or your minion is summoned with armor and so on.'
'They're add ons that can significantly enhance their power to the point they may compete with higher grades and rarer cards.'
'Then, its obvious everyone would want to raise their Cards to that point. But its hard, even for my family to raise high level Cards past 10, much less 20. It is a fundamental of this world.'
'Rudimentary Card Alchemy, however, allowed the main character to endless improve cards without the risk of them failing, as such he could reach Enhancement +40, +60, +80, and even +100 Cards, allowing them to have 5 or more Options, turning them into abominations.'
'As your enhancement Level increases, so does the complexity and degree each enhancement provides.'
'For example, imagine every Level enhances a Card's Stats by 2%, however, its always 2% of its current value, not base… So it's an exponential increase.'
'And the increase of 2% doesn't remain the same… It increases over time, to the point that from +99 to +100 the increase in Stats may be of 50%.'
'But… There was a catch… As always.'
'Rudimentary Card Alchemy can only be used on Common and Basic Cards, and above all, the Mc was poor, so even if he poured all of his money… He could only enhance his Cards a few times.'
'It is possible to spend Ether to directly raise Cards, but that process consumes a lot of energy and has a terrible success rate, but obviously, none of that mattered to the Mc.'
'Like that, the Mc managed to raise most of his basic Cards to +20 over a few sleepless nights of injecting energy. He would eventually become good enough to enhance an entire pack within a single night, which would be enough for him to make a living, but he's stupid so he never thought about that.'
'It would take a literal disaster were a dozen Intermediate Card Users would die for him to learn of the effects of raising Cards past their limit, towards +100 and above, towards an imaginary limit only conceived in theory...'
'What would happen if a Card was pushed beyond the limits of the Card Rule… Well… The Mc found out, many Arcs later… Because he's a dumbass.'
'Anyhow, back to the past, at that fatidic day, he would steal the Cards and resources of his dead companions to boost his useless cards to oblivion, creating his first +100 Minion Card… Basic Card.'
'With that alone, he could face an Intermediate Card User, it doesn't sound too good, but once he manages to raise it past that while also adding things like uh… +100 Support Card, +100 Enhancement Card, +100 Boost Card, +100 Barrier Card, and a few more +100 Minion Cards… He would grow strong enough to face even an Expert Card User despite his pitiful Ether Gauge and Grade.'
'But for as great as all that sound… I'm not here only for that.'
'I know the potential of his ability and I know what the Mc did to grow even further. And above all, I have money.'
'The money to make the Mc's wildest dreams possible! To become an insanely powerfull Card Monster!'
'With the power of money, as long as I can get my hands on his Talent, I can immediately raise my strength to that of a Card Master within a month or two.'
'Then you tell me if that's a useless Talent or not!'
'My plan was to use a super rare item to make a deal with the Mc.'
'Right now, he should be despairing over his Talent, so I would go to him and make an offer:'
'He would give me his Talent, and I would give him another!'
'That much is possible with the Power of technology and super rare items from Broken and Scattered realms.'
'... Well… What are those? It's hard to explain, they weren't explained very well in the story.'
'The original story was extremely consistent sometimes and frustratingly inconsistent in others… This was one of those times.'
'But in short, they would be fragments of chaotic energy given shape in the real world by the power of the Card Rule. Ancient mysteries and more from this and other's Dimensions, past, present, and future.'
'They could also be called Dungeons where Card Users go to kill stuff and get more Cards and resources.'
'Anyhow, I would use an extremely rare item to remove the Mc's Talent and then another rare item to infuse a new Talent onto him, finishing the contract and moving on with my life.'
'I would then infuse his Talent onto me and making my way to the top… But now I'm bummed.'
'My hidden Talent allows me to pick a Talent and make it genetically mine… This is far beyond what the item can do.'
'This means that my descendants would also be able to enjoy this Talent, but that's something else, what I care are the repercussions of this idea for the future.'
'Eventually, once we reach the limit of the Card Rule, a new world will open for us and then… Talents will show their true forms!'
'But only for these genetic Talents, if you got one from elicit means… It'll only backfire.'
'With my Talents, I knew I wouldn't be able to go so far, so I was willing to take the risk to even get the chance to step in that stage, but now… Things are different.'
'And above all, I'm also aware of the Mc's two other Talents he would only awaken later!'
'Then there's also the idea of me just copying one of his Talents and leaving before he meets me.'
'This is good because the Mc would grow as per normal and cause trouble throughout the Nation and eventually the World, I could use this mess to grow quietly. Gobling up whatever mess he left behind.'
'But at the same time, I would risk letting the world know of 'my' Ability and learning its characteristics… But above all, it would be the problem that leaving the Mc alone would create.'
'He's a monster in a cage, a stupid monster, I can't let him walk around unleashed. What if he turns his fangs to me? No way in hell.'
'But if I steal his Talent like this… There are benefits to things and I don't know what to do!'
'If I had two charges of my Talent, I would act immediately and steal his Talents only to destroy it, leaving me as their only holder.'
'But now, I'm here sitting like a dumbass trying to figure out how to proceed.'
'It's frustrating.'
'For comparison sake, the Mc's second Talent allows him to increase a Card's Grade to Intermadiate, be it a Common or a Basic Card.'
'It was a massive strength for him as it allowed him to raise his strongest Card to Intermidiate, albeit only one could be improved at a time.'
'Eventually he evolved his Talent, allowing him to evolve Basic Card permanently and one Intermediate Card to Advanced.'
'It is possible to enhance Talents and Cards beyond their Grades, but it's very hard. It's often something discussed amidst Higher Ranked Card Users like Masters and Grandmasters.'
'Plebs like everyone else would often only hear about these kinds of legendary things, treating them as myths.'
'But it's possible, that is why I wanted the Talent even more… Because I'm rich and I have connections. I can make it happen.'
'In that note, maybe his secondary Talent isn't useful to me, but its a great quality of life for sure, evolving this Talent further could mean that any Card could be evolved any time, turning it into one of the most illegal Talents ever~.'
'There was once a person who had the ability of Omni Card Enhancement and Omni Evolution, allowing him to upgrade everything, from Talents to Cards, forever.'
'He was a fool as he didn't hold himself back and eventually died before he could achieve even a fraction of his potential, but he left a legacy, a legacy the Mc got, allowing him to upgrade his third and last Talent onto a new form.'
'I don't really need his third Talent as it's merely a plot device for the Mc. But it's important to remember why my last two Talents must go!'
'They resemble him too much! The ability to turn a Talent into a growth type Talent with endless potential?! Looks just like a certain madman…'
'Those guys on top wouldn't risk a second coming of this monster, I would vanish overnight and so would my entire bloodline.'
'As such, I need to get out of me, fast! Especially now that I attracted some attention.'
'Can you see the pattern here? The Mc is the exact copy of this guy, and there are even some indications he is his reincarnation!'
'A Talent to Enhance Cards and a Talent to Evolve Cards, even if both cover only a fragment of the whole System, it's similar to the previous guy, albeit much weakened.'
'Eventually, by using his third Evolved Talent, the Main Character can reach a somewhat similar state as that guy… But that is much, much deeper in the story, and by then, the mc would pretty much be the world's enemy.'
'I, on the other hand. Have no such plans.'
'I'll grow calmly and safely, and by the time anyone realizes what's going on, it'll be too late.'
'They'll ovate and praise me, I'll grow with the qualifications and become a master by playing their game.'
'To emerge victorious, I won't confront the whole world. The world itself will push me to be its ruler.'
'But… Those already at the top will resist, one way or another, as such…'
'Should I let the Mc struggle in my place?'
Rulio looked outside as he saw the city slowly pass by, thinking and thinking…
His mind quickly lost in 1000 thoughts.
…
/Stop…/
"We've arrived, young master."
"Finally… It's time."
They stopped by the side of the road in a parking spot before a small noodles shop.
According to his investigation, there was a high chance his target would be working inside now. It was the perfect moment to strike as he was away from his protegee.
'There is only one thing I have to worry about… His Uncle.'
'Around a year before he awakened, the Mc's parents perished due to work-related issues, he was then sent to a close familiar to live with as he was underaged.'
'That's how the law works… Unfortunately, the law can't be right all the time.'
'The Mc's Uncle stole all of his inheritance... This includes their house, assets, bank accounts, and even some of their Cards.'
'Meanwhile, he had the Mc work to pay for most of his things while treating him nicely as if it was the course of things as they were a little poor.'
'Of course, it would've been easy to see something was wrong, after all, the Mc's Uncle is an intermediate Card User, there's no way he's poor!'
'Because their bodies were never recovered, their Cards were never recovered either, but there was still enough wealth to build an entire deck similar to theirs from scratch.'
'Unfortunately, his Uncle blew most of it away in useless things, which was why he was an Intermediate Grade Card User while his brother and sister-in-law were Advanced Grade and on their way to becoming Experts.'
'If I approach the Mc with him nearby, it'll be impossible to convince the Mc of some things, but if he's away… It'll be easy.'
'The Mc is a naive idiot who doesn't know how to differentiate an evil guy from a good guy, one can say it's his age, but he barely grew throughout the story.'
'That is why I have a plan.'
Rulio grabbed a large suitcase on the side and left the car with Dav. Together, they looked like businessmen.
Although his age certainly made things a little more complicated…
He could at least make himself look slightly older thanks to things like clothes, glasses, and his facial expression, which should be enough for the dumbass Mc.
So… He stepped forward with haste.
/Cling cling cling…/
"Welcome to the shop! How may I… Oh… Is this about the rent again?" The owner of the shop, a middle aged man with a rough expression said towards them as his expression tensed
"Not at all Boss, we're here to meet Mr. Feng, we heard he works here, is that true?"
"Mr. Feng?... Oh! You mean that brat… I mean, Little Feng! Yeah, he's here, let me call him for you two."
"..."
'What a rat.'
Rulio despised this type of person, always looking for themselves, with no degree of compassion of caring for others, even if that other one is a child.
It was beyond mere preservation, it was almost a type of belief…
In short, he was douchebag.
"E-E-E-Excuse me!"
From the side, a little boy with blond hair and red eyes approached them with his hands tucked within his legs, his voice was sweet and his body was thin. Overall, he was clearly weak.
But his eyes were bright and full of energy, despite his rough appearance.
'He really is being treated rough… It's making me feel pity.'
"Are you Mr. Feng? My name's Rul and this is Edd, we're from the NPCB which stands for the National Protection Card Bank."
"Pleasure to make you acquainted."
"M-M-Me too!"
"Please… Take a seat." Rulio said as he pointed at a table nearby
/Sit… Raise!/
The moment they sat down, Dav deployed a small barrier around them, preventing others from seeing or hearing what was being discussed inside.
"W-What is going on?"
"Our apologies if it startled you. It's just protocol."
"We're here to settle some pending matters regarding your parents' account, which is about to expire. Unfortunately, we tried to contact their closest relatives multiple times, but we failed."
"B-Bank account?!"
"Yes, Sir, around two years ago, your parents, Mr and Miss Feng, opened a joint account in your name."
"M-My name?!"
"Correct, sir, it's a common practice among independent Card Users. It allows them to retain a portion of their wealth and pass it on to their descendants directly without going through the tedious process of bureaucracy. We do that all on our on and leave the passing of the wealth to our clients directly."
"Due to your age, there has been several issues regarding the transfer of the inheritance, and as the account is on the verge of expiring, we've come directly to settle it with you."
"In short, you just need to sign this paper. It's a mere agreement where you accept the value. As you can read here, it dictates the total amount on the account, equating to 1 Million, 135 thousand, 268.92 Shards."
"O-O-O-One Million?!"
"Correct sir. Now, please, read below."
"This amount already accounts taxes, not including some other federal taxes as this type of transfer does not fall under their legislation, you can read it below, here, and here."
"However, There is still the fee for transferring everything onto your person and the long overdue fee from the account's maintenance."
"The total costs equate to… 31 thousand, 457 Shards, as specified in these lines… To here."
"The true amount is 1 Million, 103 thousand, 811.92 Shards."
"A-A-Alright…"
"To confirm the payment, you just need to sign here sir. And according to your parent's will, the account will be terminated once you receive the inheritance."
"..."
"Do you have any questions sir?"
"... Did… Did my parents leave anything else?... Like uh…"
"I'm afraid not sir, we're deeply sorry for your loss. If you wish to check exactly what they left behind, you can access the federal website with your ID and go to 'National Bank' before scrowlling down to 'Inheritance in case of familiar's passing'."
"Everything is explained there."
"Wait… Really?"
"Yes sir, it's not complicated, everything is documented, albeit you should already be aware of the true amount, right?"
"Erm…"
Obviously, he didn't know, as his uncle's manipulation made him think his parents had nothing to give him.
Due to his young age, he wasn't really aware of how great his parents truly was, and neither was he intelligent enough to connect the dots after all this time.
Only when it was truly inconsequential would he realize something was wrong.
/Sign…/
After reading it once, the boy signed on the paper.
The contract itself wasn't of any value, however, if the mc one day decided to check its validity, he would find that everything is as it should be.
Only if he dove deeply into it would he realize something is wrong, but he doesn't have the skill nor the financial ability to do so, and if he did try, he would be notified.
However, this money was but a pity gift Rulio prepared for him, and an excuse for him to do what he truly came here to do…
"Thank you. With this, everything's done. We'll now send you a copy; keep it safe at all times." Rulio said as he took a small item from his pocket
/Scan…/
The item scanned the paper and an holographic image was generated, and soon enough, it condensed into a new piece of paper.
"You may keep the original while we'll keep the copy, thank you for using your services, and once again, we're deeply saddened by your loss." Rulio said as he bowed down
Dav did the same, without even a sherd of hesitation.
"N-N-No… T-Thank you…"
Rulio took out his suitcase, giving it to Feng.
He opened it momentarily, showing dozens of bills stacked together and ordely aligned.
If Feng was smart, he would realize something was strange about him receiving the money like this, but he wasn't, so he merely opened his eyes in awe at the money.
A million was enough for a poor guy like him to live freely for the rest of his life, as even 100 thousand was enough to buy a decent house downtown near the ocean.
It wasn't much for a Card User, but it was enough for an ordinary person.
"Next, this is more of an extra service we provide…" Rulio said as he pulled a pamphlet from his shirt
"What is this?..."
"Aside from everything we've discussed, the NPCB possesses a wide range of services, including one of the most advanced research institutes in the Nation."
Nothing Rulio said was a lie.
"We've noticed in your profile that you possess a talent you have never seen before. Could you tell us more about it?"
"Ah… It's… Nothing really interesting… It's useless…"
"My talent only lets me enhance Basic and Common Cards without them breaking… It's nothing good…"
"Hm, we from the NPCB would like to disagree! We believe that there are no useless Talents, that even the most inconspicuous of Talents can open doors to new fields of technology and development with enough study and research."
Everything he said came straight from their website, but would Feng ever access it?
"As such, we have a preposition… We would like to buy your Talent!"
"W-WHAT?!"
"You didn't hear wrong, we would like to buy your Talent!"
"B-But how?!"
"With the right technology, it's possible to extract one's talent gently and very carefully, and just as one can do so, it's also possible to transfer it to another person!"
"For the sake of research, we would like to acquire your unique talent for card strengthening! Would you be interested to hear our prepositions?"
"W-Wait! How would you even do that?!"
"With this tool's help. Are you aware of what this is?"
/Shake/
Feng shook his head.
"Very well, then I shall give you a simple explanation."
"This is a rare item called 'Refraction Mirror', it allows one to copy another Skill and store it inside it for later processing."
Now that was a lie. The item itself did exist, but it wasn't this box.
What Rulio had in his hand was a Talent Extractor, a dubiously legal item at best.
What he planned… Was far from what Feng imagined.
"Copy? This means…"
"Yes, you wouldn't feel much at all. But for it to work, we would require your full cooperation. Here is the contract, in case you're interested."
Feng began to read the contract, but midway through…
"T-T-Ten Million?! Are you sure you added the right number of zeroes?!"
"Is it too small? We may renegotiate it if you desire…"
"N-NO! It's too high! My Talent is only E Rank!..."
E Rank was the lowest possible Rank, anything less and you have no disposition to be a Card User.
However, The Card System was very dubious, it would hand out Grades for certain Talents and Cards that at first glance made sense, but upon a wider view, it broke its own classification and System.
With the ability to enhance common Cards indefinitely, one could raise Basic Cards to contend with Advanced and Expert Cards, putting the Talent's worth around B if not A Rank.
Yet it was deemed useless and scorned for it.
Obviously, Feng, someone indoctrinated to believe in such things would find this value, utterly ridiculous.
"We believe this value is worth what it is meant to be."
"The Grade of the Talent certainly matters, but its like buying the rights to a person's heart, you can't just offer a small price just because someone is dying… Pardon the visceral analogy."
"We must pay the minimum price set by the government, and that value, together with our own analysis, goes to around 10 Million."
"But as you saw, we're merely copying and not extracting. This, unfortunately, decreases the price we're willing to pay considerably, given extraction is much more cost-effective. We can, of course, extract your Talent and pay you… This amount."
"... T-T-Twenty Five Million?!"
"Twenty-five, five hundred thousand Shards."
"..."
/Gulp…/
Zeng was growing faint.
"... I'll do it… Copy my Talent!"
It was far too lucrative for little Zeng to refuse.
"But of course, we can do it here as it's pretty simple."
'Even in the story, Zeng was greedy to the point that he would overlook his Talent's true worth for things like Higher Graded Cards.'
'There is nothing wrong in complementing his deck with higher Grade Cards, but ignoring them for those was… Stupid.'
'It took an entire Arc for him to wisen up somewhat.'
'But anyhow, I did it! This fool fell for it! Although he's not as dumb as I thought, choosing to keep his Talent... No matter, my plan doesn't change.'
Rulio opened the box, revealing a small ring-shaped object.
"Once you sign the paper, just put this ring on your finger, and it'll copy your Talent, with that, we'll transfer the total amount to your bank account."
"However, this value will be accounted towards earnings Tax, although it should be reduced. Still, we advise consulting your Bank as soon as possible and in the meantime, transfer this amount to your account as well."
"Although if you do so, they'll definitely try to push some income tax into it as well. Between you and me, it would be better to keep this money on yourself to buy things here and there, you know, outside of your bank's eyes…"
/Nod… Sign…/
"Excellent. The same applies as before." Rulio said as he copied the contract
"Now, please, Mr Feng…"
/Nod…/
Feng put on the ring, and it began shining.
"You'll feel a slight prickle on the lower portion of your index finger, don't contract it else you'll only feel more pain."
"A-Alright."
/Manifest!/
"!"
'It's here…'
"OUCH!"
[Talent Extractor has been activated]
[Four Talents have been detected]
The very reason why these types of items were illegal was because they allowed someone to peer into the inner potential of another and check their true abilities.
This, however, limited their ability for growth, as the once blank sheath of paper had now been imprinted with an image, cleaning it so more images could grow was an excruciatingly arduous process, and hence, most Noble Families did not make use of it to inspect their children's potentials.
There were far better alternatives out there. Not that it mattered for him.
'Good, now I only need to use my Talent to copy his main Talent and use the extractor to take his second one. His third one is meaningless for me and… Wait a minute.'
'A fourth Talent?!'
…
[Ling Feng Qiang
Drami Rank Talent -> Rudimentary Card Alchemy
Calmium Rank Talent -> Rudimentary Card Enhancement
??? -> Er(o^ &!#^@@
Opline Rank Talent -> Reincarnation Wheel Principle
]
"..."
'WHAT?!?!?!'
[Reincarnation Wheel Principle -> Allows the user to persevere through reincarnation and maintain a portion of their past life's abilities. The more one struggles in life, the more they'll bring forth towards their next]
Reading through its description made Rulio's mouth drop!... Figuratively.
He still maintained his stoic expression as he read through it all.
"Erm… Is it over?"
"Almost. Are you feeling alright?"
"Yes sir, the pain's already gone."
"Good, it won't last long."
/Nod/
'DAMN! So that explains everything. This guy really is that madman's reincarnation!'
'No wonder… What a pain in the ass…'
Rulio had a big fear he kept tucked away at the back of his mind…
He only ever read around 1400 chapters of the Novel, but the Novel itself was over 2000 chapters long, that was almost a third more.
What could've happened in those chapters? What mysteries were left to be shown?... He would never know.
But here he was finding one such mystery himself!
'I would like to steal this ability… But from what I know, if I did so, I would only be killing myself in the future.'
'This Talent is likely what allowed the Mc to maintain his will from one life to the other, and it likely extends beyond that as well.'
'I should be wary of what I do with him… As if in the off chance he goes back to his previous path, I don't want to end up bulldozed through it.'
'And even if I take him down… What if he just comes back again from reincarnation?'
'What a fearsome enemy…'
But knowing full well his time was reaching its end, he made his choice.
'Extract Rudimentary Card Enhancement!'
'Activate Talent, Exchange Pact!'
Before him, Ling's profile vanished as dozens of symbols manifested before him.
But no one seemed to notice it.
/Shine…/
[Extraction sucessull]
'Great!'
/Catching…/
"Hm?... The ring popped off, sir!"
"It's done, your Talent has been copied."
"My friend Edd has already transferred the amount to you in advance, together with the proper receipts for the bank. We still suggest you pass it by to have everything settled."
"A-Alright! T-Thank you!"
It was evident Ling was ecstatic…
"It's nothing customer, it was but… A transaction." Rulio said as he smiled lightly
[Rulio Fei Dal-Chi
Shalri Rank Talent -> Crystalize Card!
Shalri Rank Talent -> Immediate Double Strike!
Drami Rank Talent -> Rudimentary Card Alchemy
Shalri Rank Talent -> Sacrificial Golden Egg!
]
'Hehe… Hehehehehe!!'
"Mr. Feng, have you confirmed the amount?"
"..."
"Mr. Feng?"
"AH! Yes yes! It's everything here…"
His thoughts were far too obvious for Rulio, but he said nothing, aside from smiling.
"Then… Everything has been finalized."
"If you're interested, here is our website. It contains dozens of interesting papers and videos to inform you further about our works and research projects, and here is my number in case you wish to inform yourself further regarding our transaction or in case you wish to further your relationship with our company."
"We thank you dearly for your patronage." He said as he bowed to Feng
Dav did the same beside him.
"Ah! YES!"
Feng bowed as well, unaware of what had been just stolen from him.
From there, Rulio left with Dav, entering his car without thinking about the rest much.
/Clack…/
And the moment he closed the door.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I DID IT! HAHAHA! I GOT THE TALENT! FINALY! HAAA… Haaa…"
His expression then went back to normal.
"Dav, drive to our nearest scheduled location."
"Understood, young master."
"Hoo…"
'I can barely contain myself… But I did it.'
'From here, I just need to execute my plans as usual. Put someone to tail Feng for a while and make sure he doesn't fall into the main storyline's path. Or at the very least, delay it.'
'Since we are of similar age, it would mean we would meet on similar competitions and activities, something I would like to avoid as much as possible.'
'I used a fake identity and face today, but no one knows if he would be able to recognize me or not… Better not risk it.'
'I originally planned on sending someone else to steal his Talent, but with this Talent of mine, I had to come personally, even if it meant risking things a little.'
'A true main villain never goes do the bidding himself, but I know how things would've gone if I had sent a goon after the Mc… It would've just pushed him to the main storyline faster.'
'Coming here on my own was an assurance that wouldn't happen.'
"Young Master, may I ask a question?"
"... Is this about what just happened?"
"Correct… What was that all about? Were you interested in that young man's Talent? If so, you could've done things in such a simpler way…"
"You're right Dav, but there were a few things I had to do on my own, you see."
"That boy… His Talent is greatly misunderstood by many, and this item… It's but a ruse."
Rulio wasn't lying, but he wasn't saying the truth either…
"Everyone's been asking what my Third Talent was… My Talent was called Exchange Pact, it allowed me to exchange it for any other Talent in the world as long I came in contact with it."
"What?! T-Then… You chose to use it to extract that boy's talent? But why? It seems such a waste…"
"My Talent also makes it so that whatever Talent I copy becomes part of my genes, being passed down through my bloodline."
"Dav, you and many others severely misunderstand the true value of this talent, and I'll show you all it's worth. That in my hands, it can be another Shalri Rank Talent, if not stronger."
"I hope you can trust me on that, and I'll trust you to keep this information between ourselves… No one, and I say. NO ONE, can know about this."
"I understand, what we did today… We only went by a noodle shop."
"Right… I'll provide you with an excuse in case my parents inquire what we did today… So first, let's go to our destination."
'It's time to make sure the Mc will never walk by the path he did in the past!'
At the same time, he smiled, saying inside his mind:
'Activate Talent, Sacrificial Golden Egg!'
A Golden window manifested before him:
[Shalri Rank Talent -> Crystalize Card!
Shalri Rank Talent -> Immediate Double Strike!
Drami Rank Talent -> Rudimentary Card Alchemy
]
It was apparent what he was meant to do…
His target had long since been chosen…
/Shine!/
[Drami Rank Talent -> Rudimentary Card Alchemy has received the Trait: Growth]
[Conditions for growth:
-> Enhance 200 Cards to +50
-> Consume 0.5L of the Nine Elemental Snake Wine
]
"..."
'Well… I never expected the growth condition to be simple… But it's quite time-consuming… And expensive.'
'Thank God I'm rich.'
'Now the only thing left is to absorb this Talent…' He thought as he looked at the ring
'But for that, I need more specialized machinery; the better the process, the lower the side effects later on.'
'So I can hold onto it for a while. It won't affect my plans regardless…'
[Rulio Fei Dal-Chi
Shalri Rank Talent -> Crystalize Card!
Shalri Rank Talent -> Immediate Double Strike!
Drami Rank Talent -> Rudimentary Card Alchemy (Growth)
]
'Finally, something I can look at without fear.'
/Smile…/
…
/Later…/
/PUNCH!!/
/SPLAT!/
"ARG! S-STCHOP…"
"Are you going to listen now?" Rulio asked as he crossed his arms
"YESH!!"
Inside a modest apartment, Rulio and Dav could be seen beating a middle-aged man up to the point one of his teeth fell out.
Of course, Dav was the one doing the beating, not him.
"Good, so here's the deal."
/SLAM!/
"EERK!"
Rulio slammed a contract onto the table, startling the man.
"You've stolen, deceived, and exploited an underaged by who just lost his parents, your nephew, and that alone is worth your death by rotting in prison by federal law."
"But young Zeng has no one to rely as a fatherly figure aside from you, so I'll give you a chance… The only chance you'll ever receive."
"Are you listening?"
"YESHHH!!" The man said desperately as he nodded
"Great, so I won't repeat myself."
"Here is the deal. I want you to continue acting as his responsible and to slowly give back the inheritance you stole, this includes the properties, vehicles, and everything that should rightfully belong to Zeng."
"It doesn't need to be now, I'll allow you to manage those assets, but they must ALL be in his hands by the time he is 18. No exception."
"Once Zeng turns 18, you are to leave him and his brother alone and leave the country, only to interact with them if they go after you on their own."
'Zeng's brother originally dies due to his illness and the fact they were poor, however, he dies not because of it precisely but because his illness flares during a bad moment, leading him to die during an important fight.'
'Zeng's brother is several years older and is aware of their inheritance; however, he is currently in a coma due to his parent's deaths.'
'He will wake up a year after his uncle die but will die shortly after for he knows the truth his parents were killed for...'
"If you can agree with these terms, I'll allow you to maintain half of the total monetary inheritance instead of 5% as written in Zeng's will. That alone should give you the chance to live frugally anywhere."
"But if you ever try to alter things to your benefit, you'll vanish inside a broken realm, you hear me?"
'This is the best way to have him obey. Otherwise, he may try to rebel, which isn't what I want.'
/NOD NOD NOD NOD!!!/
"Good, make the right choice, be the right man for once."
"Would you prefer to vanish as a loser drug addict in the mind of your sole family members or as a nice Uncle who gave them a place to stay and grow?"
"If you can reform, maybe you'll even have the chance to be part of their lives as they grow old."
"Now… This chance, I'm only giving it to you because of the dubious nature of Mr. Zeng's death, don't think we don't know what you were trying to do!"
/SMASH!/
Dav knew it was time to punch the man in the face, so he did so again.
"ARG! I-I'M SORRY!! P-PLEASE, SPARE ME!"
"I don't want to hear it! You're lucky they died for other reasons!"
Zeng's uncle was deeply envious of his brother, and for a long time, he dreamed of stealing everything he had, including his wife.
He planned for his death and created the situation for it, but he failed… But luckily for him, they were ambushed by another force unrelated to him, something beyond his comprehension.
This mysterious force acted in the dark and pushed Zeng's inheritance to him, making it seem he was the culprit.
When the mc killed him to save himself, he would later find out of this fact and believe his uncle was behind his father's death, and only much later would he realize his Uncle was no murderer, he was but a grim and disgusting person.
Even so, it wouldn't change his view on him much, but it would make the mc go after those who killed his parents, but that's for later.
Those people are likely watching and I don't want to risk them tracking me down, so the best I can do is maintain the status quo until the mc grows up.
There's a high chance the mc may learn the true potential of his ability with the wealth he has acquired, setting him down the path of the story again, but if that happens, I'll be there to monitor and guide him.
"If you want to live, make the right choice, we'll be watching."
"Let's go." Rulio said as he walked past the man and onto the door
"..."
/CLACK!/
The door to the apartment closed, leaving the distressed man behind.
…
.
.
.
Notes
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット