Aphrodite's Counsel, Trade, and a Shocking Remark

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A few minutes before,

Random World - ToW: 2nd Stage

Kai wasn't weak. It did little to simplify the circumstances he found himself, though. Especially because he wasn't weak that it baffled him the most.

There were two reasons that Kai had to make a run for it a day before, hiding and recuperating within a cave without consuming an HP capsule

First, he had only recently gained many Attribute Points. 2nd Set's Set Quota had 50 Attribute Points within it. 1st Stage's rewards had already given him 10 Attribute Points out of the purview of this Quota. Then, selecting the five sponsors again rewarded him with 5 Attribute Points. Not to mention, upgrading Dementor's Blood Essence had also awarded him 1 Breath Point that didn't come under Quota, either. Till now, Kai had only gained 1 Attribute Point from his Set Quota, and that too in Perception as a reward for achieving a milestone.

16 Attribute Points!

This number wasn't a joke. Generally, as a rule of thumb, 4th-floor Contestants could squeeze out 10 Attribute Points from their missions. 5th-floor Contestants could get up to 15-20 points on their floor based on the historical records, as told to him by Item-M. Only the top-level Contestants, and more often than not those who were backed by top organizations, could reach the max count of 50. Otherwise, one could very well spend an eternity on the 2nd Set, and yet not fulfill one's Quota. But time favored none.

Even if one were to defy everything to get the entire 50 points, their life essence would run out before reaching their goals. That's why uncountable Contestants ascended to the next Set, despite not fulfilling their Quotas. This created a discrepancy in the quality of the Contestants on the upper floors, dividing them into low, medium, high, and top-level Contestants of a single floor, just like the Items.

Hence, Kai getting 15 points already meant that when considering Attribute Points alone, he was already equivalent to a medium-level 5th-floor Contestant. Not to mention, having Items, Skills, and Abilities, and if used extravagantly, allowed him to have the battle-prowess of a top-level 5th-floor Contestant. Add the monstrous presence of Selene, and Kai could even remain alive or attempt assassinations of low-level 6th-floor Contestants.

So, it baffled him that he couldn't even defend against a single blow of the young man who had cut his tail, even if he represented the top power of this Random World.

The second reason was directly related to the first.

He did not know of this Random World Timeline. What it meant by this Random World having D+ difficulty, he knew not. His attackers were no doubt human, Kai knew. So he could guess them being Demon Slayers. But, despite sharing the same power, he couldn't figure out the reason for the gap in their strengths, for Kai could feel even then that both Demon Slayers had shared some water-based sword style.

Kai winced hard as he remembered the Sword-Style. What even was that? It punctured his Advance Twin-Saber Style as though it was nothing. Even the boy who matched Kai in strength penetrated his defense, giving him a deep cut. If it wasn't for his instincts, that slash would have severed his neck. No doubt.

So, after careful deliberations, Kai decided to do a few things before eventually going out. Yes, he would go out, as hiding in a cave for an entire month wasn't an option. His Bad Luck would work with others' good luck to let them find him. Moreover, he wanted to obtain rewards, showcase his abilities to the observers, and use Heart Rhythm. Any of the three wasn't possible with him playing at being a rodent in a cave.

The very first thing he had decided was to not use HP capsules.

Kai's Stamina now stood at 16. That meant 160 HP, 9 Defense, and 8 per minute HP regeneration rate. In case of injuries to vital organs, internal bleeding, and missing limbs, both HP capsule and HP regeneration rate would deal with these in descending order. That meant, even if he had used an HP capsule yesterday, it would have just stopped the bleeding stump at the end of his cut tail before regenerating it, adding not a single point to his HP. Kai would rather not waste HP capsules like that.

The HP capsules given to him by the 9th-floor Contestant were a special case. Those capsules had let him play wild, wreaking havoc, and gaining excessive rewards. Now that he didn't have them, he would have to be more cautious. Such was his nature. All risks had reasons, and with the coming of new reasons, it was foolish to not adjust the risks.

The second thing he had decided to do was to contact a Sponsor and get as much info on this Random World as he could get, and if possible, to know why he had so much trouble yesterday against those Characters.

Thus, after sharing his intentions with the Systems, and making sure that it had been 24 hours since he had arrived in this cave, Kai found himself face to face with a black screen, showing the countdown of an hour.

"Ara-Ara!" The sweetest voice reached Kai's ears along with a screeching sound as if she was whetting a sword. Kai was too familiar with this sound to not recognize it. "Hello, handsome," she said. "You want to ask about the Random World you are in, don't you? Is that why you haven't left the cave?"

Kai could hear the Contestant Aphrodite giggle. It didn't shock him that his intentions were guessed so easily by her. What did the 18th floor signify? Kai couldn't even imagine. All he could do was nod.

"I can tell you," she told him. "What will you give me in return?"

Kai frowned. Yes, how could he forget he had to pay Mission Credits to the System to get answers? What did she want, then? What could he possibly give her?

"I want little," she intoned. "Just one thing."

This didn't please Kai in the slightest. With her taking the initiative to ask something, it meant she had already predicted that Kai would soon contact a Sponsor to get the Info. That she just happened to be the first, had just given an upper hand over others.

"What is it?" Kai asked, refusing to say more than he was required.

Once again she giggled, the whetstone honing the sword victoriously with a high-pitch sound. "The grade of your Mission Difficulty," she said. "Give it to me and you will have what you desire, handsome."

'What if I desire you?' Kai thought, sneering. But even he wasn't foolish enough to say that out aloud. He needed her more than she needed him. Her question didn't shock him at all. Kai had already predicted any Sponsor asking would have over a 90% chance to ask this question. Aphrodite's selection was just random for him.

'No matter who I selected, the outcome would be the same,' Kai thought, smiling slyly in his heart.

"D+."

Kai's answer came out of nowhere. For anyone watching him, it didn't even seem that he contemplated the answer before giving it out.

Suddenly, the screeching of whetting stopped. Contestant Aphrodite went silent after hearing Kai's answer as though his mission had shocked her.

Kai felt smug inwardly, knowing well that it was truly shocking to know that his Mission Grade was D+.

Aphrodite's next words shattered his smugness. "D+?!" she squeaked, shocked and disappointed. "Only D+?! Not C- or C?!!!"

'Huh?!' Kai was gobsmacked. 'What did she say? C- or C? Does she want me to die?'

Yes, he had Glitch. But even Kai doubted he was Worthy enough to get a C- difficulty for his 2nd Stage Mission.

Yet, upon further consideration, Kai couldn't help but think that he had no basis to know what difficulty level justified his Glitch.

"It is D+," Kai said again, putting the matter into the back of his mind. "Now your turn."

After a few minutes of silence, a sigh resounded in Kai's surroundings. "Very well," she said, regaining the sweetness and playfulness in her voice. "Listen then, mysterious handsome…"

Kai ignored the addition of "mysterious" to his supposed name, and became attentive, his eyes narrowing with utmost concentration.

Then his Sponsor told him a story that took place in Taishō-era Japan, where a secret society, known as the Demon Slayer Corps, had been waging a secret war against demons for centuries. She told him about the King of Demons, Muzan Kibutsuji, and how Demons were created, and about supernatural abilities such as super strength, powers that demons could obtain called "Blood Demon Art" and their regeneration capabilities.

Aphrodite also told him that the Demons could only be killed if they were decapitated with weapons crafted from an alloy known as Sun Steel, injected with poison extracted from wisteria flowers, or exposed to sunlight.

Then she came to the Demon Slayers, who were entirely human. How they employed special breathing techniques, known as "Breathing Styles", which granted them superhuman strength and increased resistance, helping them fight against demons. Thereafter, she listed all the Breathing Styles for him, covering their names and how to distinguish one from another.

At last, Aphrodite mentioned the Hashiras, the strongest Demon Slayers, their names, and major main-storyline characters. When she told him the story about the main character, Tanjiro, and his sister, Nazuko, Kai couldn't help but look at the wooden box placed beside him.

And when she laughed, Kai knew the story had already ended, with him entering the picture as the unknown component.

"You must know," she told him, "that a Random World Timeline is like a Symphony. The change, presence, or absence of a single note doesn't seem much, but it could cause drastic divergences. That should do it, then."

Kai remembered it all, but this was not the time to process that knowledge. Only a few minutes were left to his countdown, and after learning what he was dealing with, more questions sprouted in his mind.

"Can you teach me a Breathing Style?" Kai asked, smiling. "I will let you know which Abilities I have."

The whetting of stone stopped again. This question could've bewildered anyone, much less Aphrodite, for, behind the scenes, it portrayed Kai as a mindless git. Why would he do so? Why would Kai, with the cunning he had shown so far, reveal his trump cards?

Aphrodite struck the whetstone over the steel a little heavily. "It's useless," she told him. "Even if I were to tell you, it would be meaningless. A Breathing Style is an Ability. The only way to learn it is by practicing and training under a Demon Slayer and getting their approval. Moreover, one cannot learn the existing Breathing Style, as Contestants must create their own for the Systems to recognize it as an Ability. All this will need too much time. Years, if not decades in your case. Think of survival, handsome. Or…"

Her giggling intensified at the end of the sentence.

Kai didn't fret over the loss of the "mysterious" prefix. He stored the information and asked again, "then can you at least tell me why I, a Contestant, couldn't hold against the main character, who isn't even the strongest of this Random World?"

"Ara-Ara!" Kai recognized the playfulness in her tone. "Can't you tell by now?" she asked. "A Demon Slayer Breathing Style raises their overall Stats in the terms of Contestants, and it accomplishes even more. Tell me, handsome, how much your Strength, Stamina, and Agility differ from each other?"

Kai's face became ugly.

"Now, now," she said lovingly, "don't look so sad. It seems our time is over. Sigh! What will you do now, Blood Demon?"

This was the first time she had called him by his Code Name, Kai noticed. It meant his answer would dictate her investment in him before the commencement of the 3rd Stage.

Kai smiled. He reached into the pocket at the underside of his kimono and took out a Book with thick, black covers. The Book's title was runic and when Kai opened it, the first few pages were in the runic script as well.

"Oh, what is this? An Item?" Aphrodite asked. "Can you even read the Ancient Magical Script?"

Kai's eyes flashed with a demonic glint as he heard those last three words. He said nothing and opened the Tale of the Insane Scientist. The Primordial Theater opened the curtains and Rintaro Okabe walked out, laughing like a maniac, the flip mobile in his hands giving off blue light through its screen.

"Rintaro Okabe?!" Aphrodite sounded utterly shocked. "How?!"

"D-Mail," Kai said, activating the ACT. "Send the message - Do not contact anyone."

"D-Mail… Rintaro Okabe… Time…" Aphrodite muttered, the dull sound of a whetstone falling in a water-body echoing in Kai's ears. "Impossible! You…"

But at this moment, Rintaro Okabe pressed the button.

And the world shook.

The new chapter of the history of the Primordial Tower that had just begun vanished like an episode of hideous mirage.

[Divergence Number: 0.2790P]