Opening his eyes, Luk saw green grass stretching beyond the horizon. When he looked up, the night sky was filled with beautiful stars that stole his breath away.

  The smell of grass and the feeling of water hitting his skin made the tension in his body slowly disappeared.

  Luk was in the soul realm; that much was obvious. This sight was impossible in the real world.

  In the soul realm, you were technically asleep, but Luk had seen firsthand that people in that state weren't exactly sleeping; they were just... unmoving.

  It was similar to a vegetative state, but slightly different.

  Their eyes stayed open, but they still blinked normally. Even if you were standing when it began, you wouldn’t fall over, unless, of course, someone pushed you. But you would not remember anything your body experienced when you were in that state.

  Anyone who acquires a new Skill is pulled into the soul realm. Here, you can modify your Skill within certain boundaries.

  The restriction wasn’t exactly clear, since every person's experience was different, but three things were always true.

  The first was that you can’t change the type of Skill you have. A Passive Skill can’t change into an Active or Fate Skill and any other combination was also a no-go.

  The second was that Passive Skill was the hardest to change, followed by Active Skills, while Fate Skills was by far the easiest.

  The last rule was that you can’t change the core of the Skill. An Active Skill that makes you swing your sword faster will always, in some shape and form, do exactly that. Everything else you can change.

  The new Skill he got was a Fate Skill called [My Luck Isn’t Just for Me]. It allowed his teammates to receive a luck boost equal to 10% of his own total luck when in a combat situation.

  It only worked on Luk's official teammates who were within 25 meters of him. That meant it could only affect up to seven people at once.

  He really didn’t like the distance limit, the fact that it only activated in combat situations, or that it only affected his teammates. Long story short—Luk didn’t like the Skill.

  Obviously it was a Skill to help him when he was on the surface, but people only go to the surface once per month. That meant it wasn’t fun, and if it wasn’t fun, then it was bad.

  [One-Time Miracle] didn’t count; that Skill was awesome.

  Then how about I change it so that the Skill effect is that it boosts the luck of whoever I consider an ally, regardless of distance?

  Luk just had to will it, and then... it was done. But he frowned when he realized what his Skill now did.

  It functioned as he’d intended, but now it boosted his allies’ luck by only 0,0000125% of his own total.

  The more limits or restrictions something had, the stronger it became, Luk knew that. But golly, he hadn’t expected it to be that weak after he removed all of the Skill’s restrictions.

  “Are you already modifying your Skill? That was fast.”

  Luk looked up to see a human woman floating in the air; it was Book, his self-proclaimed sister.

  She was as big as the sun—maybe larger—but a second later, she shrank to human size. Luk didn’t pay any attention to the transformation and closed his eyes to concentrate.

  “Hmm, I made new friends, so I didn't want to be here for long. What if they had already left before I asked for their numbers?”

  Luk frowned, thinking hard about how to make his Skill useful without being boring.

  “Is your Skill bad?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  Luk began to explain his Skill and what he had done with it. After he finished, Book laughed, making him pout.

  “What do you expect? You turned a Skill that can only affect up to seven people into something that affects all of your allies all the time.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  "You probably considered strangers you've never met or even heard of as your allies. Think about what that means, silly."

  It only took a moment to realize his mistake; it was such an obvious one too. Maybe being in a hurry was a detriment, but it is what it is.

  “Ohhh, the changes I made make it so that every single person will be affected by my Skill.”

  “Exactly. The problem was that your Skill affected too many people and probably even animals. If it were any other person, I don't think they could modify it to be that extreme.”

  “There you go again, exaggerating. It’s not hard at all, you know. I don’t touch the core of the Skill; it still raises other people's luck.”

  "Sure, sure. For your new Skill, I recommend limiting the number of things it can affect. And knowing you, you probably wouldn’t budge on the distance. But that's not as detrimental as the Skill affecting all sentient beings anyway. I recommend giving it another restriction or limitation to balance it out.”

  If the number of things that would be affected was the problem, then he would just limit it. The question was how.

  The first thing he thought of was that he would have to know the other person's name to make it work, but he thought of something better; he would have to know the person's real full name.

  At a glance, it was a small difference, but he knew that was not the case.

  Before he could make the change, he realized it would still be too easy to affect people with the Skill. He could just read from a list of names and it would work. With that loophole, he knew the restriction wouldn't be enough.

  The next thing he thought of was that he had to know their face and name, but he could just look at their pictures. That wouldn't be hard.

  Maybe the other person had to say their real full name to him?

  It actually might be a good idea, but then he realized the side effect: it would reveal if someone was giving him a fake name. It was a good side effect—which, in turn, made it a bad one.

  Adding a Punisment if someone gave him a fake name would be a good solution.

  For example, if a person introducing themselves to him used a fake full name, then the Skill would not work on them, ever. But he didn’t know how often people used fake names.

  "Hey, Book, do you know how often people use fake names?”

  “Hmm, I don't know exactly, but in my time, kings and queens never used their real names; those were zealously guarded. Normal people, however, usually didn't bother.”

  Even though all this time Luk was still closing his eyes, he was still aware of what was going on around him. Like how Book was currently reading a book while talking to him.

  “But from the memories you have shown me, there are far more demons now than there were in my time. So, if I had to guess, people probably hide their real names a lot more now. Demons are the primary reason for it, after all.”

  “Wait, what’s a demon?”

  “Did… did you actually not know what a demon is? Aren't you Level 23?”

  Luk felt Book’s gaze on him. The book that she was reading disappeared and she focused on him.

  “Yes, and yes.”

  “Is the knowledge about demons lost or something? I’m pretty sure I saw a lot of demons in your memory.”

  Thinking about it, he remembered someone accusing someone else of being a demon. When he asked his brother about it, he said he would explain it when he was older.

  “Nah, I think a lot of people know about it. It’s just a me problem.”

  “Oh, do you want me to tell you what a demon is?”

  “Nah, I’m alright.”

  Luk was sure there was a reason why his brother had not told him about demons. He could probably guess what a demon was, but…

  Whatever, Book always seemed less energetic whenever she told him an important fact anyway. When he had asked about it, she said it was one of her Restrictions.

  Every time she shared an important fact that would help even a single person, her energy would be drained depending on how useful and rare the knowledge was. However, she could still offer guesses, advice, and facts he already knew.

  “If you're sure.”

  The book she was reading suddenly appeared again in her hands, and she went back to reading her book.

  Luk was rather proud of the name he had given his self-proclaimed sister. It was very fitting.

  Going back to his Skill, Luk decided the last idea was a good one and immediately implemented the change.

  As the new knowledge of the Skill settled in his mind, he groaned. It was definitely much better than the last version, but 0,05% was still pretty bad.

  “Luk, listen, if there is something that bothers you, I can always lend you an ear.”

  At first he was confused about why Book said that. That was, until he realized that he had been frowning the entire time.

  “What? No, I’m frowning because my Skill is still pretty bad.”

  “Then why are you in such a hurry? Well, to be fair, you're still pretty slow compared to a normal person.”

  “Like I said, I just have something to do in the real world.”

  The Skill still needed more restrictions or limitations if he wanted to make it good; 0,05% probably wouldn't help that much.

  Maybe the other person also had to trust him for it to work. There was a little bit of an overlap with the previous restriction, but he still thought it would help.

  Well, he could just add it to see whether it helped or not, rather than speculate in his head. And that was immediately what he did.

  The boost was now 0.2% of his total luck. It was starting to be... maybe a little useful, but not really.

  Luk snapped out of his thoughts when he realized someone was spinning him around.

  "HEY!!! DON'T IGNORE ME!"

  Luk realized Book was grabbing his legs and spinning him around.

  “Sorry, sorry! I’m just too focused on my new Skill!”

  Rather than stopping, Book spun him faster, before throwing him into the air.

  Luk shot into the air like a rocket and landed among the clouds. Before he could protest, the sight that greeted him took his breath away.

  A beautiful night sky surrounded him as stars moved in a beautifully choreographed dance performed by thousands of stars.

  It made him feel small, but for some reason, he found comfort in it. He was enraptured by the spectacle for a few seconds before Book stole his attention away.

  "Luk, I have met so many people in my life, and you are probably the most honest person I have ever met.”

  Luk turned to look at her; she was sitting on air, watching a shooting star right beside him. The fact that she could show him this sight meant that she understands how this all worked. But whenever he asked her about anything related to the stars, she was always silent.

  Of course, he knew the shooting star was not exactly a “star” and was just a big rock. He could sense it after all.

  "But the only times I have seen you lie are when you are lying to yourself.”

  They were silent for a few seconds, watching thousands of shooting stars fall. He always liked the stars ever since he saw them, but now, he couldn’t see them even if he went to the surface.

  “It’s alright if you don't want to talk about it. But I have known you for who knows how long, so I know when you don’t even realize you’re lying to yourself.”

  Book turned to him, meeting his gaze. The first thing that came to his mind was to reject what Book was saying, but he stopped when he saw the genuine, worried look on her face.

  Luk realized that he had not once looked at her face since entering the soul realm. If he had, he would have realized Book was wearing oversized glasses with rectangular lenses.

  Luk snorted when he saw them. They looked ridiculous, and for some reason, each lens reflected her eyes, making them look like a pair of giant eyes.

  He couldn’t help but laugh when she adjusted her glasses and blinked twice. The moment finally broke him out of his spiraling thoughts and finally realized that he might be feeling a bit down.

  I was scared of what her reaction would be when she saw me.

  Book had once told him that in the soul realm, you become more aware of your soul and can even "look" at it.

  Maybe that was why he was in such a hurry—not because he wanted to ask for Bow and Ursag's numbers.

  When he thought about it, even if he were separated from them, he could think of several ways to find them again.

  He was just making excuses to himself, now aware that he wanted to get out of here as soon as possible so he wouldn't have to see the taint on his soul caused by his selfishness.

  Shame engulfed him like a raging tide, and without realizing it, he was surrounded by water as far as the eye could see. He was drowning, and guilt pushed him deeper and deeper until the darkness slowly swallowed him.

  Then he felt a familiar warmth enveloping him, and he looked up to see his brother looking down at him.

  Luk saw his brother's mouth moving without a sound as he held a book, with Luk sitting on his lap.

  “Sorry, Luk. I have never been good with people, and I shouldn't have pushed you—especially in this realm. I used a memory where you felt most comfortable to calm you down. Sorry if I went too far.”

  “It’s alright, really. It’s just…”

  Luk then told her everything, from when he met Ursag, to the fight with the doctor monster, and finally, about the failure caused by his own selfishness.

  The words came out naturally, made easier by his big brother's presence, even if it was only a memory.

  Book stayed silent throughout it all, listening with an intensity that would make the average person cower. But Luk knew she was just like that, so he didn't think much of it.

  It only told him that she was really listening to his story.

  After he finished his story, Book let out a huge sigh.

  “Brother, that is obviously not your fault. How are you even supposed to know?”

  “I could probably have saved some of them, you know. If I had just tried to figure out what was happening, maybe I could have saved at least one of them. I had a couple of healing Artifacts.”

  She immediately tried to deny it, but she knew Luk could tell whenever she was lying. Her thoughts sped up, racing to figure out the right thing to say. From her perspective, time seemed to stop. But that didn't mean she had unlimited time to think.

  Maybe say to him “you tried your best!” or “you did a great job?” No, don't think that is a good idea.

  Back when she had realized that there was something wrong with Luk, she had immediately read a relevant book on mental health.

  If she had guessed correctly from her reading, then the problem was that Luk had impossibly high expectations of what he could accomplish right now. When he failed to meet them, it made him sad.

  That meant what she needed to do was align his expectations with reality, and she had an idea for how to achieve that.

  Time "moved" again from her perspective, and she immediately summoned a giant paper—larger than a mountain—in the distance.

  The paper appearing out of nowhere earned a confused look from Luk, but before he could ask anything, Book posed a question.

  “Brother, do you know what it would look like for a two-dimensional being if a three-dimensional being passed through their world?”

  It was an abrupt change of topic, she knew that. But conversation was never her strong suit. She always made her sibling do the talking, but there is no other person besides her in this place. So she had better pull up her pants and step up to the challenge.

  “There is no wrong answer, besides the one that is wrong, of course. Oh, I almost forgot; this is also assuming that the three-dimensional being could phase through their two-dimensional world without either of them being destroyed.”

  “I… don’t know. I’ve never thought about it,”

  Luk answered immediately, even though the topic had come out of nowhere. Book had always been like that ever since he met her, so he was used to it.

  “Let me think. My first thought was that the three-dimensional being would destroy the two-dimensional world. I guess the opposite could also be true, but if they could harmlessly pass through each other…”

  It didn’t take long for him to come to a conclusion. But that didn’t mean that he immediately blurted out what he thought the answer was. One of the downsides of his Class was that it made him almost always right, even if he doesn't think at all.

  Book was actually the one who told him about that.

  At first, Luk was confused about why that would be a downside, but she explained to him that it caused him to not think at all, which in turn made him become dumb.

  If he met something that knew about his Class and how to counter it, he would lose if he relies on his luck all his life. That meant he had to make a conscious effort to think, even though his first thought or decision was almost— if not always—the right one.

  “I guess they would see the form of the three-dimensional being slice by slice—even their insides—but in a two-dimensional form.”

  “That is… actually accurate, or at least that is the most widely accepted theory. Did you actually know the theory beforehand?”

  “No, I just guessed.”

  “That was pretty impressive, then. But let me still show you what it would look like. Look at the paper over there.”

  Book was pointing at the huge white paper in the distance. At first, there was nothing on the paper, only a blank page. But suddenly, a blue circle appeared. It slowly grew bigger, then began to shrink until it was gone.

  In the real world, he probably wouldn't be able to perceive the change so clearly, but in this realm, he was aware of everything that was going on—even with his eyes closed. That is, if he concentrates.

  “That was how it would look if a blue ball passed through a two-dimensional world. Like this.”

  A blue ball was suddenly thrown from Book’s hand. It phased through the exact same spot where the circle had appeared before.

  “Let me ask you another question. What would happen if a four-dimensional being, or a higher-dimensional one, passed through our three-dimensional world?”

  “I guess it would be the same as the two-dimensional world?”

  He would guess that if there is another dimension, the rule would be different for each dimension. But there was probably some sort of familiarity, for example, in how different dimensions interact with each other.

  Though it still felt wrong. Maybe he was looking at it the wrong way. It's not that higher dimensions had “different” rules, but that all dimensions had the same rules; the higher they are, the more complex they become.

  Like how a formula for a three-dimensional shape is an extension of a two-dimensional one. It’s clearly different, but not completely.

  But at the end of the day, it was just a guess. Also, he had a feeling that it would be almost impossible to figure anything out about higher dimensions.

  The only exception was maybe when a higher-dimensional creature told a lower-dimensional one about its dimension. You can’t luck your way out of zero percent. At least at his level.

  “If I had to guess, the being would appear layer by layer as a three-dimensional thing, starting from the first part that touches our world until it’s suddenly gone. But I feel like it’s more complicated than that, maybe not exactly different, just more.”

  “That is the most accepted theory. But would you believe it if I said that all sapient beings are actually four-dimensional beings, or maybe higher? At least, our souls are.”

  “That sounds… a bit unbelievable, but I could see why it could be true.”

  A book with the title ‘The Ramblings of an Insane Person’ on the front cover suddenly appeared in Book's hands.

  “There was a man that a lot of people thought was insane; his theory even more so. He thought that any sapient being was just a higher-dimensional entity passing through a three-dimensional world.”

  “What was his name?”

  Luk didn’t know why that was his first question rather than a million other things that he should have asked. The man was probably dead anyway. It just… kinda slipped out.

  “I don’t know what his real name was, but people just call him Obih.”

  Now, he was confused. From the way Book was saying it, that person must be quite famous. But she didn’t know his real name? It was quite weird, because this is Book we’re talking about.

  “How do you not know his real name? Did he not put his real name in his book?”

  “He never actually wrote a book. I would guess it came from a Skill, but there is a chance that someone else wrote the book, and was just recording his words, but I doubt that.”

  “That still doesn’t explain why you don’t know what his real name is.”

  “Oh, that? He probably made a Punishment in one of his Geases that erased his name from history forever.”

  Book was saying it like it wasn’t a big deal, but it must suck to have your name be erased from history.

  I thought that being remembered was one of the greatest honour for a researcher. I mean golly, a lot of them use their own names for their theory.

  That probably made it a good Punishment, actually. But isn’t Book a researcher too? Surely she understands the sacrifice.

  Though when he thought about it, he couldn’t imagine Book caring about that kind of stuff.

  “He thought that the stages of development, starting from when you are a fetus at 120 days old until you died, are just the ‘slices’ of your real self.”

  “Do you believe it?”

  “Not really. The topic of a higher dimension is speculation at best. Though it kind of explains a highly controversial theory, which surprisingly has a lot of evidence.”

  “What theory?”

  “That when you die has already been decided, even before you are born.”

  “How would the theory that our soul is actually a higher-dimensional being support the theory that our death is pre-determined?”

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “Because he thought that our soul was still something affected by the widely accepted law that an object's motion will always stay the same if there aren't any external forces acting upon it.”

  Isn’t that Oldton’s theory of motion? Maybe, physics wasn't exactly his favorite subject. Not that it wasn’t important, it was just boring.

  “Before you ask, the theory that our death is something we can’t change is highly debatable. There are cases where a high-ranking prophecy about someone's death was wrong, but it could also be because the person who made the prophecy was not skilled or was simply lying.”

  “It could also be because an external force changed the person's time of death.”

  “Yes. That is why, even though Obih’s theory was considered genuinely insane or just stupid with no evidence backing it up, it explains a lot of things that were previously unexplained."

  Did it? It still sounds kinda far-fetched. Maybe he was missing something, or maybe he was out of his depth.

  “There isn’t any theory about higher dimensions which I would say has been backed up by ‘proof.’ Ultimately his theory, for some reason, resonated with people and was one of the first.”

  That makes sense, Book probably also didn’t believe it. That’s why she didn’t look all that different even though she was telling him all of this.

  “Look at the paper again. Imagine that paper is our world, with the left side being where the world begins and the right side where it ends.”

  Suddenly, thousands of balls of all different colors appeared out of nowhere and flew through the paper. It then teleported back before flying through the paper again.

  “He thought this was what happens in our world, explained by two- and three-dimensional objects."

  Luk was starting to think that the person who had proposed the theory was maybe a little bit insane.

  He watched as a ball that had passed through the paper on the right side suddenly passed through it again, but this time it passed through the left side.

  “That doesn’t make sense. I know reincarnation is a real thing, but how could someone reincarnate into the past? And how could the paper still remain the same after so many things have passed through it so many times?”

  “Because the past, present, and future are all happening at the same time.”

  Book opened a book about a king and his royal knight and showed it to him.

  “I could skip the beginning and start reading from the middle. I could even read it from the end to the start. But let me ask you something: has the content of the book changed?”

  “It doesn’t, but it still doesn’t make sense to me.”

  “I never said it would. Explaining how higher dimensions work by using lower-dimensional object probably can't be done perfectly. Also, the person who made this theory said that reincarnation is something that should not exist, but we know that everyone reincarnates. Well, almost everyone.”

  With a wave of her hand, the paper and balls disappear. Then she sighed, expression exasperated.

  “He also explained why the world does not change by using a volleyball analogy.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes. He said imagine the world is a libero in a volleyball match, and the ball represents the entirety of all souls.”

  The image of a volleyball court appeared in the sky. On one side, there was someone who looked like they were about to serve, while the other tried to receive it.

  “The serves from the other team are moving through the past, present, and future simultaneously. So, the question is, how does the libero receive the ball if the ball is moving through all of time at once?”

  Luk just shrugged, not bothering to think of an answer.

  “The answer is: the libero never moves. The reason he thought reincarnation was abnormal was that there's no way the libero could receive another ball if he wasn't moving. No team is that dumb. And before you ask, yes, that was his only reason for thinking reincarnation shouldn't happen.”

  Luk stared at Book in silence, and she stared back.

  “I mean, there is a reason why so many people think he is insane.”

  They stared at each other in silence, and after a few seconds, Luk laughed.

  “I just realized something. Book, are you trying to make me feel better?”

  Her face instantly turned as red as an apple, which made Luk laugh even more.

  Book grumbled, and crossed her arms.

  “I am trying my best.”

  “I know, thank you.”

  “You're welcome, and maybe you should look at yourself before making any more wild assumptions.”

  A mirror suddenly materialized in front of Luk, and what greeted him was a pair of red eyes staring back at him

  It was a small goblin with messy black hair. He was sitting down, while being hugged from behind by a huge human man.

  He had kinda forgotten about his big brother's presence—no wonder he had felt so comfortable this whole time. But why was Book showing him his reflection? He couldn't find anything that was different from before—

  “Ahh, I see.”

  They stayed silent after that, watching the beautiful night sky above them.

  A couple of minute passed with them not doing or saying anything, but who could blame him? Luk could only watch this sight in this place after all.

  “Shoot, I haven’t finished modifying my Skill! Book, help me!”

  He kinda forgot that he was in a hurry, or maybe not?

  Then, Luk remembered that strangers usually thought he was dead if he took too long staying here.

  “Oh man, oh man, Ursag and Bow must be freaking out right now.”

  “Relax, I could just change the time ratio here to one hundred and one, so take your time Luk.”

  “Thanks, Book. Appreciate it.”

  Five minutes passed, and Luk was still not satisfied with his Skill. He had tried so many things, but the boost never went above 3%. And even the version that reached 3% had a restriction he didn't like.

  “Book, help me, please!”

  Luk was currently rolling around on the ground—frustrated. He knew that asking someone else to dictate your Skill was highly frowned upon.

  It was akin to giving them access to your soul, and everyone universally agreed that it was not something that you should give to anyone.

  There were many stories about it—none of them good for either party. Even his big brother never told him what his Skill should be.

  I think it's too late to be careful now. I mean, Book is literally right here.

  “No, you have to do it yourself.”

  “Why? You’re like, Level 101. You know things! And after all this time, there haven't been any side effects from you helping me with this stuff.”

  “It’s not because of that, you lazy bum. It was because it makes you dependent on me. You know yourself better than I ever will, so it’s better if you do it by yourself.”

  “I know you mean well, but just this one time, please?”

  Luk’s expression looked like a kicked puppy.

  It was his ultimate move, with a 100% success rate for getting what he wanted. The only reason he didn't use it on Ursag and Bow was that he refused to join a team simply because they pitied him.

  At first, Book tried to act nonchalant. But she immediately folded when Luk’s eyes started to look glassy.

  “Fine, you win. Tell me what your Skill looks like now.”

  “Yes! I know I could count on you.”

  The immediate change in expression after she agreed to help him make her regret agreeing that easily.

  At times like these, she kinda regret her choices of Geas to always follow through her words. Her siblings always take advantage of it whenever they can.

  “The Skill now requires the other person to say their real name when I ask for their names. If they give me a fake name, the Skill will not affect them, ever.”

  That particular restriction shows the most boost to his Skill. The Punishment was definitely the cause for it.

  From now on, he has to be extra careful when asking someone about their names. Not only could they give him a fake name, they could also give him a nickname, and yes, it counts as a “fake” name.

  “They also have to trust me, love me, and must have saved my life at least once. The same conditions apply to me, so I have to give my full name and offer them the same trust, love, and save their life in return. But what’s frustrating is that it only boosts their luck by 2% of my total luck.”

  “Your base luck, or your luck after being boosted by Skills like [Enhanced Luck]?”

  “I… haven’t thought about that.”

  Luk checked the Skill in his head, not every detail would suddenly appear in his mind if he didn’t think of it.

  “Oh, it’s base luck. That means this Skill really sucks.”

  “No, not exactly. I think you really underestimate how lucky you are compared to the average person. If I put a numerical value to the average person's luck, I’d say they have one point of luck, while you, on the other hand, probably have around fifty.”

  It was probably wrong, both of them knew that. But even he didn’t know what his luck was compared to the average person.

  There was a Skill that showed you your stats in your status window, but Luk thought that was a waste of a Skill.

  “I’ve never met a person with a Class that increases their luck. Except for you, of course. That means an increase of 2% of your total luck would probably make them 100% luckier.”

  “Huh, if you put it like that, the Skill sounds really powerful.”

  “No, not really. You have to consider that not many people's Skills—if any—scale with luck. If hypothetically you were playing poker and had a Skill like [Lucky Draw]—and we both know [Enhanced Luck] multiplies your luck by three—then it would feel like you could redraw your hand 150 times, making you unbeatable at the game.”

  “Big brother said gambling is bad.”

  “Yeah, yeah, it’s just an example. Fine, I will use another example. Your Skill [Path of Serendipity] makes you always pick the best journey out of 300 possibilities.”

  “So what you’re trying to say is that 2% of my total luck for the average person is like they can pick between two possibilities now? To be honest, I still don’t fully get the usefulness of it.”

  “I would say it’s more like a reroll, but who knows? Definitely not me. I am just guessing here.”

  Fair, she probably knew how luck worked from his past self, and knowing himself, he probably also didn’t know how luck worked. He is go with the flow kind of guy, not the academic kind.

  “And picking between two possibility definitely helped, alot. Imagine two equally skilled fighters fighting 150 times.”

  Two elves with rapiers suddenly appeared in front of him. They stood still until they both lunged at each other.

  "The likeliest possibility is that their score would be 75 wins and 75 losses, respectively. But if one of them gets 2% of your total luck, then the score would be 82.5 and 67.5. It would be as if the person boosted by your Skill could demand a rematch up to 30 times across the entirety of their duel, or the simpler explanation is that their chances of winning increased.”

  “Why those numbers? I honestly thought you were gonna say their score would be 100 and 50.”

  “Sure, if the other person got a Skill like [Lucky Duel] or [Lucky Fight]. But the chance of them having that is close to zero. You have to remember, you rely heavily on your Skills to utilize your luck. Without a similar Skill, I’d wager the effectiveness is about five times less, and I really doubt anyone could control their luck.”

  “So what you’re saying is, it's not adding another possibility, but more like…”

  He tried to do the math for a second, before he realized he hated it and immediately gave up.

  “In this instance, the one who got the boost has their chance of winning increased by 4.545%. You could even say their overall strength increases by the same amount. However, this percentage decreases with a greater difference in strength, whether the recipient is much weaker or stronger.”

  A dragon and a child appeared, replacing the two elves.

  “Your new Skill helps the recipient most when their overall strength is close to their opponent's. It will not help the child much in fighting the dragon, nor will it help the dragon much in fighting the child.”

  The dragon and child vanished, replaced by a blacksmith hammering a sword.

  “This applies not only to combat. Your Skill could help a master blacksmith create a legendary weapon, or aid in any other activity really. But it would be practically useless for an apprentice trying to forge a legendary sword, or for a smith who can already create them with ease.”

  Luk finally got it. It was simple, really; he hated math and didn't really care about all this mumbo jumbo. They were getting sidetracked anyway, and he was tired.

  “So… that means it’s good because I am so much luckier than other people, but not that good because their Skills don’t use luck.”

  Book was exasperated. Even across multiple lifetimes, her brother never changed. It was both a blessing and a curse.

  “Then what should I add to make it awesome?”

  “I recommend adding a Restriction, like you can’t intentionally tell anyone—not even a hint—about any detail of your new Skill, and add a Punishment so that if you break it, [My Luck Isn’t Just for Me] will be gone forever. Then, add that you can only ask for their full name between 12:00 PM and 12:05 PM. I wager those things will increase the percentage a lot.”

  “Okay, if you say so.”

  Without hesitation, Luk added the change.

  Immediately, Luk knew he had reached the limit of what he could change, any further modification would required him to remove one of the restrictions. But he smiled when the knowledge of his modifications hit him.

  It was now 10% of his total luck!

  Based on what Book had told him, that meant… It was good!

  “Wait, I added a lot of Restrictions and even a really bad Punishment, and it only made the percentage the same as before I modified it! How is that fair?”

  “Because you removed the distance limit. Your luck already helps the people around you, so the original Skill just made you slightly better at something you were already doing. But with these modifications, it’s been transformed into something else entirely—a permanent stat boost.”

  “Okay, thank you, Book. I’m gonna go now.”

  “What? You’re just gonna take my advice and call it a day? Aren’t you gonna experiment or something?”

  “Nah, I’m pretty tired.”

  Luk smiled, grabbing his big brother’s arms to make him hug him tighter.

  “The echo here is pretty great, but a hug in the real world is much better. Besides, the Skill has already reached the limit of what I could change, and I could change it later if I don’t like it.”

  “Well, if you say so, goodbye, Luk.”

  “Goodbye! See you again when I reach Level 25.”

  Luk felt something pulling at him, but before he go back, Book said in a panic.

  “Wait, wait! I forgot something! For your Geas, clear one of the spots! I’ve got—”

  And then Luk was gone.

  ---

  “Soooo… think he’s dead?”

  Ursag was pointing at Luk, who had been lying on the ground—motionless—for ten minutes.

  “Don’t say that, you idiot! He could still be in his soul realm!”

  “Yeah, right. I’ve never heard of anyone being there for more than thirty seconds, even in a history book, and it’s been ten minutes.”

  “That’s not true, The Four Heroes were rumoured to be able to stay in their soul realm for a long time.”

  “It’s The Four Heroes! Ghazal literally destroyed a meteorite that could destroy our entire world with a single slash! Don’t use them for what other people can do!”

  “He is literally the reincarnation of one of The Four Heroes.”

  “The Four Heroes are dead.”

  “They always reincarnate! Everyone knows this!

  Ursag just nodded, not agreeing, just didn’t want to argue. He was dead tired.

  Luk probably had some trick to stay longer, he looked pretty rich. His boots and gloves looked like they were an Artifact, and a good one at that.

  It was probably a secret information that common people didn’t have accesed to, or maybe it was just a secret kept from him.

  Knowing how to stay longer in the soul realm will be so convenient.

  It was one of the things that really annoyed him; he’d only gotten about twenty seconds to modify his new Skill! How was that enough time to think things through?

  More than that, you only learned what your new Skill did once you entered the soul realm, and you could only modify your Skill after you got it.

  So you got one chance, with no preparation, and very little time to modify a Skill. Wonderful.

  Well, I’ve heard some people only get one second. I guess compared to them, you could say I’m blessed.

  “Look, he’s waking up.”

  Ursag snapped out of it when Bow poked him in the ribs.

  Ursag saw that first thing that Luk did was sit up and stretch his arms into the air. He looked pretty tired, like all people do after they finish modifying their Skill.

  Ursag walked up to Luk until he was standing in front of him. Luk was looking up at him and started moving his arms around while they were still in the air.

  “Pick me up.”

  For some inexplicable reason—before his brain could catch up—Ursag picked Luk up by the armpits and lifted him into the air. After his brain caught up to what he had done, he froze, not knowing what to do now or what he was doing.

  “Can you hug me, please?”

  Any other time, Ursag would say no. But wouldn't that make things really awkward? Maybe not, and why should he care about that?

  He would just slowly put Luk down on the ground and reject his offer. What kind of person asks for a hug from a stranger, anyway?

  Just as Ursag was about to say no, he stopped when he looked at Luk’s face. The first thing that came to mind was that he was looking at an owlet, an adorable baby owl.

  So, just as your hand might reflexively reach out to pet a cat when you are near one, Ursag’s arms wrapped around Luk before his brain could catch up.

  It was rather awkward because, for one, Ursag liked his personal space—even with his sister and mother. He loved them, of course, but that just wasn’t his thing.

  Even when he was a kid, he always tried to free himself if his mother tried to hug him. Also, the only time he hugged his sister was when they were kids and their mother forced them to do it when they were fighting.

  So, basically, Ursag didn’t know how to hug someone. Like where he should put his hands or how long he should hold the hug. Ursag settled on seven seconds before releasing the hug, not for any particular reason; he just liked the number seven.

  Ursag released his arms and let them fall to his sides. But after a few seconds, Luk was still hugging him—now dangling in the air.

  He was confused about what he should be doing. Should he try to pry him off, or just wait a little bit longer?

  Before Ursag could make a decision, Luk began moving around him as if he were a tree and had suddenly climbed into his back, being piggyback by him.

  How did this even happen? At least it can’t get any worse.

  “So… we all got a new Skill, huh?”

  It was obvious from her expression that she was trying not to laugh. The jerk was clearly aware of his predicament, and rather than helping, she had just watched with amusement.

  “And Ursag, I didn’t know you were good with kids. Though for some reason, I’m not surprised.”

  Before, he’d been sure Luk wasn’t nine years old. But after that stunt, he wasn’t so sure anymore.

  There was a chance the demon’s Skill had caused Luk to regress to the mental age of a 9-year-old, though it sounded like a stretch.

  To be honest, for all he knew this kind of stuff is considered normal, he only had two friends after all, his sister and his mom…

  Whatever. They could figure it out when they went back underground. What he really wanted to know, ever since he met Luk, was how he moved around unbothered without covering himself head to toe. And now, he also needed to know how to stay at the soul realm longer.

  “Hey Luk, how are you in the soul realm for so long? And how are you fine when your face isn’t covered by anything?”

  Ursag’s first thought upon seeing Luk was that he must have had something to prevent corruption. While Luk was covered in leather armor, his face was completely exposed. Perhaps he had something like Bow's tattoo that offered limited protection. But Ursag hadn't sensed any mana from him.

  Even though he was far from what you'd call a practitioner of magic, he had still trained to sense mana. Being this close, he should have detected any active magic on Luk. But there was none.

  This was pretty normal for a Provocateur. Sure, an invisible ring could hide you from sight, but higher-level monsters had a keen mana sense, so such items usually did more harm than good.

  Unless, of course, the item was at least legendary tier or an Artifact. Considering he had already identified two Artifact on him, it was obviously the second one.

  The Provocateur role was crucial; some of them were people sentenced to death, but the majority of them were the absolute elite, the best of the best.

  From his brief interaction with Luk, he guessed the second option was far more likely. It could also be that Luk had a Skill to prevent corruption, which was the reason he had asked in the first place.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never had a problem with corruption.”

  “Wait, what? What do you mean you don’t know?”

  “Like I said, I don’t know. Since I was a baby, I’ve never had a problem with it. Aren’t you also resistant to it? Some of your skin is showing, and it doesn’t look bad.”

  Ursag fell silent for a moment, his expression blank.

  Is he the same as me? But full immunity since he was a baby? Is that even possible? Maybe, if it was strong enough…

  “Hello? Hello, hello, hello!”

  For some reason, Luk was now sitting on his shoulder. So now, rather than getting a piggyback, Luk was getting a piggyride from him—wonderful.

  Though, he had been zoning out for a pretty long time, so it was kinda his fault.

  “I have a Skill to resist it, but as you may have guessed, not full immunity. I’m trying to get a Skill to make myself entirely immune to it, so I can eat monster meat.”

  “So you can eat more often?”

  “No, Ursag just wants more muscle. He wants to look like Ghazil, one of The Four Heroes.”

  Bow snorted after she said that, but Ursag knew she sometimes acted like she was the Undying in the mirror.

  “As good a reason as any.”

  “He’s a barbarian, you’re an orc.”

  Bow was rolling her eyes, but Ursag knew she was just jealous.

  “Wanting more muscle is definitely a good reason to handicap yourself during The Harvest.”

  They’d already had this conversation a million times, so he didn’t reply.

  It was a good decision; Bow was just being dumb. He’d already told her it wasn’t the only reason.

  For one, his life wouldn’t be on a countdown if his protection against corruption was destroyed.

  He could also eat every day instead of once a week, meaning his soul energy and mana would regenerate much faster. That meant he could train more, rest less, recover from injuries quicker, and many other things.

  Why was she even complaining, anyway? If he acquired the Skill for it, her portion of food would be much bigger—their mother's, too.

  “Whatever. Also why did it take you so long to wake up?”

  “Why do you—

  Suddenly, without any warning, they were teleported back home, to The Underground.

  ———

  —ask?”

  One second, Luk was perched on top of a cool orc; the next, he was suddenly surrounded by people.

  Teleportation was really disorienting.

  Looking around, he saw he was back in the big dome structure. But there were far fewer people than when he had first gotten here.

  There had been maybe a hundred people before he was teleported above ground—a really low number, considering any other dome would host at least 10,000 people during The Harvest.

  But now? There couldn't be more than twenty.

  Are they all dead? But that would mean so many were gone.

  Luk shook the negative thought away. It didn't make sense anyway; his brother had told him they were the best of the best. There was no way that so many were dead.

  The more likely scenario was that all of them had a way to teleport back ahead of the appointed time. He had gotten an Artifact to do exactly that, so it made sense that they also had the ability, whether from an item or a Skill.

  "Hey kid, glad you came back alive. If you'd died, it would have haunted me for the rest of my life."

  The voice came from a man. He was wearing a… what was he wearing?

  If he had to describe him, the man looked like a wall. Wait, maybe the ground? He also kind of looked like a table.

  Luk gave up trying to describe the man in his mind; it hurt his brain, even though the man was right in front of him. It was even hard to pinpoint where the man was if he didn't focus.

  At least his voice was recognizable enough. It sounded like a... normal voice. At least his brain didn't interpret the man's voice as sounding like a table.

  "Hello… sir. Nice to meet you.”

  The man laughed, though Luk didn’t know why.

  “Yeah, nice to meet you. I’m impressed you didn’t come back sooner.”

  “Thank you? Is that the reason why less than 20 people are here? They’re not dead, right?”

  “Nah, all the [Knights] are okay. There are a lot more than you think; you probably just couldn’t see them all. The prisoners, on the other hand, are all dead.”

  When he had first heard that people were being sentenced to death here, he hadn’t liked it. But now, after seeing the monster above, he wasn’t so sure.

  “Are the prisoners demons?”

  Even though no one had told him exactly what a demon was, he could guess. It had been pretty obvious, even before he met the “doctor.”

  I guess I didn’t want to believe people could be that terrible. But you can’t be in denial forever.

  “Nope, just close to becoming one. If they had fully turned, we would have just killed them.”

  He didn’t know how to feel about that. On one hand, if they were as bad as the “doctor,” then he was glad that they were dead, they couldn’t hurt anyone else if they died. But on the other hand, he…

  Reaching a conclusion right here and now would be foolish anyway; he didn’t have all the facts. He decided to put it out of his mind, at least for now.

  “Sorry, I don’t know what came over me, telling a kid all of this.”

  The discomfort Luk felt must have shown on his face. He was never good at hiding his emotions.

  “Nah, it’s alright. I just have a lot on my mind.”

  “Don’t stress too much, kid. When I was your age, my biggest worry was what flavour of milk I would get on the weekend. Just let the grown-ups take care of the stressful work.”

  “Hey Bob, stop bothering the kid!”

  “Yeah, no one wants to look at your ugly face!”

  Suddenly, all kinds of jeers were thrown at the man. Like how Bob’s mother mistook him for someone else even when he was in the womb, and other, similarly nonsensical insults.

  “Most of the things those guys say don't even make sense. Whatever, I don’t care.”

  Bob was trying to act like it didn’t bother him, but from the tone of his voice, Luk could tell it got under his skin.

  “Oh yeah, almost forgot, your brother is waiting for you outside I think. Maybe, probably—”

  “Get out of here, you average-everywhere man!”

  “Okay, who said that?! I’m gonna beat your ass, you asshole!”

  Luk was already running for the exit the moment he heard his brother was waiting. The dome had three exits, but a one-in-three chance felt like a hundred percent with his luck, so he just bolted for the nearest one.

  Before the exit door was a hallway with a receptionist stationed on each side. Having two per hallway was more than enough for this dome—maybe even too much.

  You needed a receptionist's approval to leave the building.

  Anyone who tried to leave without it would cause the lights in the entire building to turn red and trigger an announcement to apprehend the perpetrator.

  On the left side of the hallway, a man sat inside a small booth set into the wall. It featured a large square window that offered a clear view of him, with a small opening and a counter at the bottom for exchanging items.

  The man was missing his right hand, but three disembodied hands floated around him. He wore an owl mask and was shrouded entirely in what appeared to be shadow.

  On the right side was a woman with a blindfold. Yet, he realized he couldn't actually see her or her blindfold.

  The woman was completely invisible to him, yet he knew there was a woman wearing a blindfold there. It felt as though his mind could process the information about her, without his eyes actually seeing anything at all.

  Luk picked the booth with the blindfolded woman, not for any particular reason—he was just in a hurry, so he chose at random.

  "Hello, miss. Can I please leave? I need to meet my brother quickly."

  "Well, hello! You must be Luk, right?"

  "Yes, I am. Can I leave now?"

  The woman smiled the moment she heard Luk’s voice. If anyone else had spoken to her like that, she would have scowled and perhaps ignored them until the person behind them grew impatient and kicked them out.

  If it had been anyone else, she would have seen them as a rude prick. But from him, it was just adorable.

  There was a world of difference between an adult and a child. Maybe it was also because she was a parent. She couldn’t help but imagine her own kids in a hurry to meet up with her.

  “I am sorry, dear, but before you leave, you have to report all the important details from your mission first. It won’t take long, I promise.”

  “Okay, I completed—”

  “Wait, wait! I forgot this is your first time. Silly me, you have to put your hand on the crystal ball right here when you report your mission.”

  She pointed at an orb set into the counter. It was longer than his palm and filled with what looked like swirling purple smoke.

  “It will detect even the smallest lie or when you try to hide any important information related to The Harvest. But don't worry, it only applies to that. The Skills you gained and other personal details are yours to keep private.”

  Her tone shifted completely as she explained the orb's function, becoming flat and rehearsed, as if she were reciting a script she had repeated a hundred times.

  Luk didn't hesitate to place his right hand on the purple orb. It felt cold to the touch, and that was it.

  He sensed nothing special from it—not even a flicker of mana.

  This is an Artifact, and a high-level one at that. If I were to guess, it probably came from someone Level 75 or higher.

  “I completed my mission of waking up the troll and making it mad so it would go on a rampage. At the end of The Harvest, I was found by a cool orc named Ursag. I thought he was in danger, so I helped him fight three ogres, but I realized in the middle of the fight that he didn’t need my help.”

  Luk paused for a second, his grip tightening on the orb. A hint of anger seeped into his words.

  “Then I met up with Ursag’s teammate, Bow. We got into trouble when a creature—probably a demon—started manipulating our minds. We realized it after some time and managed to kill it. There were some people there that needed help, but I failed to save them. They all died.”

  This was a highly summarized version of events, which left her with many questions. Not to mention, the higher-ups had ordered them to figure out every detail of Luk’s first mission—a mission she felt he was far too young to be on.

  She and all of her peers had been against a kid participating in The Harvest, even if he was the one who wanted it. But Luk's Class made it nearly impossible to deny him without severe consequences.

  When they tried to restrain him until The Harvest was over, alarm bells of every kind had gone off across the entire kingdom. The choice became either risking the safety of the whole kingdom or sending a kid on a dangerous mission.

  Even so, some people—including her—were still against sending Luk. She believed it was an adult's job to protect children, not the other way around.

  That was, until their head strategist reminded them that in the first scenario, Luk would probably find a way to go to the surface anyway, and in the second, he would at least be better prepared.

  So, figuring out why Luk really wanted to go to the surface was critical. Especially if their understanding of his ability was correct; the destruction of an entire kingdom was preferable to the alternative if Luk was not sent above ground.

  “Hello? Hello, hello? Can I leave now?”

  “Ah, yes! Of course. I just need your adventurer badge first before you can leave.”

  Luk didn’t hesitate for a second before handing over his badge. She immediately touched it to the crystal ball on her side, granting him access to pass through the barrier.

  Ultimately, she didn't have the heart to interrogate him further. She couldn't possibly press Luk right now about something that was clearly distressing him.

  The expression on Luk's face was just too much.

  Maybe she had a soft spot for children, and maybe it was clouding her judgment, but she truly didn't care. Anyone who had a problem with that could shove it up their ass.

  “There, you can now leave without any problem. Stay safe out there.”

  “Okay, thank you, invisible lady.”

  Luk took his adventurer badge back from the invisible lady, who for some reason was laughing. As the badge left her hand, he realized it had also been invisible while she was holding it.

  He didn’t think too much about it. The moment he got his badge back, Luk immediately dashed toward the exit.

  The exit didn’t have a door; the only thing stopping people from leaving was the blue barrier covering the entire dome. It also prevented anyone inside the dome from seeing the outside, and vice versa.

  No one could enter or exit the dome without being granted access, unless they broke the barrier, which was apparently easy to do.

  His big brother had told him that was intentional, he said it made it easier to catch and identify anyone trying to break in or out.

  This thought occurred to him because he was currently sprinting toward the barrier at full speed.

  To be honest, he was a little nervous he would smack right into it, or worse, break it and set off an alarm. But surely the barrier wasn't that weak, right? Although, it did look a bit brittle upon closer inspection.

  But that didn't make Luk stop running, because if there is something he is known for, it is that he never slows down.

  The last thought on his mind before he hit the barrier was that he had forgotten to ask Ursag and Bow for their numbers.