Chapter 5

Sonia, who achieved the highest score in the shooting competition, was awarded a <Colson Atelier Usage Pass>.

“Wow, I got this expensive thing. When are you going to get your gun?”

“After graduating from the orphanage?”

At Sonia’s words, Amon nodded.

Colson Atelier was a luxury custom firearms company.

The rifles made there were so expensive that they were said to be worth their weight in gold.

Even by Punk City 3 standards, the guns from that company were so hard to obtain that you had to grind through all the endgame content to get one.

Sonia had just gotten a chance to get one of those overpowered weapons for free.

‘Off to a good start.’

Whether she becomes a mercenary, a bodyguard, or a soldier, it was clear that Sonia was likely to make a living with guns.

In such a situation, having a starter item that’s an endgame-spec weapon?

Considering that people who make a living with guns spend most of their income on equipment upgrades, her life was undoubtedly going to be very comfortable.

‘That company’s after-sales service is solid too… well…’

Moreover, while it was hard to get the gun, maintaining it was relatively easy, which was perfect for Sonia.

As Amon looked at Sonia with envy, she hesitantly offered the pass.

“Um… if you want it, you can have it…”

Amon shook his head at Sonia’s words.

“No, you should keep it.”

His envy was purely that of a collector, not for the pass itself.

Besides, even if he got a gun from that company, he probably wouldn’t use it as his main weapon.

It was better for her to use it, Amon thought.

“Then I’ll protect you from behind with this gun!”

It was a statement premised on Amon also making a living with guns.

At that statement, Amon smiled wryly and nodded.

He didn’t know what path he would take either.

He could go the hacker route, the swordsman route, or even the corporate chairman route.

But in this chaotic world, it wasn’t bad to have a friend who was good with guns.

Amon gratefully accepted Sonia’s cute declaration.

***

Soon, the two headed to their next destination.

The next destination was the Archery Dojo.

It was to test their talent for archery.

On the way, Amon thought about Sonia’s talent for a moment.

‘That recoil control…’

Her shooting skills were exceptional.

But apart from that, her recoil control was something that couldn’t be explained by talent alone.

Numerous candidates popped up in Amon’s mind.

Special abilities that characters could choose from levels 1 to 3.

‘First, it’s not an implant.’

She hadn’t undergone any procedures, so that was out.

Rune tattoos or engravings were also out.

This wasn’t something external but her innate talent.

If it were magic, it would have been noticeable, so that was also out.

By process of elimination, the most likely candidate was divine power.

‘Well, it can’t be anything else.’

Amon couldn’t detect divine power.

Only trained individuals in this world could do that.

But he had knowledge.

According to his knowledge, in this world, if something couldn’t be explained by magic or science, divine power was usually the answer.

A bullet hole in the head but not dying and it heals on its own? No idea why?

Divine power.

Trapped in a building and can only escape by kissing someone?

Divine power.

Someone died but no idea who the culprit is?

Divine power.

Saying this might make Amon seem like a divine power enthusiast, but this was a scientific fact separate from his faith.

In this world, the cause of any unexplained phenomenon could be approached through divine power.

And despite the word “divine,” the things divine power could do were anything but holy.

It could create miracles like reviving people with holy light, but it was also the resource used by entities.

It could even turn a perfectly normal person into a raving cannibal.

‘That’s why people these days call it mystic power instead of divine power.’

Since the authority of religion has weakened in modern times, the term mystic power is used more than divine power.

In Amon’s case, in his previous life where he had little faith, he used the term mystic power as a gaming term.

But now, having witnessed a god and received their grace, Amon’s heart was filled with faith.

Thus, he stubbornly used the term divine power instead of mystic power.

‘Mystic power originates from divine power.’

End of stream of consciousness.

Returning to the original story,

Sonia’s recoil control was likely due to divine power.

No, it was certain.

No matter what implant, magic, or genetic modification one had, the ability to nullify recoil couldn’t exist.

It had to be divine power.

‘Divine power… Could it be what the orphanage director mentioned?’

Moreover, it wasn’t entirely without a clue.

In the past, the director had hinted at something.

– Listen well. You two have a slightly special power compared to the other children. So, if someone ever needs your power, you must decide carefully.

When asked what it specifically was, the only answer was that they would be told when they were older.

At the time, both Amon and Sonia accepted the words without suspicion, but looking back, it might have been referring to divine power, Amon cautiously speculated.

‘Thinking about it, after that day, the orphanage suddenly received more sponsorships.’

If that was companies trying to recruit Amon and Sonia in advance, everything made sense.

It also made sense why the director didn’t explicitly mention divine power.

Considering the average morality of companies and governments in this world… keeping it a secret was much better for everyone.

‘She could have just hinted at divine power to me…’

Amon thought so, but he didn’t feel particularly disappointed.

Honestly, he wasn’t a paranoid person, and no matter how mature Amon was, who would think he was a reincarnator?

No matter how much the director cared for him, there was no reason to tell an elementary school kid about this.

The director’s choice was understandable even to Amon.

‘Honestly, just feeding and sheltering an orphan with no connections is more than enough.’

Doubting her goodwill any further was not something a decent person would do.

Amon finished his thoughts about the director and returned to the topic of Sonia and his divine power.

Amon, feeling grateful for the goddess’s generous service, began to get excited.

‘How is my divine power manifesting?’

He was eager to find out immediately.

Naturally, Amon’s steps quickened.

Before he knew it, he had arrived at the Archery Dojo.

***

To cut to the chase, Amon’s talent wasn’t archery either.

In fact, it was even worse compared to guns.

“How is it possible to shoot like that and only score 1 point?”

“Don’t be too disappointed. My highest was only 2 points.”

Amon grumbled while Sonia comforted him.

Both were terrible with bows compared to guns.

Terrible was an understatement.

Their talent was cursed.

The dojo instructor consoled them, saying it was normal for beginners, but seeing an elf child next to them hitting at least 5 points on their first try, it was clearly a matter of talent.

‘Archery is a no.’

Amon crossed out archery from his list.

Sonia looked at him worriedly.

“Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Amon was puzzled by Sonia’s reaction.

Contrary to Sonia’s thoughts, Amon had no reason to be disappointed.

He still had plenty of talent candidates left.

There were still many dojos to test.

There was swordsmanship, spears, wires, throwing weapons, and even fistfighting.

Even if he had no talent for weapons, it didn’t matter.

Maybe he had a talent for hacking.

Even if, by some chance, he had no talent in any area, it didn’t matter.

He was confident he could see the true ending even in that situation.

‘I cleared the final boss with a Dildo after setting all talent values to 0.’

If all else failed, he could just become an actor, so there was no reason to worry.

Seeing Amon genuinely fine, Sonia’s face brightened.

***

The two gave up on archery and visited various places.

And in the end, they found a decent talent.

No, it wasn’t just decent.

It was quite good.

The process of discovering their talent went like this.

The Swordsmanship Dojo was offering basic swordsmanship and sparring experiences as a Thanksgiving event.

Since it was their first time holding swords, they started with the basics.

They learned what could be called the Three Treasures Sword Technique in martial arts terms and then moved on to sparring.

The incident happened after that.

“Winner! Amon!”

The referee declared Amon the winner.

Amon’s sword tip stopped precisely in front of the student’s solar plexus.

A clean thrust.

No one could dispute Amon’s victory.

Not just Amon, but Sonia was also mowing down the students.

At first, the instructor thought it was a fluke.

But after seeing them dominate even higher-level students, the instructor couldn’t help but recognize their talent.

‘Their talent is monstrous.’

The instructor evaluated Amon and Sonia’s talents respectively.

Amon was born with the talent to predict or guide swords through psychological warfare, while Sonia’s reflexes were far beyond human levels.

While it was common for most swordsmen to have such talents, theirs were overwhelmingly superior.

Especially since the instructor recalled that the two hadn’t undergone any swordsmanship-related procedures.

‘With pure physical ability at that level, if they underwent procedures… what kind of monster would be born?’

In a world where bullets and bombs fly, wielding a sword naturally means having undergone related procedures.

Thus, the students at this dojo had all undergone various procedures to assist their swordsmanship.

Yet, Amon and Sonia defeated them with pure physical ability and talent.

If one couldn’t recognize their talent after seeing this, they should return their instructor’s license.

‘We must bring those kids in.’

When you have two talented, good-looking individuals, the promotional effect would make their tuition fees seem like ‘peanuts.’

It was an investment.

‘No, that’s an excuse.’

Honestly, it didn’t matter if they didn’t become famous.

As a swordsman who had lived by the sword his whole life, his pride demanded that he nurture those two.

Thus, the instructor made them an extraordinary offer.

“You two. You seem really talented. How about joining our dojo without paying tuition?”

The instructor seriously proposed to the two.

Sonia jumped around excitedly next to Amon.

But Amon hesitated, pondering the offer.

‘Is this… right?’

Amon recalled the performance he and Sonia had shown at the dojo.

Even Amon himself was aware that defeating students who had undergone specialized procedures with pure physical ability was abnormal.

Based on that performance alone, it was undeniable that they had talent.

The problem was, while Sonia’s case was clear, Amon wasn’t sure if his own could be called talent.

‘Can it be called talent…’

He didn’t know.

After all, his swordsmanship was merely an imitation.

It was a big data amalgamation of motions from some corrupt swordsmanship in games and numerous boss patterns recreated with his body.

How to parry an overhead slash and target a weak point,

How to dodge a low slash and counter.

Things like that.

So, he could handle familiar patterns well but struggled with unfamiliar ones.

This made Amon unsure if he could call it a talent for swordsmanship.

Was it a talent for swords, or just a knowledge cheat from being a veteran? He couldn’t tell.

After much deliberation, Amon decided.

“Yes, I’ll do it.”

‘Ah, whatever. I’ll figure it out as I go.’

If he had no talent, he’d just lose everything and leave. If he did, it would be great.

Since it wasn’t costing him anything, Amon accepted the instructor’s offer.

***

They agreed to come to the dojo every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and left.

After a whole day of wandering the city, fatigue was setting in.

As the sun was setting, they started heading back to the orphanage.

On the way, Sonia, with the sunset behind her, said,

“It was a very fulfilling day.”

“More than fulfilling, it was a blessed day.”

“Hehe. Thanks to you, I discovered my talent. Thank you, Amon.”

Unintentionally, Sonia had a very fruitful day.

Not only did she discover her talent for guns, but she also got a workshop pass and a swordsmanship mentor.

It was the best day for Sonia.

However, for Amon, it was a bit ambiguous.

Because he hadn’t clearly discovered the talent he was aiming for.

But he wasn’t too anxious.

‘Life isn’t just about today.’

Amon decided to look forward to the next day and wrap up the day.

But just as he was about to board the bus, Sonia suddenly stopped him.

“Shall we try one last thing?”

She pointed towards a cosplay event.

Amon checked the time.

Even if they attended the event and took the bus, they wouldn’t be late for the orphanage curfew.

‘Come to think of it, there’s also disguise talent.’

It was a good opportunity to check his disguise talent.

Amon readily accepted Sonia’s proposal.

The two headed to the event venue.

At that time, Amon had no thoughts.

Until he heard the receptionist’s explanation.

“Huh? A gender equality cosplay event?”

“Yes. Men dress as women, and women dress as men. It’s an event to understand the opposite gender’s feelings.”

The receptionist’s sales smile turned towards Amon.

Sonia’s eyes sparkled,

While Amon held his forehead, feeling dizzy.

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