Chapter 696: System Cooking (3)

......A land upon which immense destruction had descended.

The world, which had once possessed a measure of prosperity in its own way,

had been devastated and ruined by the countless monsters that had suddenly appeared throughout the world.

The races that had wandered the world for their own reasons.

As they were drawn into the world pierced with “holes,”

they sought to claim this land as their own in place of the worlds they had lost.

Even now, many of them were waging fierce wars in order to become the rulers of this land.

However.

“......That is.”

“So it is not visible only to me.”

Some among them were now

blankly lifting their heads and staring up into empty space.

It could not be helped.

After all.

Ding.

A translucent rectangular window had suddenly appeared before them.

[You have awakened.]

And if such words were being spoken to them,

anyone’s gaze would naturally be drawn toward it.

CRACK.......

They stared at it blankly.

It was not difficult to guess what this situation meant.

The power that had originally been believed to belong only to humanity, the native species that had ruled this land.

That power...... for some reason, was now reaching out toward them.

And.

CRRRRACK.......

Though they did not know the exact reason why.

The reason that window had appeared before them was probably—

“......That man.”

The translucent window still blocking their vision even now.

Beyond it, one man was enthusiastically slashing apart the window with a knife.

That this must have been his doing.

“That man.”

And.

Those scattered across the world muttered as they watched him.

“To us.......”

The man looking toward them.

That man accomplishing the absurd feat of directly rewriting the enormous laws that protected this world.

Grin.

“......Is asking us.”

“To stand together.”

Because he was smiling toward them.

***

FWAAAAAAASH.......

The beautiful aurora that had filled the temple ceiling.......

No, the amount of flesh rapidly decreased.

An enormous amount of divine power had been consumed in that single action.

But.

I was certain.

‘A power incomparably greater than the divine power that just disappeared.’

That power had now turned into our ally.

‘......Though even so, it’s true the amount of flesh decreased more than expected.’

The remaining power as well.

Had to be used as efficiently as possible.

‘Then next.’

Increasing humanity’s painfully insufficient allies.

The first “patch” had succeeded perfectly.

In that case, what had to come next was obvious.

‘We strengthen our power.’

Now that we had increased the numbers.

It was time to improve the quality.

Buffs.

In an ordinary game, something that had to be handled carefully.

Because balance had to be considered as much as possible,

the intentions of the users and the intentions of the developers often did not align...... but.

‘Why should I care about that?’

To put it another way.

Right now, I was both the user and someone who possessed the authority to modify this system.

Which naturally meant.

‘Even if people call it shameless...... I’ll strengthen humanity to that extent.’

CRRRRACK.......

The blade passed beyond the [Awakened] section and descended lower.

And finally.

[Skills]

[Traits]

[Stats]

The blade.

Reached the area that represented this system’s “power.”

[Stats]

[Base Display Stats - Strength, Agility, Magic Power, Luck]

The reverse side unseen by awakened beings.

What was engraved there, in what could only be called administrator settings, were those four.

“Hup!”

I forcefully drove the knife in.

What I cut away was only a very small section.

[Base Display Stats - Strength, Agility, Magic Power, Luck

The area that restricted stats to only four types.

After cutting away the closing bracket.

I carved letters into the newly freed space with the knife.

CRRRRRZZZZT!!!

“Ghk.......”

The overwhelming recoil nearly flung my hand away.

A dizzying agony so intense it felt as though my mind would shatter overtook my brain.

But gritting my teeth through the pain,

I finished carving every letter and closed the bracket.

[Base Display Stats - Strength, Agility, Magic Power, Luck, Divine Power]

And then.

From all the awakened gathered here.

Not only the Legion soldiers, but even the other races.

Voices spread among them.

“......A new stat.”

What changed was only one thing.

Within their stat windows.

[Divine Power : 0]

One additional stat had appeared.

***

[Divine Power : 0]

Because they had not yet fulfilled the conditions, the value remained 0.

But the [Status Window] was fundamentally a window for viewing one’s own information.

And.

‘This system...... while difficult to access, provides information for almost everything once the viewing conditions are met.’

The engineers’ material appraisal.

Lee Sanga’s tailoring-material appraisal.

My ingredient appraisal.

And...... thinking about it.

The most fundamental appraisal skill possessed by every awakened being.

Was the “Status Window” used to appraise oneself.

[Divine Power : 0]

[Requirements Met (0/2)]

The moment that stat became visible.

This system naturally revealed the requirements for obtaining it as well.

‘This will spread the conditions for attaining divine power throughout all humanity.’

That was a power that would greatly aid the survival of life upon this land.

It would not be easy to achieve.

But knowing the method and not knowing it were worlds apart.

[Divine Fragments (0/1)]

One of the requirements was already effectively fulfilled.

The fragments within their bodies.......

Understanding and properly recognizing the power that had awakened them.

If they explored their own abilities and dug into the system, that condition would eventually be fulfilled.

[2. Believers possessing faith above a certain threshold]

The remaining condition was faith above a certain level.

And in order to obtain that faith.

‘They must earn the respect of others.’

One could not obtain faith through intimidation and plunder.

Protecting others, leading them, giving them hope.

Even if it was false, it did not matter.

That system had also been built upon lies, yet countless humans had survived because of it.

‘The powerful scattered across the world...... will now desire to obtain even a single point in that stat.’

Those powerful individuals seeking that stat.

Rather than plundering those weaker than themselves.

They would decide it was more beneficial to obtain faith that would strengthen their abilities.

‘The strong will protect the weak in order to obtain their faith, while the weak survive through the strong and provide them with faith in return.’

By doing so, the strong would awaken “Divine Power”.......

And after obtaining even greater strength, they would protect and lead even more people.

‘The direction of all humanity shifts from individual survival toward collective survival.’

Until the day the Legion eventually reaches them.

Humanity harming one another would drastically decrease.

FWAAAAASH.......

All I had done was reveal the existence of a single stat.

Yet an enormous amount of flesh vanished in that single action.

“Sergeant Shin.”

“Just what exactly are you......!”

The soldiers stared at me with shocked eyes.

They too were veterans who had survived in this world for a very long time.

Simply by ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) seeing the conditions for Divine Power appear before them, they had understood the meaning behind what I had done.

At the same time.

“You could have taken that power entirely for yourself.”

Which was why.

They looked at me as though they could not understand at all.

That flesh was a massive lump of divine power.

Because it was a power capable of making the impossible possible, feats like this could be realized.

If I had taken it for myself, I could have become the master of that enormous divine power and wielded unimaginable strength.

They had realized I had chosen another path.

‘Well, I suppose it’s understandable.’

Obviously.

It was not because I was some kind of volunteer sacrificing that power.

Rather, this decision came from an extremely selfish calculation.

‘This benefits my own survival as well.’

Holding that certainty.

I moved the knife once more.

“Next......!”

[Skills]

[Traits]

As I moved the blade, I instinctively realized.

‘Touching this area will be the limit.’

Even with the support of that enormous amount of divine power.

This was as far as I could interfere.

I tried to drive the knife into those two sections.

However.

KAAAAAAAAANG!!!

“......Ghk!”

The recoil far surpassed anything from incorporating the other races into the system.

Far beyond even revealing Divine Power.

An overwhelming resistance shoved my hand backward.

‘The [Legatus Dagger] almost flew out of my hand......!’

For a moment, the impact nearly sent the blade flying.

I could guess the reason.

‘These two...... are the true power of awakened beings.’

Stats were certainly important.

But skilled awakened knew that stats alone did not determine combat.

Far more important were Skills and Traits.

If stats were physical ability, then those two were supernatural abilities.

Stats merely served as the minimum requirements supporting those supernatural powers.

The true strength of awakened beings came from those abilities.

‘Simply engraving one small phrase here...... would mean adding an entirely new ability to every awakened being’s skill or trait window.’

Considering the number of awakened beings, adding even one new skill would create an enormous change.

That recoil existed because of that.

Such a massive change could never come easily.

Cold sweat dripped down my face as I thought:

‘Engraving entirely new text here is impossible.’

Even borrowing the power of that gigantic flesh.

Even pouring in every method currently available to me.

It was impossible.

To begin with, my blade would probably never even cut into that section.

‘Then should I give up?’

If I simply added another line to the stats instead.

Something like slightly increasing every awakened being’s base stats might still be possible......

“......That won’t be enough.”

The chance to interfere with the system like this would likely never come again.

Possible only at this exact moment, after devouring the “System” that had spent countless ages clinging to that flesh and corroding the system.

And I was supposed to waste that opportunity on a few measly stat increases?

‘Are you kidding me?’

If directly engraving something new was impossible.

Then there was another method.

SLAM!

I thrust my hand forward with force.

The place my hand reached toward was not the backside of the system.

Not the [Administrator Settings].

[Awakened : Shin Youngjun]

The front side of the system.

The space created for each individual awakened being.

......My status window.

Even without the [Legatus Dagger].

Manipulating the personal system window granted to an individual was possible through the System’s cooking alone.

[Trait : Heroic-Grade Dagger Mastery, Heroic-Grade Cooking Mastery, Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced), Heroic-Grade Fire Affinity, Elemental Cooking, Taste Bud Enhancement....... ]

[Skill : Chef’s Eye, Head Chef’s Special Sauce, Assistant Chef, Five Loaves and Two Fish....... ]

The supernatural powers engraved into my body, the very core of an awakened being’s strength.

“So directly engraving it is impossible, is that it?”

I reached out my hand.

And “ripped” those abilities out.

CRRRRRRRAAAAAACK!!!

The supernatural powers engraved within my status window.

Part of those abilities tore free.

What I tore out from the status window.

That fragment of the translucent panel contained the following.

[Trait - Combat Power Analyzer]

The trait categorized beneath [Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)], Combat Power Analyzer.

[Skill - Absolute Taste (Enhanced)]

And.......

Among all the powers I possessed.

The strongest authority of them all.

[Absolute Taste (Enhanced)]

‘......Ah.’

At that moment.

An enormous emptiness echoed through my soul.

[You have lost a Trait.]

[You have lost a Skill.]

The supernatural powers I possessed.

Abilities that were effectively the core of my strength.

Had vanished forever.

An overwhelming emptiness swept over me, as though holes had been torn directly into my soul itself.

But.

I did not regret it.

“If directly engraving them is impossible.......”

The powers that until moments ago had clung to my soul.

The torn status-window fragments in my hand were small, yet unbearably heavy.

Gritting my teeth, I slammed those two fragments downward.

[System]

The place my hand struck was the system window.

Not the front side visible only to each individual.

But the hidden area behind it.

The administrator settings applied to every awakened being.

[Skills]

[Traits]

Originally, those were the only things there.

That unbearably empty space.

Toward it.

I activated a single skill.

“Then I’ll just overwrite it on top......!”

[Force-Feeding]

The two fragments clenched within my hand.

Began shining brilliantly within my grasp.......

And then.

[Skills]

[Absolute Taste (Enhanced)]

[Traits]

[Combat Power Analyzer]

Onto that system window.

They were forcefully attached.