The orc's body hadn't even hit the ground yet when Grey's vision flashed again.

  [Level Up!]Level: 2 → 3Stat Points Gained: 10Skill Point Gained: 1

  He blinked.

  "Two levels?"

  The girl sheathed her blade and walked over as if dismembering a monster was no big deal.

  "It was higher level than you," she said. "Shared experience scales better when the gap is large."

  Grey stared at her.

  "You can see my level?"

  She nodded once. "You're not hiding it."

  He froze.

  "I can hide it?"

  She paused, then looked at him more seriously.

  "...You really are new."

  He focused inward.

  Status.

  The screen appeared instantly.

  Level 3.

  Ten stat points.

  One skill point.

  He swallowed.

  "Can everyone see this?"

  "Anyone with Appraisal," she said. "Or equivalent perception skills."

  Grey glanced at her again and tried Appraisal one more time.

  ??? – Lv. ???HP: ???Emotion: Mild Amusement

  She smiled faintly.

  "Still can't see it?"

  "No."

  "Good."

  That wasn't reassuring.

  They moved away from the corpse quickly. The smell of blood lingered.

  As they walked, she spoke first.

  "My name is Lyra."

  "Grey."

  "I know."

  He stopped.

  "…How?"

  "You look confused every time your screen appears."

  He coughed. "Right."

  They reached the rocks she had been hiding behind earlier. A worn leather pack sat there.

  Lyra picked it up.

  "You need three things immediately," she said. "Money. A weapon. And a registered identity."

  Grey frowned. "Registered?"

  "Every settlement tracks status holders. It's law."

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  That caught his attention.

  "Why?"

  "Because people with skills can destroy towns."

  That was fair.

  They walked for almost an hour before Grey finally asked the question burning in his mind.

  "What are you?"

  Lyra looked aside.

  "Human."

  "That's not what I meant."

  She halted her walking.

  For a brief moment, her emotional condition wavered in his senses.

  Cautioned.

  Then calm again.

  "I'm someone who chose to leave home," she said. "And someone who doesn't want attention."

  "That's not suspicious at all."

  She smiled wryly.

  "You're free to walk the other direction."

  Grey looked back at the forest where the orc had appeared.

  "…No, I'm good."

  A notification quietly sounded.

  [New Skill Available for Unlock.]

  Grey concentrated.

  A branching tree appeared below his skill tree.

  Beginner Skill Tree – Available Paths:

  Combat Affinity

  Mana Sensitivity

  Survival Instinct

  Insight Expansion

  Luck Alignment

  His gaze settled on the last option.

  "Luck Alignment?"

  Lyra looked at him again.

  "You have a high Luck stat," she said nonchalantly.

  He tensed.

  "How do you—"

  "It's obvious."

  She waved her hand vaguely at him.

  "You're alive."

  That was not reassuring.

  "Luck is unpredictable," she said. "Most people don't invest in it. It doesn't give consistent returns."

  Grey's gaze was fixed on his screen.

  Luck: 10.

  Highest of all.

  "I won the lottery before I got here," he muttered.

  Lyra halted her walking again.

  "You what?"

  "Never mind."

  He focused and allocated his single skill point.

  [Luck Alignment Lv. 1 Acquired]Passive Effect: Minor increase to probability of favorable outcomes.Hidden Effect: ???Growth Condition: Trigger fortunate events.

  "…Hidden effect?"

  Lyra's eyes narrowed slightly.

  "You chose Luck?"

  "Yeah."

  She studied him for a few seconds.

  Then she nodded once.

  "That may be interesting."

  As the sun sank lower, stone walls appeared.

  A town.

  Not big. But walled.

  Guards stood at the gate, wearing chainmail and tabards bearing a silver emblem.

  Grey fixed on one.

  Town Guard – Lv. 6Emotion: Bored

  Stronger than the orc.

  He didn't like that.

  At the gate stood a metal archway, carved with runes.

  Lyra slowed.

  "Important rule," she said softly. "Do not lie when passing through."

  "Why?"

  "The Gate reads intent."

  Grey fixed her.

  "…That's terrifying."

  "Yes."

  They moved forward.

  One of the guards held up a hand.

  "Names and origin."

  Lyra spoke first.

  "Lyra. Independent."

  The guard nodded and gestured to the arch.

  She walked through.

  Nothing happened.

  Grey stepped up.

  "Grey. Independent."

  He walked through.

  For a split second, warmth touched his skin.

  Then—

  [Identity Registered: Grey][Faction: Unaffiliated][Bounty Status: None]

  The guard waved him through.

  Lyra let out a soft breath once they were inside.

  "Congratulations," she said. "You now exist legally."

  "Comforting."

  The town was alive with activity.

  Humans filled the streets, but Grey noticed a broad-shouldered dwarf yelling at a merchant and, in the distance, what appeared to be an elf with silver hair.

  His Emotional Insight was flashing wildly.

  Greed. Fatigue. Suspicion. Contentment.

  It was all too much.

  "Does this ever turn off?" he grumbled.

  "Yes," Lyra said. "Focus inward and turn it down."

  He concentrated.

  The emotional chatter receded.

  Relief washed over him.

  "So," Lyra said, stopping in front of a small inn. "What do you want to do with your second life?"

  Grey's eyes drifted to the sign creaking in the evening wind.

  He had money once.

  He had lost it.

  But now he had levels.

  Skills.

  Potential.

  "I don't want to drift again," he said softly.

  "Then don't."

  She pushed open the inn door.

  "Adventurer's Guild opens at dawn."

  And in a hidden chamber deep beneath the mountains encircling the land, a sealed chamber pulsed once.

  Lightning mana responded.

  Something had arrived.

  And it had been noticed.