God's room.
"Genshin? Activate!"
"Palu, start!"
"League of Legends! Diablo! World of Warcraft! DNF! Start!"
"…Start up!"
Zanis pushed open the door and stared at Charles, who was repeating these lines in unison, his face puzzled.
"What are you doing?"
Charles stood at attention and saluted. "Captain, I'm testing my skills!"
"Wow… Do you have any idea what you're doing?"
"Sorry, not yet! But I believe I can definitely shine for my family!" Charles said with surprising conviction.
Humph, just as Soma said—how could an ordinary person know how to use a skill even the gods can't understand?
Though, if you can't use your abilities, it's almost like you don't have them...
But what if you win?
Think about it: if even the gods can't comprehend the skill, how powerful must it be? This kid is only twelve years old. If he can just slowly get control of it…
"Charles..."
"Yes!"
"You want the divine wine, right?"
Zanis shook the wine gourd in his hand, which contained the wine he'd embezzled during this event.
When the lid opened, a rich aroma spilled forth.
Charles's eyes glinted with desire, though it was hard to tell how genuine it was:
"Give it to me. I can't live without the divine wine!"
Zanis tossed a bamboo tube to Charles.
"Want more? Then bring back more money—and use those skills that even the gods can't decipher! Hahaha..."
Charles didn't hesitate. No matter what the future held, Zanis was his biggest obstacle. At the same time, the strange feeling surging through his body made him instinctively raise his head and gulp down the magic wine in the bamboo tube.
The psychedelic alcohol rushed straight to his brain, and his cheeks flushed red.
His body staggered, his vision blurred, and soon he collapsed with a thud.
"That's all..."
Zanis sneered. No matter what your skills are, as long as I control you, you'll be a useful tool!
Magic wine alone wasn't enough—it could control people's actions, but not their thoughts. So… I have to keep this little devil by my side forever.
Thinking this, Zanis turned and left. He wanted a sacrifice.
…
A moment later.
Charles began to stagger. Although drunkenness tinged his eyes, his mind was sharp. The burning heat in his chest was a sign his skill had triggered.
At the same time, skill-related information popped into his mind:
[Drunken Rage W]
Triggered when guzzling strong alcohol.
While drinking, damage received is reduced and durability moderately increased. After drinking, attack range is slightly increased, and damage is dealt to nearby enemies.
The higher the durability, the greater the damage.
Immune to the negative effects of drunkenness.
(Hint: After you finish this cup, there's another one! — Gragas)
…
What the heck?
I don't have this skill listed anywhere!
Charles staggered back to his feet.
The desire sparked by the divine wine made him tremble uncontrollably.
"Don't panic… This isn't addictive white flour. As long as I stay away for a while, I won't get hooked."
Charles comforted himself and absorbed the hints embedded in the skill info.
Besides the new skill effect, Charles also uncovered the true nature of his mysterious skill:
[Pandora of the Second Dimension]
Refresh the Favor Panel once a week.
After refresh, skills and magic change randomly.
Effect lasts for one week.
(Unstable soul, afterimage of the chaos vortex, child of destiny, roulette wheel of fluctuations.)
…
Oh crap!
Got it! Pandora's reserved seat!
Charles exclaimed, "Oh my god!"
Simple but broken effect!
Remember, this skill refreshes the entire grace panel, not just the skill. That means not only will his skill change weekly, but his magic, other skills, and even development potential will be refreshed!
"Can development potential really be refreshed? That remains to be tested."
The obvious advantage: no longer needing the gods' permission to renew his abilities.
Secondly…
"My current guaranteed skill is Gragas' W from League of Legends. Could I randomly get Soul Draining Strike? Or Supernatural Power?"
"Even scarier combos like Feast R + Soul Furnace W + Heart Steel + Undying Grasp = ?"
"Wait..." Charles calmed himself. "The 'random' in the description doesn't specify just LOL skills, right? So..."
"Upgrading too slowly? Ansel + Devoted to Oneness + Price of Talent, got it?"
"Not enough damage? Ninefold + Fierce Demonic Spear + Hero's Wish?"
"Assist skills? Honor Blessing + Grandpa Kled + Maul of Treasures?"
"Damn, my brain… Why is it totally blank right now? I can't think of any combos."
Charles slapped his head, trying to clear the alcohol fog from his mind.
However... these combos require absurdly high luck to appear.
Charles didn't think that just by finding a job and joining the park he'd get so lucky—he had Soma's luck from the moment he reincarnated to even roll something like this.
But…
"Any one of these skills would be terrifyingly powerful!"
Soon, he gave up trying and flipped backward, arms raised:
"Wuhu! Wind Spirit Moon Shadow! Start!"
No matter the combo, Charles only knew one thing: he was awesome!
The guaranteed minimum skills meant he wouldn't need divine wine's effects for a while. All he had to do was take things step by step.
It took Charles some time to calm his excitement.
Experience from his previous life taught him not to get carried away when facing challenges. Focus on the key points and strike precisely — that was the truth.
Charles took several deep breaths, meditated seriously for fifteen minutes, then adjusted his expression and left the shrine.
No matter how powerful my skills become, that's a thing of the future. Right now, I don't have the confidence to protect myself.
…
He walked down the corridor, down the stairs, and found his room in a basement corner.
Charles slowly opened the door:
"First… let's take inventory of the starting supplies. As expected… nothing to look forward to."
The room assigned to Charles was more like storage than living space. Less than ten square meters, barely enough for a small bed.
The entire room could be seen at a glance, and apart from a huge backpack for supporters, it was completely empty.
Charles rummaged through the backpack and pulled out some monster-attracting herbs, 500 valis, a magic stone lantern, and an ordinary dagger for dissecting monster corpses.
After searching the room a bit more, he found some leftover bread and two sets of clothes.
That was all Charles had.
"Tsk, typical newbie outfit."
He glanced up at the sky, seeing the setting sun's light filtering through fence gaps.
Charles sat on the bed, in no rush to risk going outside.
"Let's review what I know… What exactly is in the world of Danmachi that I can use? Like the secret book under the cliff? The magical power hidden in the Lankavatara Sutra?"
Rethinking this story of mistaken location, Charles realized it was hard to find anything like it in this trajectory. Favor was the protagonist's greatest cheat—followed by connections!
From the very beginning, he had support from two goddesses, 200 million daggers, and 100 million magic books—over 300 million in total. Some adventurers couldn't earn that in a lifetime.
"Tsk, three hundred million valis. How many fried potato balls could you buy with that? Enough to fill the whole of Orario! Damn it! I want a rich woman to be hungry too, even if it's Freya."
Charles rocked on the bed, hugging his knees, and accidentally banged his head against the wall.
The pain snapped him out of his daydream.
"Hiss… what am I thinking about? Forget rich women. Escaping the Soma clan is my life goal."
Help?
The twelve years of past experience taught Charles that approach wouldn't work.
Soma's magic wine wasn't contraband—it was a bestseller! Expensive but always in demand! Reporting it wouldn't help.
And as for bullying by clan members…
Sorry, that's Soma's family business. Like getting beaten by your father on a rainy day—it's none of your concern.
In this era…
Who has the time to care about trivial matters?
"The only way is to kill Zanis or send Soma away… For the former, I need to be at least level 3. Zanis commands hundreds of followers. I can't beat four people with just my two fists. Without level 3, I have almost no chance."
"And for the latter…"
Humans in Danmachi instinctively fear and respect gods.
In short, you cannot attack NPCs whose names aren't red.
Wait… this era?
Memories surged in Charles's mind, and cold sweat dripped down his forehead.
"Last year? No! Nine months ago! Sword Princess Ais broke the fastest upgrade record from city level 1 to level 2!"
Charles swallowed hard, lips trembling.
"That was… seven years ago! And there are only… three, no, less than two months left until the legendary Seven Days of Death!"
Boom—
As the sun's afterglow vanished, a roar echoed from afar.
Charles leaned on the railing, watching smoke and chaos rising in the west, cold sweat streaming down his back.
"Oh my god… In comparison, the people of the Soma clan are so nice—every single one a talent. I really like this place."
"Could it be that I'm actually quite lucky?"