Only I know that this world will end – 097 | Sousaku – 創作

Appraisal and Attack Power

(Maybe she's the strongest person in the current situation……)

As he was thinking about this, he seemed to notice the gaze being directed at him. Nao looked at Akira with a puzzled expression and tilted her head.

"Your face looks tense…… What's up? "
"No, it's nothing."

Akira quickly averted his gaze from Nao.
He remembered that he had been lightly scolded once before for stealing a peek at Nao's stats.
Nao tilted her head again at Akira's behavior, but then her expression changed as if she had thought of something, and she let out a big breath.

"You peeked again, didn't you?"
"……Sorry."
"Geez, you…… If you had told me, I would have shown you my skills and stats, you know? "

Nao laughed in exasperation.

"So, you're done? "
"No. I still have some left."
"Well then, I'm going to have a smoke. Let me know when you're done."

Saying this, Nao opened the window of the room a little and took a cigarette case out of her pocket, putting what was inside it in her mouth.
Akira turned his attention to the list of skills again, casting a sidelong glance at Nao, who had started to puff out smoke.
Akira then noticed. In that list, there was a skill that had not appeared before.

――――――――――――――――――
・Analysis Interference Lv１ ―― Consume 20 points to obtain.
――――――――――――――――――

Judging from the name, it was a skill that prevented the other party from performing analysis on you.

"...! "

Akira opened his eyes wide and immediately began to read the details of the skill.

――――――――――――――――――
Analysis Interference Lv１
・Passive Skill
・Prevent the effects of analysis performed by other parties. The extent of analysis that can be prevented depends on skill level.

Do you want to acquire Analysis Interference Lv. 1? Ｙ/Ｎ
――――――――――――――――――

Why was this skill suddenly added?
Akira had already guessed the reason.

(Maybe because I've maxed out the level of Analysis. ……Is it possible that if you raise a skill level, new skills related to it will appear? )

The possibility was not zero. In fact, by raising the level of analysis in precisely this way, a new skill had emerged.

(……Analysis interference, nevertheless.)

Akira murmured to himself and stared at the screen.
Akira remembered that Nao had warned him to be careful not to be analyzed before.
The thing was that by using Analysis, Akira's true abilities would be easily exposed, and there was a possibility that it would bring about new problems.
Analysis at present was something that anyone could easily obtain, and it was something that could not be protected against.
However, not anymore. Even if they looked at his status now, nothing would come of it. The only problem, if there was one, would be that they would ask him to actively defeat the boss monsters, like Karube.

(There is also the disadvantage that if I'm analyzed―― they'll know about my unique skill, 『Return from Hell』…… To begin with, if there are no quests or scenarios, everyone can only get points by leveling up, and there is no way they can afford to spend points on raising their Analysis level. Of course, there may be people somewhere who are raising the level of Analysis, but…… I don't even know if I'll see any of them soon, and if I start thinking about what-ifs, there will be no end to it…………)

Akira muttered to himself.

(……Besides that. If they see me fighting, it will be pointless to hide my stats, right?)

Right now, his strength stat was close to 200. Although he hadn't tried it, Akira was confident that he could easily break concrete if he punched it with all his strength. The same could be said for speed. During battle, no one would believe that his current speed, which would be too fast for the average person to follow, was not exceptional.

(Well, for now, I'll shelf that thought. I'll think about it again later when I have more points to spend.)

After letting out a sigh, Akira stopped trying to obtain Analysis Interference.
Akira stared at the list of skills intently, and after a lot of contemplation, he decided to acquire one skill.

(Okay, I'll go with this.)

With a murmur, 3 points were consumed. Akira heard the tinkling of a bell, and a screen appeared in front of him indicating that he had acquired the skill.

――――Appraisal.

That was the name of the skill that Akira had acquired after much thought.

(With this, I should be able to tell whether the Minotaur's axe or the Orc's iron sword has 'attack power' or not.)

Everyday tools and weapons proved useless against monsters. The low durability of these objects had been a constant source of trouble. But that worry was resolved when he got his hands on the axe that the Minotaur was using. Akira had long suspected that this axe, which boasted incredible sharpness, might have some kind of damage bonus.

(Well then, let's get started. 『Appraisal』.)

Akira immediately used the Appraisal he had obtained on his battleaxe.

――――――――――――――――――
Hatchet of the Raging Bull
・Status: Incomplete
・Recommendation for the equipment to be used ―― Strength value of 80 or more.
――――――――――――――――――
Detailed information： Cannot be displayed due to insufficient level.
――――――――――――――――――
Equipment Effects： Cannot be displayed due to insufficient level.
――――――――――――――――――

Apparently, the official name of the hatchet that the Minotaur was carrying is “Hatchet of the Raging Bull”.

(Well, it might be about the size of a hatchet to that guy, but……)

Akira let out a gasp of surprise when he learned the name of the axe. Then, he furrowed his brow and stared at the screen as if deep in thought.

(Incomplete? What does that mean? Does that mean it is poorly made? )

At first glance, it was hard to tell what was wrong.
To the untrained eye, this was a well-made axe. Having used it many times before, he found it to be quite comfortable to use.

(……Well, even if it's incomplete, it's enough for me right now.)

Akira, thinking this, switched his train of thought and looked at the screen again.

(Even so, the recommended strength value is 80 or more…… When I fought the Minotaur, my strength was 77, so I guess I was holding it outside the recommended range.)

Needless to say, as a result, all of his muscles were torn to shreds. Akira let out a deep breath as he understood the reason for this.

(For now, I'll have to raise the level of my Appraisal too.)

Lv1 did not provide the information he wanted.
Akira spent points to raise his Appraisal level. In the same way as with Analysis, when the skill level reached 3, the points required for the next level up were gone.

(As with Analysis, Appraisal also requires only 15 points to raise to the maximum level. As I thought, the skills with 3 points were likely recommended to be taken first)

Akira let out those words with his mind, and once again used the Appraisal on the Hatchet of the Raging Bull.

――――――――――――――――――
Hatchet of the Raging Bull
・Status: Incomplete
・Recommendation for the equipment to be used ―― Strength value of 80 or more.
――――――――――――――――――
・Magical Element Content：３％
・No additional special effects.
――――――――――――――――――
・Attack Power ＋７５
・Durability Value：３７
・Damage bonus: None
――――――――――――――――――

――――Just as I thought. Weapons have attack power!

Akira smiled at this fact.
However, that smile soon disappeared and his mouth became tense. This was because the attack power of the axe displayed on the screen was less than he had expected.
Perhaps because it was 『incomplete』. Akira's shoulders slumped in disappointment at the lower-than-expected value.

(And again, the “Magical Element”?)

Just like with Analysis, those words were displayed. Perhaps because it was originally a weapon used by a monster, the Magical Element value of the Hatchet of the Raging Bull was 3%.

(How about the iron sword? )

Akira muttered to himself and activated Appraisal on the Orc's iron sword.

――――――――――――――――――
Iron Sword of the Pig-headed Demon
・Status: Incomplete
・Recommendation for the equipment to be used ―― Strength value of 60 or more.
――――――――――――――――――
・Magical Element Content：２％
・No additional special effects.
――――――――――――――――――
・Attack Power ＋５３
・Durability Value：２９
・Damage bonus: None
――――――――――――――――――

(……This one has 2% of Magical Element. As expected, since it was something that the higher-ranked Minotaur had, does the axe have more Magical Elements than the iron sword? The axe is definitely better in terms of both durability and attack power.)

Akira thought about this with a difficult expression on his face, and then suddenly got up as if he had thought of something and began to search around the room.
Nao looked surprised at Akira's behavior, and as she put the cigarette she was holding out in the portable ashtray, she spoke up.

"What's wrong? What are you looking for? "
"No, actually I have acquired Appraisal…… Do you remember when I said earlier that each weapon had its own attack power and durability? "
"Ahh…… Come to think of it, we did talk about that."
"So, I used Appraisal, but…… Just as I thought, each weapon had its own attack power and durability."
"Really? If that's the case, I'd like to try lots of things. If the attack power differs for each weapon, then even more so."
"Yeah. So, I thought I'd first check how different the weapons of the monsters are from real-life ones……"
"I see. If that's the case, you should use this. I apologize for it being my own, but it's a knife I used for my hobby of outdoor activities. I haven't used it against a monster yet, so it hasn't been damaged. But it's good enough to be used in battle."
"Oh, no problem. Thank you――――"

Akira stopped moving when he said those words.
He didn't recognize the voice that had naturally mixed in with his conversation with Nao.

"...!? "

Akira turned around quickly.
How long had he been there? He wondered.
In the space between Akira and Nao, a man was standing with his back against the wall.