Chapter 18
“Um, Kagami-san, even though you’re Level 999, can Takako-san still hurt you?”
Seeing that Kagami was starting to look genuinely pale, Alice voiced a question that had suddenly occurred to her. It was obvious that Level 999 Kagami was stronger, but she was simply curious about the gap between Kagami and Takako, a Martial Artist with a Role that had special abilities.
“Sure. Even at Level 999, a Villager is the weakest Role, so a capable Role has about three times the advantage in its strengths. In other respects, the gap is about one and a half times, I guess. To match Takako-chan’s power with a Villager’s raw strength, you’d need to be Level 372.”
Kagami, who had been taking damage and looking pale just moments earlier, answered as casually as could be.
“But that means you’re still overwhelmingly stronger, right? Was the damage fake?”
“It wasn’t fake. My HP was dropping like crazy. You know how you get a unique Skill when you reach Level 100? Takako-chan’s Skill is seriously insane.”
Hearing that, Alice tilted her head. Demons seemed to know little about Levels, unlike humans, so Kagami began explaining how the Level system worked, step by step.
When a person reaches Level 100, they’re granted a unique Skill. The exact criteria—whether a person’s Role, individuality, personality, or some other standard determines it—aren’t clear, but since some Skills overlap depending on the Role, the Role is considered the main factor.
There’s a huge difference in ability between a Level 100 person and a Level 99 person. That was why Rex had required Level 100 when he was gathering a party in the plaza.
From then on, a unique Skill is granted every time someone gains another 100 Levels. That was why the Level 253 Hero, known as the Ascendant, was regarded as a legend.
And the Demon King is even stronger than a Hero with two unique Skills.
“I see. ...What kind of Skill did you get, Takako-san?”
“It’s called 【Penetrating Shock of Destruction】. In simple terms, it ignores defense. Every attack Takako-chan throws deals true damage. It’s a freaky Skill, a real freaky Skill.”
“The only thing that probably wouldn’t take damage is a ghost, since physical attacks don’t work on them,” Kagami added, finishing with the luggage and standing up.
“What do you mean, freaky? Aren’t you plenty freaky yourself, Kagami-chan? I’ve never heard of a Villager having a unique Skill.”
“So Kagami-san has unique Skills, too... Wait, does that mean nine for Kagami, since the Level is 999?!”
Perhaps because she had just heard about Takako’s freaky Skill, Alice’s eyes widened in astonishment at the thought that Kagami had nine powers that incredible.
“No, technically, I have ten. I got one more when I reached Level 999.”
“Huh? But didn’t you just say you get one every 100 Levels?”
“Because no one had ever reached Level 999 before. Levels stop at 999. You can’t reach Level 1,000. The Experience gauge itself disappears.”
Kagami muttered this with a dissatisfied expression. Alice couldn’t understand what that expression meant. Did Kagami still want to get stronger? It didn’t seem that way. She couldn’t imagine someone who had reached Level 999 still wanting more power—and Kagami didn’t seem like that kind of person.
Then what was behind the expression Kagami showed from time to time? As Alice wondered, she felt as though she were being told that she thought she understood Kagami, but really didn’t understand Kagami at all. Her chest ached a little.
“Don’t you think having ten Skills is pretty freaky, too, Alice-chan? Look, Kagami’s already fine even though I kicked Kagami so much!”
“Um, what kind of Skills does Kagami-san have?”
“I don’t know all of them myself. One of them is called 【Auto Revive】. It seems to heal automatically. See? Kagami’s already completely fine, even after all those kicks.”
As she said this, Alice and Takako glanced over at Kagami. Kagami, for his part, turned toward the bay window as if following their lead.
Just being Level 999 made Kagami incredibly tough, and it took a tremendous effort to deal any damage. Even so, Kagami’s 【Auto Revive】 Skill healed wounds on its own, however slightly. It might well be called a freaky Skill. But that was only because Kagami was Level 999 now.
And this Skill, which Kagami had obtained at Level 100, had helped Kagami reach Level 999 at such a young age.
“Skills aren’t something you go around revealing to other people, you know?”
“Oh, it’s not like you’ll lose anything by showing them. At least show me your status window once in a while. Why are you so stubborn about it?”
“Because I’m secretive.”
Kagami answered, then showed them a status window displaying only the Role and Level. Takako saw it and sighed in exasperation.
“Fine. I’m curious, but if you say so, Kagami-chan, you must have a really good reason for not wanting to reveal them. Come on, Alice-chan. Let’s go to the baths.”
“O-okay...”
Seeing Kagami smile awkwardly, looking a little troubled, Alice couldn’t bring herself to ask anything more. That distant, yet somehow sad and lonely expression Kagami sometimes showed—what had Kagami learned after reaching that place? With that question on her mind, Alice left the room.
It wasn’t long before Alice realized that leaving the room had committed her to a hot-spring outing with Takako. There was no escaping now.
Half resigned and deciding to just let things happen, Alice walked boldly down Valman’s main street with Takako leading the way to the hot springs. Takako was in such a good mood that it was strangely frightening.
“Oh? Why the pale face? Hehe, it’s all right. I’ll make sure to back you up.”
“Ah... No, um... Thank you.”
“Or is it that you can’t stop worrying because Kagami-chan won’t show you the status window, or because Kagami-chan sometimes looks so lonely?”
At those words, Alice’s expression turned melancholy. The main reason she was pale was that she was imagining the tragedy that was about to happen, but she was a little worried about Kagami, too.
It didn’t feel good to see someone who’d been the first person to call her by name and understand her looking troubled.
“Kagami-chan is usually so carefree, acting like nothing matters, but for some reason, whenever the subject turns to status, Kagami-chan looks so troubled.”
“...Has Kagami-san always been like that?”
“Hmm... Kagami’s always said this life, where you can earn money by defeating monsters, is the best. But Kagami only started looking so troubled after reaching Level 999. I met Kagami when the Level was around 930, and back then Kagami still showed me the status window.”
Takako added, “I was just a bar owner back then, too, so I never paid much attention to Kagami’s Skills,” then pursed her lips and shook her head with a weary sigh.
“...How did Kagami-san reach Level 999? Even Level 300 is a realm no one has ever reached, and Kagami went even further, all the way to 999...”
Then, for the first time, Alice voiced the question anyone who knew Kagami would wonder about. She had never been able to ask while Kagami was by her side.