The whispers in his ears were slowly receding. Relying on the filter woven by "A White Horse is Not a Horse," Snow heard words such as "Leodero," "Herabergen," and "Aucuses" among the True Creator's whispers. These words clearly belonged to a different linguistic family than the previous ones. As the True Creator's "rap" finally faded and his brain, which had been frozen by the whispers of a true god, began to function properly again, Snow realized those seemed to be the names of the three gods.
'So the True Creator was just cursing them...' Snow pinched the bridge of his aching nose and began to organize his spirituality.
The enhancements brought by Sequence 8, 'Respondent', were straightforward. Beyond the Beyonder ability "Aura Projection"--which was based on the 'Listener's' "Whispers" that he had already been using--his physical attributes had been significantly improved. In particular, his dynamic vision and neural reflexes had been elevated to a degree surpassing the limits of the human body.
Moreover, according to the information granted by the potion, he now possessed a strong learning capacity for techniques that required "muscle memory," such as combat, shooting, and even cheating at cards. With professional training, he could master a combat style and apply it in actual battle in just two or three days.
Besides the inherent power of 'Respondent', the bonuses from the 'Listener' potion still existed. As a reward for listening to the True Creator's tirade, he had gained three resistances and one Beyonder ability.
The three resistances corresponded to Fire, Wind/Lightning, and Mental, respectively. The supernatural ability was called "God's Profanity."
Snow guessed that the three resistances likely corresponded to the names of the three gods. As for "God's Profanity"... well, best not to speak of it.
As for the side effects of 'Respondent'...
It was somewhat embarrassing to mention. This side effect should be called "Responsive Neural Paroxysm," or in simpler terms, mild, sudden-onset insanity.
Upon consuming the potion, its ostentatious spirituality had established several "high-speed channels" between his spirit and physical body. It was equivalent to directly constructing several conditioned reflexes within him; as long as a certain condition was met, he would respond instinctively.
This response was not under his personal control. Often, before his brain could react, his body would already be in motion.
The most frustrating part was that until a particular conditioned reflex was triggered, he wouldn't even know it existed.
In other words, it was entirely possible that if someone waved to greet him, he might instinctively slap them in the face as a reaction.
The only consolation was that--perhaps because Mr. Fool always replied with "I understand" after his prayers, or because he had clearly understood the True Creator's whispers earlier, or even because he had heavily "pre-spent" the Beyonder abilities of 'Respondent'--by the time he had drunk the potion, he had already digested approximately two-fifths of it. This allowed him to barely inhibit some of the known conditioned reflexes from being triggered.
Though he didn't even know what reflexes his body had gained yet...
After roughly sorting through the effects of the potion, Snow slowly exited his state of cogitation and opened his eyes somewhat dazedly, then...
Whoosh!
...
Regarding Snow, Mr. A was very satisfied. Especially after Snow drank the 'Listener' potion, the obvious change in his aura was enough to prove that he had truly heard the Lord's voice and, to some extent, understood its localized meaning. To be able to understand the Lord's intent immediately after drinking the potion could no longer be described as mere talent; he was practically an excellent believer by birth!
However, just as Mr. A was curious about what kind of enhancement Snow would receive, Snow snapped his eyes open.
Then, Snow jumped...
Snow went up the wall...
Snow hung from the ceiling...
"What is the meaning of this?" Mr. A looked with a face full of bewilderment at Snow, who was also hanging upside down from the ceiling with a face full of bewilderment. He immediately activated Spirit Vision.
The representation of Snow's spirit body appeared to have no issues. Though his spirituality was a bit scattered, that was a normal presentation after consuming a potion. But why had he...
"That, Mr. A... could you please set that test tube upright?" Hanging from the ceiling, Snow awkwardly extended a hand, pointing to a test tube lying on its side on the laboratory bench. Though Mr. A's head was full of question marks, he still reached out and set the test tube upright.
Then, Snow came down.
'Is it an influence brought by listening to the Lord's voice?' The thought occurred to Mr. A, but thus far, it seemed no 'Listener' had ever had such an obvious responsive reaction.
Having originally considered Snow a loyal subordinate, a few traces of doubt couldn't help but surface in his heart. After a moment's thought, he maintained his Spirit Vision and used the power of shadow to quietly tip over another test tube.
Clatter!
The light sound of the tube falling caught Snow's attention. In Mr. A's Spirit Vision, at the same moment Snow's gaze turned, his spirituality erupted almost instantaneously. Following that, he lunged upward in a bizarre posture, once again crashing into the ceiling...
"It really is spirituality..." Mr. A's mouth twitched--a gesture he would never normally make. He didn't quite know how to describe Snow's reaction.
In reality, Snow himself was currently bewildered, because he had finally figured out his first conditioned reflex--
Upon seeing a long, rod-like object fall over, he would instinctively jump up...
'Am I a cat?!'
Snow felt a strong urge to flip the table, but looking at the pile of test tubes on it, he wisely abandoned the idea.
Forcing his spirituality to suppress his impulses, Snow "cautiously" climbed down from the ceiling. He looked at Mr. A with a lingering sense of fear.
"For some reason, when I see a long object lying horizontally on the ground, my body instinctively stays away..."
"It matters not. This is a side effect brought by having just consumed the potion. Once you digest it, you will no longer have troubles in this regard." Though he said so, Mr. A was also seeing such an intense and obvious mental influence for the first time. He could only offer a word of comfort based on past experience.
Snow nodded slightly, his mind estimating the situation. Based on the "high-speed channel" activity within his body when the conditioned reflex was triggered, he should have at least three strong, fixed conditioned reflexes. Before figuring out what the remaining two were, he felt it was best not to go out casually.
Otherwise, if he were to see someone in black and immediately draw his gun to fire, the trouble would be massive.
"I'm going to rest. Meditate well; in a few days, I'll need you to go to the East District to expand our flock." Having roughly confirmed that Snow hadn't developed any other issues, Mr. A also relaxed. He left the basement with practiced ease, picked a guest room, and went silent.
Snow looked at the table full of test tubes, his expression twitching twice. He hesitated for a long time, but finally, he couldn't bring himself to clean them up. He simply turned and left the basement--
At least until he completely digested the 'Respondent' potion, he had no intention of coming back down.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika Kagura]
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A/N: "Respondent" (巴普洛夫之狗) - Sequence 8 of the Paradox pathway. It builds upon the theme of behavioral conditioning.
A/N: "Leodero," "Herabergen," "Aucuses" - The true names of the Lord of Storms, God of Knowledge and Wisdom, and Eternal Blazing Sun. Cursing their names is a common "rap" for the True Creator.
T/N: "God's Profanity" (神之秽语) - A Beyonder ability that involves vocalizing divine-level insults or blasphemies to cause mental harm.
T/N: Snow's reaction to the test tube is a reference to the common internet meme of cats being scared of cucumbers (which they mistake for snakes).
T/N: "Broke soul" / "穷光蛋" - Klein's recurring financial plight. Even with bounties, his expenses for materials are astronomical.