Chapter 71: The Mechanics of Hidden Rewards
"Good morning, Mr. Rovel..."
The moment she saw him, a delicate flush instantly bloomed across Raiden Mei's cheeks. She shyly lowered her gaze, her ruby-red lips pursing slightly as if reminiscing about the taste that had lingered upon them from the night before.
She possessed a figure so stunningly proportioned that, were she to look down, her own toes would be lost from view—a true, peerless beauty of the mortal world.
"Morning, Mei," Rovel responded with a light, easy laugh.
The surrounding members of the Kendo Club stole furtive glances at the pair, their hearts melting. It was just too sweet—they were simply too sweet together.
"What are you all standing around gawking for? Go practice your swordsmanship!" Sugi Mikado barked, his voice snapping them out of their reverie.
"Right, right, practicing..."
The club members scattered at once, yet every single one of them wore the same knowing, indulgent smile.
Sugi Mikado sidled up to Rovel, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "Ahem, Second Seat," he began, "I heard that Fuyama Chizuru brought some powerful newcomer to challenge the dojo yesterday. But I also heard that same newcomer quit the club yesterday afternoon. Do you think we should..."
He gave Rovel a meaningful look, winking with theatrical suggestiveness. He still hadn't forgotten the score he had to settle with Fuyama Chizuru. She was the one who had run her mouth and gotten soundly beaten by Mei for it, yet she'd refused to accept defeat and had gone to recruit Kiana as a ringer. In the end, Kiana had been the one to flee after losing. Fuyama Chizuru must be in a state of absolute panic right now.
"Don't worry about it for now," Rovel said, waving a dismissive hand.
"Eh?" Sugi Mikado looked genuinely confused. "Why not?"
The Rovel he knew used to be quite keen on such matters. Back when he was challenging other dojos, the triumphant smirk on his face was harder to suppress than the recoil of an AK-47. Had he taken the wrong medicine this morning?
"This incident can serve as a warning," Rovel explained, patting Sugi Mikado on the shoulder with an air of earnest gravity. "You need to understand one thing. While acting swiftly to punish an enemy is one approach... having a Sword of Damocles hanging over their head, a threat that could fall at any moment, is a far more effective deterrent than simple retaliation."
There was another, more practical reason. The experience points offered by those minor characters were simply too paltry. Rovel was currently level 10, and reaching level 11 required a staggering 20,000 EXP. Yesterday, after his unexpected victory over Kiana, he had been rewarded with a full 10,000 EXP.
To put it bluntly, the small fry from dojo challenges were no longer worth his time. It was far more practical to just spar with Mei.
Except...
Rovel's gaze drifted to Mei, and when he saw her level, he couldn't help but freeze for a moment. She had already reached level 41.
She was only level 39 when she fought Kiana yesterday. In the span of a single night, she had gained two whole levels.
'Is this the growth rate of the main cast...?' he wondered.
It had taken him so much effort just to climb from level 1 to 10, and the EXP requirements for his future levels were bound to be astronomical. Yet Mei had leveled up twice just from a single fight with Kiana. The difference in speed was truly beyond comparison.
Still, he wasn't in a particular hurry to level up. He knew that his base attributes were steadily increasing every time he ate Mei's cooking. The longer he delayed leveling up, the more those boosted base stats would compound, leading to greater overall growth in the long run.
"Mr. Rovel," Mei announced suddenly, her voice pulling him from his thoughts as she declared their training goal for the day. "Next, I will teach you the remaining parts of the Hokushin Ittō-ryū."
"The remaining parts?" Rovel blinked, his mind flashing to the A-rank mission still sitting in his quest log.
"Yes," Mei confirmed with a nod. "After all, the strength you displayed yesterday already exceeds my own, so..."
She hadn't managed to defeat Kiana yesterday, whereas Rovel had forced the girl to retreat. From a purely objective standpoint of combat power, Rovel was likely stronger than Mei now. But if it were a pure contest of swordsmanship, without him relying on the Sword Ki of Taixuan, he knew he was still a considerable distance from her mastery.
A familiar chime echoed in his mind.
[Ding! A-rank mission 'Raiden Mei's Hellish Training' detected. Mission target has acknowledged your strength. Mission complete.]
[Mission Reward: Hokushin Ittō-ryū Master Certification (Purple)]
[Hidden Mission Reward has expired.]
'Expired?'
Rovel was taken aback. Could it have expired because he completed the mission through an unconventional route? No... that didn't feel right.
He began to carefully review the entire concept of the 'Hidden Mission Reward'. He had to admit, his view on this whole 'affection' system had always been colored by a strange sort of prejudice. The ability to see trust, affection, and the so-called hidden rewards was most likely an effect granted by Elysia's Crystal Flower.
But thinking about it more deeply, weren't these 'hidden rewards' actually traceable? They were simply the logical outcomes of his actions, expressed through game-like text.
The earliest example was the 'Kendo Test: Advanced' mission. The logic was simple: after a long time, Mei had finally found a sparring partner who could match her, so her trust in him naturally increased.
Then there was the mission to 'Find the Truth Behind Raiden Ryoma's Imprisonment'. After Rovel uncovered the truth, it provided a massive emotional release for Mei. It was perfectly understandable that her affection would skyrocket upon the mission's completion.
Now, consider the initial description for 'Raiden Mei's Hellish Training'. It explicitly stated that Raiden Mei could cancel the mission at any time. If she were to do so, it would most likely be out of disappointment in him. That was why the hidden penalty for failure was 'Raiden Mei's trust decreased by 50%'.
Following that logic, if he had completed the mission through the normal process and earned Mei's acknowledgment, it was perfectly logical that her trust would have increased as a reward.
But that was the crux of it. Mei had acknowledged Rovel long ago. The period of emotional release and the building of trust that the mission was designed to help had already occurred, manifesting through other interactions and events.
That was why the so-called hidden reward would 'expire'.
In reality, it wasn't that it had expired. It had been 'distributed in advance'.
This deliberate phrasing from the system, this strange temporal discrepancy, seemed to be a reminder. A lesson.
Perhaps to Rovel, this was a game world, a world of data into which he had descended. But to the people of the Honkai world, this was their home. They were people of flesh and blood, with real thoughts and feelings.
And the hidden rewards he saw through Elysia's Crystal Flower were merely that—a 'possible answer' with a high probability, a prediction based on the emotional state of the characters.
But that answer was never inevitable. Just like this time...
"Is something wrong, Mr. Rovel?" Mei asked, her voice laced with concern as she noticed him staring into space.
"It's nothing." Rovel shook his head, a faint smile touching his lips as a new depth of understanding settled within him. He picked up a wooden training sword and faced her, his expression serious. "Mei, I'll be in your care, then."
"Mhm!"
...
"Ugh... Argh..."
It was a pain that defied description. A crawling, gnawing agony, as if a million fire ants were devouring him from the inside out, chewing on every muscle fiber, every nerve ending.
Yet his consciousness remained horrifically, unnaturally clear. Even the simple mercy of passing out had become an impossible luxury.
Funahiki Gyō regretted everything. He never could have imagined that crawling out of one hell would only lead him to be cast immediately into another, far worse one.
Strange, cold constructs had been implanted into his body. Four menacing mechanical spider claws, gleaming under sterile lights, were now connected directly to his spinal cord, fused to the flesh and bone of his lower back.
A sterile, emotionless notification sounded in the prison of his mind.
[Ding! Your species has changed: Human → Artificial Weapon - Death Weaver]
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