I had experienced an overwhelming victory on my second theft. It nearly made me forget that miserable feeling that ran throughout my entire body when stealing [Radar].

However, my new skill was nothing impressive, nor useful for me. I assumed that it did, in fact, show illusions, but I had no way of testing it for myself. Regardless, its uses were… limited. 

I did figure out what “folding outwards” meant. By grabbing on an edge of the page and pulling it, I could make the paper double in size. When I folded it the other way, it would halve in size. Basically, I could control the size by folding it, which wasn’t bad.

Further testing revealed that the paper would mend itself soon after being torn, or that the torn piece would disintegrate completely while the other piece mended the torn edge. I also noticed that the paper had an adhesive property, as it stuck to the table when I set it down.

But anyways… did I have to keep this thing on me? I couldn’t summon it in any way, to a point that made me feel like it wasn’t even my skill. Like seriously, can anyone take the paper and use it? My only privilege is the ability to fold it?

I became increasingly underwhelmed. It was a good skill on its own, sure, but it wasn’t much for my situation. I only had a week to secure my identity by stealing [Warden], and this was all I had to show for my work so far. My anxiety was only growing with each day’s passing, which was making this skill seem less impressive than it was.

However, an idea occurred to me based on how my skill book worked. I tore out the page for [Illusion Paper]. The piece of paper on the table vanished. I held the page near the book, and the page mended itself just as I’d been told. The illusion paper reappeared in my hand.

Wow, it worked!

…

Well, it was mildly more useful.

Regardless, I can’t really complain. This skill was free, after all. 

Wait a minute… No it wasn’t! I had to spend over 50,000 won to get this! Give me a refund! I want my precious savings back!

…No response. These gods should listen to their creations more.

Maybe I should try looking at my situation from a more optimistic viewpoint: With skills like these, I’ll be set for life! I’ll never lose a pair of socks again and I can get free fake tickets to any movie I choose. I’ll be living like a king.

Yeah, that makes it a lot better. But I didn’t have any more time to whine. I had to patrol for more skills today. I could always take my chances and go find Hyun-woo, but I’d like to be as prepared as possible before then.

Scouring the city was mind-numbing, but it was all I could do. I could only imagine the headache of finding skills if I hadn’t gotten [Radar] first. I ought to prioritize getting skills to deal with this issue in the future.

I tried searching in all the lower-profile areas that someone might try to hide in. The destroyed or abandoned areas made me realize just how bad the world had become. From a distance, you’d think that we’re slowly recovering and returning to some semblance of normal. But the reality was that there were still far too many left homeless behind the scenes, and even those with paying jobs or stable lives are still living day by day, making their every effort to cope. As I went further and further through the degrading outskirts of the city, I saw a forest come into view.

And what stopped me in my tracks search was a small speck in the middle of my vision, floating in the air above the trees like a stuck pixel.

I thought maybe it was a fly or something like that, but it was actually just a floating mass in the sky. I quickly approached the source while remaining vigilant.

As I neared the source, I entered into a lush forest. It was comfortable compared to the other places I’d visited today.

Looking up again, I discovered that the floating speck was, in fact, a sofa. And a table, paired with a TV. And lastly, a person. 

What exactly was this? Some dude, floating on a couch above a forest, watching a TV that’s obviously not plugged in?

Ah, actually, he probably has a battery or something for it. 

…Hold on, that’s not the issue here! 

Pushing forward, I moved to get closer but found myself literally incapable of getting near. It seems like I was running into an invisible wall. 

Wait… No way, right? It couldn’t be [Barrier], right? It was obviously an odd situation, but I still found it unlikely that I would find one of the skills I had set out to find so soon. Besides, he would have to be a moron to be out in the open like this, even if he was in an impenetrable castle made of impassable walls. There was always a way to counter any skill. Many people have surely lost their lives from such over-confidence.

He wasn’t in the radius of [Radar], but he was in my vision. That was all I needed to steal his skill. I pulled up his skill page.

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[Barrier]

S Tier

The user can create invisible, impassable walls of any shape and size anywhere within their vision. Barriers can only be made in empty or gaseous spaces.

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S Tier?!? Ooh, this was hard to turn down. Furthermore, this skill sounded more awesome than I’d realized! I mean, imagine all the fun I could have with this! I could make people trip on nothing, kick my feet up on an invisible coffee table, or make a stairway into the clouds. 

Uh, and save people and stuff, obviously.

Considering the lack of furniture - or anything, really - I was pretty sure this was just some kind of vacation spot for the user. Meaning, if I left now, there was no guarantee I’d be able to find this user again for a long time. It could be my only chance to get this skill.

It was too good of a skill to just give up on. I mean, imagine how sad it would be if I just had to turn around and go home right now? To walk away with my tail between my legs and give up on this epic ability?

No way in hell.

It was risky, but my heart was speaking louder than my head. If the alternative was to live the rest of my life without a chance to get this skill, then I would die on this hill if need be. Well, not like I plan to die… Regardless, saying no wasn’t an option. I signed pursuit of the skill with reckless abandon.

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Imitate Condition

Time limit: 120 hours

Completely protect an object without having any visible signs that the object is protected. Let 3 people try to reach or destroy the object to fulfill the condition.

Progress:

Object not protected or is visibly protected.

0/3 People unable to reach the object

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Uhh… This couldn’t be too bad, right?

Skills stolen (2)

 [Radar] [Illusion Paper]