Sonia, who achieved the highest score at the shooting competition, was awarded a <Colson Atelier voucher>.
“Wow. You got something expensive. When will you shoot the gun?”
“After I graduate from the orphanage?”
At Sonia’s words, Amon nodded.
Colson Atelier was a luxury custom firearm company.
The rifles made there were so expensive that they were said to be worth the same as gold of the same weight.
Even in Punk City 3, obtaining a gun from that company was extremely difficult, requiring players to consume all the end content.
Sonia had earned a chance to shoot such an outrageous weapon for free, just once.
‘This is a good start.’
Whether she would become a mercenary, a bodyguard, or a soldier was uncertain, but it was clear that Sonia had a high possibility of making a living with a gun.
In that situation, starting with an end-spec weapon was quite fortunate.
Considering that people who made a living with guns often spent most of their income on upgrading their equipment, her life would surely be much easier.
‘That company also has reliable after-sales service… well…’
Moreover, while hitting the target might be challenging, maintaining the weapon was relatively easy, making it perfect for Sonia.
As Amon looked at Sonia with envious eyes, she timidly offered the voucher.
“If… you want it, you can take it…”
Upon hearing Sonia’s words, Amon shook his head.
“No, you should keep this.”
His envy stemmed solely from being a collector; he didn’t actually envy the voucher itself.
Besides, even if he got a gun from that company, he didn’t think he would use it as his primary weapon.
Amon believed it would be better for her to use it.
‘Then I’ll protect Amon from behind with this gun!’
That statement was premised on the idea that Amon would also be involved in making a living with guns.
Hearing that, Amon smiled wryly and nodded.
He, too, was unsure of what path he would take.
Amon could take the hacker route, the prosecutor route, or even the corporate president route.
However, having a friend who was skilled with a gun in this dangerous world wasn’t a bad thing at all.
He gratefully accepted Sonia’s cute declaration.
Soon, the two headed to their next destination: an archery dojo.
They were there to evaluate Sonia’s talent with a bow.
On the way, Amon briefly thought about Sonia’s abilities.
‘That recoil control…’
Her shooting skills were outstanding.
However, recoil control was something that couldn’t easily be explained by talent alone.
Numerous possibilities popped up in Amon’s mind.
He listed three special abilities that characters could choose from.
‘For now, it’s not an implant.’
She had never undergone such a procedure, so that was out.
Runic tattoos and engravings were also excluded.
This wasn’t an external procedure; it was her innate talent.
If it were magic, it would have been noticeable, so that was excluded as well.
By the process of elimination, the most likely candidate was divine power.
‘Well, there’s nothing else.’
Amon couldn’t detect divine power.
Only those trained in this world could do that.
But he had knowledge.
According to his knowledge, in this worldview, if something couldn’t be explained by magic or science, it was mostly correct to assume divine power was involved.
If you have a bullet hole in your head but aren’t dead and it just heals on its own, would you not wonder about the cause?
It’s because of divine power.
If you can’t escape a building but can only do so by kissing someone, that’s because of divine power.
If someone is dead, but you have no idea who the culprit is, that’s because of divine power.
Saying it this way might make Amon sound like a divine power advocate, but it’s a scientific fact, regardless of his faith.
The causes of still-unknown phenomena in this world can be approached through divine power.
And it’s easy to be misled by the term divine power, but what can be done with divine power is not at all divine.
While one can perform miracles to bring people back to life with divine light, the resources used by entities are also divine power.
In fact, it’s divine power that can suddenly turn a perfectly fine person into a crazy cannibal.
‘Because of this, people nowadays call it mysterious power rather than divine power.’
Since the authority of religion has significantly weakened in modern times, the term mysterious power is used more than divine power.
In Amon’s case, he used the term mysterious power as a game term in his previous life, where his faith was weak.
However, having directly witnessed the divine and received its grace, Amon’s heart was now filled with faith.
That’s why he insisted on using the term divine power instead of mysterious power.
‘Mysterious power is derived from divine power, after all.’
This stream of consciousness led him back to the original topic.
It was highly likely that Sonia’s recoil control was due to divine power.
No, it wasn’t just likely; it was certain.
No matter what implant one had, what magic one used, or what genetic modification one received, it was impossible to achieve a recoil of zero.
It had to be divine power.
‘Divine power… Could it be what the orphanage director mentioned?’
Moreover, there were hints that he wasn’t completely in the dark.
He had received some insight from the director in the past.
“Listen well. You both have a little special power compared to other kids. So if by any chance someone needs your power, you must decide carefully.”
When asked what it was specifically, he only received the answer that he would be informed when he was older.
At that time, neither Amon nor Sonia had any doubts about the words, but looking back, he cautiously speculated that it might have referred to divine power.
‘Thinking back, after that day, the orphanage started getting more sponsors.’
If that was a ploy by companies to preemptively recruit Amon and Sonia, everything made sense.
He could understand why the director didn’t fully explain divine power.
Considering the average humanity of companies and governments in this world…
keeping it a secret would have been far more beneficial for everyone.
‘It would have been fine if he just hinted at divine power to me…’
Amon thought this but felt no particular resentment.
Honestly, he wasn’t delusional, and no matter how mature Amon was, who would think he was a reincarnated person?
Even though the director cared for him, there was no reason to tell a little elementary school kid about it.
Amon could understand the director’s choice.
‘Honestly, just feeding and sheltering orphans with no connections is more than enough to be grateful for.’
It wouldn’t be human to doubt her goodwill any further.
After finishing his thoughts about the director, Amon returned to the topic of Sonia and his divine power.
He began to feel excited again as he thanked the goddess for her generous service.
‘How will my divine power manifest itself?’
He had an overwhelming desire to find out immediately.
Naturally, Amon’s steps quickened.
Before long, he arrived at the archery dojo.
To conclude, Amon’s talent was not in archery at all.
In fact, it was downright pathetic compared to shooting.
“How is it that you shot so much, yet 1 point is your highest score?”
“Don’t be too disappointed. My limit was 2 points.”
Sonia consoled Amon, who was grumbling.
Both of them performed terribly with the bow compared to the gun.
Saying they were bad was a generous way to put it.
Their talents were cursed.
The dojo instructor reassured them that it was normal to start off poorly, but seeing the elf child next to them hit at least 5 points on their first try, it was clear this was a matter of talent.
‘Definitely not a bow.’
Amon crossed out the archery item on his list.
Sonia looked at Amon with concern.
“Are you okay?”
“Is there any reason I shouldn’t be?”
Amon was puzzled by Sonia’s reaction.
Contrary to Sonia’s thoughts, Amon had no reason to be disappointed at all.
After all, he still had many more talent options left to explore.
There were still plenty of dojos to try.
There was kendo, spears, wire techniques, throwing weapons, and even hand-to-hand combat.
Even if he had no talent with weapons, it didn’t matter.
He might even have talent in hacking.
Even if, by some slim chance, he had no area of talent, it was still no concern.
He was confident he could still reach the true ending in that situation.
‘I cleared the final boss with all talent values set to 0 and a dildo.’
If worse came to worst, he could just become an actor, so there was really no reason to worry.
Seeing Amon genuinely express that he was fine, Sonia’s face brightened.
They gave up on their lingering feelings for the archery dojo and visited various places.
In the end, they discovered quite a decent talent.
No, it wasn’t just decent.
It was a pretty good talent.
Here’s how they discovered their talent:
The swordsmanship dojo offered basic sword techniques and sparring experiences to people as a Thanksgiving event.
Since it was their first time holding a sword, they started with the basics.
They learned the basic stance, which could be considered the “Three-Weapon Sword Technique” in martial arts, and only then were they thrown into sparring.
The event took a turn after that.
“Winner! Amon!”
The judge declared Amon’s victory.
Amon’s sword tip stopped precisely in front of the student’s solar plexus.
A very clean thrust.
No one could dispute Amon’s victory.
Not only Amon but Sonia was also achieving a clean sweep against the students.
When they first won, the instructor thought it was a fluke.
But seeing the two continue to excel even against higher-level trainees, the instructor couldn’t help but recognize their talent.
‘Those two have monstrous talent.’
The instructor evaluated Amon and Sonia’s abilities, noting that Amon had a knack for predicting or leading the opponent’s sword through psychological warfare, while Sonia’s reflexes far exceeded that of a normal person.
Though many swordsmen possess such talents, theirs was overwhelmingly superior.
In particular, the instructor recalled that neither had received any sword-related enhancements.
‘If they can do this much with just their pure bodies, what kind of monsters would they become with enhancements?’
In a world where bullets and bombs fly, holding a sword typically means one has received specialized enhancements.
Thus, the dojo’s students were all under various enhancements that supported their swordsmanship.
Yet, Amon and Sonia defeated them with pure physicality and talent.
If the instructor failed to recognize their talent after witnessing this, he would have to relinquish his qualifications as an instructor.
‘I must recruit those kids.’
If he could secure two exceptionally talented young people, the promotional effect would make the income from their tuition seem negligible.
It was a kind of investment.
‘No, this is an excuse.’
Honestly, he didn’t care whether those two became famous or not.
As a swordsman who had lived his life with a sword, his pride screamed that he had to nurture those two.
Thus, the instructor made a generous proposal to them.
“You two. You seem really talented. How about coming to our dojo without paying tuition?”
The instructor offered the suggestion with a serious expression.
Sonia jumped up, excited about the great opportunity next to Amon.
However, Amon hesitated and contemplated the proposal.
‘Is this… right?’
Amon recalled the performance he and Sonia had shown at the dojo.
He was aware that it was abnormal for him to have defeated students who had received specialized enhancements with just his pure body.
From the standpoint of their performance, it was undoubtedly a talent that would catch the instructor’s attention.
The problem was, unlike Sonia, Amon found it ambiguous whether he could really call it talent.
‘Talent, or…?’
He couldn’t determine.
After all, his swordsmanship was merely a reproduction of what he had imitated.
His sword skills were a collection of movements from certain games’ dysfunctional sword techniques and a multitude of boss patterns, manifested as a massive dataset in his body.
How to parry an upward cut and target a vital spot, How to evade a downward slash and plan a counterattack.
Those kinds of things.
So, he could respond well to familiar patterns but struggled with unfamiliar ones.
This left Amon unsure whether to describe this as talent in swordsmanship.
Whether it was true sword talent or merely a cheat from accumulated knowledge was indistinguishable.
After much contemplation, Amon made his decision.
“I’ll do it.”
‘Whatever. I’ll find out as I go.’
If he lacked talent, he would just wash out, and if he had it, that would be good.
After all, it wasn’t costing him anything, so Amon accepted the instructor’s proposal.
They promised to come to the dojo every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, then left the dojo.
Tiredness gradually washed over them as they wandered around the city all day.
As the sun was setting, they started heading back to the orphanage.
On the way, Sonia turned her back to the sunset and said,
“It was a very fruitful day.”
“Not just fruitful, it was a blessed day.”
“Fufu. Thanks to you, we discovered talent. Thank you, Amon.”
Unintentionally, today had been exceptionally rewarding for Sonia.
Not only had she discovered her talent with guns, but she also obtained a workshop pass and a swordsmanship instructor.
It could be considered the best day for Sonia.
However, for Amon, it felt somewhat ambiguous.
He had not clearly discovered the talent he aimed for.
Yet, he wasn’t particularly anxious.
‘After all, life doesn’t just consist of today.’
Amon aimed to conclude the day with hopes for the next.
However, just before he boarded the bus, Sonia suddenly called out to him.
“Shall we try that one last time?”
She pointed toward a cosplay competition that was taking place.
Amon checked the time for a moment.
Even if they rode back after the competition ended, they wouldn’t be late for the orphanage’s curfew.
‘Come to think of it, there’s also the disguise aspect.’
It was a perfect opportunity to check his talent in disguise as well.
Amon readily accepted Sonia’s suggestion.
The two headed toward the competition venue.
Up until that point, Amon had no particular thoughts.
Not until he heard the registration clerk’s explanation.
“Excuse me!? Is this a gender-equal cosplay competition?”
“Yes. Men dress as women, and women dress as men. It’s a competition created with the purpose of understanding the feelings of the opposite sex.”
The clerk beamed a business smile at Amon.
Sonia’s eyes sparkled, while Amon held his forehead, feeling dizzy.