Ch.55. The Human Boy of Punk City

Sonia was awarded a <Colson Atelier Voucher> for achieving the highest score in the shooting competition.

“Wow. That’s an expensive prize. When are you going to get your gun fitted?”

“After I graduate from the orphanage?”

Amon nodded at Sonia’s response.

Colson Atelier was a luxury custom firearms company.

The rifles they made were so incredibly expensive that they were said to cost the same as their weight in gold.

Even by Punk City 3 standards, their guns were so difficult to obtain that you’d have to grind through all the end content to get one.

Sonia had earned a chance to have one of these overpowered weapons custom-fitted for free.

‘This is a good start.’

Whether she would become a mercenary, bodyguard, or soldier was uncertain, but it was clear that Sonia would likely make her living with guns.

And in such a situation, to have an end-game spec weapon as a starting item…

Considering that people who make their living with guns spend most of their income on equipment upgrades, her life would undoubtedly be much easier.

‘Plus that company has excellent after-sales service, so…’

Moreover, while these weapons were difficult to acquire, they were relatively easy to maintain, making them perfect for Sonia.

As Amon looked at Sonia with envious eyes, she hesitantly held out the voucher.

“Um… if you want it, you can have it…”

Hearing Sonia’s words, Amon shook his head.

“No. You should keep it.”

His envy was merely that of a collector; he wasn’t envious of the voucher itself.

Besides, even if he got a gun from that company, he probably wouldn’t use it as his main weapon.

He thought it would be better for her to use it.

“Then I’ll protect you from behind with this gun!”

Her statement assumed that Amon would also make his living with guns.

Amon nodded with a bitter smile at her remark.

He didn’t know what career path he would take either.

He could go the hacker route, the swordsman route, or even the corporate executive route.

However, in this dangerous world, having a friend who was good with guns couldn’t hurt.

Amon gratefully accepted Sonia’s cute declaration.

***

Soon, the two headed to their next destination.

The next stop was an archery dojo.

It was to discover their talent for archery.

On the way, Amon briefly thought about Sonia’s talent.

‘That recoil control…’

Her shooting skills were excellent.

But apart from that, her recoil control was something that couldn’t easily be explained by talent alone.

Numerous possibilities ran through Amon’s mind.

Special abilities that level 1 to 3 characters could choose from were listed in his head.

‘It’s definitely not an Implant.’

She had never received any procedures, so that was ruled out.

Rune tattoos or engravings were also out of the question.

This wasn’t some external procedure but her innate talent.

If it were magic, it would have been noticeable, so that was excluded too.

By process of elimination, the most likely candidate was Divine Power.

‘Well, there’s nothing else it could be.’

Amon couldn’t detect Divine Power.

Even in this world, only trained individuals could do that.

But he had knowledge.

According to his knowledge, in this world, if something couldn’t be explained by either magic or science, Divine Power was usually the correct answer.

Got a bullet hole in your head but didn’t die and it healed on its own for unknown reasons?

It’s because of Divine Power.

Trapped in an abandoned building and can only escape by kissing someone?

It’s because of Divine Power.

Someone died but you have no idea who the culprit is?

It’s because of Divine Power.

Saying it like this might make Amon seem like a Divine Power enthusiast, but this was a scientific fact regardless of Amon’s faith.

The cause of any unexplained phenomenon in this world could be approached through Divine Power.

And despite the term “Divine Power,” the things one could do with it were not divine at all.

One could perform miracles like reviving people with holy light, but the resource used by entities was also Divine Power.

Divine Power could even suddenly turn a normal person into a crazed cannibal.

‘That’s why people these days call it Mystic Power instead of Divine Power.’

Since modern times, when religious authority had significantly weakened, the term Mystic Power was used more than Divine Power.

In Amon’s case, in his previous life when his faith was weak, he used the term Mystic Power as a gaming term.

But now, having witnessed God directly and received His grace, Amon’s heart was full of faith.

That’s why he stubbornly used the term Divine Power instead of Mystic Power.

‘Mystic Power originated from Divine Power, you know.’

That’s where his train of thought ended.

Returning to the original story,

Sonia’s recoil control was likely due to Divine Power.

No, it wasn’t just likely—it was certain.

No matter what Implant you wore, what magic you used, or what Gene Modification you received, the ability to reduce recoil to zero was impossible.

It had to be Divine Power.

‘Divine Power… Could it be what the Mother Superior mentioned?’

Moreover, he had some hints from the past.

He had received a hint from the Mother Superior before.

– Listen carefully. You two have a special power that other children don’t have. So if someone ever needs your power, you must decide carefully.

When asked specifically what it was, the answer was always that they would be told when they were older.

At that time, both Amon and Sonia listened without any suspicion, but looking back, he cautiously speculated that it might have been referring to Divine Power.

‘Come to think of it, donations to the orphanage suddenly increased after that day.’

If that was image-building work by companies trying to recruit Amon and Sonia early, everything would make sense.

He also somewhat understood why the Mother Superior hadn’t properly explained about Divine Power.

Considering the average morality of companies and governments in this world… keeping it secret was faaaar better for everyone.

‘She could have at least hinted to me that it was Divine Power…’

Though Amon thought this, he didn’t feel particularly disappointed.

Honestly, he wasn’t a paranoid patient, and no matter how mature Amon was, who would think he was a reincarnator?

No matter how much the Mother Superior cared for him, there was no reason to tell this to an elementary school kid.

Amon could understand the Mother Superior’s choice.

‘Honestly, just feeding and sheltering orphans with no relatives is already more than enough to be grateful for.’

It wouldn’t be humane to doubt her goodwill any further.

Amon finished his thoughts about the Mother Superior and returned to the topic of Sonia’s and his Divine Power.

Amon started to get excited again, feeling grateful for the goddess’s generous service.

‘How is my Divine Power manifesting?’

He was eager to find out right away.

Naturally, Amon’s steps quickened.

Before he knew it, he had arrived at the archery dojo.

***

To cut to the conclusion, Amon’s talent wasn’t in archery either.

It was even more disastrous compared to shooting.

“How is it possible that my highest score is 1 point after shooting like that?”

“Don’t be too disappointed. My limit was 2 points too.”

Sonia comforted Amon as he grumbled.

Both of them were terrible at archery compared to shooting.

Saying they were “terrible” was putting it mildly.

Their talent was cursed.

The archery master consoled them, saying it could happen when trying for the first time, but seeing an elf child next to them hitting at least 5 points on their first try made it clear this was a matter of talent.

‘So archery is out.’

Amon drew a thick line through the archery item on his list.

Sonia looked at him worriedly from beside him.

“Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Amon was puzzled by Sonia’s reaction.

Contrary to Sonia’s thoughts, Amon had no reason to be disappointed.

He still had many potential talents to explore.

There were still many dojos to test.

There were swords, spears, wires, throwing weapons, and even fist-fighting.

Even if he had no talent for weapons, it would be fine.

Perhaps he might have talent in hacking.

Even in the worst-case scenario where he had no talent in any area, it wouldn’t matter.

He was confident he could still see the true ending.

‘I once beat the final boss with just a Dildo after setting all talent values to 0.’

If all else failed, he could always become an actor, so there was no reason to worry at all.

When Amon sincerely conveyed that he was fine, Sonia’s face brightened as well.

***

The two abandoned any lingering attachment to the archery dojo and visited various places.

And towards the end, they discovered a fairly decent talent.

No, it was more than just decent.

It was quite a good talent.

The process of their discovery went like this:

The sword dojo was offering basic sword training and sparring experiences to people in celebration of Thanksgiving.

Since both of them were holding a sword for the first time, they started with the basics.

They learned the basic stance, which in martial arts terms could be called the Three Elements Sword Technique, and only then were they put into sparring.

The incident happened after that.

“Winner! Amon!”

The referee declared Amon’s victory.

The tip of Amon’s sword had stopped precisely in front of the student’s solar plexus.

A very clean thrust.

No one could dispute Amon’s victory.

Not just Amon, but Sonia too was dominating the students.

When they first won, even the master thought it was a coincidence.

But seeing the two continue to win even against higher-ranked trainees, the master couldn’t help but recognize their talent.

‘These two have monstrous talent.’

The master’s assessment of Amon and Sonia’s talents was:

Amon had an innate talent for predicting or guiding sword movements through psychological warfare, while Sonia simply had reflexes that far exceeded human levels.

While it was common for most swordsmen to have such talents, theirs were overwhelmingly dominant.

In particular, the master recalled that neither of them had received any sword-related procedures.

‘If they’re this good with pure bodies, what kind of monsters would they become with procedures?’

In a world where bullets and bombs fly around, wielding a sword naturally implies having received specialized procedures.

Therefore, the students in this dojo had received various procedures to assist their swordsmanship.

Yet, Amon and Sonia defeated them with pure bodies and talent.

If the master couldn’t recognize their talent after seeing this, he would have to surrender his qualification.

‘I must bring these children in.’

The promotional effect of securing two talented young people would make their tuition fees seem trivial.

It was a kind of investment.

‘No, that’s just an excuse.’

Honestly, it didn’t matter if they became famous or not.

His pride as a swordsman who had lived his entire life by the sword was screaming that he must nurture these two.

Therefore, the master made a bold proposal to the children.

“You two. You both seem really talented. Would you like to attend our dojo without paying tuition?”

The master proposed to the two with a serious expression.

Sonia jumped up and down beside Amon, saying it was a good opportunity.

But Amon hesitated and pondered the offer.

‘Is this… right?’

Amon recalled the performance he and Sonia had shown at the dojo.

Even Amon himself was aware that it was abnormal for them to defeat students who had received specialized procedures with their pure bodies.

Judging by this performance alone, it was undoubtedly a talent that would attract the master.

The problem was that, while he couldn’t speak for Sonia, Amon was unsure if his case could be called talent.

‘To call it talent…’

He wasn’t sure himself.

This was because his swordsmanship was merely an imitation.

His swordsmanship was a physical recreation of a big data collection of motion from some notorious sword techniques in the game and numerous boss patterns.

How to parry an upper slash and target which vital point,

How to dodge a lower slash and counter-attack.

Things like that.

So he responded well to familiar patterns but couldn’t respond to unfamiliar ones.

Because of this, even Amon himself was unsure if this should be called sword talent.

He couldn’t distinguish whether it was sword talent or just the knowledge cheat of an experienced player.

After contemplation, Amon decided.

“Yes, I’ll do it.”

‘Ah, whatever. I’ll figure it out as I go.’

If he had no talent, he would fail and drop out, and if he had talent, that would be good.

Since it wouldn’t cost him money anyway, Amon accepted the master’s offer.

***

After agreeing to come to the dojo every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, they left.

Fatigue was starting to set in after roaming around the city all day.

As the sun was setting, they began to head back to the orphanage.

On the way, Sonia spoke with the sunset behind her.

“It was a very productive day.”

“Not just productive, it was a blessed day.”

“Hehe. Thanks to you, I discovered my talent too. Thank you, Amon.”

Though unintended, today’s harvest was very abundant for Sonia.

Not only did she discover her talent for shooting, but she also got a workshop voucher and found a sword master.

It could be said to be the best day for Sonia.

However, for Amon, it was a bit ambiguous.

This was because he hadn’t clearly discovered the talent he was aiming for.

But he wasn’t particularly impatient.

‘Life isn’t just about today anyway.’

Amon was about to wrap up the day, looking forward to the next opportunity.

But before he could board the bus, Sonia suddenly called out to him.

“Should we try that one last thing?”

In the direction she pointed, a cosplay competition was being held.

Amon briefly checked the time.

Even if they finished the competition and took the bus, they wouldn’t be late for the orphanage’s curfew.

‘Come to think of it, there’s also the disguise aspect.’

It was an opportunity to check his talent for disguise as well.

Amon gladly accepted Sonia’s proposal.

The two headed to the competition venue.

Until then, Amon had no particular thoughts.

Not until he heard the receptionist’s explanation.

“What!? A gender equality cosplay competition?”

“Yes. Men as women, women as men. It’s a competition created with the intention of understanding the feelings of the opposite sex.”

The receptionist’s business smile was directed at Amon.

Sonia’s eyes sparkled,

And Amon held his forehead, feeling dizzy.