Cid opened his eyes to the familiar ceiling of his own house. His dark pupils shifted slightly downward, quietly watching the peaceful sleeping face of the pink-haired girl beside him... and the number above her head, which had already dropped to zero.
Looks like it still isn't enough...
Thinking that, Cid carefully got up, making sure not to wake the sleeping Sherry, then dressed and left the room.
It was too inefficient. He had not made full use of it at all.
Thinking back to last night, when the numbers had hit zero after barely a dozen minutes between the two of them, leaving him to spend the rest of the night training alone with his eyes closed, Cid could not help feeling it was a shame.
Human nature came down to killing and fucking. If dozens of people with two-digit or even three-digit numbers filled his entire sleep time, his growth efficiency would shoot up dramatically. In a single night, his body's stats could be updated thousands of times.
And if he could refine his combat skills and experience through battle while raising his physical stats at the same time, his strength would rise even faster. Maybe it could multiply by hundreds of thousands of times in just a few hours?
Cid cracked an egg into a frying pan and cooked it over low heat, then casually put a few slices of bread into the toaster. He felt that he now had to seriously consider one thing: how to balance the line between potentially breaking the world and preserving his everyday life as an extra.
He had to admit that this inexplicably evolved new ability had changed him. He needed to think about how to use this stronger training method to massively boost his stats without destroying his extra-like daily life or breaking the world.
He placed the fried egg on a plate, took out salad dressing and a few vegetables, put them on the toasted bread, added some fruit, arranged everything, picked it up, and took a bite. A sandwich. Delicious.
As for not using it, that was impossible. Could someone who abandoned an ability out of shame and chose to just drift along really be called an Eminence in Shadow?
Anyway, as long as it was not forced and both sides were willing, there was no problem.
Cid swallowed the food in his mouth, set down the pen in his right hand, picked up the paper, and looked at the "obedient dog builds a huge harem" plan he had just written. After thinking for a moment, he tore it up.
Come to think of it... does this ability of mine really only work on women?
Resting his chin on his hand, Cid stared at the blank sheet of paper in front of him and fell into quiet thought. Suddenly, something flashed through his mind.
Once again, let it be stated: if Cid ever inexplicably gained a new ability one day, it would definitely be the result of his body evolving on its own due to outside influences, his inner thoughts, or his subconscious.
In other words, his abilities were limited by his own understanding and self-imposed restrictions. Suppose the target range of this ability did not distinguish between men and women, but he subconsciously believed he could only do it with women. In that case, the range of the ability would be self-restricted to women only.
Once the thought came to him, Cid acted. He stood up, opened the window, searched around for a while, and found a boy passing by on the still mostly empty street.
"I want to know this person's remaining value, I want to know this person's remaining value, I want to know this person's remaining value..."
As he kept muttering to himself, from Cid's perspective, a twisted number slowly began to appear above the passerby's head.
Hm. It really works.
The moment he confirmed the number could appear, Cid stopped the self-suggestion, turned around, and returned to the table to continue breakfast.
In a certain sense, Cid was a true and genuine advocate of gender equality. If it was for the sake of becoming stronger, he really did not mind doing both men and women.
After all, being a gay super Eminence in Shadow sounded pretty cool... probably cool, right?
As long as he was the one on top, everything should be fine... right?
Cid imagined the scene of people discovering that an Eminence in Shadow was gay. After a moment of silence, he drank a glass of milk and ultimately abandoned the idea.
He had to admit that, in the end, he was still an ordinary man who cared about empty reputation. Besides, women alone were fine anyway. After all, men and women were two groups with plenty of people... were there really only two groups?
Cid suddenly fell silent. He looked at the cup in his hand, drank the rest in one gulp, then quietly stared at the transparent glass.
Only after more than ten full seconds passed without any number appearing did Cid withdraw his gaze suspiciously.
"Strange. If both men and women work, why doesn't the cup? That doesn't fit the other me's requirements..."
Remembering the mad appearance of his other self, with the momentum to fuck the heavens, the earth, and even the air, Cid put himself into the other's mindset and thought for a while. Then he lowered his head and looked at the ground.
His gaze passed through layers of rock and magma, reaching the very center of the earth. There, Cid saw a transparent number that kept fluctuating, an astonishing figure that reached three digits and even came close to four.
"I get it. It's status and the soul."
Cid muttered to himself. At this point, he had fully understood how this ability worked.
The key was the status every living being in this world was born with. The soul was the consciousness that activated that status, and the physical body was the key used to touch it.
Now, all he needed to do was find a way to make the world develop self-awareness, then rape it, and he could easily update his body by several hundred versions. This was truly...
"But... no!"
Cid rejected the idea. Treating the world as his own cup was cool, but the chain reaction afterward would drag the entire world into an abyss of desire, turning it into an Inner World.
"So I have to go with a human wave strategy?"
Cid quickly figured everything out and drafted a harem plan for himself. It was obvious that this ability valued quantity more than quality.
A world with the status of a strong Dragon God-level being only had a three-digit number nearing four digits. An ordinary Dragon God was probably around three digits. Judging from his previous observations, whether an SSS-rank could break one hundred depended on their personal attribute tendencies, while anyone below that level was definitely within two digits. As for ordinary people, as long as they stepped into the supernatural, they would definitely be in the double digits.
"What kind of garbage power balance is this..."
Cid rubbed his head with a headache. Although it was not impossible to understand, he still could not help wanting to complain. This completely violated the law of conservation of energy. With a human wave strategy, he could easily absorb the equivalent of a strong Dragon God-level being in a single night. If he learned how to take specific values and strengthened the extraction speed a bit more, surpassing that was not impossible either. This training method was absurd.
"Asia, I left you a sandwich on the table. Eat it yourself."
"Huh?! Oh, oh, oh. Thank you, Cid-san!"
While he was thinking, Cid saw Asia stagger out of the room in an extremely poor mental state. He called out to her, then continued thinking.
Although numerical values were almost meaningless now, Cid still very much wanted to keep stacking them. After all, he was greedy when it came to power.
"Good morning, Cid-kun. Later... could you take a walk with me?"
Perhaps because Cid had been thinking for too long, Sherry, who had been sleeping soundly in his room, had already woken up. Facing the sunlight outside the window, half her body sank into shadow.
"Sure. We'll go after breakfast. There's no school today, so I'll show you around properly."
Cid agreed without any concern. He stepped forward to help the mobility-impaired Sherry to the table, then picked up his notebook and began thinking about his harem plan.
First, it could not be too troublesome. An Eminence in Shadow trapped by romance was not cool.
Second, it would be best if there were no feelings involved, and they simply treated it as a perfectly ordinary social activity.
Third, it would be best if money could solve it. If possible, a kept-lover relationship would be ideal. Talking about feelings was too much trouble. Money was easier.
...That was all he could think of for now. He would continue next time.
Cid stopped writing. Magical Power surged out, instantly destroying the plan so no one else would see it. He stood, glanced toward the dining table, and saw that Asia and Sherry were still eating breakfast. Figuring he still had a little time, Cid decided to take a quick shower first.
"Splash!"
Feeling the warmth envelop him, Cid let out a relaxed murmur. His favorite part of every bath was the way he could unwind and let his thoughts wander. Even the tension in every muscle seemed to melt away.
Come to think of it, how exactly could a world develop consciousness?
As his thoughts drifted, Cid began considering whether his earlier idea actually made sense.
Theoretically, it should be impossible for a world to develop consciousness. There were far too many individual minds within a single world. At most, it might possess certain instincts for self-preservation.
The Human race alone numbered in the tens of billions. If supernatural species and wild animals were included as well, the figure became even more terrifying.
For a world that contained so many living beings to develop consciousness was impossible. With nearly a trillion sentient beings inside it, the world would be like a case of split personality. Having some beast-like instincts would already be impressive.
Unless the world was destroyed, and in the instant of its destruction, every living being across the world achieved unity of consciousness in the moment before death. Otherwise, only an absolute utopia could allow the "world" itself to come alive.
But if the world was already destroyed, what good would having its own consciousness do?
So... better not think about it. An enemy like that would definitely be interesting, but there was no point dwelling on something impossible.
After drying himself off and stepping out of the bathroom, he met Sherry's eyes as she waited for him by the door. The two exchanged smiles, then walked off together.
...
"To be honest, even though I've lived here for a year, I haven't really explored the place much myself. Especially now that it's been rebuilt. So if there's anywhere you want to go, just tell me. I don't mind."
Looking at the unfamiliar scenery around them, Cid realized he had wasted most of the day and still needed to make sure Sherry enjoyed herself, so he offered that explanation. The important point was that the area had been rebuilt. It had nothing to do with him.
"No, not at all. I'm happy just being with you, Cid. And... I don't really have anywhere in particular I want to go."
Sherry was looking around with eyes full of excitement and curiosity, but when she heard Cid speak, she quickly shook her head and told him what she thought.
"?"
"To be more precise, I want to see every place together with you, Cid."
As she gazed at their surroundings, Sherry slowly combed her fingers through her bright pink bobbed hair.
"I see. In that case, I'll plan today's itinerary. I did promise to make it up to you, didn't I?"
"...Hey, Cid. Back when we parted ways, how did you really feel about me?"
"The same way I do now."
Thinking back to her chance meeting with Cid a few days ago, and to the words they had exchanged when they parted, all of which had now come true, Sherry couldn't help but laugh.
"I really was within your expectations from beginning to end, wasn't I, Cid?"
Sherry's sudden, cryptic words made Cid tilt his head slightly. His calm, pitch-black eyes looked at her, but Sherry only smiled, stepped forward, and hugged him tightly.
"But today is the happiest day of my life. I'm sure I'll remember what happened today until the moment I die. It's just... I still have so many regrets. I met you far too late, Cid."
"Why are you making this sound like a final farewell? We got held up by other things today, so can't we just make up for it on Saturday or Sunday?"
"No... I have to leave. I don't have much time left to stay here."
"You're going back? That is a bit of a shame. In that case, I'll see you off when the time comes."
"Mm-hmm!"
She had smugly assumed she knew more than Cid and had vaguely hinted that she was going to die. Yet she had never imagined that the person she thought was ignorant was actually the one who knew the most. He had even predicted when the outcome would arrive.
It should have been enough to make her angry. She should even have hated him for being manipulated like this... but Sherry was smiling happily.
"Cid, had you already decided to save me back then?"
Thank you, Shadow-sama!
She whispered softly beside Cid's ear and repeated those words in her heart. Then Sherry released the arms she had wrapped tightly around him and took a few steps back.
"All right, Cid. Since I've reached my destination, it's time for me to go!"
What do you mean!? When did we get here!?
Only now did Cid finally process Sherry's series of actions. He looked around and realized they had somehow arrived at the pier.
"Are you in that much of a hurry to leave?"
He was completely confused inside, but his mind worked quickly, and Cid asked back in an easy tone.
"Yes. If I keep dragging this out, I'll cause trouble for you, Cid."
She nodded lightly. Well, Sherry didn't know why Cid was hiding his identity, but there was no doubt that her presence had already caused trouble for him. Naturally, she had to be considerate.
"All right. Where are you going?"
Cid did not ask what kind of trouble she meant. He simply asked out of concern for a friend.
"Netheril, I suppose. The Witches over there have been trying to recruit me for a while now. They even sponsored quite a few things for me for free as an investment."
"Hmm... All right, then. Call me if anything happens."
Cid had never expected to hear that name. Feeling guilty, he could only fall silent.
"I will. Oh, the people and the ship they sent are already here. Goodbye, Cid."
After glancing at her phone, she gave one final wave and turned to leave.
"Yeah. Goodbye."
Muttering quietly, Cid turned to look at the Elf wearing a formal dress, with hair and eyes like an emerald-green lake.