Demeter's slender fingers pinched the parchment she'd just finished taking an imprint from, the faint warmth of it still lingering.
But the gentle, lively light in her amber eyes was gone.
In its place was something almost blank, a dazed mix of confusion, shock, and an indescribable haze.
Her gaze was nailed to the few simple lines of data on the page, as if those sacred letters had turned into a curse she couldn't comprehend, determined to shatter everything she thought she knew.
Genichi
LV.1
Strength: SSS1499
Endurance: SSS1499
Dexterity: SSS1499
Agility: SSS1499
Magic: SSS1499
SSS1499 across the board.
Five numbers so absurd they felt unreal, five peaks standing cold and silent on the page, mocking every definition of "potential," "genius," and "limit."
Genichi had become an adventurer, received a god's Blessing, and by any honest count it had been only six days.
Six days.
In just six days, he'd gone from a pure beginner with I0 in everything and skyrocketed upward, stepping over H, G, F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and finally forcing all five basic parameters to the theoretical absolute summit of what LV.1 could ever reach.
SSS1499.
For most adventurers, that number was a dream they could never touch in a lifetime, maybe not in several lifetimes.
Plenty of adventurers spent their entire lives stuck at LV.1. Reaching D-rank in a few stats was considered competent. C-rank was "excellent." Touching B-rank in one or two areas was enough to be a core member of a small or mid-tier Familia.
Even the "chosen" geniuses favored by the gods, the ones praised as the pride of an era, like Freya Familia's "Mighty" Ottar or Loki Familia's "Sword Princess" Ais Wallenstein, had only aimed to polish key parameters to S-rank during their LV.1 stage, and that was considered complete.
S-rank was already the realm of prodigies, the starting line of legends.
But SSS…
And all five at SSS1499…
That wasn't "talent" anymore.
That was mythology. That was monstrosity.
What kind of insane gift did it take to reach something like that?
Demeter couldn't even begin to imagine it.
And what made her skin crawl even more was that, from the trend of the data, Genichi's growth seemed to have stopped dead right there. The number 1499 felt like an invisible chasm, a lock sealing off any further rise.
This was probably the true ceiling of what the LV.1 container could hold under the world's rules.
He had actually done it.
In the shadows, unknown to the world, in six days, he had forged a perfect LV.1 terminal form: something no one before him had achieved, and something no one after him would likely ever reproduce.
The room was so quiet that Demeter could hear the soft crackle of candle flame and the uneven rhythm of her own breathing.
Only after a long while did she seem to wake from an absurd dream. Slowly, she lifted her head and looked at the black-haired boy in front of her, calm as if he'd merely finished something trivial.
The shock in her amber eyes hadn't faded, but a hotter, more complicated fire lit within them.
The excitement of witnessing a miracle.
The boundless anticipation of where that miracle would go.
And perhaps, faintly, a reverence she didn't even realize she was feeling.
"…You're missing only one thing now. A feat with enough weight, and you can level up to LV.2 immediately."
Demeter's voice was a little dry. She handed the parchment to Genichi, forcing her tone to sound normal.
"Or are you planning to keep trying, to see if you can break past this limit?"
Even though she knew the odds were almost nonexistent, she couldn't help asking.
Because with this boy, she'd already seen too many impossibilities made real.
Genichi accepted the Status sheet and calmly scanned the five perfectly aligned SSS1499s.
No surprise.
No wild joy.
Only the quiet sense of, as expected.
Over the last few days, especially yesterday when he'd tried pushing into the Ninth Floor again and clashed with stronger monsters, he'd already felt it. No matter how hard he squeezed, his body had reached a saturated threshold.
1499 was likely the ceiling of LV.1.
"There's no point in stockpiling parameters anymore."
Genichi shook his head slowly, certainty in his voice. "This is the limit. Staying at LV.1 longer would just waste time."
He raised his eyes to Demeter, decision glittering faintly in the black depths of his gaze.
"Tomorrow, I'll go into the Dungeon and find a monster that can provide a feat with enough weight. Once I deal with it, I'll come back and level up to LV.2."
A feat was the key to leveling: an achievement beyond the ordinary, usually killing an enemy far above your level alone, completing an extremely difficult task, or surviving a desperate situation and pulling off a miracle.
Genichi's answer chased the fog out of Demeter's eyes and brought the light back in.
Leveling up.
He was finally going to level up.
She couldn't wait to see what kind of terrifying leap Genichi would make once he hit LV.2 on a never-before-seen foundation of five parameters at SSS1499, and what kind of absurd Development Ability he might unlock.
That moment would go straight into Orario's history.
But just as Demeter's emotions began to surge, Genichi's next words poured ice water over her excitement and forced her to still.
"Even after I level up to LV.2, I want you to keep it secret."
Demeter's eager expression stiffened. She stared at him in confusion.
"Secret? Why? Genichi, this is an achievement beyond belief. If you made it public, you'd become the center of Orario's attention instantly. Why would you hide it?"
She truly couldn't understand.
A result like this should be announced to the world, enjoyed under the gaze of the gods and the cheers of the crowds.
It was the glory countless adventurers dreamed of and died chasing.
Genichi looked into her baffled eyes and spoke two phrases.
"The tallest tree catches the strongest wind."
His voice was quiet, but it carried weight.
"Abnormal talent and abnormal speed don't just bring glory. They bring attention, jealousy, suspicion, and danger on a scale you can't imagine."
His black eyes were deep and cold.
"I'm not a hero who wants the spotlight. I don't like showing off, and I don't like putting myself under endless scrutiny and calculation."
His reasoning was calm, practical.
Orario wasn't as bright and harmonious as it looked on the surface. Rivalries between Familias, the gods' cruel whims and schemes, conspiracies in the dark, they were everywhere.
A monster who reached SSS1499 in all five parameters in six days and then leveled up to LV.2 would become the center of a city-wide vortex the instant it was exposed.
He would never know peace again. He'd be forced to face recruitment attempts, probes, suppression, and possibly outright elimination.
More importantly, a name flashed through his mind, lurking in the shadows.
Dionysus.
That mad wine god, if he learned Demeter Familia had produced something this abnormal, would never sit still.
With his current strength, Genichi couldn't possibly handle whatever Dionysus might send, especially that terrifying monster created through "modification."
Until he possessed power sufficient to protect himself, to resist or even counterbalance such threats, hiding in plain sight and growing quietly was the only viable path.
"So I want my level-up and my parameters to be known only to you and me. To everyone else, I'm still just a newcomer who joined Demeter Familia recently, someone with decent aptitude who's working hard to adapt to the Dungeon. Nothing more."
Demeter fell silent.
She wasn't ignorant of those truths.
As a goddess who'd operated in Orario for years, she'd seen far too many geniuses die young because they shone too brightly too soon. She knew the undercurrent beneath the city's glittering surface.
It was just that she'd been hoping to witness and share in the glory and joy of this miracle…
But looking into Genichi's ice-cold eyes, eyes that seemed to have already seen the ugliness of the world, the last traces of reluctance and regret in her heart were slowly replaced by understanding and responsibility.
He was her Familia.
Her trump card.
And a child she had to protect.
If he believed staying low was the better choice, then she would support him.
"…Alright."
Demeter took a slow breath and nodded solemnly. The softness returned to her amber eyes, but there was a new firmness there too.
"I understand. We'll do it your way. I'll help you hide it. I won't let it leak. To the outside world, you're just a newcomer in our Familia who works harder than most."
(End of Chapter)
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