Chapter 32: Hidden Rules

For now though, I decided to conduct the experiment.

I took out a stone from the plush toy’s pocket before it was enhanced.

Then, I used my ‘Analysis’ skill to check its status.

——

Name: Stone

Attack Power: +1

——

Alright, let’s use the “Tampering” skill and change the name to “Stone → Cat”.

I thought that if I could do this, I could become a god…but after 10 minutes nothing happened.

“Then how about changing the ‘Stone’ into ‘Rock’?”

“….I could do that?”

I knew my statement was contradictory, but I couldn’t help but think I could do it without any discomfort.

Though if the experiment succeeded, there was a possibility of breaking through the floor of the room. So, we moved to a nearby plaza.

–Plaza

As a result of the experiment, a 3-centimeter stone turned into a rock of about 50 centimeters.

“It’s strange that you couldn’t turn it into a ‘cat,’ but it became a ‘rock.’ And why did it become a small rock of about 50 centimeters?” Mia wondered.

“Eh, is this small? In my mind, this is what a rock looks like.”

“Really? In my imagination, a rock is about two meters, so it seems a bit small,” Mia explained.

No, no, two meters is too big. In my mind, that feels like a considerably large rock.

“In that case, let’s revert it back to ‘stone’ and try turning it into a ‘rock’ of about two meters this time.”

I imagined a rock of about two meters in size and tried to change the name from ‘stone’ to ‘rock’ using my ‘Tampering’ skill.

However, the ‘Tampering’ skill didn’t activate.

Mia muttered, “What could it be… Could there be a size limitation?”

I started to understand it somehow.

In my mind, a rock of two meters feels like a large rock, so maybe it failed because I couldn’t change it with just one character.

Is it more about my common sense than an image?

A consciousness that I can’t control, or …… unconsciousness.

‘Unconscious belief’ is a good term for it.

I tried once again to change ‘stone’ to ‘cat’ using my ‘Tampering’ skill.

I firmly believed that I could do it.

…10 minutes passed –

No, it didn’t work. The ‘Tampering’ skill didn’t activate.

Well, of course not.

It’s not so easy to change an ‘unconscious belief.’

You don’t need an image of how to open the refrigerator door. I don’t think about whether to use my right hand, left hand, or both hands. If I want to see inside the refrigerator, I naturally open it. That’s what ‘unconscious’ means.

Trying to change ‘stone’ into ‘cat’ was impossible from the moment I tried to make an effort.

Through these experiments, I arrived at one hypothesis.

“Skills” themselves have no limitations in terms of performance. It’s the “unconscious beliefs” of the skill user that become the limitations on the performance.

For example, let’s say you have a skill called ‘fire fireballs come out’.

Whether it summons meteor-like meteors from the sky or just shoots small fireballs of about 5 centimeters depends on the ‘unconscious belief ‘ of the user.

However, the functions and activation conditions of ‘skills’ are as described in the skill explanations in the status.

Those who choose combat-related professions might have it quite tough.

If you have gaming knowledge, you wouldn’t come up with ideas like “being able to use Meteor at level 1.”

While I was contemplating my hypothesis, Mia raised her hand and called me.

“I came up with a great idea! How about changing the number of characters that can be changed with the ‘Tampering’ skill from 1 to 9?”

“I also thought about that, but I don’t think you can use the ‘Tampering’ skill to change the content of the ‘Tampering’ skill itself. Like, you can’t write on a pencil with the same pencil. It’s something like that.”

“I see, that makes sense! It would be scary if the skill disappeared if you failed… That’s a possibility, right?”

Uh-oh. In our conversation just now, I started to believe that if I tampered with the ‘Tampering’ skill and failed, the skill would disappear.

Am I doing something really stupid right now?

Mia’s ideas kept coming.

“Well, how about raising your level? For example, changing ’25’ to ’95’?”

“I think that could work. Numbers are well-established.”

We immediately gave it a try.

My level became ’95.’

I don’t know why, but for some reason, instead of feeling happy or excited, I only had a bad feeling.

“Mia, step away from me. Let me take a walk.”

Mia moved away from me.

As I took a step forward, I suddenly plunged headlong into the ground with tremendous speed.

“W-What’s wrong?”

“It’s not working. My body and mind are not in sync. It’s like suddenly driving a racing car when I’ve only driven a compact car.”

I answered while lying on the ground.

“Uh, could you manage if you get used to it?”

“Mmm, I’m not sure. Considering the risk when I deactivate it, it might be more dangerous. Besides, I don’t have any trouble in battles for now. Let’s just deactivate it for the time being.”

What will happen if I deactivate it after my level has increased? If I change my level from 25 to 29 and then level up to 30, will it revert to 35 or go back to 25? Is it even normal to be able to change levels?

Oh no.

I tried raising my level again.

I couldn’t ‘tamper’ with my level anymore.

Probably… or rather, without a doubt, my ‘unconscious beliefs’ have changed.

That’s why the ‘Tampering’ skill stopped activating.

It feels like it’s easier for ‘unconscious beliefs’ to lean towards ‘can’t do’ rather than ‘can do,’ and ‘failure’ rather than ‘success’… Is this a problem with my personality?

No, it’s no good! The more I experiment, the more I end up tightening the noose around my own neck.

But what about Mia’s ‘Deformation’ skill?

If my ‘unconscious assumptions’ impose restrictions on ‘skills,’ then why can Mia do such outrageous things?

Ah, it’s the ‘drawings’!

When she first used the ‘Deformation’ skill, I instructed her to imagine it as drawing on a mental canvas.

‘Drawings’ are less likely to be affected by “unconscious beliefs”.

You can fly in the sky or even go to space.

However, “unconscious beliefs” still affect the material.

A stuffed ‘elephant’ can spray water from its trunk, but a stuffed ‘cat’ probably can’t.

I’ll refrain from telling Mia about this hypothesis… about the ‘hidden rules.’

Mia is pure and single-minded.

She’s strongest just the way she is.

Although it’s all just a hypothesis, it yielded significant results.

I realized that knowing what I can’t do is like putting a lid on my own skills.

Those guys who love light novels and get cheat skills would be winners, wouldn’t they?

The ones with an arrogant “I’m the strongest~!” attitude would become the strongest and the worst when they acquire cheat skills.

Yeah, it’s too dangerous.

This ‘hidden rule’ must remain an absolute secret.

“Mia, let’s go home. I’m tired, so let’s stop for today.”

“Well, if you worry about failure, you’ll lose. It’s okay! Takumi’s skills are the strongest!”

Maybe she’s trying to encourage me?

What should I do…

“Thank you. But tomorrow, I want to go shopping all day. You want to buy clothes too, right?”

“Yes, please! If we can’t come to the capital for a while, I definitely want to go!”

“Great, let’s get to bed early today and go shopping early in the morning.”

“I’m looking forward to it. Hehehe.”

And so, I kept the knowledge of the ‘hidden rule’ obtained from today’s experiment a secret and headed back home.

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