Makoto looked at the girl in front of him in surprise.
In that moment he suddenly understood Chen Guohao's mindset back then.
He had only just opened his eyes as a Veteran, while she, a newcomer, was already awake.
That alone was enough to prove how strong her talent was.
Still, he was not surprised that she had a talent like that.
"She's..."
Sakiko opened her eyes too and looked at the girl in astonishment.
Before Makoto could answer, the girl had already risen politely and bowed.
"Hello, I'm Asuna. Is this some kind of new game quest? You two must be the ones leading the party. I'll be in your care."
Sakiko's expression went blank, as if she could not understand what the girl was saying.
But Makoto could see it. Asuna, or rather Yuuki Asuna, was still inside the game SAO.
That had left her understanding of her surroundings completely detached from reality.
"What do we do? Are you going to explain it to her?"
Sakiko looked at Makoto, a trace of nostalgia in her eyes, probably remembering how the two of them had first met.
And now the two of them shared a closeness with no distance left between them at all.
At that thought, Sakiko instinctively hugged Makoto's arm, and gave Asuna a serious look.
She did not yet realize what that gesture of hers actually meant.
Makoto studied the girl seriously, though not her face.
He was looking at the full 60 Fate Value floating above her head.
It was not the first time he had seen 60 Fate Value.
But this girl was a newcomer under his leadership, a party member who would follow his orders almost completely.
With a newcomer like that in hand, whatever he chose to make real with Making Fake Become Real would become incredibly easy.
The only problem was that Asuna, because of her scrambled understanding, could not grasp too many new concepts.
He would need to spend time slowly filling in her picture of reality.
Still, that was not really a problem.
He was already required to bring this whole newcomer team back to Main God Space intact.
With Asuna's mountain of Fate Value as a safety net, he even felt that finishing the main mission hardly mattered.
At that thought, he glanced at the remaining four players.
Every one of them had only 1 Fate Value.
He lost even the interest to ask their names or learn their talents.
They were doomed to be the lowest tier of players in Main God Space.
Normally, they probably could not even clear this mission.
"In that case, we'll call you Asuna from now on. Hold out your hand, and I'll pass you some information."
Asuna had no suspicion and held out her hand at once.
Makoto rested his fingers on her wrist and instantly learned what she had been through these past days.
Sure enough, she was still trapped on the first floor of Aincrad.
She had not even begun to clear SAO.
Then Makoto withdrew his hand.
"As for the basic situation here, close your eyes and focus. Main God Space will tell you."
Asuna did as she was told, and her face quickly went deathly pale.
She had given up on herself on the first floor after being trapped in the death game SAO.
As a result, she had fallen into this world.
She had thought salvation was waiting for her.
Now it looked like this was a hell even more terrifying than the death game.
Just as Asuna sorted out her situation, the other newcomers finally woke up.
Before any of them could speak, Makoto released a sliver of his chakra.
The pressure instantly crushed down on them until they could barely breathe, killing any thought of making an extra move.
"Good. It looks like you understand your situation. I'm the one leading this run, and I can promise you that I'll do my best to carry all of you to the end."
"All you have to do is cooperate with me and not do anything unnecessary. I have the means to protect you, and I have reason to protect you. We work together, and everyone benefits."
After hearing him out, the group's expressions improved a little.
Two of the middle-aged players still looked doubtful, but Makoto could not be bothered to raise their trust.
"Next, state your names and talents."
The players exchanged glances and began to answer.
"Lin Dongqiang. D-rank talent, Pain Reflection. It reflects 200 percent of the pain back onto whoever attacks me."
"Sato Yuta. D-rank talent, Appraisal. I can see information on any item, person, or character whose rank doesn't exceed my talent rank."
"Lina Carter. D-rank talent, Night Walker. All my stats increase by 20 percent at night."
"Kane Miller. C-rank talent, Great Stomach. As long as there's food in my stomach, my stamina never drops and my injuries heal slowly."
When a C-rank talent came up, the three D-rank players all looked over with envy.
His talent sounded especially good for survival.
If Makoto had not already given them his guarantee, they might have been envious enough to beg him to carry them.
Makoto, however, knew very well that compared to Asuna's, their talents had nothing distinctive at all.
They did not even match the room for clever play that his own teammates' talents had shown during his newcomer mission.
He looked at Asuna, curious about what her talent actually was.
His Lattice Eyes could pull a great deal of information on a person, but they could not yet analyze the talents Main God Space granted to players.
Unlike Makoto and Sakiko, who had hidden their talent ranks in front of Chen Guohao, Asuna reported hers without the slightest hesitation.
"My name is Asuna, full name Yuuki Asuna. My talent is the S-rank Light of the Heart. Its effect is that I can bind teammates and shield the whole party from curses, mental attacks, and genjutsu-type interference, but every activation consumes my mental energy. I can also spend mental energy to temporarily map my mental energy stat onto my other stats in its place... I think that means it's a burst ability?"
Sakiko's eyes went wide.
When she heard S-rank, her first instinct was that the girl was lying.
But looking at how innocent she was, Sakiko immediately understood that they had run into a genius who had not yet grasped her own situation.
She quickly looked at Makoto, trying to get him to keep the news quiet.
If word got out, this girl would become something every guild fought to recruit.
But then she realized her reaction had been too slow.
A Stand had already appeared on Makoto's shoulder, using its ability to block the sound of Asuna's words.
Only she, Makoto, and Sakiko could hear them.
The other players clearly noticed something was off, but none of them dared to move.
Makoto had already proven how strong he was.
Only after she finished did Asuna notice that the others were acting strangely.
Before she could ask, Makoto spoke.
"Asuna-san, Main God Space is a dangerous place."
"A talent as strong as yours makes you a child clutching gold in a crowded market, a target for everyone's greed. So from now on, tell outsiders your talent is C-rank, and that it raises your resistance to mental and curse-type attacks."
Asuna stared blankly for two seconds, then nodded at once.
She was only naive. She had hardly played games before.
As a rich young lady who had always attended a girls' school, she had no idea what real danger meant.
But she was not stupid. She was, in fact, quite clever.
Asuna understood at once that he was protecting her this way, and she accepted the kindness immediately.
Then Makoto stopped using his Stand's ability.
"Next, it's our turn to introduce ourselves."
"You can call me Kitano, or simply Captain. She's my second, so you can call her Miss Togawa or Deputy Captain."
"As for my abilities..."
Light flashed in Makoto's eyes, the three tomoe spinning fast, and a powerful aura burst out as he flicked his fingers.
A Spatial Gate opened under the tall, broad Kane, and he dropped straight through.
When he came to his senses, he was falling from the ceiling back onto the floor, terror still in his eyes.
Makoto then demonstrated Sky Manipulation and Spatial Slash before activating Making Fake Become Real.
"What I have is a complete set of spatial abilities. My storage space is nearly ten football fields in size, and I can use that storage space as a weapon against enemies."
[Ding, Making Fake Become Real triggered...]
[Yuuki Asuna: Fate Value 60, Trust 20%, Manifestation Points 12.]
[Togawa Sakiko: Fate Value 1, Trust 0%, Manifestation Points 0.]
[Kane Miller has insufficient understanding of the size of 10 football fields. Manifestation failed.]
[...]
[Total Manifestation Points: 13. Your Spatial Manipulation storage space increases to the size of 1.3 football fields, specifically 9,282 cubic meters.]
The familiar voice sounded in his ear again, and his spirits lifted.
But the manifestation result that followed made it hard for him to keep a straight face.
He had deliberately kept to ten football fields, a conservative figure, so his numbers would not exceed what the group could grasp.
And yet a player still failed to understand it. Was Kane just terrible at math?
Or maybe he never watched football at all and only knew basketball or rugby.
Fortunately Asuna, the star student, had manifested it successfully, though her trust was a little low.
Had his numbers still exceeded what she could picture?
It seemed that no matter how innocent Asuna looked, he could not tell lies that went too far beyond her understanding and imagination.
Makoto's mind raced while his mouth kept moving.
He pointed at the blurry shape on his shoulder.
"This is my Stand ability. A Stand ability summons a being with its own appearance and powers, controlled by the will of its user."
"What makes it special is its extremely high growth potential. High growth potential drives the growth of all its stats and the evolution of its talent points. Right now it can silence sound, mimic voices, and even chant incantations in place of me, its master."
[Ding, Making Fake Become Real triggered...]
[Yuuki Asuna: Fate Value 60, Trust 40%, Manifestation Points 24.]
[...]
[Total Manifestation Points: 25. Your Stand Silent Echo's growth potential advances to C, gaining the ability to precisely mimic enemies and surrounding sounds, with a corresponding evolution to its stat sheet.]
Makoto immediately checked his Stand, and its growth potential had indeed become C.
Not only that, its other stats had each risen a small stage, with even its destructive power going from E to D.
It was no longer a Stand with no destructive power at all, even if the most it could manage now was rattling someone's eardrums with high notes.
He was fairly satisfied with the result.
It proved Asuna's trust in him was not low at all.
It simply required the most fitting lie for her to trust him to the fullest.
He glanced at the countdown, which had little time left.
He could still use Making Fake Become Real on his own abilities, but he decided to first try to settle Sakiko's worry.
So he pointed at the blue-haired girl beside him.
"Togawa's ability is Wrath Berserk. Those eyes of hers come from a giant dragon, enough to let her unleash terrifying power."
"Unfortunately those eyes have a side effect. They are a dragon's eyes set in a human body, so Miss Togawa must sacrifice 100 milliliters of blood each day to soothe their resentment."
After saying it, Makoto felt a little nervous himself.
This was the fastest method he could think of.
If it did not work either, he would have to keep earning Fate Value for her.
As for why he had not simply erased all the side effects of those eyes, the answer was that they needed to devour certain things to grow.
Fate Value was something he and Sakiko could not afford to pay, but blood was cheap for them, since he could heal her with Reverse Cursed Technique Output.
Sakiko gave him a surprised look as well.
During his first two uses of Making Fake Become Real, she had not believed him.
The reason was simple. She knew he was lying, she just did not yet understand why he was saying those things.
Now, though, she was beginning to understand.
As for the other players, some of them did find it strange.
Why would he spell out the weaknesses of his abilities? It made no sense.
But Asuna, still innocent enough, barely questioned anything he said.
At most she felt he was holding something back.
[Ding, Making Fake Become Real triggered...]
[Yuuki Asuna: Fate Value 60, Trust 50%, Manifestation Points 30.]
[...]
[Total Manifestation Points: 31. The SS-rank item Cursed Eyes of Milim Nava has its usage requirement changed to 31 milliliters of blood and 0.69 Fate Value devoured each day.]
It worked!
The instant he saw the system prompt, Makoto felt his heart skip a beat.
The total Fate Value was not high, so the Manifestation Points came to only 31, and 0.69 Fate Value a day was still required.
But it proved the plan could work.
From here, as long as Makoto completed manifestations in front of more story characters, he could eventually reduce the usage requirement of Sakiko's eyes to nothing but 100 milliliters of blood.
…