As the shoddy group of people traversed through what was left of Shanghai, they got to know each other quite well; after all, there was nothing much to do except talk. Though there was the slight worry that it might get picked up by the live-stream broadcast that was occurring all over Shanghai, the ones inside the city were blacklisted from viewing.
William would be chewing on a piece of beef jerky they got from raiding an abandoned supermarket. He didn't really need to eat all that much, but it tasted pretty good.
He'd then turn to the other two, who were following behind him
"Sooooo, what did you two do before the Library appeared?"
The first to speak up was Li Jiaojie.
"I was a professional boxer. I...tried doing social media as well, but it didn't end very well. Though on the side, I was studying to become a vet."
Next was Fei Kangzhen
"W-well, back then I was still just a middle-school student, I-I didn't really have many hobbies besides playing video games and scrolling online forums, at least until....
His voice would trail off, and his expression would crumple a bit. William chose not to inquire further.
Li Jiaojie would then say to William
"What about you, boss? What did you do?"
William would confidently look up to the sky and say
"I was a shut-in nobody who read webnovels, skirting past schoolwork and exams with my natural intellect. If the Library never appeared, I suppose I may have become a robotics engineer, though."
'This guy called me king of beasts earlier...Is he trying to find the most appropriate name to call me, so I think he's being respectful? How amusing.'
He would follow that up and say:
"I was rather introverted and enjoyed spending time alone; my parents thought I was lazy, which I in fact was!"
He'd joke self-deprecatingly.
His attention would then divert to the path ahead.
"Anyway, we still have a while to go before we make it to the CVA building. Say, didn't the Sect guy say there would be a leaderboard? I'll boot it up real quick."
[Leaderboard initializing...]
[1. Paintress of a Forgotten World: 340 VP]
[2. Echoic Slate of Emptiness: 200 VP]
[3. Insignificance of Mind: 190 VP]
[4. Azure Blue Dragon: 150 VP]
[5. Shadow Ruler of Darkness: 148 VP]
[6. Red Phoenix of Lava: 145 VP]
[7. Earth Golem: 143 VP]
[8. Spirit of Freedom: 141 VP]
[9. King of Kings: 140 VP]
[10. Pride: 139 VP]
[Your Current Placement: 1,005,323rd place.]
'Real encouraging.'
Will would sigh silently. Now was as good a time as ever to start.
'Today, William Wei joins the hunt.'
He had been lucky enough to avoid the vast majority of the top brass for the time being, but if he wanted to capture the CVA building, it was inevitable that he would have to take out someone on the leaderboard in the process. Maybe not top ten, but definitely up there.
'Anyway, to really be able to take down people that are stronger than me, I need to understand the strengths of my cohort.'
"So tell me, what exactly does your ability as the Reader of Experience do?"
Li Jiaojie would start explaining while opening up a tab in the Library.
"The Core ability of the Reader of Experience is Recollection. Using the power of one's own experiences, we can create weaker versions of phenomena we've witnessed before. I have the abilities of the people I used to work with downloaded, but it takes me quite a bit of time to download more moves, as it's quite challenging to form a picture mid-fight."
He'd pause before continuing.
"There is a workaround where I can use my surface-level memories of a move to create a weak, one-time-use replication that can be done mid-fight. The essence of this ability is memory; if my memory is impaired, I can lose everything."
Then he'd take a massive breath.
"Although I can replicate the abilities of others, I don't immediately know the exact information on a certain ability. For example, I know a good bit about the effects of the rest of my squad. The Reader of War guy can enact a domain of war where he and his designated allies are stronger, and others are weaker. It also gives some degree of information about everyone inside the domain, and he can also exude a fierce aura that can make others falter."
"The Reader of Medicine can conjure the most adequate type of healing for a given situation. Simple gashes and bleeding are no issue, but solving some of the deeper problems needs medicinal knowledge. To assist with this, the skill Eye of Healing is built in, which allows you to discern various ailments."
"The strategic man's power allows me to activate the skill Eye of Strategy, which automatically analyzes the area and feeds the most optimal movements into my mind. Simple and effective."
"The final guy uses some kind of invisible artillery. I struggled a lot to learn that move. It was by far the hardest out of those four."
[Author's Note has updated the corresponding information on the page 'Li Jiaojie / Abilities']
[Author's Note has been activated.]
[Name: Li Jiaojie]
[Status: Reader of Experience.]
[Attributes: Warrior, Worker, Memory-Keeper]
[Skill(s): Recollection.(More Info)]
William would nod, then turn to Fei Kangzhen while walking.
"And you?"
He'd be fiddling around with a pen before stammering at William's words. He'd start a bit shakily, but slowly become stable.
"O-oh u-uh, I c-can evoke f-fear inside others, then I can harvest the fear into p-power. T-the types of f-fear vary, but the main variants are irrational phobias, and trauma from people's childhood, although the second variant requires information about the target to be used."
He'd nod and smile emptily.
[Author's Note has been activated.]
[Name: Fei Kangzhen]
[Status: Reader of Fear]
[Attributes: Scaredy-Cat, Survivalist, Coward.]
[Skill(s): Fear.]
"That's useful. Thanks, guys, I think we have a real shot here."
"I do have a question, though, before we commit to risking our lives in this endeavor. Why are you sticking with me? Is it simply to use me as a guardian? Because, if so, I can tell you right now that sticking with me will bring more danger than not. Such is the effect of people like us."
He'd chuckle solemnly as he thought of an old "friend".
Of course, he knew that turning into a massive three-headed demon usually evokes fear in people, but he still maintained a degree of curiosity.
The two would look at the back of William's head and say in unison.
"You bear the presence of a king."
"Y-you're someone who protects others!"
William would stay silent for a second, deep in thought.
'Eugh, they make me sound benevolent...And it's kind of funny for them to say those things...Because I'm neither.'