Chapter 380

If he left just like that and came back, the gains would be immense.

Killing a single person now yielded extremely high returns. Not only could he turn them into an undead that would fight for him, but he could also extract enchantment effects from their body—refining everything for his own use.

When Kanzaki Rei returned to the hotel, Shumi had already come back as well.

The appraisal had passed. The fragment capable of opening the rift would likely spawn Abyss creatures of Tier 5 or Tier 6.

But in terms of threat level... it wasn’t particularly dangerous.

With Luluvie and Kiyomi, the two of them could handle it with ease.

And according to Rei’s own records, Shumi’s combat ability wasn’t weak either—she belonged to the category of elite prodigies in her own right.

With them acting together, things were relatively safe.

"You’re really not coming, nya? Luluvie said you’re really strong, nya."

Shumi looked at Rei as she asked.

Rei smiled lightly and declined.

"I’ll pass. I’m honestly pretty average."

Rei briefly considered whether he should obscure Luluvie’s perception of his strength a bit more—so she wouldn’t go around talking about how powerful he was.

...Then he dropped the thought.

Even if she did tell people, it wouldn’t matter much.

And even if the news spread everywhere, people would forget his name in a very short time.

If someone brought him up again later, they’d just ask, "Who is Kanzaki Rei?"

So there was no real need to make Luluvie forget anything.

"Alright then... we’ll farm it ourselves, nya."

"I was even thinking of giving you a share."

Honestly, he didn’t really need it.

Abyss creatures were valuable, sure—but to Rei, they were just slightly more valuable than ordinary materials.

Anything he needed could be compensated for by running a few more dungeons.

Right now, he already had piles of Tier 7 materials stacked up with no time to sell them—let alone bother hunting Abyss creatures personally.

If he ever needed those materials, he could just buy them.

After declining their party invitation, Rei went to the Mage Association.

He registered the magical research he had completed during this time, along with several new spells he had developed.

All of them were registered as spells that could be learned freely—without any cost.

Through this method, he increased the spread and recognition of his magic.

Then he went to the Warrior Academy and submitted the second and third refined versions of his combat techniques, offering them as free learning materials.

Rei could feel it clearly—

His magic, and his combat techniques, were gradually becoming known to the world.

The dissemination of magic and martial techniques took time.

Only death and destruction... could spread instantly.

As long as one could create a sufficiently shocking destructive event—something widely witnessed and acknowledged—

Wiping out the entire Hollow Vale would actually be a pretty good option.

And then... just select a few survivors.

Now that—that would truly violate moral boundaries.

So yes... I’m still normal.

As for the advancement conditions of a Puzzle Scholar—

Rei had already identified a world-renowned mystery that had yet to be solved.

"Harvest Moon Phase."

It was known that the celestial phenomenon of the Harvest Month was a "Painted Sky Phenomenon."

However, due to its unique nature, it was extremely difficult to compare its lunar phase with those of other months.

Lunar phases influenced harvests.

They also influenced rituals.

If one couldn’t correctly determine the lunar phase during the Harvest Month, they would miss the harvesting season—and be unable to accurately complete related ritual setups.

Rei had learned of this mystery.

Then—

He went into the simulated future... and directly obtained the answer.

Unlike Origin Magic, which required personal insight and comprehension—

Simply knowing the answer to a mystery wasn’t complicated.

Rei could just write it down in the future... and pass it back to his present self.

In fact, the requirement to advance from a Level 5 Puzzle Scholar to Level 6 was precisely to make such an answer public.

If even you couldn’t figure it out—

How could you possibly claim to reveal it to the world?

—

The Puzzle Enthusiasts’ Association.

Compared to the grand-sounding "White Tower," the name of this organization felt... somewhat crude.

"Puzzle Enthusiasts" sounded like a group of children playing around.

The building itself was small.

Inside, only a handful of people were scattered about.

Puzzle Scholars were part of the "Hidden Codex" class line—a rare profession.

So their low numbers weren’t surprising, even in the Moonsea.

Because of that, associations like this only existed in major cities.

Unlike mages or the White Tower, which could be found almost everywhere.

And since there was some overlap between Scholars and Puzzle Scholars, the association felt even less prominent.

"I’ve solved a world mystery. I’m here to publish the answer."

Rei stepped into the wooden structure and spoke calmly to the man at the front desk, who had a black pen clenched between his teeth.

The man looked up with curiosity.

"Oh?"

"A world mystery? Which one are you talking about?"

"The Immutable Theorem? Or the Mechanical Mind Conjecture?"

At their core, Puzzle Scholars and Scholars weren’t that different.

Puzzle Scholars focused more on solving unknowns that hadn’t been answered.

Scholars specialized in mastering known knowledge.

Of course, Scholars also explored the unknown in the process—diving deeper into advanced domains.

So the distinction between the two was actually quite subtle.

"The Harvest Moon Phase."

"Oh... that one. The S-ranked standard problem."

...What kind of classification is that?

Rei glanced at the white wall nearby.

It was covered with sheets of paper—layer upon layer.

Each one listed a conjecture with a bounty attached.

These were famous unsolved problems, widely known across the world.

Scholars had proposed them—but proving them had proven difficult.

Eventually, they were submitted to the Puzzle Enthusiasts’ Association as global mysteries open for resolution.

Most of them had remained unsolved for centuries.

The young man at the desk spoke again.

"So you’re here specifically to solve a mystery and make the answer public... aiming to advance to Level 6 Puzzle Scholar, right?"

"Yeah."

The man looked Rei up and down.

"You must be an early-transfer class user. Already pushing for Level 6?"

"I actually had some ideas about the Harvest Moon Phase myself."

"But I never bothered to work it out fully. Didn’t expect someone to solve it this quickly."

"Judging by your age, you probably haven’t been studying this problem for long, right? A year, maybe?"

Rei shook his head.

"Not that long. About three days."

Three days ago, in a simulated future, he had found this place—

—and chosen the mystery he wanted to solve.

"Three days?"

Crack.

The man bit straight through the black pen in his mouth.

"Since you’re that talented... want to try another one I’ve got here?"

He leaned forward, clearly intrigued.

"A few days ago, a new conjecture came out of the White Tower..."

"They’re proposing that... monsters might actually be capable of evolving into intelligent beings."

...

Want to unlock up to 60+ early-access Chapters with NFSW Content and exclusive novels ?! Join my Patreon today and dive deeper into the adventure!

patreon.com/denji21