The Story is Told to the Protagonist.

Jilduk, who had been stunned, belatedly crumpled his expression.

“You bastard, just because of your status…”

“Hahaha! Let’s not get red-faced with each other!”

The team leader intervened, hugging us both.

Wow, the smell of sweat is intense.

“Noah is right! Isn’t it better if we speak nicely within the team!”

“Yeah, man.”

“Hey, you…”

“Noah, you too! Jilduk must have his reasons for acting like this, right?”

“Right. I didn’t respect your opinion. Sorry.”

“Hmm, hmm! It’s good to see you both acknowledging your mistakes!”

Despite my sincere apology, Jilduk still looked dumbfounded.

Then, as if about to say something, his face flushed red again. Seems his anger hasn’t subsided.

‘Alright, let’s settle this.’

We can’t keep this up in the team, so let’s find out what’s bothering him so much.

But just as Jilduk was about to speak, Sierra exclaimed anxiously:

“Don’t, don’t fight…!”

Jilduk turned his head towards Sierra. Then he slightly lowered his gaze from her face.

The guy who had been blatantly admiring suddenly turned his head away.

“…Fine.”

In an instant, he backed down like a docile dog.

Well, well. What’s this now?

‘He’s quite versatile.’

Anyway, I decided to let it slide this time.

I think it’s better to have it out, but the team leader seems to think differently.

‘For the team to survive, the team leader’s authority needs to be respected.’

Having seen the rise and fall of Seol Ga-ram’s team, I knew this.

Also, as the trials start to get dangerous, it’s not an appropriate time to cause conflicts.

“Alright, we’ve rested enough! Let’s move! Keep your spirits up!”

The farming resumed.

***

“Arghhhh! Noah! It hurts!!”

[Skill ‘Tears of Gems’ is being cast.]

Ein muttered while emotionlessly aiming at the dog.

“Don’t exaggerate, it’s distracting.”

“Exaggerate? It really hurts!”

As the team leader’s whining decreased near the end of the battle, an unexpected notification rang out.

Ding!

[Stat ‘Stamina’ has increased by 1.]

‘Oh.’

After hours of forced marching, my stats finally increased.

Vitality courses through my tired body.
With just a 1-point increase, I feel as energetic as I did during high school PE class.

I might have shed tears of joy at this sensation if I were a bit older. That’s how refreshing this vitality feels.

‘This amazing feeling comes every time a stat increases, doesn’t it?’

I cleared the message and finished the battle.

“Phew! I really want to avoid these damn dogs!”

We chatted while farming the spoils. Glancing at my status window in the corner of my vision, I couldn’t help but smile.

[Climber Information]
Name: Kang Noah
Affiliation: Planet Earth (Outside the Tower)

Stats
Strength: 0th Realm · 1st Level
Stamina: 0th Realm · 2nd Level (1▲)
Agility: 0th Realm · 1st Level
Endurance: 0th Realm · 3rd Level
Mana: 1st Realm · 3rd Level

‘My stats are increasing bit by bit.’

That’s good news.

Actually, even if they didn’t increase, mana could cover everything.
Once I learn to use mana and infuse it into my body, I can convert mana into other physical stats as needed.

Such high mana alone should be enough for the early stages.

‘Huh? Wait a minute.’

Speaking of stats, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

‘[Rewriting Causality].’

It can create skills, too, right? Can’t it create stats?
I muttered quietly to myself.

‘Create stat.’

Nothing happened.
Well, of course.

‘…Create skill. Modify stat. Modify skill.’

As I blurted out various commands, a message appeared.

Ding!

[Content will be modified.]

Huh.
What did I say? Was it modify skill?

The skill in my information window that was open caught my eye.

[Do you want to modify ?]

“…!”

Modify Grasp?
Wait a minute. That’s a skill I’ll need in the future, right?

‘What happens if I do it?’

For now… yes.

[Which skill do you want to modify it to?]

It’s an abrupt question, but I understand the context.
It seems to be asking which skill I want to replace [Grasp] with.

‘You’re saying I can swap skills?’

My heart starts racing. If this really works, it’s an absurd privilege.

I wracked my brain to think of the most needed skill right now.

Another F-rank skill that could be the key to awakening my mana in the near future.

‘…[Meditation].’

Thump. Thump.

Ding!

[Insufficient plausibility.]

Disappointment washed over me.
Of course, it couldn’t be that easy.

But in other words, it means it’s possible if ‘plausibility’ is supplemented.

‘…But what does plausibility mean here?’

I know what the word means. But like the [Rewriting Causality] trait, it’s a term that wasn’t in the original work.

To gather more data, I tried a different approach.

‘Modify content. [Grasp] to [Keen Eyes].’

[Sufficient plausibility.]
[Do you want to modify to ?]

“Oh!”

It works!

“Noah! Did something happen?”

“…A bug bit me.”

I inadvertently let out a sound.

The excitement I felt was incomparable to when a single stat increased.

‘Can I really change skills like this?’

So many possibilities come to mind with this.
But I still lack information.

‘They’re both F-rank, so why does [Keen Eyes] work but not [Meditation]?’

I looked at Sierra. It’s probably because of her.
No, I don’t think she herself is special.

‘By plausibility, does it mean…’

Is it because I’ve seen Sierra use [Sharp Eyes] a lot? Because I know well what kind of skill it is?

But I know all the skills anyway?

Then.

‘Modify content. [Grasp] to [Tears of Gems].’

[Sufficient plausibility.]
[Do you want to modify to ?]

As expected.
Of course, I didn’t actually change it. I already have that skill.

‘The surrounding people themselves aren’t the condition.’

Rather than ‘how well I know it,’ the key is ‘how much it’s intertwined with my causality.’

If it were the former, I already know all the skills, so there’s no reason it wouldn’t be satisfied.

‘I’ve seen Sierra use [Keen Eyes] many times, and [Tears of Gems] goes without saying, I’ve used it a lot so I’m familiar with it.’

This means I can’t change too many skills right now, so I’m limited at the moment.

But an enormous possibility has opened up.

In this world, while the difficulty of skill creation is extreme, their power is tremendous. That’s why skills are treated as the main focus in growth trees, even more than stats.

‘If the power of skill modification combines with my original knowledge.’

Even someone as untalented as me might be able to go much higher.

The more I adventure with various characters and gain experience, the more rapidly I’ll become stronger.

‘And furthermore, this isn’t the end of it.’

I’ve already experienced that skill ‘creation’ is possible with [Rewriting Causality].

But what if I can accumulate this thing called plausibility and create skills at will?

Gulp.

Moreover, [Rewriting Causality] has much more power. It’s just not revealed yet.
Didn’t I see with my own eyes how it modified the system’s Level 0 procedure and erased Transcendent Jayden’s ability?

Even the mysterious trait [Body That Defies Heaven] was created by [Rewriting Causality].

‘If so… I must secure this reward.’

I never expected it to turn out like this.
Interestingly, the reward given to the team that clears the second level first seems to have considerable synergy with this function.

If I play my cards right, I might make a big leap in growth this time.

‘Now I might be able to have combat power as a fighter, not just healing from the back.’

I tried hard to hide my rapidly beating heart. For now, I stopped thinking and focused on the battle’s aftermath.

There were too many eyes watching to think and experiment with various things.

“Let’s take a short break!”

“When will the portal appear…”

I know, right? I’m dying too.
When the adrenaline wears off after a battle, the body feels heaviest.

“Ugh…”

I lay down immediately without even finding a spot, making dying noises.

But then, a shadow fell over my head.

“Huh?”

It was Jilduk with a determined expression.
I’ve felt it before, but this guy tends to show his emotions on his face.

“Look at me.”

Ah… I don’t want to get up.
His antics have become routine now, so I’d ignore it, but why does he have to do this now?

“Sigh…”

As I sighed openly, Jilduk’s eyebrow twitched.

“Quickly.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

I got up, dusted off the dirt, and looked back once. All team members were staring at us.

I gave them a brief nod. Indicating I’d handle it and be back soon.

The team leader nodded.

Already exhausted, Jilduk walked me quite far.

While doing so, he completely ignored our surroundings, so I also had to watch for his share.

When the team was barely visible, I finally stopped him.

“How far are you going? It’s dangerous to be too far from the team.”

“Why, are you scared?”

His tone completely changed. It doesn’t seem like he’s talking about monsters or other teams.

He must be really determined.

“Sigh… What is it? Speak.”

My sigh must have irritated him greatly as I heard the sound of teeth grinding.

Finally, he found a large tree and settled beneath it. With its thick trunk and dark shade, it’s a spot where the team members absolutely can’t see us.

Jilduk strode up, bringing his face within a fist’s distance of mine.

“Hey, you bastard.”

Alright, let’s hear him out first.

“Don’t get cocky. Whatever you were outside, once you’ve entered as a Climber, we’re equal. Don’t act up relying on your backing.”

His voice trembles. He seems unaccustomed to expressing emotions.

With that tone, people usually stutter too, but he doesn’t. He must have practiced this many times in his head.

‘But this guy…’

He firmly believes I’m from the royal family?

‘He just jumped to his own conclusion.’

It was a stupid assumption, but that’s fine. I’m grateful if knowing trial information is justified that way.

But if he will be this annoying because of it, it’s hard to just sit back and take it.
It’s not easy to overlook, even if he’s just picking a fight, let alone when it’s based on nonsense.

Still, as I listened quietly, he might have interpreted my behavior differently. He smiled quite satisfactorily and raised his palm.

‘…? This bastard, surely he’s not…’

Is he really going that far?

He floated a blue mana sphere above his palm.
It was threateningly big, as big as a human head, and if it burst right now, it would cause a terrible incident.

“With this, whatever your background was, you’ll just die. You know that?”

“Huh.”

He’s really going off the rails.

That’s a bomb. One that he can detonate anytime if he wants.

Surprisingly, he’s now threatening a teammate with such a thing right to their face. It’s practically putting a knife to my throat.

“You fucking nobody who doesn’t even know mana… One hit from this and you’re done; you’re not equal to me, you’re beneath me. This is reality. Get it?”

This is ridiculous.

True, I’d die if that hit my head.
But a mana sphere isn’t some kind of omnipotent weapon.

He crossed the line first. There was no need to listen anymore.

“I’m so scared. I’m terrified I might die right now if that explodes.”

“Yeah, since you’ve learned a lot, at least you know how scary mana is-”

“So it’s self-defense, you idiot.”

I clenched my fist and grazed his empty chin with a flick.

That ended the situation. He lost his balance and fell, and the out-of-control mana sphere disappeared with a swoosh.