Chương 35: TESTING LIMITS (1)

Jimin reached his orphanage. He entered and saw Mrs. Han, walking down the stairs. She paused when she saw him and coughed a bit.

"... You came early today."

"Yeah. There were no Rift outbreaks today," said Jimin with a slight smile.

"Oh my… You shouldn't joke about things like that," she replied, shaking her head with a faint chuckle. The chuckle quickly turned into another cough. She raised her hand to her mouth, shoulders trembling lightly before she straightened again. Jimin frowned.

"You've been coughing an awful lot lately, Mrs. Han. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just old age," she said dismissively, waving him off. Then she stopped, as if remembering something, and looked at him more carefully.

"Come to my room after dinner, Jimin-ah. We need to talk."

"Huh…Okay, Mrs. Han." Jimin nodded, but his thoughts were already spiraling. Is it about that?

"Okay. Go to your room now," she added gently.

"Alright, Mrs. Han. I'll come to meet you after dinner." He bowed his head slightly and walked past her, taking the stairs two at a time. His steps were quick, almost impatient. Once inside his small room, he locked the door, leaned back against it for a moment, then let out a long breath. He then put down his bag and flopped onto the bed, and stared at the ceiling.

"Now, let's start testing," he muttered. His expression sharpened. He raised his hand and opened his skill creation window. If the system really enforces rules… then there has to be a limit. A clear one. He took a deep breath and began typing. —----------------------------------------------- Name: Time Manipulation Description: Grants the user authority over the flow of time. The user can bend the speed of time or rewind recent events.

—---------------------------------------------------- Would you like to create this skill? [Yes] [No] —---------------------------------------------------- He didn't hesitate. [Yes] The window flickered. A faint buffering circle spun at the center. After a while- The window flashed red suddenly. An error symbol pulsed sharply before the screen reset, returning him to the previous name and description as if nothing had happened.

"Huh…" Jimin's lips curled slightly. As I expected. He propped himself up on one elbow and stared at the description again.

"Tch… fine," he muttered. He started to edit it. —----------------------------------------------- Name: Time Manipulation Description: Grants the user authority over the flow of time. The user can bend the speed of time or rewind recent events within a 1-meter radius. —---------------------------------------------------- Would you like to create this skill? [Yes] [No] —---------------------------------------------------- He confirmed it again. The buffering circle appeared once more.

This time, he leaned forward, eyes fixed on the interface. But then- The red flash returned. An error. Again. This time, Jimin thought,. Huh… Even this much nerf isn't working? He clicked his tongue softly.

"Seriously? Tch… maybe this will work." He edited the values again. 0. 5 meters. Then 0. 1 meters. Each time, the result was the same. Error. Error. Error. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"What the hell…" he muttered. He fell back against the bed, staring at the ceiling again. His fingers drummed lightly against the mattress. Then, slowly, his gaze sharpened.

"Alright..." If maybe bending and rewinding time itself was the issue, then what about something simpler? He sat up again.

"This must work." He typed with renewed focus. —----------------------------------------------- Name: Time Stop Description: Grants the user authority to stop the flow of time in a 10-meter radius. —---------------------------------------------------- Would you like to create this skill? [Yes] [No] —---------------------------------------------------- He confirmed it. The buffering circle appeared again, slower this time. The screen didn't turn red immediately. Instead, new text faded in.

—----------------------------------------------------- [WARNING: Rank-Level not high-enough] Minimum Rank: S-15 —----------------------------------------------------- Jimin's eyebrows shot up.

"Huh… Rank not high enough? Minimum S-15?" He stared at the warning, then let out a low breath.

"That high, huh." But his eyes were shining. Still… It means it's possible. He didn't waste time. He edited the radius. [1-meter] The window started processing again. —----------------------------------------------------- [WARNING: Rank-Level not high-enough] Minimum Rank: S-10 —-----------------------------------------------------"What?" he muttered.

"Still S-10 minimum?" He leaned back slightly, exhaling through his nose.

"Okay. I get it now… Alright… last try." He edited it again. —----------------------------------------------- Name: Slow Time Description: Grants the user authority to slow the flow of time by 20 times in a 10-meter radius. —---------------------------------------------------- Would you like to create this skill? [Yes] [No] —---------------------------------------------------- He confirmed. The buffering circle spun again.

—----------------------------------------------------- [WARNING: Rank-Level not high-enough] Minimum Rank: S-5 —-----------------------------------------------------"… Still S-5?" His shoulders slumped slightly. But he didn't stop. He adjusted values rapidly now. [10 times] [5 times] [1 meter] Each change brought the same result, but the warning shifted.

—----------------------------------------------------- [WARNING: Rank-Level not high-enough] Minimum Rank: S-1 —----------------------------------------------------- It got stuck there for the last few tries. Jimin stared at the text in silence.

"So that's the wall," he muttered. He ran a hand through his hair and let out a long sigh. Does this mean I need to be at least S-rank to even dabble with time? The answer seemed obvious. He closed the window briefly.

"Alright. Let's try something else." He reopened the skill creation interface. This time, his expression was calmer. More analytical. —----------------------------------------------- Name: Gravity Manipulation Description: Grants the user authority over gravity itself. The user can manipulate gravity in any way. —---------------------------------------------------- Would you like to create this skill? [Yes] [No] —---------------------------------------------------- [Yes] He confirmed the skill and waited.

But it showed an error again. Hmm… As expected. It's an error. Then, edited the description again. —----------------------------------------------- Name: Gravity Manipulation Description: Grants the user authority over gravity itself. The user can manipulate gravity in any way within a certain area. —---------------------------------------------------- He confirmed but the result was the same. He tried again.

—----------------------------------------------- Name: Gravity Manipulation Description: Grants the user authority over gravitational force. The user can manipulate gravitational force in any way within a certain area. —---------------------------------------------------- He confirmed it once more. This time, the buffering circle lingered. Longer. The room felt strangely quiet as the interface processed. Then suddenly- A window with the full details expanded before his eyes.

———————————————————————————————— [Skill: Gravity Manipulation] Category: Active Type: Control / Offense Rank: Epic Level: 1 / 50 Description: Grants the user authority over gravitational force. The user can manipulate gravitational force within a certain area. Can be used to increase or decrease the effects of gravity in a certain area or specific target. Scaling: • INT → Power limit • WIS → Range and stability Output: [6 + (INT × 0. 05)] times – [2. 5 + (INT × 0. 05)] times increase or decrease, depending on distance and area of effect. Range: 20 m + (INT × 0. 2) m Cooldown: None Cost: (10 – 50) MP / second of use Required LP: 7000 【Create】 【Edit】 [Draft] 【Delete】 ———————————————————————————————— Holy… Jimin stopped himself mid-thought. His heart was pounding now. His eyes scanned every line, every number. Epic. No cooldown. For a brief moment, excitement surged through him. Then his gaze landed on the bottom. [Required LP: 7000] His excitement died instantly.

"Yeah. Nope…" He leaned back against the bed, staring at the glowing window. And even that wasn't the worst part. 10–50 MP per second.

"This thing would drain me dry in seconds," he muttered. This is clearly not viable at my rank. Still, he wasn't done. He reached for the edit option. Numbers shifted. Values dropped. Ranges shrank. After a long series of careful adjustments, the window refreshed. ———————————————————————————————— [Skill: Gravity Manipulation] Category: Active Type: Control / Offense Rank: Epic Level: 1 / 50 Description: Grants the user authority over gravitational force.

The user can manipulate gravitational force within a certain area. Can be used to increase or decrease the effects of gravity in a certain area or specific target. Scaling: • INT → Power limit • WIS → Range and stability Output: [3. 5 + (INT × 0. 02)] times – [1. 5 + (INT × 0. 02)] times increase or decrease, depending on distance and area of effect. Range: 12 m + (INT × 0. 1) m Cooldown: None Cost: (7 – 35) MP / second of use Required LP: 3100 【Create】 【Edit】 [Draft] 【Delete】 ————————————————————————————————"Tch…"

He stared at it for a long moment, then shook his head.

"Any more nerfing and it'll be useless… And even now, it's still heavy on MP." He exhaled slowly.

"Not that I can afford this anyway. At least, not right now. It is clearly not usable for me, as I am now." He took a deep breath.

"Alright. Let's draft it for the future." He then drafted the skill.

"At least…" he murmured, "I'm almost sure about one thing." He laid back again, staring at the ceiling as the glow faded. The system won't let me create skills that can control the absolute laws of nature. And time seems to be in a different league than the others. He took a deep breath. I can only create skills to use it partially. For specific purposes. His fists clenched slowly.

"A few more tests will confirm this for sure." A faint smile tugged at his lips.

"Alright. What about this…