Chapter 92: Status Window Of The Unparalleled Handsome Arcane Human.
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◈ Holder of the Card Of Arcana
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◈ Rank: Eternal
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◈ Description: The Card of Arcana is not a relic. It is the concepts that rule over the path of ????. Whether by fate, theft, or madness, you have become a vessel for divinity far beyond mortal comprehension...
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◈ Effects:
✦ Right to use Card Of Arcana.
✦ Resistance against ???? Corruption.
✦ Seed of Divinity.
✦ Complete Immunity Against Mental Intrusion and Mind Erosion.
✦ You may never use any other weapon.
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"...Maybe reverse psychology really does work against the universe."
My lips curled to form a smile because this was the only logical explanation I could come up with at this moment.
Because, for once, the Myth actually had a good effect.
Like, a shockingly good effect.
I didn’t fully understand what the "Seed of Divinity" or the "Right to use the Card of Arcana" actually meant...
But resistance to corruption and immunity against mind erosion?
Yeah. Those were absolute game changers. The kind of effects that didn’t just keep you alive, they kept you sane.
The corruption part was always a mystery. No one really knew where it came from, but most of the Eldritch creatures carried it like a passive curse.
They didn’t just kill you.
They corrupted you.
Just like that Grafted Hunger had done with me before.
Maybe... that golden light from the Card, the one that saved me back then, was this very effect in action.
But that was not all because the next effect was the real jackpot.
Immunity to all kinds of mental intrusion and erosion?
Absolute gold.
I mean, I literally sent Bearlo out to fetch an artifact that could help me with that exact problem. Spent all that time planning, preparing and for what?
Had I known I would end up with this effect as a passive bonus, I would’ve just told Bearlo to relax and grab a drink instead.
Still, anything’s better than nothing, I guess.
And it’s not like having an extra artifact is going to hurt.
More importantly... The artifact didn’t even provide complete immunity.
At best, it offered resistance.
Its real effect was something else entirely, something that had nothing to do with protecting my mind.
So yeah, it wasn’t useless at all.
But the flaw of this Myth? Yeah, that wasn’t something to just laugh off either.
I couldn’t use weapons.
Like, ever.
Not that I was some master swordsman or anything but seriously, what the hell kind of grudge did this card have against weapons?
There had to be a reason, right? Some divine logic behind it?
Because I would really like to believe it wasn’t just screwing me over for fun.
But then a thought hit me, what if the Card of Arcana itself is a weapon?
I mean, there was an effect that literally said, "Right to use the Card of Arcana."
What if that’s the reason it’s rejecting every other one?
Maybe it doesn’t want competition.
Maybe it’s not just some artifact granting me power... maybe it wants to be the power.
Maybe... It wants to be the only weapon I wield.
Quite possessive, I must say.
Not that I hate it.
At least the possessive ones are loyal.
And honestly, after everything I have dealt with, I’ll take loyalty in any form, even if it comes from a cosmic murder card.
I wanted to check it right away.
Every instinct screamed at me to do that.
But I knew the rules.
Always leave the best for last.
With that noble philosophy in mind, I finally looked at the one effect I had been ignoring till now.
The Seed of Divinity.
I had no idea what it actually was... but come on, anything that starts with "Seed of" has to be cool, right?
At the very least, it sounded important enough to make me feel like a protagonist again.
Maybe it helped in ascending to something divine...
Or maybe it was just a flashy name for something completely useless.
Wouldn’t be the first time the universe dangled shiny words in front of me just to hand me disappointment wrapped in gold.
In any case, I had ended up with two useful Myths and two... let’s just say, decorative ones.
But the best part?
These were just the side effects.
I hadn’t even checked the real change yet, the one that had happened within me.
And now... was the time to open my Status window.
The moment I did, a cascade of notifications greeted me:
[YOUR BODY HAS EVOLVED]
[A TRACE OF BLOODLINE HAS BEEN AWAKENED]
[YOUR AFFINITY HAS EVOLVED]
[YOUR SKILLS HAVE EVOLVED]
[EXCLUSIVE NEXUS WEAPON: CARD OF ARCANA IS LINKED]
Each line made my pulse quicken a little more.
These were absolutely exciting.
But more importantly, it confirmed my suspicion—the Card of Arcana wasn’t just some mystical artifact. It really was a weapon.
—●『STATUS INTERFACE』●—
『Name』 → Rael Von Ashborn
『Classification』 → Arcanic Human Variant.
『Rank』 → F+ → E
『Core』 → Iron Core
『Core Affinity』 → Arcane Jestfire
『Nexus』 → Arcanic Trickster
『Nexus Potential』 → Unique
『Flaw』 → The Trickster
『Stat Matrix』
∟ STR → E+→ D-
∟ AGI → E- → E+
∟ VIT → F+ → E
∟ END → E- → D
∟ INT → S+ → SS+
∟ WIL → E → D
∟ LUCK → Unpredictable
∟ CHARM → S+ → SS+
***
『Mana Reserve』 → 4000 / 4000
『Martial Technique』 → VoidPulse Martial Art (★ ★ ☆ Initial)
『Registered Skills』 → [Click to Expand]
『Class Quest』 → [!!!!!]
—●『STATUS CLOSED』●—
As my eyes swept over the glowing interface, my favourite word escaped my lips.
"Holy shit—"
I didn’t just evolve.
I transcended.
From handsome nerd to unparalleled handsome nerd.
Truly, the pinnacle of evolution.
I mean, I was already one hell of a handsome guy with just an S+ in Charm, practically a public hazard by normal standards.
And now? I had leveled it up by a whole major rank.
Not gonna lie, even the so-called protagonist only had SS+ Charm which, to be honest, I always thought was rigged.
Because let’s be real, I was definitely more handsome than him even with a mere S+.
But now? That bastard doesn’t even get the advantage of doubt anymore.
It was confirmed by the world that I’m objectively better-looking.
So yeah... looks like the spotlight just got a little brighter on me.
I just hope I don’t attract any more yanderes after this.
I’ve already got my hands full with Fate stalking me out of spite, Death acting like a jealous ex and now the Card of Arcana trying to be my possessive weapon-wife.
Honestly, my love life’s starting to look like a cosmic harem anime I never signed up for.
Only after a few more narcissistic thoughts did I finally focus enough to actually read the status window.
And the first thing that caught my attention, obviously, was my race.
Arcane Human.
Now that was new.
I had read somewhere that humans were the most prone to evolution out of all major races.
Their race could adapt to all kinds of Nexuses and, in rare cases, even mutate because of them.
If someone awakened a particularly unique or powerful Nexus, their very race could evolve to accommodate the change.
Basically, humans were the universe’s favorite lab rats—flexible, adaptable and always one disaster away from an upgrade.
So, my race evolving wasn’t exactly shocking.
Humans were basically built for that.
But this specific Arcane variant... yeah, that was new.
I hadn’t seen or even heard of it before.
Which either meant it was extremely rare or I was about to find out why no one had lived long enough to record it.
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◈ Race: Arcane Human
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◈ Description:Humanity was never meant to wield the sacred. Yet through sin, brilliance or defiance, you have transcended the boundaries of flesh and faith alike. Your soul harmonizes with divine law and forbidden magic, creating something neither mortal nor god. You are the paradox of existence, a being born of imperfection yet walking beside the eternal.
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◈ Special Effects:
✦ Arcane Resonance — Divine and magical energies naturally align with your existence, amplifying spell potency and reducing mana consumption.
✦ Duality of Flesh and Faith — Grants slight resistance to both physical and spiritual harm. Your body rejects divine punishment as easily as mortal wounds.
✦ Soul Circuit — You do not require a core to wield the magical energies as your body itself is a self sufficient core.
✦ Arcana Synchronization — The Card of Arcana recognizes your existence as its rightful vessel, enhancing compatibility and control.
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"Holy fucking shit."
As I read through the description of my new race, my mind was blown apart—then somehow pieced itself back together—only to be blown apart again.
What in the chosen one’s wet dream was this race supposed to be?!
Okay... maybe that was a bit of an overkill.
I mean, it wasn’t that broken. Sure, it was great, maybe even borderline cool but definitely not "world-bending chosen one" levels of overpowered.
Still... for someone like me—the exact opposite of a chosen one, the guy fate personally abandoned for being too damn handsome—yeah, even this felt almost too good to be true.
And I, for one, definitely wasn’t going to start complaining.
Because even a carrot can kill an elephant, if you know exactly where to stab it.