"Absolute Mastery Archive..."
Lee Jun-ho sat on the edge of his bed, staring blankly ahead. After everything that had happened today, he finally had time to inspect the mysterious system that had suddenly appeared in his life.
"Come out."
Jun-ho raised his hand.
Nothing happened.
He waited a few seconds.
"...That was embarrassing."
Jun-ho lowered his hand and closed his eyes.
In an instant, the Absolute Mastery Archive appeared inside his mind. Unlike a simple notification panel, the Archive felt enormous. It was as if an endless collection of knowledge had been stored inside his head.
Jun-ho felt a little relieved.
At least this was something only he could see.
If something like the Absolute Mastery Archive could actually manifest physically and other people found out about it, he had no idea what kind of trouble would come his way.
'I can't tell anyone.'
Jun-ho immediately made up his mind.
He began examining the Archive.
The first Mastery was still unlocked.
[Mastery No. 001]
[Gilgeori Toast]
[Level: Absolute]
It contained incredibly comprehensive knowledge.
The food's origins.
Ingredient selection.
Preparing eggs and vegetables.
Cooking temperatures.
Bread-toasting techniques.
Sauce proportions.
It even contained detailed information on all kinds of Gilgeori Toast variations, enough to leave Jun-ho stunned.
"So everything I did earlier came from here."
He tried opening the next section.
Empty.
The third section was empty too.
Jun-ho continued checking until he finally found a huge index at the back of the Archive.
"Huh?"
He read it more carefully.
"This is kind of a hassle. Why is the category list all the way in the back?"
But his annoyance quickly disappeared.
There were far too many categories.
The culinary category alone was divided into Korean, Asian, Western, desserts, beverages, and various dishes from around the world.
There could be thousands of them.
And that was just the culinary category.
Jun-ho moved on to the other categories.
Martial arts.
Music.
Languages.
Science.
Art.
Mathematics.
Medicine.
Crafts.
Appraisal.
Finance.
Acting.
Singing.
And many more.
Jun-ho swallowed.
"This..."
He kept reading.
Then several other categories made him stop.
Transcendent Abilities.
Artifact Crafting.
Various kinds of knowledge that did not even seem like things that should exist in the normal world.
Jun-ho fell silent for quite some time.
'If even one of these gets unlocked...'
He did not even dare finish the thought.
An explanation then appeared.
[Absolute Mastery Archive]
[The Archive can store various kinds of knowledge and abilities.]
[The more Masteries that are unlocked, the more knowledge the user can master.]
Jun-ho slowly nodded.
"I see."
The next explanation appeared.
[Mastery Points]
[Mastery Points can be obtained by completing certain tasks.]
[Mastery Points can also be obtained by sharing knowledge with others.]
Jun-ho immediately remembered what had happened that afternoon.
When he explained how to make toast to Ha-neul, the system had given him one Mastery Point.
"So that's why."
He continued reading.
[A certain number of Mastery Points can be used to choose the Mastery you wish to unlock.]
[If you do not use Mastery Points, the next Mastery will be unlocked at random.]
Jun-ho's eyes immediately lit up.
That meant Mastery Points were far more important than he had imagined.
Next came information about him.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- User: Lee Jun-ho
Occupation: Street Vendor
First Mastery: Gilgeori Toast --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mission: Gain a small amount of Reputation.
Status: Incomplete.
Reward: Unlock the next Mastery and obtain 10 Mastery Points. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jun-ho stared at the information with a bitter expression.
"Why did it have to be Gilgeori Toast?"
Of all the extraordinary categories in the Archive, his first Mastery was a food that had nearly driven him into bankruptcy over the past several months.
If he had been a bank employee, perhaps his first ability would have been related to finance.
If he had pursued martial arts from the beginning...
Jun-ho looked at the Transcendent Abilities category again. His chest felt tight.