Konbini Ossan Volume 14 Chapter 2 — Status ERROR
Everyone nodded at my proposal.
Even if we couldn’t identify the exact truth, wanting to organize the conditions for ascending to godhood in greater detail and with more specificity was clearly something all of us had been thinking about.
“Then let’s start with the ERROR status display, right?”
Shuri-kun spoke first.
“According to Hero Avril’s diary, her stats first reached SSSSS. Then some time later, specifically after defeating the Demon King, they changed to ERROR. In other words, defeating the Demon King was the dividing line between SSSSS and ERROR, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, that seems correct.”
“Which makes me think that killing between summoned ones affects not just skills, but stats too.”
I found myself agreeing with Shuri-kun’s deduction. It certainly fit too neatly timing-wise to assume that stats simply continued growing past SSSSS until they eventually became ERROR at some arbitrary point.
“So this is just my theory,” Shuri-kun continued, “but maybe what happens when summoned ones kill each other isn’t merely skill theft. Maybe it’s more like... some kind of ritual, where the killer absorbs everything from the one they kill, something tied to the soul.”
“A ritual?”
“Yeah. Or to put it another way, maybe summoned ones have some built-in system that makes the level-up phenomenon work in an absurdly more efficient way.”
Shuri-kun’s perspective was quite interesting.
“All living beings in this world gain experience, level up, and grow stronger. Maybe that entire process is actually a mechanism for accumulating the power needed to become a god.
…
But even if you level normally and reach SSSSS stats, maybe that still isn’t enough. It only looks like the maximum, but in reality there’s still more beyond it.
…
So to make reaching that point easier, it wouldn’t be strange if summoned ones were created with enormous amounts of experience value built in. The gods themselves made summoned ones, after all.”
“But by that logic, wouldn’t killing a freshly summoned person grant enormous experience immediately?”
“Hmm, true...”
Though we had never tested it, it was hard to imagine a scenario where Kanehama could simply kill me right after I was summoned, gain a massive level increase, and instantly become overwhelmingly powerful.
That would practically mean the gods were actively encouraging summoned ones to kill each other.
The existing gods wanted summoned ones to ascend. If so, they likely wouldn’t favor a strategy that reduced the number of beings capable of becoming gods.
“Then let’s separate the concepts,” Matsuriya interjected. “Assume there are two necessary parameters.”
He entered the discussion smoothly.
“One is level, or perhaps stats. By increasing this, a summoned one fulfills one condition for becoming a god. The other...
…
Let’s call it the size of the soul. Separate from level, summoned ones may possess a mechanism that absorbs souls through killing others. The more soul mass absorbed, the larger their own soul grows.”
“I see. If we interpret level and stats as the strength of the soul, that makes even more sense. Both size and strength must meet the conditions before the display becomes ERROR.”
As Matsuriya and I discussed this, Arisa suddenly spoke up as though realizing something.
“Wait. If that’s true, then maybe what happens when summoned ones kill each other is actually something even the gods didn’t anticipate. Like... a bug?”
“Arisa! Explain that in more detail!”
Not just me, but Shuri-kun and Matsuriya also leaned forward with clear interest.
“Let’s say normal living creatures can’t absorb souls, so their soul size never changes. They only get stronger through leveling up. But summoned ones are irregulars, right?
…
They’ve got an extra soul absorption system built in. So isn’t it possible that absorbing another summoned one’s soul causes some kind of unintended overflow because of that extra system?”
“I see,” Matsuriya murmured in understanding. “In that case, even if the gods never intended summoned ones to kill each other, the result could still accidentally make it the most efficient path.”
“Though who knows what came first,” Arisa added.
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe summoned ones with that special system existed first, and all the normal creatures in this world were made afterward without the soul absorption function, basically as food for them.
…
In that case, the question of why killing fellow summoned ones is so efficient just comes right back. It still feels unnatural.”
Arisa’s theory certainly had holes, but the broad framework seemed usable.
“Our goal is simply to predict the conditions for becoming a god,” I said, steering the discussion back on course. “Regardless of which explanation is true, let’s organize the main points first.”
I summarized.
“Hero Avril killed the Demon King and immediately her stats reached ERROR status. The Dragon God stated that reaching SSSSS is one of the conditions for ERROR. Taken together, it makes sense to assume there are two conditions.
…
Using the metaphor we’ve discussed: stats represent the soul’s strength, while the hidden condition represents the soul’s size. Only when both have grown sufficiently does the status display become ERROR.”
“So in the Dragon God’s case, soul size came first, while for Hero Avril, stats came first, making it appear as though they reached ERROR at different timings?”
“Exactly.”
I nodded in affirmation at Shuri-kun’s summary.
“And while we cannot definitively prove that killing between summoned ones rapidly increases soul size or strength, the possibility is extremely high.
…
To dismiss Hero Avril's stats becoming ERROR the instant she killed the Demon King as mere coincidence would be far too convenient.”
At my conclusion, everyone nodded in agreement.
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E/N:
It's human nature to have conflicts so not being able to predict why the summoned Heroes won't go on a killing spree to kill their own fellow, considering the another world's own civilization and respective politics, differences between the summoned and the original residents and so on… Is honestly cruel of the Gods or whoever started this system.
Stay tuned!
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