PVCNC 11

Chapter – 11

Just as I was wondering what to do, Lilia broke the silence between us.

“What are you two doing?”

Lilia, who had tightly grabbed my hand, glared at Zenon.

“What did you say to my sister?”

“Well… nothing much.”

“Really?”

“I just said she seems to have a lot of unusual abilities.”

Zenon, who had also taken his share of blankets, answered calmly, and Lilia puffed up her cheeks.

“…Sis, I don’t like that guy.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve been watching him, and he keeps looking at you with creepy eyes!”

At Lilia’s grumbling, I gave an awkward smile.

I didn’t know why his suspicious looks appeared as creepy looks to her, but honestly, it wasn’t unreasonable for Zenon to doubt me.

Yeriel and Lilia might be somewhat innocent and believe what I say…

But most people would question it if someone suddenly started summoning unfamiliar items from thin air, especially items perfectly suited to the situation.

‘If anything, Zenon’s reaction is the most normal one.’

Still, it was a relief that I probably wouldn’t be suspected much longer.

By tomorrow, the others would also start receiving support from their Constellations like I did.

I had just let out a sigh of relief when—

“Miss Wendy! It’s finished!”

Yeriel called out to me with a bright smile.

At some point, a fairly decent campsite had been set up around Lilia’s brazier.

Blankets were spread in a circle around the warm fire that filled the area with gentle heat.

It wouldn’t be perfectly comfortable, but it was still quite an impressive camp.

I slowly walked toward my teammates.

“Everyone worked hard. I’ll take the first watch, so you can all sleep peacefully.”

As I spoke with a gentle smile, the previously quiet comment window suddenly became noisy again.

—DisposableExtra (ruexxx): What is Wendy planning?

ㄴSannabi (sinxxx): Seriously. Is she going to set a fire and run?

—Owen (dowxxx): I read the original before the remake. This gives me chills. Feels like she has a split personality.

ㄴAlwaysBinge (lakxxxx): You saying you’re dropping it but still reading is creepier.

Naturally, many readers resisted the character’s sudden 180-degree change.

But—

—Sage07 (erpxxx): Self-sacrifice acknowledged.

—RomanceFantasyPresident (romxxx): It’s still early, why are the comments such a mess?

People were weak to what they could see.

When a good person does something good, it feels expected.

But when a bad person does something good just once, it leaves a deep impression.

[You have gained favor from 5 observers.]

[Total Favor: 5]

Just as I expected, favor was steadily accumulating.

However, unlike my satisfaction, Yeriel seemed to think differently.

“Huh? But you prepared all the food and sleeping supplies, Miss Wendy. So I should take the watch.”

I had expected that.

From the first moment we met, he had always been polite and considerate.

But actually seeing it made my chest feel warm.

“Can’t I just stay with my sister instead?”

Even the original novel’s heroine.

If I had stayed with the trash teammates from the original story, I probably would have never experienced feelings like this.

Back then, Wendy was always treated like an outcast.

‘Can you wash this for us?’

‘What’s the point of having a strong Constellation? You’re useless.’

‘You’re in the way. Go clean something over there.’

‘Sis, just rest. I can do this alone.’

Honestly, she had been treated even worse than that.

Well, even now they were still trying not to give me any work.

“Lilia is still young and needs proper sleep. So I should take the watch—”

“I can do my part too. I don’t want special treatment because of my age.”

“I’m used to staying awake. When I was punished, I stayed up for three days and nights. I’ll take the watch.”

At least now, unlike the original story, I wasn’t being treated like trash.

“…That’s enough. You’re all worrying too much.”

After finally persuading the three stubborn people, I turned my head away from their staring gazes.

“What?”

“You think we could sleep comfortably while leaving you on watch?”

Zenon, who had been staring at me quietly, finally spoke.

…Wait, what?

He couldn’t sleep comfortably if I stayed up?

Was this cold-blooded guy actually… worried about me?

‘This guy?’

Just as my heart began to warm from the thought, his indifferent voice struck down my delusion.

“I hate sleeping while owing someone. Stop showing off and go to bed.”

‘Of course not.’

That damn debt, debt!

Was he possessed by the soul of someone who died without paying their debts?

Seriously, what an irritating guy who only thought about himself.

“If it gets too hard, wake me up.”

After saying that, he turned and lay down at his spot.

I let out a small sigh.

Someday, I was definitely going to flick that shiny forehead of his.

After secretly throwing a mock punch at the back of his head, I watched my teammates crawl into their blankets and prepared for my watch.

“Let’s see…”

I hadn’t volunteered for watch duty without reason.

I wanted to analyze a skill I still didn’t fully understand—Big Data.

‘Analyze and imitate… Is this a skill copy ability?’

There had been several characters in the original story with skill-copying abilities.

Those people could perform hybrid roles regardless of whether they were healers, damage dealers, or tanks.

That made them extremely popular.

‘If I’m right, this is huge!’

I covered my mouth to hide my excitement.

If this really was a copy ability, I could become an overpowered all-rounder just by copying my teammates’ cheat-level skills.

I’m sorry for calling you useless.

Dear—no, Constellation!

‘The heroine’s sister is actually overpowered~’

Feeling happy, I hummed quietly while reading the rest of the skill description.

I needed to understand how proficiency and acquisition worked.

‘Acquire through experience’…?

“Does that mean I just watch someone use a skill? Wait a second…”

Something felt off.

There was a warning note mentioning that the damage and pain would be real.

Could it be…

“Do I have to get hit to learn it?”

Yes.

To learn skills, I had basically ended up in a situation where I needed to ask my party members to beat me up.

I screamed internally, once again convinced my Constellation was useless.

—Blueberry (honxxx): LOL that skill is crazy.

ㄴNyungChul (catxxx): Is it though? Looks like she has to get hit.

—KimWalWal (hapxxx): Unlucky Wendy.

—RomanceFantasyPresident (romxxx): That must hurt.

I suddenly wanted to grab the readers by the collar.

Still, since I had the skill, I needed to figure out how to use it.

‘There’s no answer. None at all.’

I sighed deeply and continued reading the remaining skill descriptions.

[Wendy Porcelain]

[Constellation: Observer Beyond the World]

[Skills]

<Subspace Window>
Allows you to peek into stories beyond the world.

<Big Data>
A skill that absorbs the abilities of those who strike you.

Higher-tier skills are harder to acquire.

Each hit increases proficiency depending on the skill tier:

S-rank skill hit → +3% proficiency
A-rank skill hit → +5% proficiency
B-rank skill hit → +10% proficiency
C-rank skill hit → +15% proficiency
Below D-rank → +33.3% proficiency

<Magic Cart>
Allows you to purchase all items sold in the Otherworld Market.

Don’t worry—they are visually filtered for others!

(Gas burner → Campfire)

Subspace Window and Magic Cart were more or less what I already understood…

The real problem was Big Data.

A skill that copies abilities by getting hit?

What kind of lunatic came up with that idea?

The problem was that all my teammates were asleep, so I couldn’t even test it.

And besides—

‘Even if I asked, they probably wouldn’t agree…’

Asking Lilia was impossible.

Her main abilities weren’t even offensive, and that gentle, kind girl hitting her own sister?

I couldn’t even imagine it.

Someone as kind and gentlemanly as Yeriel would never agree to such a ridiculous request either.

And Eden, who oddly reminded me of an affection-starved puppy, would probably run away in horror if I asked him to hit me.

Lastly, Zenon…

‘He’d think I’m insane.’

I could already picture his contemptuous expression.

Just imagining it hurt my feelings.

“Ha…”

So what was I supposed to do?