[Congratulations! You have awakened a cheat]
[Cheat: Noclip (Level 1)]
[Dependencies: Fly Mode]
[Type: Toggle]
[Description: Phase through solid objects for up to 1 second. Cannot damage or be damaged while phasing. 24hr cooldown between uses.]
He looked at the cheat. Now this was something.
Although one second seemed like a tiny amount of time, at his current level, so much could happen in a single second. This was practically invulnerability for one second. The only issue he saw was the full day cooldown. Then again, it was an ability that made him invulnerable, so he wouldn’t complain.
Besides, with how his luck had been with duplicates this time, he might even stumble upon the level up for this cheat in just a roll.
With that, he rolled.
[Congratulations! You have awakened a cheat]
[Cheat: Damage Nullification (Level 1)]
[Type: Passive]
[Description: During any combat encounter, completely nullifies all damage from the opponent’s first strike. Resets when the encounter ends.]
[Note: Does not activate if the attack doesn’t connect.]
He observed the description of the new cheat. Complete damage nullification was insane. The only problem was how exactly it calculated an encounter. If they parted and met again, would that count as a new encounter? He needed to do some more research on this.
[Congratulations! ESP (Level 5) has advanced to ESP (Level 6)]
He sighed. He was once again back to duplicates. Well, an ESP duplicate wasn’t bad. Now his ESP covered 800 meters.
He had rolled a total of eight times, meaning he still had 12 chances left. He continued rolling for cheats.
After rolling, he got another Noclip duplicate, increasing its level to two and extending the time he could phase through objects to three seconds instead of one. He didn’t get the cooldown reduction he was looking for though.
He rolled Fast Travel again, getting it to level three and halving the cooldown once more. Now just six hours were needed.
He then proceeded to roll ESP three times in a row, bringing it to level 9 and increasing the range to 6,400 meters - about four miles. It was overwhelming at first, drawing in all sorts of information from such a distance, but he was slowly getting used to it.
For his 14th roll:
[Congratulations! You have awakened a cheat]
[Cheat: Map Hack (Max Level)]
[Type: Passive]
[Description: Generate a complete mental map of any area you enter. Updates in real-time as the environment changes.]
To be honest, he didn’t see much use for this one, but he supposed it could be helpful for exploration.
For the fifteenth roll:
[Congratulations! You have awakened a cheat]
[Cheat: Speedhack (Level 1)]
[Type: Toggle]
[Description: Multiply your movement speed by 2x.]
[Note: Drains stamina twice as fast while active. Does not affect attack speed.]
This was another useless one. Having increased movement speed wasn’t all that great when it didn’t affect attack speed. He guessed it probably didn’t affect attack speed because reaction time wasn’t adjusted for the speed increase, making it unusable in a fight. Maybe that would change with a level up.
He rolled again.
[Congratulations! You have awakened a cheat]
[Cheat: Godmode (Level 1)]
[Type: Active]
[Description: Become completely invulnerable to all damage for 5 seconds. All attacks, skills, status effects, and environmental hazards are negated. 24hr cooldown between uses.]
His mouth fell open in shock.
Another one like this, he thought.
Now he had four trump cards. The first was Overkill - though it wasn’t as reliable against strong opponents, it was still something. Then there was Noclip, Damage Nullification, and now this.
Godmode made him completely invulnerable to damage for five seconds. Noclip did practically the same thing but for three seconds. Together, that was eight seconds of invulnerability. While it didn’t seem like much, this was an enormous amount of time in combat.
He definitely needed to always keep at least one of these off cooldown, just in case.
[Congratulations! You have awakened a cheat]
[Cheat: Skill Theft (Max Level)]
[Type: Active]
[Description: Upon killing an opponent, you may choose one of their skills to permanently acquire. The stolen skill retains its original rank and properties.]
[Note: Requires physical contact with the opponent’s body within one hour of death.]
This was similar to the Import card. It would definitely be useful. It was also a good thing it was Active and not Passive - otherwise, it might fill his skill slots with useless skills.
Now there were just three more roll chances left. He wished for more good cheats like the previous two. And if it was a duplicate, he hoped it would be Godmode or Noclip.
He rolled and got level ten ESP. The detection range had increased to 12,800 meters - about eight miles. The distance was getting absurdly high and becoming much harder to manage. He toggled it off for now.
He rolled again and got a Parallel Thought duplicate. Now there was another consciousness residing in his spiritual sea.
He rolled for the final time.
[Congratulations! Infinite Inventory (Level 2) has advanced to Infinite Inventory (Max Level)]
...
Cipher’s consciousness suddenly shifted.
It exploded outward. Accelerating faster and faster, with seemingly no sign of stopping.
What is happening? he wondered.
The sensation felt familiar. That’s right - he remembered now. It was just like back then, when he had died. His consciousness had been like this, accelerating outward into the void.
Had he died again? How?
As he thought this, his consciousness continued expanding, stretching further and further until it felt like it was reaching its limit. The strain was immense, pulling at the very fabric of his being.
He perceived the vast void around him.
No - this time it was different.
Unlike the empty void he had drifted through after death, this place looked like space. Stars glittered in the distance. Thousands of planets hung suspended all around him, scattered across the endless dark.
Though they seemed... dead?
It was then that he recognized where he was.
This was his spiritual sea.
At that moment, he heard Lyra’s voice cut through the chaos.
"Concentrate. Don’t lose yourself."
So he was still alive, he thought.
He followed her instructions, focusing his mind, drawing his scattered awareness inward. The strain on his consciousness eased slightly - but the acceleration didn’t stop. His perception continued stretching outward, threatening to tear him apart.
Then he thought of something.
He distributed his expanded perception across the other two consciousnesses from the Parallel Thought cheat.
The moment he did, a massive burden lifted from him. He could finally calm down. While the strain rose again after that initial relief, this time it settled at a much lower, tolerable level.
He looked around - not through his eyes, but through the perception extending from his consciousnesses. He perceived his entire spiritual sea.
It seemed infinite.
Infinite?
Then he noticed something.
His sword. And other items he had stored away. They were all here, floating in the vast expanse of his spiritual sea.
"Is the Infinite Inventory just... my spiritual sea?"
He summoned the system, hoping to see what benefit he had received from the cheat leveling up. Maybe that would explain the current situation.
But before he could read anything...
In the real world, a heavy aura pressed down on him.
"Who dares to kill one of my followers?"