The Degree
Task III

Sensing the pain from the knife that pierced through his hand, Ray looked at him in surprise. It was very painful because the knife was so strong, thin, and penetrated his palm.

“This hurts a lot. I'd better not unplug it because it'll probably bleed great.”

Mishandling it will cause some much more troublesome problems later. Ray who looks apathetic to the condition of his hand is already intending to continue.

“Can you look ordinary with such painful wounds.” Justina stared troubledly and as if she was the one who felt the pain from Ray's wounds.

Ray didn't try to answer. He did feel pain but his expressionless face did look strange. Anyone would assume that Ray is not normal.

He then stood up straight and took a deep breath. If there is a way to avoid throwing other smaller objects, then the only way to avoid them is to leave before they reach them.

“Mari seriously.” Leaving behind a sound in the air, Ray moved swiftly and when that, dozens of sharp needles shot out quickly, and even a flame thrower gushed out widely.

There were still a few more steps before reaching the end but there were conditions where he had to go through. No matter what he chose, both of them would end up with injuries. Ray then took the risk and jumped to cut the distance.

His body was slightly injured and his clothes were tattered from being burned by the previous flame thrower. For him the damage was a cheap price because Ray managed to survive the task.

He found the task success notification and received a hundred DP. Ray intends to access the Market because of his strong curiosity, but he is then distracted by Justina who starts to step through the bridge.

“Dangerous paths start from the sixth step, up to twelve, while the rest are small knives, needles and dangerous flame throwers.”

Ray was sure of the reason he had to start because Justina was aiming to observe all the traps that existed. That's the right way to make yourself safer than others.

“It's bad, I don't like this. Looks like I should do it.” Ray muttered in silence while watching Justina act. He decided on a thing because this time he had a good reason to do it.

In her first step, Justina did not hesitate to move quickly and once in step six she started doing acrobatics to avoid the existing traps. Because he has seen Ray suffer from these traps and memorize his attack patterns.

“This is very easy when you have memorized the attack pattern that has not changed at all.”

Justina smiled as she swirled around avoiding the sharp thorns that shot out. Ray narrowed his eyes in surprise, Justina who was still in place and circled around strangely could avoid all the needles thrown.

His observational ability is not something an ordinary human would have, the answer is just one thing, Degree.

Only the Degree allows that to happen, Ray no longer has any doubts about him and one other thing he will do.

“Next is fire thrower.” Justina prepared herself and took a deep breath.

He had estimated how far the range from the previous burst of flames was. There was a slight gap and pause that he could use to get through the burst of flames that would appear.

It will be easy, I thank the stupid guy over there who I easily used. In the future, you will become a useful tool. Her thought.

Justina smiled and gently triggered the next trap, then she leaned over and rolled around. His estimation was precise so he could pass through it without getting hurt in the slightest.

“It's so easy, why did you get hurt so easily?” He mocked Ray who was staring unblinkingly. Justina thought that she was surprised and amazed, but the truth was not that.

Ray then smiled mockingly, “You think why did I take the trouble to jump and let my body hurt a little?”

Justina then realizes that she has fallen into a trap that never appeared. The path on which he stood suddenly fell and disappeared.

“Kyaa!” Justina screamed and she managed to hang on to the other side of the room.

Beneath him was a barbed-shaped iron, if he fell it was as dead as it was, even without the existence of the thorn, with his current height it was inevitable that he would die. Staring upwards he found Ray standing with his condescending gaze.

Ray began to crouch down and enjoy the saddest moments Justina had, he who had previously shown a proud look and was on the clouds, easily throwing away his pride and licking for his life.

“First time, when I said that my Degree is not so useful, you doubted it very much. I thought it was just a matter of sheer trust but everything changed when you didn't know if I was lying or not. Then in the previous obstacles also everything becomes clear.”

Justina easily found the answer right then. Surely Ray had also come to that conclusion but he was not immediately sure and looked for another way with the greatest possible survival, but Justina was very confident in her answer.

“Since then I've been suspicious of your Degree. You also tried to use me to observe the trap and therefore I devised a small plan.”

The plan is more correctly referred to as the bet, it's a pretty risky bet considering the necessary luck and situation that goes along with his wishes.

While Ray was still dubious and did not understand his Degree, at least he was confident that he could stick with something he already had from the start.

“You deliberately jumped ... because you know the last step to save a trap?” For the first time Justina was surprised instead of playing, her eyes clearly trembling as she looked into Ray's affectionate eyes.

“When I looked carefully, there was a faint small line at the end of the road, back then I was sure that there was something there so I chose to jump and risk burning.”

Thanks to his reckless actions Ray gets a slight burn on his back, but there is no regret about it. The profit is greater than the loss.

“You think you've used me for your personal gain but ironically, it's you that I use. Let me slightly change your previous words ... why are you so gullible?”

“A-what are you going to do? T-help me, I promise I will do anything for you, so please save me!”

Ray remained inaction and stared low at Justina, Your “Degree is Observation. Observational ability that is able to count everything, including the words of someone. You can determine if it's a lie or not, right?”

“I-it's right! I've always wanted to be a lawyer, maybe that was the origin of my Degree. So you're satisfied? Please save me!” Justina felt her fingers no longer hold her back.

Lawyer, yes. It made sense for him to obtain a Degree with such a form.

To become a lawyer requires good observation skills and being able to judge which lies, which are the truth. From this, a little Ray understands the provision for someone to receive a Degree that relates to his goals and personality.

Ray casually pulled out the knife stuck in his hand, he opened his shirt and wrapped it around to stop the bleeding while talking.

“This place is very interesting, I am not wrong to come. I'm sure I'll never get bored, especially about the Market system that provides almost everything.”

Ray finished wrapping his hands. She pulls Justina up with one hand, Justina is surprised by Ray's strength but she is more surprised that Ray saved her.

“Receive—”

“To get DP there are three ways. One completed the mission, and the second snatched it from the others, while the latter was completely incomprehensible. For now, let's try the second way.” Without blinking Ray cut off Justina's right hand which she pulled.

“Eh?”

Ray only needed his right hand, rather the clock on Justina's right hand. While the rest ... he doesn't care.

“You have taken the last step, so a hundred DP has been received. If it is not wrong how to take it is to paste both hours.” Ray practiced it as described and sure enough, his DP increased.

Justina who could not process the information in her head fell silent with a shocked, angry face, and cried as she fell towards the sharp iron thorns.

“I don't want to die! Please—” The voice filled with fear gets further away, collapses then disappears. Before long the loud sound of something being pierced echoed.

A horrifying sight where from his chest, head and other parts of his body were pierced painfully.