“Now how should I go about this, I wonder.”

The echoes of my voice traveled through the large cave opening in front of me, startling a few unlucky monsters who happened to be resting inside.

Sitting atop of an unusually smooth boulder, I unconsciously tilted my head and supported my chin with a hand while trying to figure out the best solution to my current predicament.

A couple of weeks have passed since I recruited my baby spy, and a few things have happened.

Two days after I met with Sachi, I snuck into the core of the Word of God headquarters and copied Kusama’s –or Saijin as he is now called– reincarnation skill.

It went much smoother than I would’ve expected, if you ask me.

I just snuck in with Mischief, touched a finger to his forehead, and BAM.

His entire repertoire of ninja techniques was now available for my personal use, even without the restrictions of the W system.

And no one was the wiser.

On the contrary, attempting the same with Yuri’s reincarnation skill before that proved to be nigh impossible for the time being.

I would like to give it another go after Sage’s imminent evolution is complete however– even if I will most likely fail then.

My knowledge database is sadly far from enough to fully analyze a creation-type that is probably built-on the basis of a skill like Alchemy.

And considering the ludicrous periods of time I need to analyze just the regular skills, I’m nowhere near knowledgeable enough to analyze those.

—Not yet at least.

It’s only a matter of time before it happens though.

This isn’t my wishful thinking by the way, this is a fact.

A goddess of knowledge lacking knowledge about a very important subject like this one would be laughable.

As a matter of fact, I have basic knowledge about pretty much all the material objects in the known universe stored in my archives.

The only obstacle blocking my way to this sweet creation skill is actually my lack of knowledge and practice when it comes to the execution of magecraft itself.

Despite Sage pretty much doing all the work for me and cutting the required practice times to less than a tenth of what is usually required, I simply hadn’t had the time to accumulate enough experience in these matters.

Even a one in a trillion genius like me needs time to grow, y’know what I mean?

It’s only been like ten months for D’s sake.

But it seems I’ve gone on a tangent here.

My contact with Yuri and Saijin was one-sided at best.

Just me using my stealth to copy their abilities and leaving unnoticed.

Yuri’s mental condition hasn’t deteriorated to the point where I can show up and converse with her over a can of soda like I did with Sachi.

Granted, Sachi was in near perfect condition when I spoke with her but their personalities and situations are very different.

On the other hand, Saijin’s carefree personality and the family he was born into made me cross his name off of most of the lists I have.

It’ll probably take at least a year or two before Yuri’s condition deteriorates to the point where I need to intervene, so I was content with my attempt to copy her skill.

If there was anything that annoyed me during this little infiltration of mine, that would be the untimely meeting with the pope, or as they call him here: The Pontiff.

It wasn’t just because of the pain Neo had to endure due to his actions.

Plainly speaking, me and this guy aren’t compatible in the least despite our similar personalities.

Both of us would go to the moon and back to achieve our goals, but our methods are very different.

I usually depend on my overwhelming strength and face everything head on without hiding my true desires or coating them in a sugary disguise.

While he is a manipulator who hides in the dark and uses whatever methods he could without caring about the consequences.

What disgusts me the most however, is the self-righteous attitude he has towards the victims of his actions.

That man is but an empty husk that continues to live because of obsessions only.

When I saw him, I had to hold myself back real hard from shredding his body to pieces with Spatial Magic.

Just killing this temporary isn’t worth it.

His soul is protected by a seven heavenly virtues skill, and I’m not yet strong enough to bypass that.

But I was able to come up with a punishment which I believe would affect him the most.

Letting him watch as his lifetimes’ worth of effort burn down right in front of his eyes while he is powerless to do anything about it is just about the right medicine.

After this not so pleasant encounter, I snuck into the Church’s library and spent the rest of the night scanning all of the books they had and recording them into my archives.

Sneaking into the forbidden area was risky and I was almost discovered, but the number of books in there wasn’t much to begin with so I was out of there before anything happened.

The next morning, Alexia reported the completion of her mission –which was much later than I hoped it would be– and I decided it’s about time we continued our travels.

I had already done everything I planned to do when I first arrived at the Word of God Headquarters, so there wasn’t any reason for us to stay here any more.

Of course, I took the time to create a bunch of clones and sent them out to light up the fog of war in my world map before leaving.

We don’t really have the time to enjoy this whole traveling around the world in ‘N’ number of days marathon when we’re racing against the clock.

I couldn’t help but worry about the elves’ movements and their upcoming involvements with the reincarnations.

Especially so when there are four reincarnations that were born in close vicinity of the elf forest, two on the human-demon border and two in the Renxandt Empire.

From which one has been declared dead years later in the anime.

I need to pick up the pace.

It’s only a matter of time before the elves start moving in the shadows, and I don’t trust Ms Oka to keep her wits for long.

Unfortunately, there’s not much I can do to impede them right now.

However, I did leave three of my shadow clones inside in Sachi, Saijin, and Yuri’s shadows, and I will do so with all the other reincarnations I come across.

So I should get notified right away whenever the elves or any kidnappers come near them.

On another note, the essence of the Saijin’s ninjutsu clones turned out to be separation of consciousness –not much unlike the Parallel Minds skill– and the creation of weak energy bodies.

It was very fascinating to learn about.

Sage’s analysis of the Soul Clone ability has progressed by a lot after I learned it.

I don’t know why, but I’ve always been enthralled by any and all abilities that make use of the soul, consciousness, and brain.

Despite the overwhelming danger associated with them, I just can’t help seeking the satisfaction and ease of life that comes with their successful use.

This is a very deadly addiction, isn’t it?

I have to thank Sage for drawing the line and standing guard by it at all times, preventing me from going overboard and killing myself in the process.

It shouldn’t be much time before she can have her own body to freely interact with the outside world and physically force me away from danger, fufufu~

Well then, future Violet, you should thank me for creating the perfect, all powerful nanny for us!

….Even if that nanny is technically our other personality.

Schizophrenia patients have quite a lot of untapped potential, huh?

Unfortunately, they don't have the tools necessary to make use of said potential, yet they are still forced to endure its cruel effects. 

Let’s leave the implications of that to future Violet to care about, shall we?

Besides, taking care of myself is totally a-okay, isn’t it?

As soon as that thought came to mind, I unconsciously began recalling the details of the last few weeks.

Come to think of it, except for that minor episode with the Pontiff, everything went perfectly

A little too perfectly for the cautious devil dancing on hot stones in my head.

Besides, D hasn’t called since the last time I asked her to slow down Earth’s time flow, which is very strange.

Maybe that’s why I’m feeling off?

I mean, I’m used to seeing her phone appearing out of thin air right next to me at least twice a week.

Even if we don’t really need to ‘catch up’ considering she is spying on me most of the time, I got used to our simple chit-chat.

It became a habit, I suppose?

Should I take the initiative this time?

They always say you should be the bigger person and all.

…..But I’d rather not.

I still haven’t forgiven her for the last stunt she pulled off, and I don’t if I ever will.

Rather, I’m really not good at all of that emotional stuff in the first place, so I don’t know how to go about this even if I take the initiative.

As such, I decided to… selectively forget about this matter and focus on what’s really important in the immediate future!

Man, I really am putting a lot of pressure on future Violet, aren’t I?

Whatever.

I’m sure she can handle it.

Now, what I need to figure out is how I can go about achieving my next evolution as soon as possible.

Since I’ve decided to copy Sophia’s reincarnation skill and modify it to create a beastmen race of my own, I need to start putting in some effort and attain my next –and hopefully final– evolution.

My current race’s true form is still that of a fish, after all.

And since Sophia’s Vampire skill converts others to race, I doubt I could modify it to work on a non-humanoid monster race like mine.

Well, I do have a mermaid Shapeshifting form which I could use as a reference, but I’d rather get a non-flawed humanoid form first before doing any actual modifications.

My soul is obviously different from that of an ordinary human and my stats are much higher, so I can’t apply my case to a ‘normal’ human.

The possibility of a total genetic collapse while attempting racial conversions is fairly high.

It’d be best if my starting line is an actual humanoid form.

Then I can modify its monster features into that of other monster and beast forms before moving on to human experimentation without having to give the matter much thought.

For that, I gave my clones orders to kill and analyze any new types of monsters they come across and thoroughly analyze their body structures.

Right now, I’m having trouble picking the best leveling strategy.

There are quite a few viable ones, but I need to take both efficiency and safety into consideration.

I don’t have the time for leisurely leveling and I don’t want to compromise my future self and companions.

It’d be best if I can achieve a perfect balance between those two, but that’s what everyone wishes for, isn’t it?

Reality doesn’t bend to our whims however, as it’s kinda impossible to gain large amounts of EXP in a short period of time without provoking one of the major forces.

Humans, Elves, Demons, Taratects, Dragons, and maybe even Administrators are factions that I might very well forge an enmity with if I carelessly touch their interests.

I might not care much about this in the future, but I don’t have the strength nor the political power to ignore them at present.

So I’ve spent the last few days narrowing down my options down to exactly four from which I could pick and choose as much as I like.

The first and most efficient is obviously killing humans.

EXP is essentially the power of the soul represented in the form of both skills and levels.

So humans, or any intelligent race, usually grant the most EXP when killed.

They usually have inheritances and established methods of training their skills and stats, making it much easier for them to survive and become stronger than wild monsters.

As for why I specifically mentioned humans and not elves and demons, that would be due to the large population and overall military might difference between them.

Elves and demons are at a clear disadvantage when it comes to numbers, but their individual strengths and cohesion prove to me much more threatening than humans.

Targeting is simply not worth the effort nor the trouble.

Humans on the other hand, are generally very weak and usually busy with infighting, yet their numbers are overwhelming.

Their ‘strength’ is in number, so to speak, and they are masters of swarm tactics.

Unfortunately….. When combat power reaches a certain level, numbers are just what they are– numbers.

There are exceptions to this rule, of course— but those are incredibly rare and clearly not possible when it comes to this planet’s humans.

I mean, those are the guys that wanted to sacrifice a seraphim instead of standing up to their mistakes and actually trying to salvage the situation.

I know I know, you shouldn’t judge a child by his parents’ virtues or a book by its cover and all that, but it’s okay in this situation.

These guys had so much time to atone and fix their mistakes, yet they did nothing.

Thousands of years wasted, yet their results are still negative across the board.

I’m sorry, but I can only see them as cancer cells that need to be eradicated in an effort to cure this hopeless planet.

If only I could drop a cloud of poisonous mist on a city or an army, causing quick and painful death on a large scale.

Not only will I replenish the W system’s energy reserve by a lot, I will also gain huge amounts of EXP.

However, my intuition is warning me against doing this.

I feel like just the intent of pulling such a stunt might draw the attention of something or someone that is way out of my league.

It will also put me in a hostile relationship with humanity as a whole, which isn’t on my agenda considering my four friends are humans.

My second option for leveling is to venture into this large cave right in front of my eyes– a hidden entrance to the Great Elroe Labyrinth.

Inside, a safe and continuous influx of EXP can be guaranteed, though at a much lower efficiency than the first option.

There are tens of thousands of Taratects roaming its levels and a whole tribe of Earth Dragons living in its lower stratum, not to mention the endless numbers of untold monstrosities this large cave system gives birth to every single day.

It’s not just what lives in the labyrinth that makes it a great place for leveling, but what lives outside it as well.

The place itself functions as an underwater passage that connects the two inhabited continents.

I wanna stress the words underwater and passage here.

All sorts of aquatic animals and monsters –including a large number of water dragons– make use of its convenient position and easily accessible resources.

In other words, the oceanic area around the labyrinth is a hot spot not much unlike the ravine which I was born in.

Actually, there might be more creatures living around it than the ravine.

Another upside comes from its use as the only passage linking the two continents.

Merchants simply don’t have any other option other than to use it if they want to transport their wares from one continent to the other.

It’s not like they haven’t considered sea travel, but the Water Dragons scattered in every inch of the ocean just refuse to let them pass.

Many ships have been sunk by them over the years.

I personally saw a few of those shipwrecks while journeying around the ocean back in the day.

The labyrinth also offers several types of monster materials and rare ores that cannot be found anywhere else.

Which makes it a prime spot for aspiring adventurers to venture into in an attempt to change their lives.

Humans frequent specific areas which they designated as ‘safe’ to use and stay clear of anything they deem suspicious.

Would be a shame if those corridors weren't so safe anymore, wouldn’t it?

Urban legends of people dying due to inexplicable reasons and their souls haunting the place afterwards would make for a nice story to scare the children.

Should I try to compete with the legend of the Nightmare of the Labyrinth? That seems like it’d be fun, hehehe.

Unfortunately, this approach is also bad.

Better than the first one, sure, but still very dangerous.

Killing large numbers of dragons risks me getting the attention of the black armored dude who seems to be their leader.

D might intervene and bar him from physically duking it out with me as he’s an administrator and all, but that doesn’t prevent him from using other tactics to get rid of me.

That guy seems to be too fucking good at using swarm tactics, as evidenced by months long hide and seek game I played in the ocean before.

Aren’t you supposed to be some sort of god?! Why are you so good at using humans' cheap tactics?!!

Taratects are also a huge no go.

Earning the ire of a Demon Lord with no restrictions whatsoever is the thing I would want to do.

Then there’s the third option.

It’s the safest, but it’s also the most time-consuming.

I can create another human persona and use it to gain high status in a specific country, then make use of tricks and conspiracies to instigate war.

I can then lurk around the battlefield and stealthily last hit the soldiers who are on the verge of death, harvesting the EXP of an entire war for myself.

Kumoko went with a similar approach in the anime, but she made a lot of noise while doing so, which caught the attention of Kuro and Ariel.

This is why I would have to go through the trouble of lurking and last hitting like some gutter rat, but…

Sure enough, this method really isn’t suitable for me.

Sneaking around and hiding like a weak coward just doesn’t sit well with me.

I mean, I’d do it if it’s just for fun.

‘Leveling’ and ‘evolution’ don’t fall under the category of fun though.

Either I slaughter a bunch of small fries head on, or I fight in a life and death battle with those who are as strong or stronger than me.

There’s also another issue.

Humans aren’t stupid, they will definitely notice a problem once they discover that their armies’ average level didn’t increase despite going through a war of multiple battles.

Which leaves the fourth option and last– returning to my natural ocean habitat and challenging the unseen depths beyond the ravine’s graveyard or the endless dead zone with its undead.

I still remember the big hole I saw at the end of the ravine near the ancient underwater laboratory I blew up.

Back then, my intuition turned into a blaring siren as soon as the thought of venturing down there crossed my mind.

Although I’m much stronger now, my intuition still warns me of grave danger waiting for me down there.

The intensity might be much lower than it was before, but I am not as arrogant as to ignore a warning from my almighty intuition no matter how weak it is.

If anything, the reason why my intuition isn’t as intense could be the instant fleeing technique I developed– Teleportation.

Unlike the dead zone where all external forms of magic are suppressed, the ravine itself is well within the ‘Living zone’ as I like to call it.

Over there, I can use all of my skills and abilities without any restrictions.

Which is also the reason why I’m leaning towards this option instead of another dead zone expedition.

Well, the shitty food quality in the dead zone is the real reason, if I’m being honest.

I’m just afraid whatever lies in that deep dark hole has much more stats than I do.

If so, then they would most likely be recovered to full by the time I can come back if I decided to use kiting or guerilla tactics.

Don’t underestimate the recovery speed of those strong monsters— especially if they have high level resource recovery skills.

It might seem negligible in the grand scheme of things, but that’s only because the largest portion of their users are too weak to show its effect.

When they are placed on stronger beings, its effects can only be described as miraculous– so does any skill that works off of percentage values.

HP and MP recovery rates in MMORPGs are directly related to your character’s level and stats, y’know?

In summary, the four options I have are as follows:

Option numero uno: Massacring humans.

Option numero dos: Massacring Monsters.

Option numero tres: Massacring humans but sneakily.

Option numero quatro: Massacring monsters that don’t have a strong backing…. Or in other words, massacring monsters but sneakily.

Uhhh, it appears creativity and innovation aren’t a part of my shining points, huh?

Anyways.

All four options are equally bad in my opinion.

So just like I’ve always done, I decided to make my own option by taking whatever parts I like from those four and sticking them together.

Luckily, my newly acquired cloning abilities open up a lot of possibilities.

For example, the ever present bandit suppression quest!

Every clone was ordered to light up the fast travel waypoints to the cities and towns on their way.

Adding exploring the city’s surroundings and marking bandit camps to the list of orders shouldn’t be much of a delay.

There will naturally be a delay between each time I go out to slay evil, and I will also have to be careful not to overdo it and provoke the Word of God religion too much.

During this downtime, I could shift my efforts towards monster slaying instead.

This ensures my time will be well invested and I will gain the largest amount of EXP possible while my clones do their job.

I can also use this time to establish connections with some important figures like the Ancient Dragons or even the Demon Lord herself.

Up until now, the only ones I’ve established an actual relationship with in this world are Neo, my cute little sister, and Alexia, my traitorous servant.

This obviously isn’t conducive for any of my future plans, whether it’s the serious ones or the fun ones.

Finally, I can take some time off and challenge the mind bending horrors of the depths whenever I feel like it.

A perfect strategy that seamlessly balances between hard work, personal life, and leisure.

Until something else requires my attention or unless something urgent occurs to interrupt me, I believe this is gonna be my routine for the next few months.

Neo and Alexia both have one of my clones lurking inside their shadows to protect them in case of emergencies, and there’s also a clone that’s taking my place as their traveling companion.

So there’s no worries about their safety at all.

In case something happens, I can instantly teleport to their location or swap places with one of the clones to offer immediate aid.

However, I believe I should focus on leveling and plundering more stats and skills with Greed has the highest priority.

Kuro, the Dragon God should’ve already entered the picture, and it won’t be long before Ariel, this generation’s Demon Lord and the Origin Taratect, and Potimas, the Chief of the Elves, also follow in his footsteps.

And according to my meager understanding of the Word of God Pontiff, he will definitely join in on the fun sooner or later.

This world might appear peaceful to those who look at its surface, but there are undoubtedly numerous deadly undercurrents surging under its appearance.

Since a ‘protagonist’ took to the stage, it’s just a matter of time before utter chaos ensues.

My role in this play is to take advantage of the stars taking hogging the spotlight for themselves, and maneuver in the shadows until the spotlight choses to shed its light on me.

And when that time comes, I want my presence to overshadow all those who have before me and leave its own permanent mark.

—Or something like that anyways.

Honestly, I’m just gonna do whatever I wanna do without caring about the consequences or setting up some grand plans.

Life is only there for us to revel in its pleasures and break the trials it throws at us.

So why overcomplicate everything?

Just have fun and enjoy the ride!

---