Who Says I'm Not a Proper Adventurer?
Chapter 25: Privacy, Secrets, and Social Networks

Chapter 25: Chapter 25: Privacy, Secrets, and Social Networks

But the more Lance thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.

An image from the game in his past life instantly flashed through his mind.

In that game, the so-called "Illustrated Guide" function recorded all sorts of close-ups of the heroines after they were defeated, as well as detailed statistics on how many times each part of their body had been hit.

"It can’t be, can it?"

The corner of Lance’s mouth twitched as he looked in horror at Hakon, who was lying on the ground like a dead pig.

If he were forced to watch the "defeat close-up" of this greasy, middle-aged man in his head, it wouldn’t just be mentally polluting—it would be a devastating visual assault.

It would be a massive blow to his sanity.

Lance took a deep breath, ready to shut his eyes the moment things looked bad, and shakily opened the new Illustrated Guide function.

As the panel unfolded, no nauseating images appeared.

There was only a half-body sketch of Hakon, and next to it, dense blocks of text and data.

"Phew..."

Lance let out a long sigh of relief, his heart finally settling back into his chest.

Thankfully, this real-life version of the system had been sanitized.

This Illustrated Guide function actually recorded Hakon’s basic information, current status, and specific Attribute Values and Skill Levels in detail.

This was the first time Lance could see someone else’s detailed panel besides his own.

Name: Hakon

Status: Mildly intoxicated, unconscious, minor concussion

Attribute: Power 9, Constitution 8...

Looking at this data, Lance felt a secret sense of relief.

This drunkard, who spent all his days in a tavern, actually had a Power of 9 and a Constitution of 8, nearly reaching the threshold of a Tier One Professional.

After all, even after his recent period of hellish training, Lance’s Power had only just reached 6.

There was a significant gap in their Basic Attributes.

If not for the fact that the guy was dead drunk and that Lance had chosen to strike first, catching him completely off guard with a sneak attack.

In a real head-on fight, the outcome would have been far from certain.

’Just as I thought. A lion uses its full strength even on a rabbit. Sneak attacks are the King’s Way.’

Lance silently gave his own tactics a thumbs-up.

However, as he continued scrolling down, something truly surprising appeared.

The core and most valuable part of this Illustrated Guide wasn’t the few lines of cold Attribute data.

At the very bottom of the panel, it actually recorded the target’s private secrets and a complex web of relationships.

[Hakon’s Secrets]

[Secret 1: He has been having nightmares every day recently, and his Spirit is in an extremely poor state. This is because half a month ago, while burying a teammate who died accidentally, he pocketed the dagger that was part of the burial goods. Now, every night, he dreams of that teammate standing by his bed, face covered in blood, asking him for a toothpick.]

[Secret 2: He previously got into a huge fight with a teammate over the distribution of a few Copper Coins’ worth of loot. In reality, it was because he was jealous that the teammate was handsome and had won the favor of a female teammate. It was a long-premeditated excuse to cause trouble.]

[Secret 3...]

After reading these secrets, Lance’s expression turned strange as he looked at the swollen face on the ground.

This guy not only had sticky fingers, but he was also as petty as they come.

’So you came looking for trouble with me purely because you were jealous of my good looks?’

Lance couldn’t resist. He lifted his foot and gave Hakon’s ass another vicious kick.

That explained everything.

For a psychologically twisted guy like Hakon, the very existence of a "pretty boy" like Lance was an original sin.

Lance shook his head and clicked on the [Relationship Web] option.

A huge tree diagram unfolded before his eyes.

Hakon’s portrait was in the center, with dozens of lines of varying thickness extending from it, connecting to unfamiliar names and portraits.

The system’s labels were very intuitive.

Green lines represented friendliness; the brighter the line, the better the relationship.

Red lines represented hostility; the deeper the color, the higher the hate value.

And in this interwoven network of red and green, Lance spotted the glowing dot representing himself at a glance.

It was connected by a thick, reddish line leading straight to Hakon’s portrait.

This meant that in Hakon’s mind, Lance was already an enemy.

’It seems that anyone I defeat gets recorded in this Illustrated Guide.’

Lance mused thoughtfully.

This meant that once he defeated someone, they would have no more secrets from him.

Their weaknesses, their dark past, and their network of connections—all would be laid bare.

He just didn’t know if the information in the Illustrated Guide updated automatically in real-time, or if he would have to beat the person up again to refresh the data.

Regardless, this function was incredibly useful. Now, if anyone he defeated harbored resentment, Lance would be able to tell.

He could even strike first.

As they say, know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated.

With this, he could tell who was a friend and who was a foe with a single glance.

’I’ve really struck gold this time.’

Lance closed the system panel with satisfaction.

Looking at Hakon lying on the ground like a dead dog, he stroked his chin, thinking about the secrets he had just seen.

He’d beaten the man, but he still felt unsatisfied.

He crouched down, held his breath, and deftly untied the bulging coin pouch from Hakon’s waist.

’Consider this payment for my emotional distress.’

Lance weighed the pouch in his hand and tucked it into his shirt with a clear conscience.

Besides, if this scumbag’s money was left here, it would just end up in the hands of a passing vagrant or some other thief.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he quickly vanished into the alley.

As for whether Hakon would suffocate lying in a puddle of piss or catch a cold, that was not his problem.

This area was on the constable’s patrol route. In half an hour at most, the night watch would come and drag him away like a dead pig.

...

Back in the narrow attic room.

Lance bolted the door and eagerly emptied the spoils—the coin pouch—onto the table.

"CLINK, CLANK."

The crisp, pleasant sound of metal clinking echoed in the quiet room.

Lance’s eyes lit up as he looked at the pile of shimmering Silver Coins on the table.

He did a rough count. There were more than thirty Silver Coins, plus a large handful of Copper Coins.

The haul was astounding.

After all, his net income from a whole month of hard work as a Copyist was only sixteen Silver Coins.

With a single knockout blow, he had made two months’ salary.

’Mugging people is this profitable...’

For a moment, the dangerous thought of moonlighting as a masked vigilante even crossed Lance’s mind.

But he snuffed out the idea just as quickly as it appeared.

Play with fire, and you’re bound to get burned.

This world was full of hidden masters. Who knew which drunkard was actually a retired powerhouse in disguise?

If he messed with the wrong person, he could lose his life.

Lance picked up a Silver Coin and flicked it with his thumb.

The coin flipped into the air and landed steadily back in his palm.

"A lucky day."

This windfall was enough to support his high-intensity training expenses for a long time to come.

Remembering the reproachful look in Amber’s eyes when he left today, Lance decided to buy her a decent gift tomorrow to make it up to her.

After all, since he’d taken someone else’s money, he should do something good to build up some karma.

After properly hiding the money, Lance turned his gaze to the windowsill.

The few jars of Blood Coagulation Moss, which had been air-drying for several days, had now completely lost their moisture and turned into dark brown, dry chunks.

Lance expertly crushed them, grinding them into a fine powder.

As the final step was completed, a system notification arrived as expected.

[You have personally collected, dried, and processed 30 ounces of Blood Coagulation Moss powder. Research complete.]

Lance immediately called up the research panel.

The [Hemostatic Ointment (Improving)] task that had been there was now gone.

This surprised him slightly.

He had expected that, like in a game, he would unlock a new, more advanced recipe.

But that wasn’t what happened.

This research task seemed to be a one-time thing. It didn’t change the recipe for the hemostatic ointment; rather, it was more like a "permanent enhancement" to Lance’s personal skill.

Although he didn’t know what form this enhancement would take, practice was the only standard for testing the Truth.

Lance didn’t dwell on it. He would find out by trying.

He dragged a cage out from under his bed. Inside was a gray-furred wild rabbit he had caught earlier that afternoon.

The poor little thing was trembling uncontrollably, completely unaware that it was about to be sacrificed for the cause of medical science.

Lance set up a small, simple crucible and lit an alcohol lamp.

Following the steps he already knew by heart, he poured the moss powder into the oil base and began to stir slowly.

He occasionally added some other herbs during the process.

Soon, a jar of dark green ointment giving off a faint, herbal fragrance was ready.

The process was so simple that it didn’t even generate a Skill.

After waiting for the ointment to cool and solidify naturally, Lance pulled out a jar of the most common, Ordinary hemostatic ointment available on the market.

The experiment began.

He took out the short dagger he had confiscated from Hakon and skillfully made two cuts of the same depth on the rabbit’s hind leg.

Blood immediately gushed out.

With swift movements, Lance applied his newly made ointment to one wound and the store-bought Ordinary one to the other.

’Let’s see the effect...’

Lance leaned in to observe, his gaze focused.

After just a few seconds, the difference was already visible to the naked eye.

On the wound with the Ordinary ointment, the bleeding had slowed after half a minute, but it was still oozing.

As for the wound treated with Lance’s special version...

In the same amount of time, the gushing blood seemed to have been locked in place by some invisible force, coagulating rapidly.

A tough, dark red film completely sealed the wound, not a single drop of blood seeped out.