D.I.O

ther than the few people they trusted, no one else knew of their talents.

“Before their egos were fully formed… then, you’re saying that they subconsciously repressed their talents?”

“Yes.
Merlin compartmentalized and handled this by running away, Cruze stifled herself mentally, and Arthur put in tremendous effort toward other areas.”

“… Huh? I can understand the first two, but suppressing your talent by focusing on other areas? Wouldn’t that be dangerous?”

“Think about it, Melton.
If you knew something when you first saw it, how would you react if you saw it a hundred or a thousand times?”

“Uhm… I’d know about it better?”

Melton tilted his head, confused about where the older gentleman was leading him.
The middle-aged man shook his head.
Melton’s line of reasoning was logical, but working hard in other areas didn’t matter to other people.
For instance, if someone focused entirely on an apple and they memorized the word ‘apple,’ since this isn’t challenging, anyone could do this effortlessly.
If anyone wrote down the word ‘apple’ a thousand times and read it aloud each time, would anything change? Nothing would change.
An apple is an apple.

“Overt effort is just a way to waste time.
However, that Arthur guy kept concentrating on the same, dreary things.
He essentially brainwashed himself to repeat the process and not think of other matters.
So, everything became justified through effort.
Obviously, once he gained this thought process, he believed that effort was the reason behind every achievement.”

The middle-aged man had completely broken down and understood the three Irregulars.
Although he wasn’t an Irregular, his age and vast experience with them allowed him to make accurate assessments.

In reality, few Irregulars actually reached his level of knowledge and understanding.
In many cases, their tremendous talent was poison.
Moreover, they often had their talents stripped away by their compatriots.
And in regards to the three being discussed, the Irregulars would also deny themselves and stunt their growth.

“However, this world is a bit different.
Rejoice, little ones.
This world, this space that we created, will allow you to push your talents to 120 percent.”

Here, three Irregulars had entered.
No one knew what miracles or chain reactions this experiment would create.

“Oi~ I came by to see what’s fun~!”

A space opened beside the two before someone stepped out to join them.

“Oh, boss, you’ve come- ack!”

“Miss.
I already told you to call me ‘miss,’ right?”

Melton nursed the lump forming on his head as he stared at the black-haired lady who’d just arrived.
She was 170 centimeters tall and wore high heels, which made her tower over most others.
She also constantly looked incredibly confident.
Though her beauty would turn heads wherever she went, Melton narrowed his eyes at her.

“Goodness, really? Miss? Excuse me, but I’m much older than you.
I might look like this, but I’ve lived my share of years.”

Despite his valid complaints, the woman just shrugged.

“I don’t care about age.
Looks and combat prowess are what count.”

“Wow! How could someone so obtuse truly exist-”

The woman lost interest in their conversation, so she strolled past Melton mid-sentence and walked over to the middle-aged man.
They were incredibly far from the players below, so it was impossible to see any of the events occurring.
Regardless, she looked down as she spoke.

“How’s it going? Everything running smoothly?”

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“Yes.
We’ve also found some results that we weren’t expecting.”

“Unexpected results? Are you referring to the Irregulars?”

While she talked, she checked the status of Arthur, Cruze, and even Merlin, who had entered the Testing Room.
She was capable of doing this because she was the designer and owner of Dynamic Island.
Anyone that logged onto DIO couldn’t avoid her gaze.

“Wow, they’re exceptional.
Their abilities have already improved to this extent in such a short period.
One of them has a low level, but he can dramatically raise it if he wants as his skills develop.”

Then, she checked on the general user population.
She watched as the users fought against the wave of monsters in various clothing, using an eclectic mix of items as they did so.
Gradually, she started smiling.

“Hmm… I’m starting to feel nostalgic.”

“About?”

“Nothing.
Anyway, in regard to those Irregulars, their rapid development is wonderful, but they hit a barrier soon.”

The middle-aged man nodded.

“Of course.
There’s a reason why the overwhelming majority of transcendents aren’t Irregulars.”

Tremendous talent could also become poison.
No, to be honest, it was poison.
Furthermore, all Irregulars had something hindering them mentally, and unless they resolved this, they wouldn’t be able to fully ‘understand.’

“So, are you planning on helping them?”

“Don’t joke around.
Help does not allow one to ‘understand.’ ‘Understanding’ is strictly something personal; no one can push or pull someone to ‘understand.’”

“Yeah.
If we could help someone understand, we wouldn’t have created this system.”

All dimensions were currently on high alert at the moment.
Most importantly, their overall combat strength and the primary way to differentiate between them was determined by how many transcendents they had.
If transcendents could help others become transcendents, then scouts wouldn’t need to traverse the universe to find potential candidates.

“Irregulars… very interesting.
I know someone that’s just like one of them.”

The middle-aged man turned his head to look at the woman.

“You know of a transcendent who’s an Irregular?”

“No.
The being I’m speaking of went the traditional route of making achievements and developing a craft.
I suppose they’re incomparable to outliers like these Irregulars, though.”

Bleep!

“Hmm?”

A mechanical beep rang out, and immediately afterward, the woman’s ring started glowing softly.
In the air, a space opened up, and a young man in completely white clothing stepped out.
To be more specific, the young man was a projected image.

“What is it?”

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Yes, miss.
Someone in the New World is urgently requesting a meeting.

“Really? Wow! It’s convenient having you around.”

Hahaha…

Melton couldn’t help but smile when he realized that the young man was being forced to serve the woman.

“Alright.
I’ll be there soon, so make the proper preparations and arrangements.”

Yes, miss.

After replying, the young man vanished.
Then, the middle-aged man spoke up.

“Are you planning on joining hands with the New World?”

“You know where I stand.
I can’t contend against the New World.”

“The Union won’t like it, though.”

“It can’t be helped.”

The woman turned around to leave, and a dimension portal door appeared before her.
As he saw her start to walk through, the middle-aged man said, “Those Irregulars, they remind me of you.
No, actually, you’re quite similar to them, no?”

Flinch.

The woman momentarily froze.
Then, she swung around to face the middle-aged man.

“It looks that way, doesn’t it?”

“There are too many similarities.”

The middle-aged man was expressionless, but Melton was on edge as he witnessed this.
The atmosphere seemed tense.
Since he had the lowest power level, Melton couldn’t help but dislike this sort of suffocating atmosphere.
However, soon, the woman changed the ambiance.

“I guess you can come to that conclusion, but it is incorrect.”

“No?”

“No, I’m not an Irregular.
I’m not.”

The woman smiled broadly.

“I am an original, the only one in the universe.”

After jokingly commenting, the woman vanished.