Faith, Lust, and Hypnosis

‘There was no need to hesitate.’

‘Use ‘Minor Hypnosis’ on all of them!’

And just like that, Gin checked his stats once more.

Strength: 3
Agility: 2
Intelligence: 5
Mind: 10
Charm: 2

Faith: 67

1 Faith point to obtain the target’s information.

10 Faith points to put the target under ‘Minor Hypnosis’.

There are three of them. It took nearly half of his total Faith points to make them fall under his influence.

Ping!

-You have influenced 3 mortal souls with your Faith points!

Ping! Ping—!

-You have—

-You—

Gin put the opaque words on the side for the moment. There were more pressing matters in front of him.

“Please ma’am! Miss! Please let me stay here at least for a few days! I really don’t remember anything! I don’t know anything! I have no place to return to! Please! Have some mercy!”

Gin bowed on the floor again, this time his forehead touched the floor with force.

“Huh!? Just who do you think you are!? You are not welcome here!” Sera, the daughter of Teressa and Coll, spoke with flat out anger and contempt.

‘Shit! Is the hypnosis not working!? What’s happening here!?’

Cold sweat began pouring on his back, Gin closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. The shock of being transported to a different world, and the fact that he was about to become a homeless man was too much for him to handle. His most primal survival instinct kicked in, no act was too shameful as long as it earned him proper shelter and warm food on the table.

“Sera!”

“Sera.”

Both Coll and Terressa called out to their daughter. Their faces were looking dark and displeased.

“W-what!? He’s sleeping in my room! Where do you expect me to sleep tonight!? On the floor!? I’m your daughter and he’s a nobody!”

Sera stood up and slammed the table.

Shit! This girl has anger issues!

Gin didn’t hesitate and interjected—

“Then I can sleep on the floor instead! In fact, I can sleep anywhere as long as you don’t throw me out there alone! Please take care of me just for a little longer!”

“Ugh…! But…!”

“Then it’s decided.” Coll nodded to himself, “To be honest, I’m also quite curious to hear more of what this lad has to say. If he really lost his memories, then maybe we should give him shelter for a while. What do you think, Tee?”

“I think I’m good with that. If what he said is true then he truly needs our help. At least for a few days, we can figure out what to do after.”

Teressa’s reaction was lukewarm. It seemed she didn’t consider Gin to be a threat, unlike her daughter.

“Rrgh! Fine! I don’t care anymore! Just keep him away from my room! No— make sure he doesn’t even get near the door at all!”

Sera turned around and walked towards the exit. Gin wasn’t sure where she was going since he was still kneeling in her bedroom.

‘Is the hypnosis working? I can’t tell. She doesn’t seem like she’s under any hypnosis at all. I didn’t just waste my Faith points on her, right?’

“For now, why don’t you lie down on the bed? You can stay in the room for today. I will grab some water for you. You must be thirsty right?”

“Y-yes I am. Thank you.”

‘Hang on a second, wouldn’t you normally offer a drink first thing before questioning me…?’

Gin laid back on the bed while rubbing his temple. Coll came back with a wooden cup filled with water and handed it to him.

“Do you—“

“I’m sorry, my head is really hurting right now. Could you please give me a minute to rest?”

“Oh, uh, sure. Right, I’ll leave you alone for a bit. I’ll be back later. Just rest for now.”

Gin was betting on the hypnosis that Coll would listen to his words, and it worked to an extent.

Coll left the room and closed the door. Finally, Gin had some time alone to process what just happened to him for the past 24 hours.

“Holy shit.”

-You have influenced 3 mortal souls with your Faith points!

-You have unlocked a deeper understanding of your ability.

-You have unlocked ‘Awareness’ stats from target under Hypnosis state.

-You have unlocked ‘Trust’ stats from target under Hypnosis state.

‘What does all this mean? What is my ability, even?’

Ping!

-The Goddess’ Essence has blessed you with the potential to reach godhood.

-To reach godhood, one would require Faith to ascend.

-Faith can be obtained from mortal souls. Those who praise you, respect you, or pray for you with sincerity will grant you Faith points.

-With Faith points, miracles can be done.

-Depending on the act of miracle itself, the circumstance, and stats difference, the cost of Faith points will fluctuate.

‘This is still too vague for me. What do you mean I can perform miracles? Can I revive the dead, then?’

Ping!

-Not enough Faith points to perform such an act of miracle!

-??? Faith points are required.

‘Huh…? I can do that?’

Gin took a sip of water and thought for a moment.

‘How about increasing my height by an inch? Can I do that?’

Ping!

-Use 60 Faith points to increase your height by one inch?

‘I can do that! It’s hella expensive thought!’

Gin started to feel giddy and excited by the possibilities. A thought popped up in his mind.

‘Increase my Strength by one point!’

Ping!

-Use 20 Faith points to increase Strength by one?

‘I can do that too! Whoo! What else can I do!? Wait—‘

The ‘Minor Hypnosis’ that Gin used to Coll, Teressa, and Sera… he used Faith points to achieve that.

Thinking back on it, he realized that he was desperate for information about who Coll was at the time. His wish was granted by the system and saw through Coll’s stats.

After that Gin also desperately wished to convince Coll that he lost his memories and to let him stay in the house. That wish was also granted in the form of ‘Minor Hypnosis’.

With Faith points, miracles can be done.

Miracles.

Anything I want can be granted so long I have enough points.

Gin sobered up in an instant. His mind became crystal clear. He knew what to aim for in this world—

To become a god, Faith is needed.

That was what the goddess meant by giving Gin the potential to become a god.

‘I need to get more Faith points. To get more Faith points I need people to… Believe in me? Worship me maybe? It said that as long as people praise, respect and pray for me I will be rewarded with Faith points. So I just need to be likable? Do I need to become a hero and save the world?’

Gin scratched his head in confusion.

‘If I get a high position and status in a company, do I get Faith points? I doubt I would get any prayers, but what about praises or respect? It should work right? We are talking about Faith here, does it have to be in a religious context to count? Faith… What a concept…’

‘Fortunately, there are some great people around me that I can experiment on… Oof that doesn’t sound so nice. But it’s not like I’m gonna do them harm. Well, as long as they don’t try to harm me first…’

Sera’s face came to mind. Gin sensed an ill omen when he thought about her.

‘Right, there’s another thing I need to check out. It seems like I unlocked some hidden stats? ‘Awareness’ and ‘Trust’, what are they?’

Ping!

-Awareness shows the target’s state of mind. 0 being the lowest value and 10 being the highest. The lower the Awareness, the higher the chance for a successful hypnosis suggestion.

-Trust shows the target’s trust towards you. 0 being the lowest value and 10 being the highest. High amount of Trust increases the odds of successful hypnosis suggestions regardless of Awareness.

‘Hmm, seems simple enough. The question is how do I use it to my advantage, though? I need to see it in action to really understand how these stats work…’

……………….

……………….

Later Gin had a conversation with both Coll and Teressa. There were many questions to ask, fortunately he got most of them answered.

This world is also referred to as ‘earth’ just like his previous one. Currently, he resided in a village far in the outskirts of the Deltora Kingdom called Laim.

This Laim village was quite remote from the big towns in the kingdom, requiring close to a month of journey using a horse carriage. Few can claim ever stepping into the outside world, not even Coll and his family.

This small information was enough for Gin to make an educated guess about the current state of the world.

‘It seems my biggest fear became reality. This world is in a pseudo-medieval age. Even magic—‘

“Is magic real? Weird thing to ask. Yes, of course they do, lad.”

They couldn’t explain everything in depth about the politics of the world to Gin since they weren’t much of an adventurer themselves. Their daily life mostly consisted of going back and forth to the village, trading and chatting with the people there.

Coll usually would hunt the local animals, he would either sell them to the butchery in the village or cook them for meals of the week. Teressa would do the housework and spend her free time knitting clothes or making handkerchiefs to sell.

Sera, however, has different things to do during the day. She would go to the village or the woods to train with the sword.

“That child, she said she wants to become a swordsman and join the Guild.” Teressa sighed with a frown on her face.

The Guild? I heard quite a lot of them in fiction before. There are many interpretations of them. They serve mostly as some sort of gathering hub where the main and side characters often hangout. I wonder what they would look like here…

Sera apparently had just turned 19-years-old. She has been walking the path of the sword since her childhood and planned to join the guild once she turned 20. It was her lifelong ambition to venture beyond the village and experience the outside world.

Gin highly doubted the couples would say this much about themselves and their daughter willy nilly to a dubious stranger like him.

‘Thanks to the ‘Minor Hypnosis’, at least I know I won’t be in danger anytime soon… I wonder if the hypnosis is permanent. Maybe it would be up to me if I want to lift it off them.’

Ping!

-Your attitude has convinced Coll and Teressa.

-Coll’s Trust towards you has increased from 3 [Dubious] to 6 [Neutral].

-Teressa’s Trust towards you has increased from 3 [Dubious] to 5 [Neutral].

Their Trust increased? My attitude did that?

Gin checked Coll’s stats to confirm his Awareness and Trust.

Strength: 7
Agility: 6
Intelligence: 3
Mind: 2
Charm: 4

Awareness: 6 [Calm]
Trust: 6 [Neutral]

6 Awareness and 6 Trust. He’s calm and he doesn’t seem to think I’m a liar. Did I get that right?

Ping!

-High amount of Trust allows you to peer into their surface thoughts.

-Higher Trust allows you to peer even deeper into their inner thoughts.

Ping!

-Coll thinks your clueless behavior is genuine.

-Coll feels apologetic for doubting you.

-Coll feels sympathetic for your situation.

‘O-oh!? I can read minds now? No, not exactly. It seems like I can only read the bare minimum impression of their thoughts. How about Teressa?’

Strength: 2
Agility: 3
Intelligence: 6
Mind: 2
Charm: 7

Awareness: 6 [Calm]
Trust: 5 [Neutral]

-Teressa thinks you are pitiful.

-Teressa is sympathetic to your situation.

‘Seems like my questions really changed their attitude. I feel a bit guilty reading their mind like this, but as long as they don’t find out I think it will be fine. I will take anything that increases my odds to survive in this world.’

It was then the door opened. A figure of a person walked into the room, it was Sera. Her face and clothes were covered by dust and grime, and her hair stuck to her cheeks because of the sweat. Gin met her eyes for a split second.

‘Was she out training?’

Sera’s brows furrowed, she averted her eyes and clicked her tongue. Coll and Teressa welcomed her back but she ignored them. She walked into her room, grabbed some clothes and left the house once again.

“…Where is she going now?” Gin was confused, is she not going to rest?

“Oh, she’s going for a bath in the river not too far from here. I can take you there later when she’s done.”

“Sure, that would be great. Thanks.”

Just before Sera left the house, Gin snatched a chance to open her stats.

Strength: 6
Agility: 5
Intelligence: 4
Mind: 5
Charm: 7

Awareness: 7 [Alert]
Trust: 3 [Dubious]

-Trust is too low to peer into her thoughts.

‘I don’t need a mind reading skill to know she doesn’t like me.’

All in all, Sera was the most peculiar existence to Gin. She hated his guts despite barely speaking to him. Was it his face? The color of his hair? Could it be something else entirely? He had no idea. The ‘Minor Hypnosis’ didn’t seem to do its job.

Besides that, Sera’s Awareness is quite high.

‘She’s alert? Her guard is up then? Is it because of me? Definitely because of me.’

Gin put the matter aside for now and focused on the problem in front of him.

‘For now, why don’t I explore the area?’

Gin asked Coll to take him out on a hunt tomorrow and obliged, somewhat. He wasn’t excited about it. He thought Gin would be a nuisance to his Job but complied anyway.

…

Night time arrived.

Coll made Gin a ‘bed’ with a bunch of leaves and old, unused cloth. There was not enough space for another person in the house, he had to sleep in the back shed. The only saving grace he could find was a decent spare blanket he could use.

‘Not even my old apartment was this cramped…’

That night, Gin tried to use his ability once again.

‘Is it possible to obtain knowledge with Faith points? For example, a hunting skill to name one?’

Ping!

-Use 50 Faith points to obtain Elementary Tracking skills?

-Use 50 Faith points to obtain Elementary Archery skills?

‘It is possible. This thing… this Faith ‘system’ of mine… it seems to know what I meant’.

The word ‘Hunting skills’ was a relatively abstract concept, yet the Faith system knew exactly what Gin wanted. The ability to track animals and hunt them with bow and arrows. This was exactly what he assumed to be a ‘hunting skill’, and so the system gave it to him.

If only he had enough points, that is.

‘I can only get either one of them? This is kinda bad isn’t it? To be honest, I’m not even sure whether I need them at all. Maybe if I can make myself useful to them, they would trust and rely on me a bit more. ‘

Lying on his bed of leaves, Gin pondered while scratching the itch all over his body.

That night, Gin fell asleep and dreamt of his original world. He dreamt of going to his old 9 to 5 work in the restaurant. A customer came and complained about the food to him, then the manager appeared out of nowhere to berate him in front of everyone—

“…!”

‘It’s just a dream… that never happened…!’

The birds were chirping and the sun had just risen from the horizon. The sky was still a bit dark. Gin felt the cold sweat on his back, feeling deflated. He gathered whatever remained of his spirit, stood up and opened the door of the shed to get some fresh air—

“Morning, lad!”

“Oof!!”

Coll’s smiling was the first thing that greeted him in the morning.

“You just woke up? Wash your face and get ready. Today we are hunting a boar.”

“Y-yeah, sure, give me a minute.”

Coll took Gin to a nearby wooden basin filled with fresh and cold water.

Coll scooped the water with a wooden ladle and drank with gusto. Gin followed to do the same and washed his face after. He felt his stomach rumbling with hunger.

“Right, lad. The day is young, we have a lot of time to hunt. Have you ever been to one?”

“No. I’m not sure. I don’t remember at all. But I still would like to come with you.”

“Are you good with a bow? You know how to read animal tracks?”

“…No. I don’t know how to use a bow and read tracks. But I can learn while we are at it.”

“Sure, lad! That’s the spirit!”

-Coll thinks it is unlikely you’ll ever get proficient with archery or tracking.

‘Thanks for the support, old man…’

The preparation for the hunt began with a simple breakfast. Teressa cooked them a meal of bread with butter and warm soup. It tasted bland but Gin wasn’t shameless enough to complain about such a thing.

Both of them walked into the forest soon after. Coll let Gin carry a backpack filled with tools and some rations in their hunt. There wasn’t much topic they could talk about through the walk into the forest. Coll repeated some questions he already asked regarding his lost memories and if he recalled anything. The answer was as expected, “I don’t remember anything at all.”

Gin also checked Coll’s Trust towards him. The number didn’t change.

Trust: 6 [Neutral]

‘That’s good. It didn’t go down at least. Must be the hypnosis taking effect. They are listening and complying to my request rather easily. As long as I don’t offend them directly, everything should be under my control. For now.’

Coll’s surface thoughts didn’t indicate much either, as they went deeper into the forest he became more and more focused on the hunt. Gin also followed his gait.

“See this? It’s a track. Seems like a boar, too. We are really lucky.”

“I-it is? Huh.”

Gin couldn’t really tell what Coll was pointing at. He didn’t seem to see much of a track at all, but gave it a serious look anyway.

“If you look real careful, you can see the shape of a footprint right here. It’s hard to see if you are not trained for it, but it’s there.“

Coll began to explain the track to Gin. About the footprint he found on the ground, the shape, the depth, and the area surrounding it. Only then Gin saw it.

‘There really is a footprint. I learned something new today—‘

Ping!

-You have obtained new information about tracking. Elementary Tracking skills’ cost has been readjusted.

-Use 45 Faith points to obtain Elementary Tracking skills?

“…Coll.”

“Yeah?”

“Could you please teach me more about this?”

“Hm? Sure, I don’t really mind.”

“Thank you.”

Gin thought that this old man was a cold hearted guy for almost throwing him out to the street yesterday, but maybe he wasn’t so bad once you get to know him a little better.

‘Also I gotta thank the hypnosis for making things much easier.’

From then on, Coll became more active in talking about his experience hunting for the past three decades. Gin learned he has been hunting his whole life since he was a kid. As the conversation went on, he became more and more passionate talking about his past.

-Coll is happy that you are listening to his words and teaching seriously.

-Coll’s Trust has increased from 6 [Neutral] to 7 [Trusty].

“…!”

‘You can even raise it by just talking and listening? Really? Aren’t you a bit naive Coll? Maybe you should listen to your daughter more.’

Seeing this man chatting with such vigor and passion almost made Gin forget what he did to him yesterday.

The sun continued to rise. Gin couldn’t really tell how much time had passed, but at least over an hour should’ve gone by now. Checking the system again, a smile formed on his face.

-Use 30 Faith points to obtain Elementary Tracking skills?

40 percent of the price has been shaved off. Gin was tempted to get the skill immediately but he wanted to see how far he could push it. Time continued to pass when Coll suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“Keep your head low and be quiet. We found our prey.”

“Alright…”

Coll pointed with his index finger and Gin followed the direction with his eyes. Exactly as he said, there stood a giant boar with multiple tusks in its mouth and back. It looked sharp.

What the hell is that? That’s not like any boar I’ve ever seen in my life…

Gin felt his back getting damp. His body hair stood up, signaling him to avoid this creature at all costs.

‘Huh, wait—‘

Now that he looked carefully, the boar was actually eating something. A four legged animal with its guts sprawling out.

It looked like a dead deer to Gin except for the fact its tail was covered in sharp, bony thorns.

‘That’s also unlike any deer I’ve ever seen before. The animals in this world might not be as cute and peaceful compared to mine.’

Gin could hear the sound of the boar eating the dead deer vividly. The sound of bones and meat being crunched send shivers down his spine. The smell of blood had just hit nose, making him slightly nauseous. This was the closest he had ever been with mother nature so far.

Meanwhile on the side was Coll preparing his bow. He took an arrow from the quiver and smeared some sort of suspicious-looking oil on it. Then he took a stance and nocked it on the bow.

Coll took his time aiming at the boar. Once he felt confident enough, he took a deep breath and pulled the arrow back.

“………”

Carried by the flow, Gin also held his breath with him.

“……….”

Coll released his fingers off the bowstring.

Fwoosh!!

Stab!!

The sound of an arrow piercing the wind followed by a howling boar echoed in the forest.

“Nice shot!” Gin couldn’t help but be impressed. That was such a clean shot.

“Keep your voice low! We don’t want them to see us.”

The boar howled in pain and started to run and roll all over the place. It crashed into trees and bushes while Coll and Gin continued to watch from a distance.

Coll explained that the boar's hide was very thick, the arrow had no way to reach its heart without special means. Instead, he used poison that he smeared on the arrow’s tip to inflict great pain from inside.

“We should back off for now and wait until the poison reaches its heart. Let’s go.”

“Okay. Wait, hold on. If the boar is poisoned to death, then we can’t eat the meat right?”

“No, of course we can’t. We have to purify it first before eating it. The butchery handles it for us. You don’t even know basic things like that?”

“No, I really don’t. Sorry.”

Gin had no clue what Coll meant by ‘purified’, but he knew that the boar’s meat wouldn't be wasted.

…

…

The day grew shorter. It didn’t take long for the boar to die of poisoning. Coll came around and lifted the corpse with such ease that Gin couldn’t help but to think of him as a monster.

‘The stats didn’t lie. His Strength is more than double of mine.’

Both of them returned back home, welcomed by Teressa alone. Apparently Sera went out again, training with the sword in the village.

The three of them had lunch together as they chatted. There was no change with Teressa’s Trust and her thoughts of him.

Gin learned more of the common sense of this world. Apparently the local animals are quite ‘wild’ and ‘monstrous’ compared to his old one, but normal for the people of the land.

‘I really need to learn how to fend off for myself here. My stats aren’t looking too hot right now.’

Strength: 3
Agility: 2
Intelligence: 5
Mind: 10
Charm: 2

Faith: 67

‘At first I was tempted to add points to my Charm, that way maybe I can just talk my way out of troubles rather than using brute force, but…’

They chatted some more through the evening. Coll spoke of the old time, how he met Teressa in the past. They met early in their childhood and fell in love with each other when Coll won the local hunting competition at the time.

“Stop it, Coll! You are embarrassing me!”

Teressa’s face became red with shame. She covered her cheeks with her left hand, looking away to the side. Her eyes looked moist and an embarrassed smile formed on her face.

That look made Gin’s heart skip a beat. For a moment he was charmed by her allure. A mature woman with a youth’s innocence was a deadly attack combination to his conscience.

‘I wonder, with my hypnosis, can I— no, let’s not think about that…’

Time passed by and the sun started to set. The sky became darker and the temperature went down. Sera soon came home, once again covered in dirt, dust and grime. She reeked of sweat. The strong smell was almost palpable to Gin.

“Where have you been?” Teressa looked at her daughter with concern, she couldn’t help but to frown from the smell. “It’s already getting dark and cold, how are you going to wash yourself?”

“I’m not going,” Sera waved her hands in annoyance, “I’ll just wash my face and change my clothes and sleep.”

“Sera! You have to maintain your hygiene properly!”

“What? You want me to go out there in the dark just for that? You want me to get hurt, mom? You suppose I should use our drinking water to clean up then?”

“No, Sera, I’m asking you to come back home earlier!”

“Psh!”

Sera didn’t pay any heed to her mother’s words and went inside her room.

“This girl of mine…” Teressa rubbed her temple in frustration.

“Sorry you had to see that.” Coll apologized, looking tired and somewhat melancholic.

“Don’t worry about it.” The system notified him that Coll and Teressa were genuinely embarrassed of their daughter’s attitude.

‘She’s quite the tomboy, isn’t she?’

Sera’s hair color was blue just like her mother, tied to a ponytail. Usually looking silky smooth if not for the dust and grime. Her chest was on the modest side and her hips had a nice, beautiful curve. Even so, her figure still falls a bit short compared to her mother’s.

‘Teressa wins over her daughter in chest, ass, and curves. Despite being in her early 40s, she looks like in her late 20s. She won the gene lottery, and so did her daughter.’

Teressa then remembered something. She stood up and grabbed something from her room.

“I found some old fabrics laying around so I might as well make use of it. This is for you.”

She handed Gin a blanket and a pillow filled with wool. He touched it and felt the soft sensation.

“Wow, thanks a lot.” Gin smiled sincerely from the depth of his heart.

I’m a stranger after all, she really didn’t have to go that far for me but she did anyway. I feel grateful to the hypnosis for giving me such an opportunity to talk to a beautiful, kind woman like Teressa.

“What are you doing mom?”

Sera came out of her room wearing her sleep wear. A short and thin white tank top that exposed her belly button. Below her waist was a pair of short pants, one that could be mistaken to be her underwear. For a moment Gin forgot that he was in another world. Only once he took a closer look that he realized they were made of a foreign and lower quality material.

With such a getup he could see her body curves— the muscles of her shoulders, arms, thighs, calves and especially her abs.

‘She’s got an athletic body. She’s really fit…’

Gin felt his eyes bulging out from looking at her abs. It was as if there were special magnets inside, he just couldn’t avert his eyes off her.

‘She barely has any fat in her body… Crap, I should stop thinking of her like this.’

Sera’s face showed disgust and loath before being replaced by anger.

“Mom, you realized he’s a stranger right? You don’t have to go that far for this guy!”

“What do you mean, Sera? He lost all his memories, he doesn't remember anything at all. He doesn’t even know basic knowledge. He’s practically stranded in an unknown world.”

“Your mother is right, Sera. He doesn’t have any idea how the world works at all, he doesn’t even know what a boar and a deer looks like before today. He’s practically clueless as a baby.”

‘…Thanks for the defense, old man.’

Sera gritted her teeth, clearly displeased by her parents.

“I know how soft mom always been, but you dad? I expect better than this, he’s obviously lying! There’s no way he doesn’t know what a boar or a deer looks like! Even a child would know!”

“That is enough Sera! Did I not teach you manners? How are you going to travel the outside world with such an attitude!? Gin obviously needs our help. He doesn't know anything at all, we can’t just leave him out there to die. He has to stay with us, at least until he learns how to take care of himself.”

“But dad—!”

Coll shook his head. He wanted to hear none of it, “My decision is final.”

“Grhh…! I hate you guys…!!”

Sera turned around and went back to her room. She slammed the door and locked it, not even intending to wash her face anymore.

‘This family seems tight.’

Gin couldn’t help but feel awkward being in the room. After all, the entire conflict happened because of him being there.

“Thank you Coll, Teressa. I’m really thankful you are willing to go this far for me. I will go back to the shed now. By the way, tomorrow can I come with you to the village, Coll?”

“Right, no worries, Gin. I’ll show you around the village. Good night.” Coll replied with a nod. His surface thoughts showed faint excitement to be a tour guide for him tomorrow.

“Good night, Gin.” Teressa said while giving him a sweet smile.

…

…

‘Is the hypnosis getting stronger? His behaviors changed almost completely.’

Gin had no idea about Teressa, but Coll’s definitely changed. His daughter even said so herself.

‘Was it because of his Trust points? The higher the number, the more he trusts me. The more he trusts me, the more effective the hypnosis suggestion becomes… What was the suggestion again?’

‘It was to let me stay in the house for a few days right? I don’t remember telling them to be this nice to me. Could asking him to let me stay in the house directly altered his attitude towards me?’

‘Think about it. If he hates me, would he even shelter me? Give me food and drink? To go as far to teach me how to track animal footprints? No, I doubt it.’

Gin arrived on a wild assumption.

‘By asking Coll to shelter me, the hypnosis altered his behavior to be kind enough to me, which in turn allowed me to stay sheltered in his house. Well, this shed isn’t exactly what I would call a house, but still…’

Ping!

-Your understanding of Hypnosis has deepened.

-The description of ‘Minor Hypnosis’ has been updated.

Oh?

Ping!

-With ‘Minor Hypnosis’ you can persuade the target to obey your ‘suggestion’ as long as you don’t go against their moral code.

-‘Minor Hypnosis’ alters the target’s own psyche to accomplish the given suggestion.

-‘Minor Hypnosis’ can only be applied if your Mind stats overwhelm the target.

-Each target has a different set of beliefs and moral code. Keep in mind, each target interprets a suggestion differently from each other. Some might require major psyche alteration, some might require little to no alteration at all.

-Suggestions that would require major psyche alteration have a high chance to fail and rebound.

‘This is gonna take me a while to wrap my head around…’

Gin re-read the description a few times to understand just what the hell was going on.

‘Okay, I think I got it figured out.’

‘To put a target under a ‘Minor Hypnosis’ my Mind stats must be higher than the designated target. By how much? I’m not sure yet. So far Sera was the highest one with 5 Mind points. That’s half of mine.’

‘Once I successfully put them under my hypnosis, I can give them ‘suggestions’.’

‘Depending on the difference between mine and the target’s Mind stats, and the degrees of difficulty of the suggestion itself, there’s a chance for the suggestion to fail and rebound.’

‘For example, what I did to the family of three.’

‘I begged— I mean, I ‘suggested’ Coll to let me stay in his house for a few days, and it worked. However, Sera was opposed to my request. So I changed the suggestion a bit, ‘I can and will sleep anywhere as long as you won’t throw me out there alone. Please take care of me just for a while.’ That’s how I ended up in this shed while also getting enough food and drinks.’

Then comes the next question—

‘But didn’t I put all three of them under ‘Minor Hypnosis’? Coll and Teressa seems compliant enough, but not Sera. Then it could only mean one thing. The suggestion towards Sera was a failure.’

‘When a suggestion fails, a ‘rebound’ would occur. What sort of rebound? I can only guess.’

‘I assume the rebound in this case is Sera becoming extremely hateful to the idea of letting me stay together with herself and her family. Even if we stay under a different roof, I’m still around and practically sheltered by them.’

‘Why did the suggestion fail? I’m guessing it’s because she already hates the idea of a stranger being around her family. To make her agree letting me stay would require a major psyche alteration, which was highly unlikely to happen since the gap of our Mind stats were smaller compared to her parents.’

Gin rubbed his forehead. He felt a headache coming already.

‘Am I making this more complicated than it really is? To put it simply, all three of them are under my ‘Minor Hypnosis’. I gave them a ‘suggestion’ and it only worked on Coll and Teressa, while Sera had a rebound and I’m suffering because of it right now.’

‘But she is still under my ‘Minor Hypnosis’ no doubt. After all, I could still see her Awareness and Trust stats. These two seem to be hidden stats that can only be observed on hypnotized targets.’

‘In a sense, right now Sera is being afflicted with a debuff that does absolutely nothing to her.’

Ping!

-You have learned of buffs and debuffs.

-You can now see the states of yourself and others.

State: Healthy (Tired)
Buffs: High Regen, High Poison Resist, High Mind Resist
Debuffs: -

Strength: 3
Agility: 2
Intelligence: 5
Mind: 10
Charm: 2

Faith: 67

‘I got passive buffs already applied to me? Is this also a blessing from the goddess?’

-High Regen: Increased physical regeneration speed. Capable of regenerating lost limbs.

-High Poison Resist: Nullifies weak poison effects, greatly reduces strong poison effects, and resist deadly poison effects.

-High Mind Resist: Nullifies weak mental attacks, greatly reduces strong mental effects, and resists critical mental attacks.

‘They all seem pretty damn good. With High Regen and High Poison Resist combined, does that mean I can eat poisonous fruits and still be safe? I won’t have to be afraid of what I eat then? I don’t have to be afraid of poisonous mushrooms and berries, then.’

‘Now that I found out what’s really happening, I can plan ahead better.’

-Use 20 Faith points to obtain Elementary Tracking skills?

-Use 45 Faith points to obtain Elementary Archery skills?

‘Next, to obtain Faith points from the family, Sera included.’