One of them is silently weeping, and the other is staring unblinkingly at the third one that pissed itself. It`s almost a little funny, I mean, they`re just mob enemies. Is this another test of one`s resolve? If that`s the case, then it`s really not needed.

　　Standing up from my hunched position, I walk over to them. Let`s see here, which should be which, hmmm& Eanie, Meanie, minie& Mo!

　　My finger falls on the one on the right. It`s staring at me, unflinching. Is that determination I see? Not that it really matters. Once I`m close enough to touch it, I put my finger to its forehead and carve TRT 2 into its flesh. It`s trembling, but it refuses to make a sound, which is nice for me because so far these things have only made annoying sounds. I turn back to the first one and quickly carve TRT 1 into its forehead. Perfect! Now I can keep track of which is which. I don`t have Touch of Reverse Tolerance Level 2 yet though, so I`ll have to start with number one.

　　I step closer to it. It flinches with every move I make, like a glitching NPC. I put my hand to its face and slowly drum each of my fingers onto it, one at a turn.

　　<[Touch of Reversed Bacteria Tolerance (Lv.1)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Virus Tolerance (Lv.1)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Ulcer Tolerance (Lv.1)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Indigestion Tolerance (Lv.1)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Parasite Tolerance (Lv.1)]>

　　Still no level up, huh? I really hope I don`t have to use every single tolerance skill I have to make this work. It`d be even worse if it turned out that I only got experience for it if I killed an enemy while it was under the effects of the skill. That`d be a real bother.

　　Normally, I would hate to use anything one-use in vain outside of dire combat, but this is an exception. It`s one-use, but if I use it enough, it should hypothetically level up and let me use it more times. I think. If that isn`t the case and I`m doing all of this in vain, then there`s nothing I can say but shoot.

　　Anyhoo, back to Guinea Pig 1!

　　I put my hand back to his face.

　　&Hm? No effect? But I`m sure that I have tolerances left&

　　&Don`t tell me—?

　　I put my other hand to his face.

　　<[Touch of Reversed Fever Tolerance (Lv.1)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Interior Damage Tolerance (Lv.1)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Unconsciousness Tolerance (Lv.1)]>

　　Touch of Reversed Tolerance Lv.2>

　　Nice, finally! I was starting to run out of tolerances there&

　　Now, let`s quickly check on the guinea pig`s state. It`s mostly just confused, but that can probably be explained more so by the fact that I`m tapping my fingers against its face for no real reason. In synopsis, for TRT1, you`ll need to use at least like 15 or 20 to actually cause any sort of damage at all. All and all, for now, this is less of an actual skill and more of a distraction or confusion. But that`s only the case with TRT1. What I want to know is how much stronger TRT2 is. Probably not much, but it should be enough, right?

　　I think I can remember pretty well what tolerances I used on guinea pig 1, so if I just replicate it on guinea pig 2, I`ll be able to compare the effects. Hm, I kind of wish I could measure somehow what the exact differences are, but I don`t have that kind of equipme-,

　　&Oh my God. Am I becoming a nerd?!

　　Moleman, you insidious bastard&! I`ll have my vengeance, you subterranean mammal!

　　If I was one step worse off, I might try to win by outnerding him, but I don`t think I`m that far gone yet. I think&

　　Shrugging, I put my fingers to guinea pig 2`s face and start tapping. Apparently, I need to use one finger at a time, from one hand at a time, in a certain order. Thumb, index, middle, ring, little, and then the next hand, in the same order. That`s a pain. Hopefully, within time, it`ll become sort of like an automatic reflex, and I won`t have to think about it too much. But, for now, I need to keep it in my head, very much consciously.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

　　<[Touch of Reversed Bacteria Tolerance (Lv.2)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Virus Tolerance (Lv.2)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Ulcer Tolerance (Lv.2)

　　is currently unusable.]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Indigestion Tolerance (Lv.2)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Parasite Tolerance (Lv.2)]>

　　&Huh? What`s that? What do you mean it`s—

　　Oh, I haven`t gotten ulcer tolerance up to level two. Bummer. Eating meat seemed to do the trick though, so I quickly summon a piece of goblin meat and eat around half of it.

　　Ulcer Tolerance Lv.2>

　　Parasite Tolerance Lv.4>

　　Indigestion Tolerance Lv.7>

　　There we go!

　　Ah, oops, in my excitement, it seems I accidentally ate the entire piece. Still, this remains a weakness of TRT. If I upgrade it too hastily, I will eventually not have enough tolerances to level it up further. So even though I should use it as often as possible now, I should still do it in moderation further down the road. Got it. Back to testing things out, though.

　　<[Touch of Reversed Ulcer Tolerance (Lv.2)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Fever Tolerance (Lv.2)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Interior Damage Tolerance (Lv.2)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Unconsciousness Tolerance (Lv.2)]>

　　I take a step back to admire my work. If I compare the two goblins, guinea pig 2 is just slightly worse off. He looks a little paler, and his breathing is slightly heavier, but that`s about it from what I can notice. I wonder how high I need to get the skill to be able to use it as more than a diversion? Probably until it gets to like level 9 or something. It should realistically turn into Touch of Reverse Resistance at that point, but I can`t know that for sure yet.

　　But, with this, my experiment is concluded. Good work, guinea pigs, your reward is to be put out of your misery!

　　Before they really have time to do much of anything, I crush both of their necks.

　　<[Level Up]>

　　Strength has increased by 3.

　　Stamina has increased by 3.

　　Magic Power has increased by 1.

　　Enhanced Hearing has increased by 1.

　　Battle Focus has increased by 1.

　　Field Focus has increased by 1.

　　Claw has increased by 2.

　　Fang has increased by 1.

　　Sprint has increased by 1.>

　　Level up, nice! That just proves they`re enemies, right? I mean, I levelled up from them, so there`s no other way to look at it.

　　And, again, just to prove how virtuous I am in my acting, not a single high-and-mighty god or goddess comments on it. Is there anything that I can do wrong anymore? Probably not. Anyways, let`s start looting these—

　　Hang on a sec. I can hear something.

　　Enhanced Hearing Lv.2>

　　Yeah, I am absolutely hearing voices. From this far away, it almost sounds a bit like humans, but I can tell that it`s goblins by the weird language. Don`t tell me that one of the goblins somehow escaped? No way. I am absolutely certain that I killed all of them. Maybe this is a scripted event that happens no matter what? Yeah, that`s possible, but I still don`t really like it.

　　I glance at the bodies of the two guinea pigs. I really want to loot them, but I don`t think I have time.

　　Smoke reaches my nose and I glance back at the still-burning fire. Whether they`re looking for me or the smaller goblins is unimportant, because whichever it is, they`ll be heading towards this trail of smoke. It`s too late to douse it. Shoot. I don`t think I`m screwed quite yet, but unless I handle this with some amount of grace, there won`t be anything left for me to do. First things first, am I able to bring the two, erm, untainted bodies with me?

　　I try to put them in my inventory. Nothing happens. Alright, that`s a bust, then. I can`t really tell how close the goblins are to getting here, so I don`t think I should make any risky gambles like trying to take just their heads.

　　&On the other hand, those heads are looking mighty ingredient-full&

　　Okay, fine, but let`s be quick about it. Since I need to be quick, I`ll have to save my bare hands for later. Summoning my knife, I get to it. Saw saw saw saw saw saw saw.

　　I think I might be getting really bad, because the exposed flesh on display here is making my mouth water. Am I bad enough to eat an entire head raw? Well, that`s& It all depends on what head, you know? There are people out there who eat pig head. It`s not that weird. Personally speaking, I probably wouldn`t eat a human head, but this is& this is different, right? Yeah. Right.

　　I stick it in my inventory.

　　Above the treetops, I can hear shouts, closer now. I can`t tell how close, but close enough to make something deep within me say, maybe it`s time to go now. But, on the other hand, there`s still a whole head left here! Just sitting right there, perfectly usable. Am I just supposed to leave it behind?

　　No. A true completionist strives for 100% and nothing less. Every chest and every cupboard must be looted. Otherwise, you might miss an important item or clue. Nodding to myself, I put the knife to the goblin`s pallid throat and start sawing again. Saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw.

　　The voices are getting closer.

　　Saw saw saw saw saw.

　　I can hear what they`re shouting now, as loud as they possibly can.

　　"Ifrit!"

　　"Rufe!"

　　"Joru!"

　　"Ki`ur!"

　　"Valer!"

　　"Sui!"

　　"Arfis!"

　　"Bunthe!"

　　I think, if I`m not being delusional, that it might be names. Maybe. Anyways.

　　Saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw& Pop!

　　There we go, perfect! Now, time to dip before someone—

　　"Joru?"

　　Ah. Oops.