"The scent of an Abyssal Hunter lingers on you. Her blood attracts disaster. If you wish to avoid being harassed by the creatures of the ocean, you must cleanse yourself of this filth."
Ignoring Steven's completely pointless question, the green-haired girl leading the way pointed out the hidden danger on him.
Steven didn't mind, though.
After all, anything that looked as powerful as that was definitely not something people would casually sell.
However, the fact that the blood of an Abyssal Hunter could attract monsters—that was new information to him.
No wonder that group of Sea Terror from the village had chased them so relentlessly, as if they had caught his scent. So, it was because Gladiia had coughed up blood on him?
Turning back, he pinched the innocent-looking Gladiia's small face.
Steven realized that ever since he came to this world, at least half of the trouble he had gotten into could be traced back to her.
Luckily, she was just a naive, silly girl who only knew how to call him "Dad." If she had been the cold or tsundere type, Steven would have run away without a second thought.
Let someone else deal with that—he wasn't the kind of guy who lost all reason at the sight of a woman.
Of course, the more important reason was that he was the one who had knocked her silly. He had to take responsibility, after all.
After checking his status screen and confirming that this so-called "scent" wasn't an official status effect, he took a bucket of water from his inventory and poured it over himself.
The green-haired girl, who had paused to watch his odd behavior, locked eyes with him.
"Does it still smell now?"
Steven wanted to confirm, as he wasn't sure how to judge something that wasn't a clear status effect.
The cat-eared girl shook her head slightly.
The scent on him had already faded with time, and after a rinse with water, there was no longer a need to worry about sea creatures tracking him.
But more than that, what truly intrigued her was where Steven had pulled that full bucket of water from.
She had seen plenty of Originium Arts that could create water out of thin air, but conjuring a bucket along with it? He was the first.
"Hmm, that's good then. But I'm curious—how do you know about these things? Have you studied Abyssal Hunters before?"
Feigning casual curiosity, Steven glanced at the title floating above the girl's head:
[Rhodes Island Medical Department Head: Kal'tsit]
If he remembered correctly, this was the organization the protagonist belonged to.
Which meant that by following her, he had a high chance of progressing along the main storyline.
That would solve the problem of earning WAP (World Acknowledgement Point) in the future.
Sure, with his current strength, he could handle most problems even without those various system mods. But it would still be a hassle.
As for forcibly activating mods despite the world's resistance?
It wasn't impossible.
He wasn't someone the world's will could just reject and be done with. It was just a world will—he had destroyed those before.
But precisely because of this, Steven chose to temporarily abide by the restrictions imposed on him by this world's will.
After all, when it came to the consequences of fighting a world's will head-on, probably no one understood them better than he did.
At the very least, keeping this already unstable world intact was difficult enough.
If a world's will were to perish, the entire world would lose its future as well.
That was why, in the later stages, Steven eventually returned to his solitary, original survival mode—because without a world capable of new life, what would even be left?
That went against his very reason for staying in this world in the first place.
He came here to enjoy life, not to destroy it.
Besides, this world was different from Minecraft.
In Minecraft, the native inhabitants didn't really have self-awareness.
Even if they got caught up in a battle between Steven and the world's will, they would just respawn after dying.
But the people of this world weren't like that.
Steven considered himself a thrill-seeker, but he wasn't so reckless as to ruin an entire world just for his own amusement.
So, as long as the world's will didn't go too far in targeting him, he was more than happy to play by its rules.
It was just like playing a massive Minecraft modpack—if you wanted a real experience, you had to follow the progression step by step. If you started in creative mode and pulled everything out of thin air, what was the point? No fun in that.
Of course, that was assuming the mod wasn't full of annoying mechanics designed purely to frustrate players.
If things got too unbearable, Steven had no issue bending the rules a little.
As for whether his presence caused the plot to go completely off the rails?
He didn't care.
Wasn't that the best part?
"I know everyth—"
A voice interrupted Steven's thoughts.
The green-haired girl hesitated for a moment before adjusting her words.
"I have knowledge of all that happens on this land. Whether it's the Ægir Hunters or Church of the Deep cultists who consort with monsters—I know of them all."
Perhaps a moment ago, she could have confidently claimed to know everything, but after meeting Steven—someone she simply could not see through—she chose a more reserved approach.
"Oh? So you're saying you know everything about what happens on land?"
Steven summarized her words for her.
Even Google didn't dare claim to have all the answers—where did she get the confidence?
He wasn't just being argumentative; he was genuinely curious.
But to his surprise, the cat-eared girl, Kal'tsit, actually hesitated for a brief moment before nodding slightly.
"Your wording may be slightly inaccurate, but in essence, yes."
"Heh… Then tell me this—what race do you think I am?"
Steven chuckled. He was quite curious to hear her answer.
So far, nearly everyone who had met him had assumed he was one of those Ægir.
To be honest, Steven himself still wasn't sure what race he belonged to.
If this supposedly omniscient woman could answer that, it would actually clear up a lot of things for him.
"You…"
Kal'tsit's green pupils reflected Steven's full form.
After a brief moment of hesitation, she finally spoke her conclusion:
"You are not human."
"…Hah?"
"Your race does not belong to this land, nor to any species in this world. You are not human—or perhaps, you are the only true human."
Hearing her words, the casual expression on Steven's face gradually turned into a smile.
This woman, who claimed to know everything…
She was interesting.