Keyword

Biodata

Function

Keywords are the central power system used by Simulation Arena participants and Alien Warriors. A person's words and actions aligning with their Keyword increase their power and can awaken advanced skills. 82 483

• Keywords affect the soul, unlike the Species Origin, which alters the body through genetic reconstruction. 609
• They can enhance attributes such as physical senses, stamina, and recovery; advanced skills provide the decisive supernatural effects. 303
• Keywords are more important than martial arts, magic, or leadership training for warriors entering the Alien Battlefield. 82
• A well-used skill combination can allow weaker users to overcome stronger opponents, but Keyword-derived skills have fixed power and practical limitations. 611
• Skills are not absolute: their effectiveness may depend on prerequisites, public perception, range, or the target's existing knowledge of the user. 511 634

Assignment and Development

• Alien Warriors typically receive two Keywords upon entering a scenario through Body Snatching. Dug received Maintenance and Backstab in the Simulation Arena, Loyalty and Trend in one Alien Battlefield, Low-key and Romantic in another, and Ferocity and Counseling in a later session. 9 300 451 512
• Keywords are random enough to be considered an Alien Warrior's greatest weakness: a powerful derived skill can elevate its user, while a poor one can leave them as battlefield fodder. 642
• Actions that contradict a Keyword do not reduce the host body's initial attributes, but generally do not help develop the Keyword. 457
• Advanced skills may awaken only after sufficient Keyword-aligned conduct or influence is accumulated; in some battles, Pan-Universe Entertainment made skill awakening more difficult. 303 311
• A Keyword can be concealed from other participants, making inference from behavior a major part of identifying opponents. 1 256
• Some Keywords are visibly identifiable, which can limit their tactical value. Dug regarded Friendship as a visible Keyword and regretted not developing its skills before leaving the relevant scenario. 297

Advanced Skills

Derivation

Advanced skills emerge from a Keyword and express its concept in specific, often unconventional ways.

• Maintenance produced Sacrifice for Righteousness, reducing the vigilance of people maintained by its user by 30%. 9
• Backstab produced Eyes Behind the Head, preventing the user from being backstabbed and granting rearward vision. 9
• Loyalty produced Influence, causing people of lower status to emulate the user's actions with high probability. 321
• Trend produced a skill that grants a 200% momentum bonus, allowing the user to create or amplify social trends. 311
• Chaos was suspected to be Dug's Keyword after he forced widespread conflict and rapidly eliminated opponents; its companion-universe manifestation later developed Order in Chaos and Confuse the Senses. 256 645

Limits

• Skill effects can be narrow even when powerful. Cohesive Heart, for example, increases only strength; its user still needs sufficient personal physical attributes to bear the accumulated force. 119
• Some skills depend on an external condition. Unique Style only controls people who see its flag, and its effect ends if they look away or the flag is destroyed. 486
• Contradictory skills can impair a user's development strategy. Nobu's skills respectively benefited changing dependence targets and remaining loyal to a single target. 426
• Keywords do not guarantee useful abilities; even highly unusual Keywords may develop few practical skills. 642

Keyword Types

Notable Keywords

Trading

Keywords can be treated as tradable assets in the Simulation Arena under the right conditions.

• Dug attempted to purchase another participant's Keyword in exchange for that participant's life. 106
• He successfully sold the acquired Keyword Mockery to Gou Kun, receiving an attribute increase and ten points of temporary Mental Power. 108
• Traded Mental Power is temporary, demonstrating that the Simulation Arena restricts attempts to exploit trading loopholes. 108

Relationship to Mental Power

• Mental Power supports Body Snatching; insufficient Mental Power can cause a participant's soul to fail against the original host and dissipate. 391
• High Mental Power improves perception and can strengthen the body, but it does not replace Keyword-derived skills. 303 452
• Mental Power may be rewarded for rank, while rank itself is strongly tied to social influence and Keyword development. 457
• Dug's Mental Power rose from 80 during his first documented Simulation Arena scenario to over 30 billion by the Emperor Star battlefield. 9 598