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I was reviewing my Anki N1 cards when I saw this sentence

観察が鋭くて頭脳の働きが早いときているので、情報を集めてくる手先としては理想的だった。 (His quick observation and active brain made him an ideal agent for gaining information.)

Based on this, ときている shows emphasis. Does this mean that からこそ can be used instead, without causing a big difference in nuance?

観察が鋭くて頭脳の働きが早いからこそ、情報を集めてくる手先としては理想的だった。

rebuuilt
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They are not interchangeable. からこそ emphasizes a cause-effect relationship ("exactly because of", "this is the very reason"), whereas ときている by itself emphasizes some unexpected fact ("on top of that", "what's more", "you know what", "behold" or simply "!!"). I don't know why all the examples of きている in that page are followed by から/ので, but that's not a requirement.

naruto
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  • Thanks naruto-san. So here are my takeaways: they are not interchangeable, and that the sentences in the webpage somehow gave the false impression that ときている had to be followed by から/ので. Based on your answer, I think this sentence from https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1144370201「そのTシャツは色も私好みで、しかも安いときている。これは買わずにいられなかった」is valid (and decouples it from から/ので), right? – rebuuilt Feb 26 '21 at 21:30
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    @rebuuilt Yes, that's a typical usage of ときている. – naruto Feb 27 '21 at 03:14