Novel Boss
Chapter 14: [Mana!]
I looked at the city with pity in my eyes. For what it used to look like and what it had become.
'I wonder how the landlord is doing,' I thought as I recalled the only person I had that cared after me. Perhaps she found it too pitiful that I was an orphan. She halved my rent and also helped me with finding a side job.
That also reminds me of my Co-worker, Emily. I wonder if she survived this mess or not. She was fun to tease.
"No matter how many times I think of it, it's odd," Mark said as he too looked at the city in front of us. His eyes narrowed at a couple of buildings before he looked at me.
"Odd?" I asked curiously.
"There is not even a single soul in this world other than us. Even the people you found have that [NPC] tag over their head. Despite being the same city, it's creepy that it's so empty," he spoke as he observed me.
This made me think carefully about it. And then I realized that it was true. Even when I was going through the houses, I did not find anyone there. At first I thought that they died but not a single damn survivor? Now that's not simple at all.
"Either we are the only ones who transferred, or everyone is playing the game in their own field," I said my thoughts in the end. The chances that they all died were too slim to be considered.
"So, you think we can meet them?" Alice, who joined us after separating from Luke's group, spoke with a hopeful gaze. She had already given the 1800 Points that she had earned back to Luke, so he could only watch her leave.
'Ah! She has a home to return to. She must have been worried about her family,' I had a slight pity in my eyes, before I shook my head. Being an orphan, I wondered if it was a better thing for me? I had no one to worry about.
And then I had a pitiful look on my face, his time for myself.
"I guess, we should be able to. As long as we clear the scenario that is," Mark wasn't too happy with this. But he tried to have a positive outlook in this messed up situation.
'Mark has a brother if I remember correctly,' I thought before turning to Alice whose house was nearest to the school.
"You visited your house?" I asked curiously and she nodded before speaking," we did but there was no one there. No signs of battle, or any form of irrationality either. At first I was scared but Luke said that they could have escaped somewhere else. The lack of battle hinted at his deduction while also giving me hope."
"It's a fucked up situation," I sighed and they both nodded. My eyes then looked at Mark once again. Since I wasn't really comfortable with this topic, I tried to focus on something else. And that was on Mark's gift.
'A Mortal Grade-4 gift that increases the user's aiming ability, huh?' I recalled what he said before, and I thought that it was a good gift. At least for the tutorial, that is.
"Since we have you as well, it should make things easier," Mark said as he looked at Alice with a bright expression. Though Alice only sighed, while I looked at Mark and spoke,
"Don't do that Mark."
"Huh? What?" Mark looked at me confused before I spoke again," don't put your life in someone else's hands. That mindset will kill you faster than anything else."
He looked at me with his eyes widening before he realized what I said. And then as if having an epiphany, he nodded at me. Alice on the other hand spoke," I will be sleeping first then. Wake me up when you guys leave."
I saw her leaving to sleep on the hard ground, while Mark also took a sleeping position. On the other hand I looked at the players on the ground in front of me. Many were sleeping in groups, while a few of the players were looking through the [Shop!].
[Points: 52,400!]
I tried converting Points into GM points, but that didn't work. I kind of expected that but it didn't feel good at all. There was also a long way before I could buy the [Gift!] that I was looking forward to.
Plus there was this too…
[Tutorial Level 3 Hidden Quest 3: Kill the doppelganger!
Difficulty: Hard!
Objective: There is a fake player among the survivors! Kill that player before he kills everyone else!
Reward: 10,000 Points!]
'It's troublesome,' I sighed as I looked at the last of the few players going to sleep as well. And since that white-goblin was now free…
"Open the shop for me," I looked in his direction, while he flew with that smile of his," what do you want to buy?"
"Show me the most expensive things first," I spoke as I looked at what the Tutorial Shop had to offer.
[Mana Enhancement Serum!
Grade: A
Effects:
-Increases Mana Proficiency of the user by 20%!
-Increases Mana Regeneration by 100%!
-Increases Mana by 1000
-Increases Intelligence by 100
Requirements: The user must have unlocked Mana!
Cost: 500,000 Points!]
[Mana Sword!
Grade: A
Attack: 12500 + 200 x Mana Infused!
Durability: 500k/500k
Effects:
-Strength + 50
-Agility +50
-Intelligence +50
Cost: 400,000 Points!]
[Clover of Pyrus!
Grade: B
Effects: Increases the Fire Resistance of the User by 70%!
Cost: 350,000 Points!]
Three items at the top, while a few more below as I scrolled down. Observing each of them properly, I kept going on, until I reached down enough. I found a few things interesting, while others weren't that appealing to me.
Didn't take long until I reached the point where things cost less than 50,000 Points. Still, I continued scrolling until I found something that had a bit more appeal than others.
[Mana Unlocking Serum!
Grade: D
Effects: Unlock the Mana potential of the user!
Cost: 30,000 Points!]
I gave it a bit of thought before I decided to buy it. While I don't need mana right now, having it isn't a bad thing since it opens up a huge load of other options for me.
"Thank you for the purchase, user," the goblin smiled before vanishing from there as I looked at the serum in my hands before trying something else.
[Mana Unlocking Serum!
Grade: B
Effects:
-Unlock the Mana Potential of the User!
-Increases the Mana Regeneration by 100%!
-Increases the user's Intelligence by 20!
-Increases the user's Wisdom by 20!
Would you like to make changes for 10,000 GM Points?]
'That's a bit costly,' I thought before smiling and adding a few more things in it.
[Mana Unlocking Serum!
Grade: B
Effects:
-Unlock the Mana Potential of the User!
-Increases the Mana Regeneration by 100%!
-Increases the user's Intelligence by 20!
-Increases the user's Wisdom by 20!
Restrictions:
-Can be used only by [Adrian John Rodriguez!]
-The effect takes over 4 hours!
-Can be only used at the first hour of midnight!
-Can be only used in the Tutorial Level 3!
-Can be only used if the user does not have any [Gift!]
Would you like to make changes for 874 GM Points?]
The changes of [Only [Adrian] can use it] and [Only in tutorial] helped bring the cost down by at least 60%. And [User with no Gift!] hit the nail bringing it below a thousand points. The other conditions weren't exactly useful but they helped me save a few GM points so they were worth it.
And smiling, I then clicked [Yes!] before I gulped the entire serum at once.
IT WAS BITTER!!!
I felt like my tongue would fall out, so I kept my mouth shut, before I slowly lost consciousness and fell on the ground.