Chapter 94: Claiming the Rewards!
A chill of horror crawled up Roy’s legs, spine, and settled over his entire body.
’Did... Did they abandon me?’ Roy wondered. ’No, Master Abe would never do that. Maybe he didn’t know I signed in and began to move?’
Roy thought about it but dismissed that notion too. Master Abraham wasn’t an individual to be underestimated. He surely accounted for Roy, but something happened that made them move in such haste, and it was so serious that they had to temporarily disregard Roy.
"Checks out. They will be back for me. I just have to wait here a bit," he figured and looked around.
He had left his communicator elsewhere before signing in, so now he had no method of telling the time. However, due to the time dilation effect, and the fact that he only experienced two main stories, he believed it had just been about thirty to forty minutes since his sign-in.
Roy scanned his environment, but could hardly see anything in the dark.
Wearing white shorts and a dark blue shirt, clothes comfortable for sleeping, he knew he was in no shape to explore his surroundings. Even worse, he was barefoot.
"Sigh... This is some bullish bullshit," he muttered and found a broken stone to sit on.
Roy knew they would be back for him somehow, but until then, he had to make preparations in case they didn’t.
"Not like there’s much I can do to save myself from even a small horde of weak beasts," Roy noted, and realized something. "...unless I sign in."
He rubbed his chin and thought about it. Imagine being chased by abyss creatures, your sign-in countdown is over, and you have full-energy, you could simply disappear from the midst of the abyss creatures and stand a chance to return stronger.
"Huh." Roy rubbed his chin. Sometimes, the benefits of things people treated as commonplace could only be realized in moments of strife. Like how important oxygen became when one didn’t have access to it.
With a thought, a neon-blue cube that spun gently on its axis appeared before Roy.
[23:55]
"Show me my rewards."
[Sign-In Rewards]:
[3.0 Stat Points (Unclaimed) ~Tap to claim~
.] [Apple ×6 (Unclaimed) ~Tap to claim~.]
[Blank Love Letter ×2 (Unclaimed) ~Tap to claim~.]
[Magic Hair Spray ×2 (Unclaimed) ~Tap to claim~.]
Roy clicked his tongue. ’What am I going to do with a love letter? Oh, I can finally— wait, my stalker here still? They could have come out of the vehicle and waited for me to return...’
Roy began minding the words he spoke.
’System, why is it necessary to claim the sign-in rewards? I mean, they are already mine, aren’t they?’
[Host, your system inventory has a max limit of 24 items. Once filled up, you will be unable to claim your sign-in rewards.]
’Ah, I see.’
Roy tapped on the panel before him and claimed all the rewards.
’And does each apple take a slot, or are all six considered one item?’
[Each apple takes a slot, host.]
Roy figured it would be so and just shrugged. Although his system was broken compared to others, it wasn’t without the reasonable permitted bounds.
’But what about stat point? They aren’t items, but I still have to claim them. Why?’
[...There is no grand reason for that, host. It is simply to give you a sense of accomplishment.]
’Oh. Well, that’s... alright, I guess.’ Somehow, Roy was a bit disappointed. He was more used to his system giving elaborate and sophisticated responses for the littlest things, reminding him that it was created by a god-like entity.
That aside, it was time for him to spend his well-earned stat points. If he wanted to survive his abandonment, they were necessary.
"Heh, so far I’m proud of how calm I am. It can only be because I have a system."
Or shit hadn’t hit the fan yet.
+
[Host Data]
Name: Roy Mclloyd
Age: 16
Level: 7
EXP: 940/7000
Stat Points: 3.0
Number of Sign-Ins: 9
Skills: Link (Active), 2x Multiplier (Passive)
Linked Hosts: 1/1
Linked Skills: Love Sensor (Passive), Cupid’s Kiss (Active)
Overall Stats: Physical = 8.0, Willpower = 4.0, Attack = 1.0, Defense = 3.0, Chance = 1.0 >> Total = 17.0
Overall Rating: "You are no longer a loser."
Miscellaneous: [Apple (7)], [The Weeping Ghost (2)], [Blank Love Letter (2)], [Magic Hair Spray (2)]...
+
’Now, which stat to increase...’ Roy considered Master Abraham’s words from before about focusing on a particular stat.
’It’d be nice if I could control energy better and have a bit more at my disposal,’ he thought. Increasing his mind-soul stat, Willpower, seemed like the best choice at the moment, considering he now had more ways to expend energy.
However, nothing came down to being able to run away faster from abyss creatures. Hence, he invested all three stat points into his body stat.
From 8.0, his Physical stat then became 11.0.
Roy could feel the change this time, too. It wasn’t centered on his muscles this time, but his bones. His hands bone density had increased and his body could absorb more impact without breaking his stance. In addition, his range of flexibility expanded.
Roy got up on his feet and... easily threw a backflip, and another, and another!
"Haa... Haa... Ahahaha! Ahahahaha!"
From panting, he began to laugh, not considering the fact that he was in enemy territory.
But one couldn’t blame him.
Just like levels, when a stat crossed 10, they had reached a qualitative change. Roy was aware that there was an entire general grade structure for the types of advancement or changes irregulars received from qualitative stat increases. However, unlike Chris, who was a system fanatic, he wasn’t zealous enough to learn it.
Overjoyed, Roy sat back down on the stone and requested to view the informations of the new items.
+
Item: [Blank Love Letter] ×2
Type: Charm
Tier: 1 (Common)
Description: "Put your feelings into words in this letter and hand it to the person in question. What you felt when writing will be accurately expressed to them as they read."
~
Item: [Magic Hair Spray] ×2
Type: Charm
Tier: 2 (Uncommon)
Description: "Are you bald? Is your hairline receding? Is your hair lacking lustre and quality? Spray this hair spray on your head and witness the magic. Increases your charm by 80%."
+
"Pfft!" Roy held his mouth, but remembered when Donald mistakenly ripped off Master Abraham’s wig and burst out laughing.
"What shit luck! Ahahaha, I bet he could kill for this item! Ahaha—"
Roy heard a debris rustle in the darkness due to the wind and shut up.
However, his eyes gleamed with greed. He finally had a way to earn back all those energy crystals Master Abe didn’t share with him.