Chapter 002: Life Shop

Gazing at the receding figure, Chrono felt butterflies in his stomach as he recalled the worried expression she had showed him.

All distractions gone, Chrono opened the status screen again. The confused patient scrutinized the screen word by word, questions went rampant in his mind.

As he read, tracing along the lines with his finger, Chrono touched the (Dead but alive) beside his name.

[Dead but alive: 30 days left before the special status wears out and the target dies]

30 days? WHAT THE HECK? So my lifespan is -60 years and because of that, I am alive but I will really die for good in 30 days? CRAP. I need to confess to Mina and make her mine as soon as possible.

Suppressing his shock, Chrono continued to search for a way out of his predicament. Thinking about it calmly, he realised that since it was a status effect, there would definitely be a cure or antidote. Having noticed that additional information would appear when his finger was in contact with the screen, Chrono touched every single word. Only when he reached the [Stats] did more information appear.

[Power/Strength - Current: 10 STR (49 KG) | +5 KG/STR]

[Intelligence - Current: 30 INT (IQ: 90) | +3 IQ/INT]

[Speed - Current: 24 SPD (12m/s) | +0.5m/s/SPD]

[Agility - Current: 26 AGI (0.260s | -0.003s/AGI]

[Stamina - Current: 15 STA (Ability to run 15 KM without stopping) | +1 KM/STA]

[Luck - Current: 50 LUK | Max: 100 LUK]

[Charm/Charisma - Current: 29 CRM | Max: 100 CRM]

[Recovery - Current: E | Max: SSS]

[Control/Accuracy - Current: D | Max: SSS]

There was a plus button for 5 of the stats. Chrono tried pressing it and a notification appeared.

[Insufficient years]

Unable to do anything about it, Chrono simply gave up. After digesting the information, he decided to try to complete his first 2 quest. He found 2 gold coins in his inventory but was not able to retrieve them as it was greyed out. Hence he could only wait and see what the was all about. [100 years per draw] popped up on top of . Glancing at his -60 years, Chrono shook his hand and dismissed the idea of using the skill.

“Looks like you are still alive and kicking.” A male that appeared to be around the same age as Chrono walked into the room.

“Of course. Today’s not the day when you’ll get to plunder my room. Not to mention the millions of women who’d cry their heart out if I died.” Chrono looked at the guy who had just walked through the door. It was his best friend, Shane.

“Hmmmr… Never thought about that… What’s with the millions, anyway? You haven’t even dated a single girl. You’re just acting like you’ve got experience. Not to mention that you don’t dare to tell *ahem* that you like her.” Shane retorted Chrono, mocking him. Actually, Chrono had no idea how Shane had come to understand his feelings, he had always thought he was good at hiding it, until Shane told him bluntly that his love was simply and purely hopeless.

“Why did you have to say that? I am so hurt! Kicking someone when he’s already down, not yet recovered from a life-threatening operation. You are the worst, treacherous brother!”

“Glad to see that you are as nonsensical as ever.” Shane replied. It was the same old Chrono, he was finally at ease.

Should I use the on Shane?

[Total life span: 90 years | Cause of Death: Unknown] appeared and floated above Shane’s head.

Come to think of it, what is displayed is their total lifespan. How am I supposed to know how many years they have left if I do not know their age?

“What are you thinking about?” Shane asked when he saw Chrono had been completely lost in his thoughts.

Use once (Reward: 1 x Lucky Draw) completed.

Two young men were floating in a white, seemingly endless, space. Chrono understood he had absolute control over the place as soon as he activated his ability. A new window materialised in front of his eyes.

➝ Blank contract

➝ Unknown

➝ Unknown

➝ Unknown

He selected the blank contract, the others were greyed out and apparently not available. A sheet of paper stipulating that a contractor would give up a certain amount of his lifespan to Chrono in exchange for something that had to be agreed upon by both parties. A signature was required to complete the contract. A bloody one.

‘Hey! Chrono! What’s that paper?!’ The paper in question disappeared as Chrono willed it.

‘What are you talking about? You finally lost your mind, bro! Well, if you hadn’t, you wouldn’t be there… I’m just a product of your mind. Wait, I’m a product of your mind?! Why didn’t you produce a hot girl?! Gross…’

Chrono didn’t know if Shane was going to remember his experience in the Life Shop, so he acted as a dream. The pondering look painted on his friend’s ace caught him off guard nonetheless.

‘Dude. You know, I’ve thought about it for a while… Since I’m in a dream, I feel I could tell you what’s really on my heart. I think I might really be gay. I don’t see you this way, of course, you’re my best friend.’ Chrono was not emotionless. He couldn’t help but react to the distress in Shane’s voice. He bursted in laughter, tears rolling out of his, preventing him from seeing his friend’s huffy expression. He had guessed long ago that his friend was not as straight as he liked to say, but this definitely wasn’t the best time to come out of the closet.

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Chrono had soon cancelled his ability, upon which he had been given the possibility for the customer to retain or lose his memories of the shop. He was feeling a bit bad for manipulating his friend and thus allowed him to forget.

They came back to the hospital room, nothing had changed but the clock. Shane turned around, following Chrono’s gaze and jumped at the sight of the time.

‘Gosh, I have to go, I have an appointment for a part time job! Sorry bro, let’s talk more another day.’ Like that, another disturbance left in a hurry.

Chrono was too interested in what he had felt in the life contract to pay attention to his friend’s lack of manners. He went back to the “space” as soon as the door closed. Now that he was alone, the feeling got more defined. The ‘white’ was not white. It was anything Chrono wanted to see. Or to make others see. Therefore it became an old oak bar on a wooden floor, surrounded by four walls. Chrono had added carpets and rows of books. Overall, it gave the ‘room’ a very warm and cosy ambiance. Perfect for negotiations. People would be more at ease in such a place, and instinctively trust the owner of the place, namely Chrono. Then, made a long and dark corridor appear outside, leading to a simple door engraved with clean words ‘Life Bar’. Chrono had decided that his customers would be teleported at the end of the corridor, and would have to walk toward the door, toward the light, their mind shrouded in doubts, maybe even fear… And they would suddenly be in a world of warmth, where an innocent-looking barman smiled at them and gave them a hot beverage… Chrono was quite satisfied with his work, but there was no victims on which to test.

Remembering that he had a lucky draw chance, Chrono decided to use it.

The box with the ? appeared in front of Chrono. Reaching his hand into the box, he could feel many round shaped object in the box. Praying silently in his heart, Chrono picked one and pulled it out of the box.

obtained.

- Increase the basic stats by *10 for 10 minutes.

Increase basic stats by 10 times? Looks like a pretty decent skill. Will be quite useful when I encounter any sticky situation.

Play once. (Reward: Unknown) completed

obtained.

- See everything within a 5 metre radius

What? See everything? Isn’t that OP?

Gathering his strength, he got up from his bed, and left the room. He met a few people, but their lifespan was quite low, as expected of sick people, and Chrono wouldn’t have any leverage on them anyway. With his omniscient skill, he was able to avoid all the medical personnel as a patient wandering around would garner unneeded attention.

Use ten times. (Reward: Unlock LV2) completed.

- LV2 (Ability to see target’s lifespan and cause of death)

He climbed a few floors in this fashion and ended up on the roof. He usually didn’t go there, it was reserved for cool manga characters or suicidal people in his mind. Fortunately, the door wasn’t locked. Chrono thought of taking a picture of the sunset and send it to Mina.

He wasn’t disappointed, the sunset would have indeed been beautiful… If a man wasn’t trying to commit suicide! At the top of an hospital at that! It was an obvious mockery of all those dying people hoping to get better and live.

____________________________________________________________________________

[Status]

[Name] Chrono Feldman (Dead but alive)

[Lifespan] -60 years

[Job]

>

Ability to shorten one’s lifespan and transfer the number of years to a target or increase one’s lifespan by receiving a specific number of years from a target’s lifespan.

[Stats]

Power/Strength - 10 +

Intelligence - 30 +

Speed - 24 +

Agility - 26 +

Stamina - 15 +

Luck - 50

Charm/Charisma - 29

Recovery - E

Control/Accuracy - D

[Skills]

- (A shop where a person’s desire can be fulfilled)

- LV2 (Ability to see target’s lifespan and cause of death)

- (Somewhere to store all the random junk)

- LV1 (What new skills will you obtain?)

- Increase the basic stats by *10 for 10 minutes

- See everything within a 5 metre radius

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[Quest Log]

Use a thousand times. (Reward: Unlock LV3) Purchase 10 stat points. (Reward: 1 x Lucky Draw) Fulfill a blank contract once. (Reward: 1 x Lucky Draw)