《System Dilemma》17. The Great Old Ones
Advertisement
Petra looked at me with a raised eyebrow, then shook her head. She got away from me and said “Insanity is contagious, I hope you’ll stay away from me from now on."
She had a smile on her face and looked amused.
Did she forget that the contract prevented me from lying? I thought. I technically died in the future due to the explosion of that mana core!
I laughed loudly and shrugged my shoulders. I heard the fairies speaking so I focused on their speech.
“Now that the final fight is over, it’s time to update the rankings,” he said “The top five rankers in this phase will get a special opportunity in the next phase.”
Suddenly, the system screen that depicted our current rankings changed a bit.
-The ranking list is updated!
Rank
Name
Class
Class rank
Level
Points
1
Jason
The Burned Man!
Legendary
20
2337800
2
Xi Jiang
Sniper
Common
10
8000
3
Finn
Visionary
Uncommon
7
6500
4
Petra
Virtuoso
Epic
12
6000
5
Rodrigo
Rogue
Common
7
3000
6
Zhou Ming
Hawkeye
Common
11
0
7
Chris
Pugilist
Uncommon
7
0
8
Taylor
Fencer
Common
4
0
9
Leon
Mage
Common
4
0
10
Marla
Scribe
Common
2
0
Warning: This ranking list will be updated when the third phase is over.
Those points are a lot, I thought. But I still need the most I can get from the third phase.
“The winners of this phase won’t get a direct reward,” said Phaella, “but you’ll understand your advantage soon.”
“The surrounding wilderness is just a small patch of land in the vast tutorial,” said Phillian, “the next phase depends heavily on how well you did in the past ones, you’ll use your current tutorial points to buy access to certain areas in the tutorial.”
“Naturally, some of these regions have powerful monsters to kill!” said Phaella, “Others, however, are completely deserted! You’ll have to either be very lucky or wealthy enough to spend mana stones on useful information before buying access to the locations that you desire.”
“If you’d like to buy information on locations that are guaranteed to have monsters and valuable loot, you can discuss this subject with Vulpinus.” Said Phillian. “I am sure he’ll help you even if you lack immediate funds!”
Suddenly, a large system notice appeared in front of us. It was a grid map that depicted the whole tutorial, it had some information about our current location but that was it.
Another insidious plot, I thought. They’re making this as pay-to-win as possible.
In my past life, we’d learned through trial and error that most surrounding zones didn’t have any valuable opportunities. The price of accessing a certain location was constant; twenty tutorial points for each square kilometer.
However, it was a huge gamble to buy access to areas depending on intuition alone. Vulpinus already had information on all the noteworthy locations, and he’d ask for huge sums of points to reveal anything.
Advertisement
My current tutorial points were enough to buy access to about half the tutorial grounds, which was a lot considering that the total area of the tutorial was about one hundred thousand square kilometers; as large as Iceland.
But I didn’t need to do that. After the tutorial ended, the areas that had the most valuable creatures and loot were revealed. People that bought information on these areas from Vulpinus mostly ended up among the top rankers, but they ended up deep in debt to that sly fox.
I had three areas in mind, each having an [Area Boss]. Their total area was about two thousand square kilometers.
The whole tutorial has three Area Bosses anyway, I thought. There are other lesser bosses in different areas, but they’re not worth my points.
I made some calculations and found that I would need to spend forty thousand tutorial points to access them.
After deciding my next moves, I approached the fairies.
“Alright, I’ve already made my decision,” I said, “These are the areas that I want to access.”
I made some motions to the large map that was in front of me. All the three areas that I wanted to access were far from our current whereabouts and were very precise.
“I don’t understand,” said Phaella while squinting her eyes, “what made you pick these locations?”
My future knowledge, dumbass! I thought. I am sure that the fairies’ higher-ups are keeping an eye on me, but this doesn’t scare me at all.
“I’ve got a feeling that these areas will have useful stuff,” I said, “Don’t you think, Phaella?” I added as I gave her a grin.
“Are you sure about your decision?” said Phillian, “Don’t you think that buying some information from Vulpinus would be the better choice.”
“Besides, these areas aren’t directly connected to our current area,” said Phaella, “You’ll have to pay for teleportation fees.”
“It’s fine,” I said, “Just accept the transaction and give me access to the locations that I want.”
I didn’t visit these locations before, so using [Zoom] from the get-go wasn’t an option. The fee for teleportation depended on the distance between the current location and the destination, but it was my least expensive option.
I could’ve bought access to all the areas that had useful stuff in them, but I had to clear this phase as soon as possible.
Titles will become available as soon as we leave the tutorial, I thought. I am aiming for a certain title that could be acquired by the first one to clear the tutorial.
The third phase of the tutorial was similar to the first. It could get automatically cleared when the countdown ended, twelve days after the start of the tutorial. Killing the three [Area Bosses] was another possible way to clear it.
“Alright,” said Phaella, “Just hand over the tutorial points, and you’ll be good to go.”
Suddenly, a system notice appeared in front of me.
Advertisement
Transaction in Process: Would you like to proceed?
-This Transaction will cost you 40150 tutorial points.
[Agree]
[Decline]
I agreed to the transaction, thinking about the location that I would tackle first.
Suddenly, I felt something touch my back. I turned around only to find Petra there.
“Hey,” she whispered, “I am sure you have some information on the locations around us.”
I turned to face her while keeping a neutral expression on my face, “And?” I said.
“I would like to buy the information from you,” she said, “That fox-man is asking for outrageous sums of mana stones!”
That’s right, I thought. His main source of income wasn’t from this stall.
Vulpinus was a greedy person, he was always looking for an opportunity to force someone to take a loan from him. Most of them ended up unable to pay their debts, and thus they were forced to sign slavery contracts.
“It depends,” I said “The tutorial points that you have aren’t that much, to begin with, and a lot of the areas in the tutorial have dangerous foes for solo hosts.”
I am pretty sure she’ll ask me to babysit her, I thought. Too bad I have more important stuff to do.
“…Okay,” she said with a scowl on her face. “I need access to an area with good loot but little to no monsters, I’d prefer for it to be easy to clear.”
“Alright,” I said. “I’ll show you some suitable locations that you could buy access to with your current tutorial points.”
After some discussions, she settled on an area she liked. It had many goblin villages and an ancient temple too. The latter was riddled with traps but had a lot of useful treasures to compensate. We agreed that she would pay me five regular mana stones outside of the tutorial, which was much less than what she would’ve had to give to the fox.
The cost of access to this area was just three thousand tutorial points, which she gladly paid to the fairies.
“I guess this is where we part ways,” she told me before asking Phillian to teleport her to the location that she wanted, “Good luck! I’ll find you outside the tutorial.”
“Sure thing,” I said with a smile on my face, I waved my hand and added, “Good luck.”
I thought about selling all the information that I had to the people from our group but decided not to.
I already have too much attention from unknown people, I thought. I can’t risk their retaliation for a couple of mana stones.
Vulpinus was a sponsored seller, he certainly had a strong entity backing him. I wasn’t strong enough to protect myself as is, and the system admin was another mystery that I’ve yet to solve.
I took a look at the large map in front of me and focused on the areas that I bought access to. They weren’t close to each other; thus, I would need at least three teleportations from the fairies to familiarize myself with the areas enough to use [Zoom]
I shook my head and stopped thinking; it was time for action.
I am coming for you, Hydra, I thought.
*
In a certain room, there was a large round table.
Around it was a great number of humanoid figures. Their physical features were somewhat blurred, but it still allowed the observer to gather enough crucial information.
Many of them were having conversations with one another. Most of them were casual, and only some of them talked about serious matters.
“This integration’s hosts were nothing out of the ordinary,” said a well-built figure with a large beard, “Humans are always average.”
He didn’t seem pleased with this; his tone of voice was somewhat scornful.
“Yet, we have some outliers too.” said a woman with a voluptuous figure that left nothing to the imagination, “There are those three special hosts. They’ve been specially nurtured to stand on top of the human race. They’re progressing nicely and they’re expected to fulfill their duties well.”
Someone clicked their tongue loudly and said, “Huh, did you forget about that person already?”
Suddenly, all the voices stopped in their tracks. A creepy silence filled the place.
Everyone looked at the one who caused this abrupt change in the room, he had a thin figure and his voice indicated his old age.
“He’s being suspected of colluding with the Glitchers,” he added, “We prepared a little gift for him, to stop his growth. Yet, he managed to effortlessly crush that obstacle.”
“He seems to have information on the third phase of the tutorial,” said the woman, “He only bought access to the most valuable locations!”
“If I remember correctly, he has a (Legendary) class, right?” said another figure.
“That’s true! His class is [The Burned Man!]” added another.
“That’s nostalgic,” said the bearded old man, “The previous owner of that class was a candidate for ascension, but the circumstances stood in the way.”
“After that candidate’s death, his sponsor mysteriously disappeared,” said the woman, “but his first appearance was as mysterious too.”
“Yeah, I got bored after he bit the dust,” said another figure, he was completely black and his silhouette shifted constantly, “It was a bit strange for that breakout to happen so early, don’t you think? I guess you’re planning to kill the new guy too?”
Suddenly, everyone felt a looming pressure from this new figure. He was sitting on a seat that was on top of the round table.
How did he appear out of nowhere? was what everyone thought as they realized that the figure appeared without alarming anyone.
“Wh…Who the hell are you?” said the bearded entity as the black-shifting silhouette stood from its seat and approached him.
Advertisement
The Cursed Girl
This is a story about a girl, stolen into a universe filled with magic, monsters, and advanced technology. Can she become a master of all three? In a Universe torn apart by war, where lives fade into darkness like nebulae of dead stars, stands a lonely girl whose destiny will intertwine with the fate of the Universe. Her name is Jocelyn Dark, one of a few surviving humans, and she's dying. In a far away land warlords want to enslave her, empires wants to wield her as a weapon of magic, and the gods wishes to use her for their own purposes -- all while her rotten blood slowly kills her. All Jocelyn wants is to experience the one thing that's alluded her all her life: the feeling of meaning something to someone. Can Jocelyn find a way to save her own life, while surviving the threats of warring gods, evil empires, and the monsters lying in wait? **** Note: New Chapters will be released on Mondays, Wednesdys, and Fridays. This is not a LitRPG btw -- it's best described as a science fantasy or space opera w/ intersting new magic systems!
8 209The Changing World: How it all Began (LitRPG)
Welcome to the realm of .... , where reality and magic blend into madness. You have a choice of being just another beta tester, struggling to keep your life points out of the red sector in a world where everything is trying to kill you... Or become someone else and defy the gods... and even the game itself ----- The book will be edited by Maxwell Dark very soon ;)
8 200Re:World
What would you wish for if you have one? Power? Wealth? Immortality? Yet he wished for something different. In his entire life, he was mocked, humiliated, and backstabbed. But not this time. He’s was born a human, But they say his worse than the devil. His personality is twisted as it can be. One moment he beheaded someone next his smiling with blood all over him. Why I am telling you this? What is this all about? Hahaha, you’ve done well to listen to me up until this point. Let me tell you a story of a boy named Reiki. Like any other name, it’s plain and simple but to others this name was special. To some, he was their Lover, Enemy, and Savior. This is not a story about him being a saint and helping the entire world achieve world peace nor a story about him being a devil killing everything in sight like you he was only human. But you don’t want to hear the story like this no let me start over. One day Reiki killed his best friend for selling him out and on this day he tried to commit suicide.
8 307My Naughty Babysitter
A story by Naughty-Spice • Remade.• Republished.• Completed.💋
8 140belly expansion stories♡
Some belly expansion stories♡**WARNING, This book includes: inflation, expansion, same size vore, unbirth, digestion, farts, feederism, mpreg, homosexuality, tentacles, swearing, cock growth and aliens. DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT LIKE ANYTHING THAT'S MENTIONED**Requests are closed
8 160Tricia Robredo x Y/n Oneshots
Tricia x Y/n one shot (Random nlng to)
8 331