5 Infinite Future Of Possibility
"The Hunt? Lan?"
Hu Tao could only be incredibly confused right now as she picked out a few words that Keqing was bombarding Isamu with at this moment, Isamu also looked helpless as the purple-haired female relentlessly showered him with questions.
"What are you talking about?"
Hearing Hu Tao's question, Keqing seemingly stopped her antics for a moment before turning to her and answering the question as best she could. As Hu Tao got her information, her cherry-blossom eyes slowly widened into visible shock.
"Stronger than Archons? Is that truly possible?!" Hu Tao could only exclaim as she looked at Isamu with a look of disbelief. Just like Keqing, Hu Tao wasn't aware of any entities that could just simply say that they are above the likes of Archons. "Isamu, give me that power as well!"
Considering it was Keqing that was vouching for the authenticity of this supposed power, Hu Tao immediately walked up beside Keqing before shouting this. Such an incredible power, she'd be stupid to pass on such an opportunity!
"No can do." Isamu shook his head. "You have to either get it from the Gold or Game Box like Keqing here."
"Game Box, the thing Keqing said she from playing a game against you, she must have won then..." Hu Tao muttered, not noticing the sudden shadow of depression that flashed over Keqing's face. "Then I'll just do the same. I challenge you to a game!"
"About that. Keqing's situation at the time was special, we had a good reason for playing that game. Since then, I've made some rules in regards to challenging me. Please take a look at the words behind me."
Hearing this, both females looked up to see a new board of text appearing behind the information regarding the blind boxes. Unlike the latter, this new text detailed information regarding specifically about Game Boxes.
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『Game Box Rules』
● Only three challenges will be accepted per week, and only one challenge per day during that week (No Prior Reservation)
● To issue a challenge to the owner, you must present a Game Pass, which can be attained by opening either the Silver or Gold blind boxes. The Game Pass has the possibility of appearing alongside whatever the original reward from opening up a box would be
● You can choose from three difficulties: Easy, Medium, Hard
● Reward (Difficulty: Easy): Game Box
● Reward (Difficulty: Medium): 2 Game Boxes
● Reward (Difficulty: Hard): 3 Game Boxes
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These rules were created by Isamu, and were given permission to take effect by the System. As long as the difficulty of the game he holds matches the requirements for that difficulty level by evaluation by the system, the game would be given the green light to commence.
After reading through the available information, Hu Tao and Keqing seemed to understand as Keqing specifically looked at the listed rewards. She wasn't a greedy person by nature, but she couldn't help but show such an emotion when seeing the word 'Game Box'.
From what Isamu told her before, her power of resonating with an Aeon was something she could've gotten from the Gold Box, which seemed to beg the question as to what insane rewards could be considered Game Box worthy.
"Silver and Gold... ahh, I can't get a Game Pass with these boxes then!" Hu Tao seemed to pout heavily as she looked down at the four Bronze Boxes she had. "No matter! I'll come back later and open up the others!"
After hearing this, Isamu merely nodded while Keqing looked down, finally taking notice of the boxes that Hu Tao was standing in front of. Although they were only Bronze Boxes, Keqing did give them a curious look, obviously interested in seeing what Hu Tao could get.
"I'm opening them! Here we go..."
With little patience, Hu Tao opened up all four simultaneously. All four boxes gave off a bright flash before four separate items soon materialized above the now disappearing boxes. After looking at each curiously, Hu Tao looked towards Isamu for an explanation.
"Going from the left to the right from your point of view. The first item is similar to the Coca Cola drink you had, it's called Pepsi. Next are glasses, don't think I need to say anything about that. Third is a box of frozen pizza, just heat it up before eating it."
As expected from the Bronze Boxes, there wasn't really anything too particularly special that could really be expected to come out. He didn't explain the concept of glasses, mainly because he was pretty certain they had glasses here in this world, same with pizza.
"Pizza...? That's something in Mondstadt, isn't it?" Hu Tao repeated with a raise of her eyebrow. "What about this last item then?"
"That... is a bit more special." After seeing the description of the last item, which appeared to be a small glass bottle filled with a pink and white liquid, Isamu was a bit surprised. "It's called an Eternal Youth Elixir, as the name suggests, prevents you from becoming old."
Hearing these words, Hu Tao and Keqing could only widen their eyes as they stared at the seemingly normal-looking potion. Despite how simple it looked, its effects seemed to be something completely incredible!
"Before you get too excited though." Isamu quickly interrupted. "Don't mistake this potion as giving you eternal life, it simply prevents you from looking old over time. To put it simply, you can still die of old age, but your looks won't change from the point in which you drink it."
"Is that true?" Hu Tao asked with widened eyes, to which Isamu nodded. She couldn't care less about eternal life, in fact, she didn't like the idea of it. While most would be disappointed by that fact, she herself actually liked it. "Then I can forever remain my adorable self!"
Keqing, despite how serious she was most of the time, aside from very rare moments when she'd let herself go by shopping or whatever, she too treasured her youthful appearance. So, she could only glance at the bottle with a bit of an envious gaze.
"Who are you really, Isamu?" Hu Tao couldn't help but ask as she held her chin in thought. "Are you perhaps an incredible alchemist from far away? An item like this could only come about through some incredible alchemy or perhaps by the adepti!"
'An alchemist? I doubt that...' Keqing thought to herself after hearing Hu Tao. No alchemist could possibly achieve something like granting power stemming from beings like Aeons, at least from what she was aware of. 'Then, who is Isamu really to give away such incredible items and powers...'
While Keqing was thinking about this, Hu Tao didn't hesitate before chugging down the entire elixir in front of them. Her face was a bit blissful as she tasted the very perfect amount of sweetness that the taste of the item had, it was like drinking liquified ice cream.
"So, how do you feel?" Keqing immediately asked. While it was impossible to know right now if the effects were truly as Isamu said, perhaps there was something else. "Do you feel anything happening to you?"
"I'm not sure..." Hu Tao soon answered as she finished off the bottle. "I think my face feels a bit smoother than usual, but I'm not sure."
"I see, that's unfortunate." Keqing nodded, although a bit unsatisfied. She wasn't expecting a big change from something's effects that were long-term, but it would've been nice. "Isamu, I want to buy... give me five Gold Boxes."
Keqing had already originally come to buy five of the Gold Boxes, mostly because those were the boxes with the best available profits. She didn't bother getting any more Mora because she didn't think there would be anything too grand from the first two, but it seems that she truly was naive.
That Eternal Youth Elixir could easily be placed onto the market with a price of the absolute minimum reaching into the millions, who wouldn't want a simple drink that could grant them eternal youth? In fact, she wasn't even sure if such an item could have a price placed on it!
After receiving payment from Keqing, the five specified boxes were quickly flown over as Hu Tao took a step back to watch. She had only opened up Bronze-level blind boxes, just what was going to pop out here?
Wasting no time, Keqing opened up all five boxes.
As the items materialized into existence, Keqing was a bit confused when two of them seemed to have remained as bodies of light. However, they were more compact as if the light they emitted had been forced into a spherical shape, one was blue while the other red.
"It seems that you are both lucky yet unlucky as well." Isamu stated simply as he looked at each of the items. "I'll start with the unlucky pulls. What you have first is a simple dish of Golden Shrimp Balls, it's just a simple delicacy you could've gotten from a Bronze Box."
Despite hearing this, Keqing seemed to be in a bit of a trance as she stared at the dish, even Hu Tao was a bit intoxicated by it. The aroma was incredibly strong yet not unpleasant, and its appearance completely blew away any image they had of Golden Shrimp Balls before this.
"N-Normal Golden Shrimp Balls, right? It's unfortunate, but it'd be a waste to just throw away!" With that, Keqing quickly picked one of the shrimp balls before taking a quick and greedy yet strangely graceful and elegant bite out of it. "D-Delicious!"
'Oh, right. Golden Shrimp Balls are her favourite, aren't they?' Isamu seemed to suddenly realise as he watched Keqing quickly taking bites out of the ball she picked up before moving on to the next. 'How can she eat like a pig yet look so refined?'
"Keqing, we're friends, right?" Hu Tao laughed a bit as she scooted over. "Could you spare me o-."
Before Hu Tao could even finish her sentence, Keqing snatched the plate away before eating even faster than before, yet somehow still maintaining her image. Seeing this, Hu Tao could only silently cry to herself, the mere smell of the food really did make her feel hungry.
'I'll just have to get Xiangling to make me something later, just hold in the hunger...!' Hu Tao shouted mentally to herself as Keqing quickly finished off the rest.
"It was very good..." Keqing muttered before blinking her eyes. Looking back at the other two present, she saw Isamu just staring while Hu Tao looked somewhat completely depressed. "D-Don't get me wrong, I just didn't want to waste any food!"
"Right." Isamu scoffed lightly before handing her a clean tissue, all while pointing at the corner of his mouth. "You might want to clean yourself."
"Th-Thank you." Keqing blushed after realising what his actions meant. Turning around for a split second, Keqing quickly cleaned her mouth before turning back. "Let us move on now. Please tell me about the remaining items."
"Well, the second thing here is what is called a Senzu Bean." Isamu spoke as he picked up the small but incredibly useful green bean. "It may not look like much, but it's an item that's worthy of existing within the Silver Boxes. First off, eating a single one gives you enough nutrients to go on without food for an entire ten days."
"So, you wouldn't need to eat any food? The amount of Mora you could save." Hu Tao looked at the strange bean with some surprise. If she hadn't already consumed the Eternal Youth Elixir, she'd definitely have reacted much more. "Maybe if I get one and give it to Zhongli, maybe I can save quite a bit..."
"Not only saving Mora, but it is also very useful for those who are on long journeys..." Keqing seemed to find a more practical instead of just money saving. It was common sense that food could be a problem when on long adventures. "What else does it do?"
"Its main effect lies in its healing properties." Isamu smiled slightly as he held up one of his arms before gently gripping it halfway down. "If you are out of energy, or have been heavily wounded, eating this bean will restore you to peak condition, healing all injuries as well. You can even grow back lost limbs, just as long as the bean reaches the stomach."
"What?!"
Keqing and Hu Tao immediately stared at the unimpressive-looking bean, they hadn't expected the stated healing properties to be so exaggerated. It's no surprise that when people lose something like an arm, that arm is forever gone, that's an accepted fact.
However, this small green bean was apparently enough to crush that logic.
"Are there limits..?"
Keqing quickly asked as she carefully took the bean from Isamu's hands and began inspecting it closely. No matter how she looked at it, it just looked like any regular old bean. She could probably go to a random store and buy one similar to it.
"As far as I know, any wounds that have been healed or in a sense contained over a prolonged period of time will not see to the bean's effects. Any recent injuries or fatal wounds should, however, be restored."
"I see..." While that little detail was a bit disheartening, the pros completely outweighed the cons. This bean in her fingertips wouldn't go for any less than the Eternal Youth Elixir, perhaps even more! "If only I had more, this could save so many potential lives!"
After digesting the information, Keqing carefully placed the bean into Vision's pocket space. Seeing this, Isamu was a bit surprised. It seemed that Vision holders possessed some form of a pocket dimension, most likely with limits.
"The third item on the agenda is a starskiff."
"Starskiff?" Hu Tao repeated as she and Keqing looked at the very small model of what looked somewhat similar to a small wooden boat. While it look underwhelming, they knew not to judge just yet. "What's a starskiff?"
"You can think of it as a boat that can fly in the sky." Isamu stated simply. Hearing this, Keqing and Hu Tao could only blink as they stared at him. "It's only small like that for convenience, just place it down when you're outside and it should return to full size."
"A boat that can fly?" Keqing muttered. That sentence in itself was a bit contradictory, boats were known as boats because they travel across the sea, not the sky. That's their purpose. "I've never heard of such a thing, is it from Fontaine?"
From what she was aware, Fontaine was very prosperous in regards to technology, the only other nation probably being Snezhnaya. Though, she definitely hadn't heard of news regarding making flying boats, something like that would make instant headlines.
"Not at all, they're something utilised by Xianzhou Alliance."
"Xianzhou Alliance? Sounds like something from Liyue..." Keqing noticed how the first word of this supposed alliance followed their own naming conventions. However, she definitely hadn't heard of it before. "What is this Xianzhou?"
"That... is for another time." Isamu merely chuckled. "Anyway, starskiffs come in many different models. Some carry cargo from one place to another, and some a simply for personal transportation. The one you hold is the latter. Experiment with it at your own leisure."
"Very well." Keqing nodded. She could tell that Isamu was not willing to speak of the previous topic, so she pushed it aside for now before focusing on the remaining two rewards. She then noticed Hu Tao staring at her strangely. "What is it, Hu Tao?"
"About that starskiff... could I borrow it for a while?" Hu Tao gave a small laugh as she gave this request. "Think about the incredible business opportunities I could have if I used it to travel to the other nations!"
"Absolutely not." Keqing immediately refused. "I know that you'll end up causing trouble, while also causing Liyue's reputation to fall at the same time."
"Come on~!"
"No." Keqing didn't budge on her decision as she turned away from Hu Tao before looking at Isamu, who had been watching with a bit of amusement on his face. "I apologise for that display. These balls of light are...?"
Isamu didn't answer immediately, instead quickly skimming through the provided information from the system. After a quick read, Isamu nodded to himself before looking at the curious Keqing and Hu Tao.
"These two are a bit unique. They're what I call Inheritance Spheres, to explain them as simply as possible, they grant the person various non-physical rewards depending on their colour. The blue one is a Talent Inheritance Sphere, and the red is an Ability Inheritance Sphere."
"Inheritance Sphere?" Keqing was having a bit of a headache, she had already heard way too many new terms she had no idea the meaning of in the past two days. "I don't think I understand what you mean by non-physical rewards though."
"Let's take the blue sphere for example. By touching this sphere, you will gain the knowledge and experience of a master archer. The level of mastery can vary, such as seen here where this one is a master-level."
"Keqing just needs to touch it... and she becomes an incredible archer?" Hu Tao blinked a bit after hearing that explanation. Isamu's only response to this was a nod of his had, to which Hu Tao then looked at Keqing. "Keqing, hurry and touch the sphere!"
Keqing nodded before reaching out to grab the sphere, but that didn't go as planned as the sphere immediately shattered upon contact. Soon after, Keqing found countless visions flashing one after another through her mind.
She saw a tall figure, completely shrouded in black as it dashed through a forest, as well as from one tree to another. She then saw as this figure began performing countless tricks with the bow, some of which were basic while others were worthy of the master title.
"Keqing?" Hu Tao was confused when Keqing remained motionless. "Hello? Keqing, are you okay?"
"Huh...? Oh, y-yes I'm fine." Keqing seemed to snap back out of her thoughts as she shook her head a bit. "I was lost in thought."
"Did it work? Are you an incredible archer now?"
"It's hard to say physically, but I have a lot of knowledge regarding archery that I certainly didn't have prior..." Keqing closed her eyes for a moment as she seemed to be recalling. "It's as if I had experienced years of an archer's life."
Keqing had always been practising swordsmanship, even as a child. For her, the bow was quite an unfamiliar weapon to her, but she inwardly felt as if it was her second calling aside from the sword. She'd definitely have to experiment with it later.
"Isamu, the red sphere?"
"Unlike the blue sphere, this red sphere grants the person a special ability. While they can vary from many different things, this particular sphere that you opened will give the power to temporarily boost your physical capabilities by three times for a minute. It's not particularly too good of an ability, especially since you can only use it every five hours."
Hearing this, both Hu Tao and Keqing could only stare at Isamu with a bit of an incredulous look. To Keqing, while it certainly isn't as good as her resonance with Lan, being able to boost one's abilities by three times in an instant can be an incredible battle changer.
True, the recharge of the ability was an entire five hours, but that just meant that she'd need to just manage it well and only use it when she really needs to. Hu Tao also seemed to agree as she too stared at Isamu with a look of disbelief.
"Not too good? I think you need to change your definition of good..."
"It's just the truth."
Hearing Hu Tao's words, Isamu could only shrug as they both watched Keqing touch the sphere. He wasn't lying, there were countless abilities out there that would completely garbage dump on the ability Keqing just got.
He wasn't saying that the ability wasn't useful, it just wasn't too good in the grand scheme of things.
"Thank you for everything, Isamu. I shall return at a later point, I have a lot of work that must first be done."
"Understood, don't overwork yourself."
With that, Hu Tao and Isamu watched as the purple-haired rich girl made her way out of the shop. Soon after Keqing left, Hu Tao then turned her attention back on Isamu, to which the male then stared back as well.
"...Are you sure you don't want to consider our business?"
"..."
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Just like the previous day, there didn't seem to be any people coming in, aside from both Keqing and Hu Tao from not too long ago. While it was certainly a bit disheartening, he knew that not all businesses start off with a big hit, it was only a matter of time.
All he needed was to get the ball rolling.
Anyway, soon after Hu Tao left the shop, Isamu could focus on a notification that had appeared soon after Keqing's purchase. He had noticed it immediately, but held off looking at it until he finished attending to the present customers.
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『Mission Completed』
● Title: New Beginnings
● Objective: Sell a total of ten blind boxes (Progress: 10/10)
Rewards:
● Game Box
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This was the first mission that he had received from the system, and as you could see, it's objective was for him to simply sell a total of ten boxes. It didn't seem to matter what kind they were, just as long as they were purchased, which probably also meant that Game Boxes didn't count.
"Nice, I got my own Game Box I can open. It should be in the inventory... oh, a new mission!"
As soon as Isamu closed down the notification, a new one immediately popped up afterward. After seeing what it showed though, Isamu's face twitched a bit as his mouth dropped down into a neutral blank look.
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『New Mission Acquired』
● Title: Making Storms
● Main Objective 1: Sell a total of 200 Bronze Boxes (Progress: 0/300)
● Main Objective 2: Sell a total of 50 Silver Boxes (Progress: 0/100)
● Main Objective 3: Sell a total of 10 Gold Boxes (Progress: 0/10)
Rewards:
● Gold Box (Amount: 3)
● Game Box
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"Freaking hell, turned the difficulty from one to one hundred real quick..." While Isamu was sure he could eventually get this completed pretty quickly as long as he got more customers, it was still a bit ridiculous. "Can't be helped, just gotta try my best. Anyway, as for that Game Box..."
After navigating a bit through the menu, Isamu soon found the Game Box present within the system's inventory. After tapping his finger on it, the box immediately appeared on the desk in a flash of bright light.
"May the Seven Lucky Gods look upon me."
Taking a small breath, Isamu opened up the chest as the familiar burst of light appeared. As he watched the light condense and materialize, he blinked when he saw that the light soon materialized into what looked to be a strange carving of sorts.
As the carving landed in Isamu's hand, he could now properly see that it appeared to be a circular wooden carving with a very intricate design carved into its face. There even was a thin yet powerful black string attached, allowing it to act as a pendant of sorts.
"Isn't this...?"
As Isamu was about to speak, the system soon showed a description of the item, confirming his current thoughts. This item, despite how simple it looked, was a weak thing at first but had potential far more than one could ever believe.
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『Genome Tree』
● Origin: Mondaiji
● Grade: Game Box
● Description: A mystical wooden carving with the image of a Phylogenetic Tree carved into it. This carving can absorb the genetic data of animals that come in contact and form a bond with the wearer, allowing the wearer to imitate a certain ability of that species for later use at any time, as well as allowing them to overcome the language barrier between oneself and the animal in question
