Scenario One - Try Not To Die (III)

"Did you all understand the plan?" I spoke as I switched gazes between Alaine and Daniel.

"Wait... I have a question." Daniel raised his hand.

"What?"

"Why am I the bait?" he said with a confused expression.

"....."

God, he's so dumb.

I wonder how he was one of the top 10 players in that RPG game...

"That's because you're the weakest here." Alaine smiled at Daniel and explained.

"Besides, you only need to run away from the monsters." I patted Daniel's shoulder with a not-so friendly smile.

"It's not like you'll be killing them. You will only be dealing the final hit."

"Now... go!" I kicked his butt.

Daniel glared at me before getting out of our temporary hideout.

"Do you think he is going to be okay?" Alaine suddenly asked me. 

She seemed quite concerned about Daniel's well-being.

Well, at least she doesn't have a rotten heart like mine.

"I'll intervene if something happens. You just need to realize your part of the plan." I uttered before settling myself against the wall.

Taking out a pack of cigars, I immediately noticed that I didn't have a lighter, which made me quite annoyed.

Click!

Suddenly, a click sounded in my ears, and I turned to Alaine, where she was holding a lighter while looking at me.

I simply nodded my head, and she approached me and lit up my cigar.

Puff...

A puff of smoke came out of my mouth as I looked at the ceiling, waiting for Daniel's sinal.

"Haaah..."

"Ah... Lucius!!!" I suddenly heard a huge scream and immediately stood up.

Taking the cigar from my mouth, I turned to Alaine.

"Prepare your spell."

She nodded at my words and took out her staff.

"Flame, arise!" She uttered.

With that, a small fireball formed in front of her staff.

"Now wait for my sinal and throw the fireball at that ceiling." I pointed towards it.

Now, we just needed to wait.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCKK!!!" Daniel cursed loudly as he ran towards us.

At that moment, he passed through the red line that I had marked before, so I immediately shouted...

"NOW!"

"Go!"

Alaine sent her fireball towards the ceiling that I told her to send.

Jump...!

BOOM!!

Daniel jumped towards us, and immediately, the ceiling crumbled to the ground due to Alaine's fireball.

The giant rats that were following Daniel were directly smashed by the huge pieces of rock that fell on top of them.

But, just as I had calculated, it didn't kill them immediately.

"Here... kill one of them." I threw my sword at Daniel.

Daniel took it and slowly approached the giant rat.

"I'm sorry..." He uttered as he closed his eyes and stabbed the giant rat.

Splurt!

"Alaine... here's the sword." He gave the sword to Alaine.

She simply took it and immediately stabbed the giant rat's corpse. At that moment, my eyes immediately sharpened.

My evaluation of Alaine had increased by yet another star.

The place where she stabbed the giant rat was precisely its weak point.

"Take it, Lucius." She threw the sword at me, and I caught it easily.

I approached the crumbled ground, and surprisingly, there was still another giant rat alive.

Lucky me.

Splurt!

[You have leveled up!]

[You have received 3 stat points and a skill point.]

Needless to say, I immediately used the two skill points that I now had to upgrade my unique skill.

[Secret Sight (Level 3)

Allows the user to see things that are hidden from players.

Allows the user to see the weakness of anything his eyes land on.

Allows the user to see if someone is telling the truth or not.]

Ah... that's a very good ability.

[Warning! The unique skill <Secret Sight> has reached its limit!]

[To evolve this skill, the player now needs to get a "1✪ Skill Upgrade Orb".]

[After the evolution, the skill will unlock it's unique ability.]

Fuck.

My plan is now ruined. I don't even know how to get those orbs, but maybe in the second scenario, where the shop is open, I'll be able to buy them.

[It's detected that the player is the first one to get his skill maxed out!]

[You'll be granted 5.000 coins!]

At least that.

I don't know the true value of these coins, but they should be the currency of this world, so in other words, they are pretty valuable.

However, something is strange...

What are those tiny eyeballs looking at me so intensely...?

Pop!

[The constellation "Shivering Veil" looks at you with great interest.]

This is new...

I guess that's what Daniel mentioned by constellations. However, what kind of name is that?

Are they hiding their real name?

Anyway, I need to kill eight more monsters to make sure that I'll get that bonus.

"Hey, both of you come here." I called them immediately.

"Well, since we are without food and water, things are pretty dire for us. Therefore, I'll go and try to find something for us to eat."

"Both of you should be pretty hungry." I added.

Hearing my words, Daniel immediately protested.

"I'll go with you. Besides, I'm not hungry at all!"

Brrrr...

"....."

Well, at least his body is honest.

"I'll go alone. Just stay here and protect your crush, alright?" I patted his shoulder and walked away.

"W-wait...! Alaine, that's not true at all! Although you're very beautiful... I-I don't see you in that way!!!"

As I left, I could hear Daniel's stammering voice. He must be cursing me inwardly.

Thankfully, Alaine didn't protest. If she did, I wouldn't know how to refuse her.

"Anyway..." I sighed deeply.

"Let's go kill some monsters!"

Just as I reached the road, I immediately noticed a batch of monsters eating human corpses.

"That's fucking disgusting..."

Well, but what could they do? We, humans, were basically their source of food.

Or not, couldn't they simply eat normal food? Or even animals like cows or sheeps?

"Now... how can I kill them..." I pondered.

I don't think I'll be able to take care of them alone.

I looked around to see if there's something useful that I could use, and I immediately noticed a gas station.

Ke...ke...ke...ke...

[The constellation "Shivering Veil" is curious about your schemes.]

"Me? I'm very innocent." I blinked twice.

[The constellation "Shivering Veil" rolls her eyes.]

She's a female.

Well, that's the only thing I can know about her.

Anyway...

"I already have a plan in mind." I blurted out.

[The constellation "Shivering Veil" has granted you a quest.]

[Sudden Quest: Kill 5 giant rats within ten minutes.]

[Rewards: Ice Manipulation Skill.]

Oh?

An magic skill!?

However, that condition... it might be duable. I'll just have to sacrifice my sword.

"I'll accept the quest."

[Quest accepted! Time remaining: 9 minutes, 59 seconds...]

"Look here, you rats!" I shouted loudly at the giant rats.

There were about six of them, so it was just perfect.

KRIIIKK!

Upon seeing me, their white eyes immediately became red, and they started squeaking towards me.

"Perfect..." I smiled as I started running away from them, in the direction of the gas station.

I only had one chance at this...

Time was ticking away, and I knew I had to act fast to complete the quest.

With a quick glance over my shoulder, I saw the rats gaining ground. I couldn't afford to waste any more time.

Fortunately, I reached the gas station just in time.

Taking a deep breath, I already knew what to do...

"Here goes nothing..." I could already feel my heart thumping hard.

Gripping my sword tightly, I hurled it towards the gas pumps. The metallic clang echoed through the air as the sword struck its target.

BOOM!

An explosion rocked the gas station, sending flames shooting into the sky. The force of the blast knocked me off my feet, but I gritted my teeth and endured the pain.

Slowly, the smoke cleared, and I could see the flames consuming the giant rats, reducing them to nothing but ashes.

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You have gained 6 stat points and 2 skill points!]

[You have completed the sudden quest and received the skill "Ice Manipulation"!]

[You're the first player to complete a quest by an constellation and will be receiving 2.500 coins!]

[The constellation "Shivering Veil" is satisfied by your actions.]

"Ah... Great..." I slowly stood up.

"Argh..." I groaned in pain.

I had injured my legs, but now I had a skill! That was the only thing that was important.

[Due to your crazy actions, a few constellation are now interested in you.]

Ignoring the notification, I made my way to a convenience store that was quite close to the gas station.

I entered it and quickly searched for bandages...

"Found them..."

I quickly grabbed them and slowly wrapped them around my injuries.

"Put all my stat points to Magic."

[Magic ——> 16]

"Ice..." I uttered, and immediately an icicle of ice appeared in my hand.

After I got this skill, a load of knowledge about how to control it appeared in my mind...

So, using it, became pretty easy.

[Ice Manipulation

Allows the user to manipulate the Ice Element.]

Strangely, I can't upgrade it.

It should get stronger as my magic stat increases, so there's no need to use skill points.

That's great.

If that's right, it means that only a few skills, or even unique skills, need skill points to get stronger.

[The constellation "Shivering Veil" is pleased with your control over ice magic and grants you an inventory extension.]

[You can now store fifty different items in your inventory.]

"Thanks..." I sighed.

Before, I could only store five things, but now... it has increased by ten times.

Although I don't know what constellations are... I'm grateful that one of them is helping me.

"Well... I'm alone at a convenience store, so..."

"I'll stack the food and drinks I want!"

I couldn't help but smile.