BXBX NOVEL Chapter 44: [Those who failed the Tutorial!]
"Pleasure doing business with you!"
Then, turning around she was about to continue with her shopping, but before she could even take a single step, her eyes reached mine. And that smile that was already beautiful, bloomed even more than before.
"Adrian!!!" She shouted as she ran towards me and hugged me tightly. Only after a few seconds, she let go before holding me by my shoulders as she asked,
"Did you just arrive here?!"
"Yeah. Been a minute. Care to help me out?" I told her as I looked around at the safe zone. The people around looked at me with slight jealousy before continuing with their own work. As for Emily,
"Ah! A minute? That means that you survived till the last day, huh?" She spoke with a sad tone before cheering up,
"Don\'t worry. I\'ll help you out, okay? Consider it as payback for all the time you have helped me during the part-time."
Though before I could speak anything more, I saw more and more people appearing near the fountain. Mark, Alice, Luke and the others as well. Julia and her group was also present there. And as much as expected, everyone was as confused as I was before.
"So many people at once? Did the entire group get wiped out or something?" Emily mumbled wondering about the appearance of so many people at once. Though I corrected her,
"The tutorial was completed early. I don\'t know what happened but the tutorial was over before the required time. A portal was opened up that sent us here."
Hearing my words, Emily was surprised for a moment before she suddenly asked,
"Wait! So you did not die?"
I shook my head before adding," let\'s first get out of here. Is there any place we can talk without being disturbed?"
She was still surprised with the sudden news, but hearing my voice she turned serious before speaking,"yeah. Follow me."
And with that, I left the players arriving in the safe zone behind, following Emily that took me through a couple of blind alley before we reached a shabby area filled with dozens of tents.
It seemed more of a refugee area where only the poorest could stay. My eyes looked at all the people staying there with each thinner than the other. Some of the people were lying on the road barely able to keep themselves alive. They looked so fragile, as if they would break even with the slightest touch.
Passing various tents, we soon reached a larger tent where about 10 people were staying. Entering the tent we moved to the far end corner where a couple was making some ornaments.
"Mom. Dad. I\'ve bought some fruits at a lower price. This should help us be alive for today. I\'ll be going to hunt now," she spoke as she bowed them while they had their eyes on the ground. Apparent frustration was visible on their faces but they withheld that as I and Emily walked out of the tent.
"When the game started everyone panicked. Nobody wanted to die but no one knew how to survive either," Emily began speaking while I just kept listening.
She told me how her family died early in the game without earning any points, and were now worse than beggars in this new world.
They had to literally beg for food sometimes to barely live another day. Even their gifts weren\'t useful for them to turn the situation for themselves.
As for Emily she survived for 3 days earning about 70k points, out of which she saved 30k while spending the rest on the [Shop] items.
After her cruel death by her own teammates, she entered into the safe zone costing her another 10,000, leaving her with barely 20k points.
When she first arrived here, she had a hard time moving around the safe zone, collecting information and such. But by the next day she put a few things together.
Everyone that has died in the tutorial is here. Nobody had truly died there. Just that they don\'t have the authority to continue the tutorial so their chances of turning their life around are over.
Tutorial was the golden trove to earn millions of points. A chance that almost 90% of the people who die early, regret. Exceptions are those with extraordinary [Gift] but bad luck.
"The most important thing here is points. You need points to live. Points to eat. Points to buy weapons. Everything here costs points," Emily spoke as we reached a nearby park and sat there. It was a peaceful area hiding the dark reality of the new world we were in.
"So how do those people who have died earn points?" I asked curiously to which she answered,
"Menial Jobs provided by the NPCs. There are some dangerous jobs that require proficiency, and some jobs that are as simple as cleaning the streets. Though you need to have a suitable [Gift] for the job that you take. Otherwise the NPCs won\'t even bother talking with you."
I asked a few more questions, to which she answered honestly before I made a few note points.
"Thanks Emily. This helped me save quite a bit of time," I smiled at her to which she blushed a little. Then I pondered something before I spoke,
"Hang on. I think I might have something that might help you out."
Searching through the system, I reached the [Safe Box!] that I got reward for completing the tutorial quest.
[Item: Safe Box
Grade: F
Description: On opening, gives out 5 Passes that allows the user to buy 5 items worth a max of 5000 Points each.]
Though before giving it to Emily, I changed a bit of description.
[Item: Safe Box!
Grade: E
Description: On opening, gives out 2 passes that allows the user to buy 2 skills worth 100,000 Points each!]
[Would you like to make the following changes for 1200 GM Points?]
I clicked [Yes!] before giving it to her.
"HUH?!! Adrian! This is too much! I can\'t take it!" Though she rejected it immediately as she checked the description. Her eyes widened up as she read the description over and over.
"Don\'t worry. This isn\'t really useful to me at all. And you know me right? If I have something that is really worth to me, I would never let it go?" I spoke, making her observe me as if I were an Angel.
"But still. I don\'t think I can-" She was still going to reject it but I patted her head, making her pause.
"It\'s all right. It would keep me happy knowing that you are having a bit less burden in your life," I spoke, making her blush a little.
"Let\'s meet again, Emily. Thanks again for sharing that information," I spoke as I put on my cloak again, erasing my presence completely.
Watching me vanish from her front, her eyes widened up as she tried to capture the air in front of her. Though she stopped in mid air, as she slowly put down her hand and tightly held that safe box that I just gave her.
"Thank you. Thank you Adrian," a couple of tears escaped her eyes as she sat on the same bench for a few more seconds.
\'I wish I could have done more but… I shouldn\'t get too involved,\' I thought with a sigh as I walked away from there. She was a smart girl. She should be able to turn her situation around with the gift that I gave her.
\'Let\'s first map out the place. I wonder if there are places where I can buy some skills as well,\' I thought as I kept wondering what I should do next.
There were many things that I could do, from going back to Mark and Alice to finding my old friends from my backalley days. Though as always, I needed information first. And with that I finalized on three main goals for now.
To find as much information as I could.
To find a skill that would help me get as much information as I could.
To find people that would help me gather as much information as possible.
\'They should be fast and efficient as well,\' I thought as I began shifting my thinking in the direction of my goals.
[Name: Adrian John Rodriguez!
Race: Human!
Title: [Goblin Hunter]
Class: Mortal (Unclassified!)
Blessings: Blessing of Gaia(S) Surface Dweller(E)
Gift: [Cartography (Lower Mortal Grade-5)]
Body-Talent: [Mortal!]
Health: 400/400
Mana: 5250/5250
Attributes:
Strength: 7.7 ( +5.0)
Agility: 9.2 (+70.0)
Constitution: 5.0 + (35.0)
Stamina: 8.0 ( +5.0)
Intelligence: 325.0
Wisdom: 26.0. (+20)
Charm: 3.4
Free Attribute Points: 15
Points: 88,664,871!
Skills:
Active: [Hunt!] [Blood Gaze!] [Sleep!] [Aura!]
Passive: [Perception!] [Mana Regeneration!][Mana Sense!] [Professional Cooking!] [Absolute Nullification!]
Items:
Stealth Cloak(C) Black Leather Armour of Grace(C) Black Leather Boots of Grace(C) Black Leather Gloves of Grace(D) Unloved Ring of Grace(D) Unloved Necklace of Grace(D) Twin Guns of Azeroth(C) Amulet of Pathseeker(?)