NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 2: Luxury goods, and a mission to become rich
"Oh, old friend, you're back after five years!"
[Mission]
Spend 10,000 Tower Coins on anything.
Reward: 100% Cashback Item, 10 Lottery Tickets, 10 Random Stat Boosts.
"Five years and you finally give me a mission? Spending 10,000 coins is nothing with my stash," I thought. "Tower Coins means the main shop, not that Achievement Point scam."
I opened the shop menu. The sheer variety of items showed they sold anything imaginable. But every single item was crossed out in red, labeled a scam.
"Damn it, making me spend my money in this scam-infested place!" I cursed.
I scrolled through the menus. The weapons section was full of visually appealing weapons, but their stats were pathetically low. I hesitated to judge, though, since I hadn't examined them directly. My VVIP system flagged everything but raw materials as scams, yet further down the list were numerous legendary-grade replica weapons, and their prices weren't crossed out.
"The prices are outrageous," I muttered. "75,000 Tower Coins for a replica? Adamantium, the raw material, is only 50,000 for a kilogram. This replica costs *more*?"
[Item List]
Durandal (Replica) > 75,000 Tower Coins
Gae Bolg (Replica) > 75,000 Tower Coins
Excalibur (Replica) > 75,000 Tower Coins
Shudarshana Chakra (Replica) > 75,000 Tower Coins
I examined the weapons and noticed most were swords. Despite being called legendary weapons, the sheer number of swords far outweighed other types. I only found five chakrams across twenty-five pages; mostly swords and shields. Intriguingly, they sold a weapon whose name most people wouldn't recognize unless they were serious students of mythology.
Sword of Rupture: Ea (Replica) > 75,000
This was the only weapon with the word "Sword" explicitly included in its name.
The sword had a gold hilt with a unique blue pattern. The blade was unusual; not flat, but conical, glowing red and black, radiating a fierce aura.
*I want it, but I can't possibly wield a sword like that in front of thousands of people. Just opening the menu is risky enough.*
"Judge," I asked, "do we have to stay together, or is it okay to split up?"
"Oh, you want to leave the group? Are they too much of a burden? You can, but you'll be facing hordes of monsters alone. If you split, you'll be considered two groups, but the number of monsters won't be halved; it will be doubled. Are you sure about this?"
"Then that's settled. I'm splitting off now," I declared.
As I left the main group before Stage 2 began, I unexpectedly received new titles:
[You have received the title: Lone Wolf]
[You have received the title: Wanderer]
[You have received the title: Conqueror]
*Lone Wolf boosts stats when fighting alone. Wanderer increases stats the further I travel solo. Conqueror boosts all stats based on the number of challenges overcome alone—the more challenges, the greater the boost.*
"Open shop. Exchange 100 Tower Coins for stat points. Buy Sword of Vestille, Light Armor Hargoma, Laviat Leather Boots, Kermen Gauntlets, Storage Magic:
[You have completed your task. Rewards will be received upon activating the Dimensional Warehouse scroll.]
*That should last until Stage 5. Since I don't know what kind of challenges await, this equipment is a good choice. Eventually, I'll have enough to buy all those replica weapons.*
And the reason I bought all this was simply to complete my initial mission. Buying legendary weapons from the start would have been a mistake; it would have drawn too much attention. Leaving the main group already made me a target.
[Stage 2 begins in 5 minutes]
*Since I'm alone, I can only rely on myself.
One Stamina point increases my stamina by 10, so 20 points gives me 200 additional stamina. With 100 Tower Coins, I should have 2500 stat points for emergencies. With hundreds of potions and spell scrolls, I should be able to survive until Stage 5.
I opened the Storage Skill book and acquired the Dimensional Warehouse ability. I bought it because it can be upgraded with Tower Coins. The upgrade potential is unclear, but many say a level 1 Dimensional Warehouse can hold four school buses. How it fits them is a mystery, but four school buses implies a massive storage capacity.
[Your task rewards have been received. You can check your Dimensional Warehouse.]
[Task]
Purchase essential supplies.
Spend 25,000 Tower Coins on survival supplies. 0/25,000
Reward: Dimensional Warehouse Upgrade Ticket x1, 10 Lottery Tickets, 20 Random Stats.
"A new mission to buy survival supplies? Fine."
"Open shop. Buy two boxes of firewood, one box of each type of raw food ingredient, one box of each type of meat except pork, one box of every type of cooking spice, five gallons of water, two pots, two frying pans, two spatulas, four sets of plates, four sets of spoons, four sets of forks, four sets of chopsticks, four glasses, two kettles, two non-stick pans, two knives, one box of each type of tea, 100 fire starter sheets, one fire starter, and ten small gas canisters."
[Your task is complete.]
[Rewards have been added to your Dimensional Warehouse.]
[The next mission will be unlocked after completing Stage 3.]
*Stage 3, alright.*
[Stage 2 begins in 5 seconds.]
Seeing the notification, I drew my new sword and prepared for battle.
[Title: Lone Wolf activated]
[Title: Conqueror activated]
[Stage 2 begins: Kill 500 Lizardmen]
With that notification, I braced myself. If surrounded, I'd use ice magic to stop them. I'll worry about later stages later; I still have plenty of money.
Unlike before, the lizardmen charged only from the front, not surrounding me.
"If this is how it's going to be, it might be a little easier," I thought.
I reached out, opened my Dimensional Warehouse, and pulled out the Flame Blast scroll.
Tearing open the scroll activated the spell, and in seconds, 500 lizardmen were incinerated in a wave of fire. Even reduced to ash, they dropped material items as usual.
My mission was completed with ease. Since it was evening, it was time to prepare dinner.
I opened my Dimensional Warehouse, taking out eight pieces of firewood, a fire starter sheet, two pots, a gallon of water, one type of tea, a glass, a spoon, a plate, a frying pan, butter, one type of meat, a bottle of each spice, a spatula, a knife, and a non-stick pan.
With all that, I was ready to make a simple dinner.
I placed a pot over the fire to boil water for tea, then chopped vegetables, meat, and other ingredients needed for the meat dish.
Since the water took a while to boil, I checked the shop for a tent, but instead of a tent, I found something much better.
This box contained a complete set: a magic tent that automatically erected itself when mana was channeled into it, a sleeping bag, a monster-repelling lamp, and a magic brazier. I wasn't sure how to explain the brazier, but it came with a magic stone. I assumed it generated fire using the magic stone, since they included one.
But it wasn't like that. The Magic Brazier was a magically created fire pit activated by mana; the mana stone was for the monster-repelling lamp. Ultimately, I had to light the brazier with wood, just like a normal fire. It simply provided a ready-made cooking pit. However, because it used mana, the fire within wouldn't easily extinguish, even in strong winds.
[Stage 2]
[Monsters: 724/1500]
Seeing a different number of monsters than expected, I was a little confused, but I was confident they could handle whatever came next.