-Zaaap!
A spark crackled in the dim subway station, the air thick with Mana as a low growl echoed down the tunnel. KiRA's eyes snapped to the shadows, his Strings glinting like golden spiderwebs across the tracks.
The Meat pulsed faintly, its scent already drawing a pack of scuttling, rat-like fiends with glowing red eyes and twisted, uneven claws.
"Vivi, now!" KiRA whispered, gripping the WhiteGloves.
"Viii~!" Unity chirped, her golden feathers flaring as she darted upward, triggering the strings. With a sharp hum, the golden threads snapped taut, slicing through the first wave of monsters like a guillotine.
-Spurrrr—ptptpt!
Gore splattered across the subway tracks, and a system notification rang out…
[Ding!]
[Monsters defeated: 5/201.]
The hunt had already begun for him, however, it all started a while ago…
(A few minutes ago: )
[Tutorial will now begin. Please complete the objective presented to you.]
It varied depending on where the people were or depending on certain regions.
The way the system assigned tutorials in the Tower of Beginning depended on where the individuals were when they started the game.
The start locations were random and depending on the environment they were in, they were assigned various tasks that ranged from killing certain creatures that appeared there to solving some kind of problem.
In a metropolitan area, the quests that people might receive could be focused more on group efforts, in a place that wasn't much developed, the quests might be focused more on creating some kind of structure through system provided materials. The quests varied greatly, however, one still needed to face a lot of dangers when clearing these quests.
It depended on the environment, and in environments that resembled an abandoned subway station, the quest that one would receive was pretty obvious.
[Ding!]
[A quest has been presented to Players in Area #22B.]
[Defeat the monsters and clear the dungeon.]
[No. of monsters to defeat: 0/201.]
The world that they knew had changed.
Outside, monsters like goblins, slimes, things that some might have seen in the Tower to the abstract beings that the common people could not fathom the existence of were appearing all around them.
With the appearance of the System, many people were recognized as Players by the system. These initially selected random individuals had either awakened skills or had obtained a boost in their physical prowess with Stats in order to fight against the beings that were now invading their homes.
The appearance of [Gates], [Dungeons], and [Labyrinths] was not uncommon anymore. Just like how the tower had appeared, many places must have changed fundamentally.
The main [Energy medium] of the tower, [Mana] must have spread all around the world by now as well… he could already feel the strange familiar sensation that he could only feel in the game.
This place, the empty subway station pretty close to his apartment, had turned into a dungeon. And, since there was no one here, he was going to enjoy testing the things that he could do while still hoarding all the EXP from the monsters that appeared there.
[Skill: Precise calculations(Lv:1) has been used.]
[You have counted the precise cost for selected items according to market value.]
KiRA knew with his experience just how the system worked and how the tower was a 'fair' entity to all beings within it.
It was cruel… he knew many people were going to die today, however, he could not save all of them even if he went out there.
If the tower that had appeared in their world was anything similar to the tower that he knew of, then he knew what he needed to do right now.
"Viv!" (It's ready!)
"Thanks, little one. Oh, we have to level you up quickly as well. There isn't much I can buy from the store as you're right now."
"Vivi!" (Yes yes!)
[Ding!]
[You have spent 1000 IX.]
[You have purchased
[You have spent 2000 IX.]
[You have purchased
[You have spent 5000 IX.]
[You have purchased
[You have spent 3000 IX.]
[You have purchased
[Ding!]
[You are the first Player to spend 10,000 IX at the shop.]
[You have received
[Ding!]
[As a unique achievement for using [Shop] in the tutorial, you will be rewarded with a
⟪ Your achievements will be highlighted in the [Akashic records]. ⟫
He was the only player in the entire world that might have access to the [Shop] in the tutorial phase. In fact, the function was only unlocked after one reached the tenth floor of the tower.
However, thanks to Unity, his companion, he was able to use this unique function.
"You're as amazing as ever, Uni."
"Viv~!" (Thanks master~!)
It was amazing how he could understand her. However, it was even more amazing how he had her with him in this real world outside of that game.
===Status===
ID: Unity (Master: KiRA)
Age: N/A
Title: (Restricted)
Level: 1
_–_–_–
Strength: 1
Dexterity: 1
Stamina: 1
Sol: 1
Nova: 1
Judgement: 1
Luck: 1
Empathy: 1
Purity: 1
Equilibrium: (Restricted)
Celestial: (Restricted)
Divinity: (Restricted)
_–_–_–
Authorities: System disobedience, (Restricted).
Blessings: Curse of Draconians, Curse of Titans, Curse of Dwarves, Curse of Elves, Curse of Celestials, Punishment of Divine disobedience, Damnation, Blessing of the Origin, (Restricted).
Skills: Open access (Lv. MAX), Blessing of flames (Lv.1), Blessing of light (Lv.1), Golden blood (Lv.1), (Restricted).
============
No one would believe him if he told them she used to be the ruler of the 85th to 97th floors when he unified those floors. The system could not suppress her enough so it left only the worst of the debuffing curses on her with only one blessing to balance it out.
In her current state, it didn't seem possible that he could increase her stats without increasing her level. But her level was not going to increase by hunting.
[Ding!]
[You have spent 90,000 IX.]
[You have purchased
[Your Companion: Unity has been leveled-up!]
[Level: 1>>2.]
[Ding!]
[You are the first Player to spend 100,000 IX at the shop.]
[You have received
⟪ Your achievements will be highlighted in the [Akashic records]. ⟫
These extra rewards were so sweet there was an ear-to-ear smile on his face right now. Sadly, he would have to save all of them for later.
"I would love to spend more, but we don't know what we might need these for, right?"
"Vivi! Viiiiii!" (I understand it, master! Don't worry about it~!)
Leveling her up was going to require an astronomical amount of coins. But they only needed to keep this up for the initial floors. Starting the middle floors, there were going to be other methods to level up.
They had gone through the original process together when he first found her in that tower prison. They knew how to do this, so they weren't that surprised.
"A single level-up increased all your stats by one, hehe. How fun would it be if the same happened to us~."
Players received Three stat points to assign within their stats every time they leveled up. And, they could not assign these free stat points to all of the stats.
Special stats like [Purity] increased when they fulfilled certain conditions.
"Well, that's not going to be possible though."
Now that he was done with his preparations, he could sense them already.
"Mmm~. This meat is always effective!"
A chunk of one of the finest meats and aggro items for the tutorial monsters had already materialized before him with strings that resembled the golden lasso of truth.
There were two very small blue crystals as well as a bottle of mystical potion before him.
There were four boxes there, three containing a bead that increased stats randomly, as well as one containing a flower that he was going to need soon.
The two gloves that he purchased were an Item of the tower, an artifact that one cannot easily make outside of the tower.
It was costly, but he needed to spend at least that much to test out the golden threads that he had purchased.
Auto hunting was a thing, after all.
And within the tower, he was one of the Lazy experts in these kinds of hunting techniques.