Edrick felt like he had been cheated. He was still sitting on the broken altar, and the already dilapidated Sanctum of the Village Deity was even more decrepit, with broken beams and walls barely supporting half the roof, which was in danger of collapsing at any moment.
"What the hell is that?" The real world was fine, but he had been killed by his own golden finger, and the Transmigrator could only curse.
"That is something you will have to face every month from now on—the Oblivion Specter." The blue Flower Maiden appeared, but instead of gloating, she said solemnly, "Who do you think the original owner of this Sanctum of the Village Deity was?"
Edrick suddenly calmed down. As a transmigrator who had undergone cruel trials in reality, he knew very well that everything that was given had already been marked with a price tag in secret. How could a golden finger appear out of nowhere without a price?
"What happened?"
"The owner of this place was killed by the thing you saw a long, long time ago ( ´•̥̥̥ω•̥̥̥ )." The Wealth-Scattering Lad's dialogue box turned blood red, as if it would start oozing blood at any moment.
Edrick subconsciously swallowed and grasped the key point: "That thing? There's more than one of those things?"
"They were once hostile forces. The Village Deity's duty was to protect the people of the village, on the one hand giving them fertility, and on the other hand protecting them from these things.
But there were too many of them, and in the end, the Village Deity died, and this temple was abandoned. Until now, when you became a deity and reawakened the Sanctum of the Village Deity, you also reawakened the enemies of the Sanctum of the Village Deity (.•́︿•̀.)."
Edrick closed his eyes, wondering if things would be easier if he had simply traveled through time without any special abilities.
"Don't worry, these creatures are just spiritual projections of our former enemies. They don't exist physically, so even if you kill them once, it's not really fatal," the red figure comforted him.
"You said once a month?" Edrick asked impatiently. "Why once a month?"
"Why are you asking so many questions? Even I don't know. Anyway, this cycle is related to the rotation of the heavens," said the Flower Maiden, who had a very bad temper and didn't want to continue after saying that.
The Wealth-Scattering Lad took over and continued, "This world is in motion. You can think of the mountain peak we are on as a star rotating along a predetermined path. We are currently moving away from the source of pollution. Listen, the whispers are getting weaker. Basically, one month is one cycle. When the next cycle approaches, they will come back again (๑•́ ₃ •̀๑)."
Edrick realized this was yet another piece of esoteric knowledge completely different from anything he had been taught before. Now wasn't the time to delve deeper, so he pressed on, "How many more times can I die? How do I deal with that thing?"
"Once. If you're lucky, twice. But you're a unlucky kid, so your luck has always been terrible." The Flower Maiden answered the question.
The Wealth-Scattering Lad added, "You'd better do more of the 'Third Set of Low-Level Civil Servant Broadcast Exercises from the Celestial Theodome'. It can improve your physical and mental strength and help you ward off danger, but only by obtaining more Faith Essence Points and truly controlling the Village Deity's authority will you be able to eliminate them ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)."
Well, the situation wasn't too bad. At least there was still one more chance to try. Edrick quickly adjusted his mindset and continued with the question he hadn't received a response to earlier: "Oh, right, can you give me a discount on these spells? It's only 200 points short. Can you give me a discount?"
The Wealth-Scattering Lad did not disappoint him: "I can't give you a discount, but I have a way for you to get spells for 10 Faith Essence Points. Do you want to try it? (¬‿¬)"
Although he couldn't see the other party's expression, Edrick felt a little uneasy. The Wealth-Scattering Lad's behavior and words reminded him of the salespeople who sold inferior financial products in his previous life.
"Tell me first," Edrick said cautiously.
"You can choose to draw a blind box for 10 Faith Essence Points. All spells of your current level are included in the blind box, and there is a certain chance of obtaining spells that exceed your current level (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و" The Wealth-Scattering Lad couldn't help but rub his low-resolution hands together.
"Exceed my current level?" Edrick was taken aback. He knew that he needed to accumulate enough Faith Essence to upgrade his deity's level, but this blind box could actually allow him to obtain spells that were beyond his current level. If he got one, wouldn't he make a killing? Moreover, even at his current level, the spells he could see were worth thousands of Faith Essence, so no matter which one he picked, he wouldn't lose out.
However, Edrick still had some basic caution: "I won't get something like 'thank you for your patronage,' will I?"
The Wealth-Scattering Lad smiled sincerely, "Don't worry, every draw is a winner, and I can guarantee that whatever you get will be cheaper than the price in the mall."
Edrick was moved by the Wealth-Scattering Lad's sincerity and didn't notice the Flower Maiden's scheming expression.
"Draw! Give me 10!" Edrick was fond of blind boxes in his previous life, and he and his ex-girlfriend had also gotten together because of blind boxes.
A retro slot machine handle appeared next to the TV, and it seemed to have a magical pull that made Edrick reach out and pull it.
"Ding ding ding!" The TV screen turned into a slot machine, with three reels spinning quickly, each engraved with various symbols, before stopping one by one.
"Ding, congratulations, you've won a skewer of grilled lamb kidney."
"???"
Edrick looked at the grilled lamb kidney that popped up on the TV and didn't react for a moment.
"Grilled lamb kidney?" Edrick leaned in to smell it, and it smelled very good, just like grilled lamb.
"Why the hell is there grilled lamb kidney?" Edrick asked the Wealth-Scattering Lad.
"You lose some, you gain some, and this grilled lamb kidney is so delicious! Try it (.・∀・)ノ゙"
Czechs don't eat this kind of thing, but fortunately, Edrick had tried it while studying in the East, so he wasn't particularly averse to it at this moment. Edrick took a bite and confirmed that it tasted like grilled lamb, but aside from that, the lamb kidney had nothing special about it: "That's it?"
"Is there really nothing special about it?" asked the Wealth-Scattering Lad. Edrick paused for a moment, then carefully sensed that after the lamb kidney entered his stomach, there was a subtle sensation in his abdomen, as if some strange power had dissolved and merged into his limbs and bones.
However, this was only his body in his consciousness space. If he had to say, it should be said that his soul had been strengthened... 'But what is the point of this strengthening?' Edrick asked.
"Idiot, the soul of a deity is the essence. What good is a strong body? This enhancement is an enhancement of your divine power," Flower Maiden reminded him impatiently. "You are now the Village Deity, and you rely on divine power to cast spells."
As Flower Maiden explained, Edrick saw the mission status bar appear at the bottom of the TV screen again. Everything was the same as before, except for one additional status:
Divine Power: 10+1
Edrick understood that the lamb kidneys in the Wealth-Scattering Lad's blind box were indeed extraordinary. If he could draw lamb kidneys every time, even if he didn't draw magic spells, he wouldn't lose anything. He finished eating the lamb kidneys, and his Divine Force value became 15. A string of lamb kidneys added a full 5 points to his Divine Force, so Edrick drew nine more times in a row.
"Ding, congratulations, you have obtained a pencil case."
"Ding, congratulations on obtaining a kitchen knife."
"Ding, congratulations on obtaining a thermos."
"Ding, congratulations on obtaining a headband."
"Ding, congratulations on obtaining a pair of shoe inserts."
"Ding, congratulations on obtaining a pack of garbage bags."
"Ding, congratulations on obtaining a pair of earphone cases."
"Ding, congratulations on obtaining a string of grilled lamb ribs."
"Ding, congratulations on obtaining a pack of potato chips."
Edrick's face was as calm as water. Grilled lamb loin was indeed extraordinary and could increase Divine Force, but those messy stationery boxes and thermos cups were things that could be found everywhere on Earth. Edrick was so sure because these things even had trademarks, and the production address was a certain large country in the East!
"This is a scam! You're running a scam!" Edrick had an urge to smash the TV.
"Don't talk nonsense, these are all sold in shopping malls!" The Wealth-Scattering Lad automatically changed the channel, and the TV screen displayed the book page that Edrick had seen before.
"Look, aren't these just a few magic spells?" Edrick asked.
The Wealth-Scattering Lad turned into an arrow and pointed to a very inconspicuous piece of text in the lower left corner of the screen that said "Next Page."
The two words were blurry on the flickering screen and difficult to see without looking closely. Edrick tapped the screen, and it automatically jumped to a shopping mall page with a very cheap-looking user interface. There were all kinds of advertisements, ranging from vibrators to shower heads, all of which were small items commonly found on Temu.
The prices were also quite affordable, ranging from a few Faith Essence Points to dozens.
Edrick suddenly realized why the Wealth-Scattering Lad was called that.
Seeing that Edrick was about to explode, the Wealth-Scattering Lad immediately put on a flattering smile: "It's like this, we haven't been in business for a long time, and now we're preparing to open a blind box store. With 100 draws, you're guaranteed to get a Village Deity spellbook. How about it (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و"
A guaranteed prize for 100 draws? But Edrick only had 600 Faith Essence Points left.
The Wealth-Scattering Lad noticed this and quickly added, "Special offer for new customers, 70 draws for a guaranteed prize!"
Half an hour later, the dilapidated hall was filled with junk. Edrick drew 70 times and only got six strings of sheep's kidneys and a guaranteed Cat Control Spell.
You could say it was a blind box scam. He did get a Cat Control Spell worth 1,000 Faith Essence Points for 700, but there was nothing else useful in the prize pool except lamb kidneys.
However, edrick had already made the purchase, so he didn't think too much about it. He could always earn more Faith Essence Points, and according to the description, the Cat Control Spell would be very useful in his current situation.
After purchasing the book, edrick was a little anxious at first, afraid that he would have to read and learn it himself. It was like spending all his money to learn how to fly a plane, only to be handed a beginner's pilot's manual and told to teach himself. Who knows how long it would take to learn?
Fortunately, these two little guys weren't too difficult, and Edrick naturally mastered the Cat Control Spell. This magical experience finally gave him the feeling of having supernatural powers. This was what you call a cheat code.
The Cat Control Spell allowed him to establish a subtle connection with three cats. It wasn't a contract or a master-servant relationship, just a connection. However, when he gave the cats commands, there was a certain probability that they would accept them, and there was also a high probability that they would completely ignore them...
Moreover, every time he gave the cats a command, Edrick felt like he had lost some kind of power. Having already eaten six skewers of lamb, Edrick knew that it was Divine Force, and that this power would slowly recover after being consumed, so Edrick wasn't worried.
It was also thanks to Edrick eating six skewers of lamb that his Divine Force reached 40, enough to give four commands. Otherwise, he was afraid that giving one command a day would exhaust his Divine Force, which recovered slowly, taking almost a day to fully recover.
Of course, this spell was not useless, because the Cat Control Spell could make cats smarter, so cats would usually be inclined to accept orders. It was more like a mutually beneficial transaction.
Edrick immediately reached an agreement with the three cats. Edrick would use the Cat Control Spell to increase the cats' intelligence, and the cats would help him gather information about Griff and the gang behind him.
The short-legged black cat was named Pawpatte, the balding orange cat with a temper was called Cromeoll, and the aloof calico cat was named Boss, as she was the leader of the neighborhood and had many loyal followers.
The wisdom cats could enhance in a short time was limited, and Edrick wasn't sure if they could understand human society, so he could only gather as much information as possible.
After releasing the cats, Edrick returned to the bathroom with a solemn expression to continue his "cat-cleaning" duties, of course, this had to be done in the middle of the night.
He didn't know if this world didn't have a sewage system yet or if it didn't exist at all, but in any case, the public toilets in the Rust District needed special Nightmen to clean them three times a week and transport the waste outside the city. This excrement was an important source of fertilizer, and as far as Edrick could remember, it was Griff's Soot Street Scamps who had a monopoly on this business.
What kind of transmigrator would spend their first day shoveling shit in a latrine?
"Isn't that right, Griff?" Edrick smiled slightly and looked at Griff, who was tied up and lying in an abandoned warehouse. The latter couldn't move a finger, his mouth was stuffed with shit and wrapped in cloth, and his eyes were helpless and desperate.