Sienna froze, then blinked. "Oh, yes, I know, right. You're amazing after all." Of course, she knew nothing.
She hurriedly asked the system what Louisa might have meant, but it also had no idea since its knowledge only revolved around what was mentioned in the novel and the characters inside.
Louisa nodded. "Yes, I used to play basketball after all." She sighed, her eyes lowering. "I can't believe I might not have the chance to play it again."
Sienna, unsuspecting, patted her shoulder and said in a soothing voice, "It's okay. We will arrange for it in the post-apocalypse world."
However, what she hadn't noticed was that Louisa clearly went still after hearing her words, her pupils dilating.
Meanwhile, Cissy informed Sienna.
[Passive Skill available for purchase!]
[Host can check it out]
"Skill...?" Sienna mumbled, summoning the status window. And indeed, an additional option named Purchase glowed. Under it were sections like Weapons, Pills, Armors, Skills, and others.
Skills, to be specific, were the backbone of every warrior and beast in the apocalypse. They worked along with attributes. If your attributes were high but your skills were weak, you would be beaten by someone weaker than you as long as they have powerful skills. If your attributes were low but your skills were strong enough, you might not be able to utilize them properly, but they would still set you above others of the same level as you.
They were, however, very rare and could only be gotten from killing zombies and mutated beasts alike. Of course, one could purchase them from others, but the price was sky-high.
Her eyes lit up at the realization that she could get one now, and her gaze lowered to the available skill.
[Passive Skill: Keen Eyes]
[Level: Bronze]
[Ability: You can see the stats of Awakened with level below yours.]
[Price: 100 Karma Points]
Sienna's expression collapsed at the price.
100 Karma points?
How was she supposed to get them?
Moreover, if she remembered correctly, Bronze was the lowest in the Skill tiers.
Skills were divided into two: Active and Passive.
Active Skills generally came in the form of skill cards that you needed to absorb and master. Often, they had cooldowns and limits. And there was also the need for compatibility. Enough mana was also required.
Passive Skills were the opposite; they were innate, attributed to your being, and linked to your soul. They couldn't be unlearned, and most of them had no cooldowns.
Both skills had tiers—Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Mythic, and Celestial, with Bronze being the most common and basic.
Some skills could also be upgraded, from Bronze or any tier to higher ones, once requirements were fulfilled.
She bit her lip, repeating the name. Keen Eyes.
It sounded amazing just from seeing it. She could see others' stats, judge their strength, and decide on fight or flight.
But 100 Karma...
She ruminated on how to get that amount when something suddenly clicked in her mind.
"Cissy, as long as I help people, direct them towards survival, I will gain Karma points, right?" she earnestly asked.
Cissy responded robotically. [Yes, Host.]
Sienna instantly took out her phone and logged into the biggest social media app — WeNet.
She registered an account, using a VPN to mask her IP, then carefully drafted a message, making sure to use an eye-catching headline that would make it go viral.
[The Apocalypse After The Ice Age]
She mainly stated what she knew would happen soon and also encouraged people to seize the chance to hoard food now, for if they decided to wait until later, that day would never come. She also used hashtags that would propel it forward.
Unfortunately, like a stone, it sank in the thousands of daily posts by different users worldwide.
Zero attention.
Ten minutes passed, and Sienna even spammed viral posts with comments asking people to check her profile, saying she had posted something very important regarding the weather. But those posts had thousands of comments, and the most-liked ones stayed on top, so she only had a single view even after minutes had passed.
However, that view actually gained her a Karma point.
Her eyes lit up at the confirmation notification.
The person had liked her post and even commented that they would begin storing food since the weather had been strange lately — but what guaranteed it wouldn't get worse?
Sienna immediately replied, [I'm glad you get it.]
After that one comment, nothing else came. No views, no Karma, nothing.
Sienna bit her lip, her expression thoughtful as she thought of how to make this post go viral. If she decided to continue spamming around, how long would it take for her to amass enough attention?
Moreover, in the next few days—or maybe hours—there might be a blackout. She needed to use the limited time to quickly farm points.
And right at that moment, the system alarmed.
[Items available for sale]
Sienna hissed, summoning the window. "As if it wouldn't need Karma points either way."
She was right.
But at this moment, this item was something she needed most!
[Popularity Boost: 10 Karma (make your post go viral for ten minutes)]
Sienna's eyes brightened like there were stars in them, and she didn't hesitate to purchase it with the little Karma she had left.
Thirty seconds hadn't passed yet when a flurry of dings echoed from her phone, and along with them, her Karma shot up like a shooting star.