Thud!
The door closed with a soft thud. I sat on the bed, an uneasy look on my face.
"How could she tell?" I muttered.
I was no professional actor, but I had kept a firm control over my emotions and expressions when I talked to the spearman and Luna. While the more experienced spearman seemed to have believed me, the young lady, who was supposed to be more gullible, saw right through me.
Unconsciously, my thoughts went back to the moment when she asked me the question and the air around her changed.
'Does she have the ability to see through falsehood?' I thought and though I couldn't confirm it, I knew… that girl, Luna wasn't normal at all.
'I hope I'm right about her, and she doesn't tell anyone else.' I thought, took a deep breath to calm down.
Then, I softly called. "...System."
The interface appeared instantly.
[Stream Points: 100]
[Shop: Available]
With a thought, I opened the shop and a list of items appeared before me.
[Basic Healing Potion – 50 SP]
[Minor Strength Boost – 30 SP (Temporary)]
[Minor Agility Boost – 30 SP (Temporary)]
[Minor Perception Boost – 30 SP (Temporary)]
The first few items were things I was already familiar with.
Temporary boosts… They were useful in life and death situations, but I needed something permanent.
Thus, my gaze shifted downward.
[Permanent Strength +1 – 100 SP]
[Permanent Agility +1 – 100 SP]
[Permanent Perception +1 – 100 SP]
"There it is." I murmured. This was real power.
"But it's quite expensive."
I could only buy a single point increase with the Stream Points I had.
'But it's worth it.' I thought. I didn't want to feel that helpless feeling again where my survival depended on others.
Still, I wasn't in a hurry to make the purchase and decided to scroll down with a thought.
However…
The screen remained the same. There were no more items.
'Hm?' I frowned. I was confident the shop wasn't limited to these few items, but I couldn't figure out why more weren't listed here.
'Is it because I only have 100 SPs?' I thought, but this didn't make sense. After all, there had to be more items worth less than 100 SP, but they weren't here.
Since I couldn't figure out the reason, I stopped thinking about it and focused on the permanent boosts.
Which one would be best for me at this moment?
Strength, Agility or Perception?
Each one had its own value.
Strength meant I could deal more damage to my enemies.
Agility meant I could maneuver better which would increase the chances of my survival in dangerous situations.
Perception meant—Awareness, Control and Efficiency.
"Hmm." I hummed in thought, recalling the battles I fought and each time I received a boost in gifts.
I realized the choice wasn't so difficult.
While Strength won fights. Agility kept me alive, but Perception… It made everything easier.
That clarity, control and that absolute awareness… it was more valuable than strength and agility.
Thus, without hesitation, I mentally clicked on the Perception and a prompt appeared on the screen.
[Are you sure you want to purchase: Permanent Perception +1?]
'Yes.' I confirmed.
[Ding! Purchase Successful]
[Remaining SP: 0]
For a moment, I felt nothing. Then, a cooling sensation spread in my mind and my vision became blurry.
After a while, the cooling sensation slowly ebbed and my vision cleared.
Immediately, I realized all my senses had sharpened.
I could clearly see the texture of the mud wall, even the faint movement of air and hear the distant sounds outside.
Everything had become clearer.
A slow smile spread across my face.
This feeling… It was extremely pleasant. I knew right now I wouldn't face much problem defeating someone who was stronger and faster than me. If I had chosen to boost my strength or agility, this wouldn't have been possible, especially because I didn't have much fighting experience.
The clarity the increased perception gave me lessened the importance of fighting experience.
Just as I began calming down, the shop closed and the system interface changed.
[Name: Eren Yadgril]
[Strength: 0.8]
[Agility: 0.7]
[Perception: 1.5]
[SP: 0]
[Shop→]
"Finally…" I smiled, but then I saw my attributes. My smile vanished, not only because they were too low, but also because I realized there were people out there in this world that might have tens, hundreds or even thousands of times my attributes. After all, this ranking system must be based on something.
Hu!
After a while, I exhaled. "Baby steps."
Then, I was about to close the system screen, but another notification flashed by right then.
[New Feature Unlocked: Stream Points Multiplier]
[Higher viewer engagement increases SP gain.]
[Better performance = Better rewards.]
"Good."
…
In the morning, I woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door and voices echoing outside.
"…The outsider…"
"…Let's see what he's made of."
My brows furrowed. People were here to cause trouble.
A moment later, they smoothened out. "Not a bad timing, I guess." I muttered, my flashing flickering.
I needed to check how effective my increased perception was, but since I had promised the spearman to not cause any trouble, I couldn't do it.
However, it would be a completely different situation if others came looking for trouble.
Getting out of the bed, I stretched my body for half a minute before walking to the door and opening it.
Step!
I stepped outside, brightness filling my vision.
When my eyes adjusted to the brightness, I saw a group of three men… or boys around my age.
They were built powerfully and had wild, unrestrained looks in their eyes. When they looked at me, it was as if they were looking at their prey.
Glancing at the weapons they carried, I thought, 'Are they Hunters the guards talked about last night?'
The one in front stepped forward, looking me up and down. Then, his lips curled up into a smirk. "They say you came out of the forest late at night, but… you don't look like much."
"Don't believe it if you don't want to." I casually said.
His smile faded, then he coldly said, "Let us see if there is really something special about you then."
As his words fell, the other two stepped forward.
"You are going to fight as a group?" I asked.
The man's eyes gleamed, "Afraid?"
"No. Was just confirming." I said and took a step forward.