Chapter 87

"Okay, what the hell has Kelderian and his motley crew of misfits done this time?" Urean's high-pitched voice echoed throughout the office.

"They started an event, sir," Urean's assistant replied, looking through sales logs to find the particular date he was looking for.

The assistant was looking through the logs to find the exact date when Jake Smithson last logged in – and when he did, he nodded.

'I think this is why the boss is spooked. Smithson got his purchasing performance up for the 2k Miles Velocity Roadster, but after he purchased the Roadster, he bought a few more items… and then just stopped. Last login shows that he last visited this site… a few weeks or so ago?

No wonder our sales stats and view count just cratered.'

"What kind of event are they having?" Urean asked, shaking his head at his obvious amateur mistake with the 2k Miles Velocity Roadster.

'That was careless. Counting only on the motorcycle to build brand loyalty was a total newbie move. Also… man. The guy racks up points really fast. I thought he'd buy the bike after some time, not this quickly.

Seriously, how does this guy manage to earn so many points?

I need to find a breakthrough.'

"Let me see… here," the assistant said, navigating to the Awakening Store's event landing page. "There you go. That's the event they're holding."

As soon as Urean read through the event, he was floored.

"Isn't this some sort of violation? Telling the customer how to meet the conditions they set up to access their higher-level shopping catalog?" Urean asked, his voice getting even more shrill as he got angry.

The Awakening Store is structured into four tiers: the normal catalog, Black Label, Gold Label, and Diamond Label.

Of course, the Superstore is structured differently.

Urean knows this, because he did his homework on his rival shopping center – it is also why he was angry at how the Awakening Store promoted their Diamond Label.

It was unfair to other customers.

That was when he realized something: it wasn't unfair at all, and the reason was…

"The thing is, the Awakening Store has only one customer," Urean thought out loud. "It means that there shouldn't be any complaints about unfair treatment."

And then another thought passed through his head.

"Wait a minute, that means we also have only one customer as well! That means we can use our trump card!"

"What trump card are you referring to, sir?"

"We'll open our 'Superstore Customs'!"

"Sir, are you sure about that? It's a customization shop… and there's only one customer right now."

"Well then, open it just for him, then!"

The Superstore Customs is a part of the Superstore that has long been restricted to VIP access, and considered by many to be the pride of the Superstore for many years.

"According to this… Smithson doesn't qualify."

"Then find a way to make him qualify! You don't earn a salary here by being told obvious things, you know," Urean replied rather gruffly, the Awakening Store's ploy making him rather cross with his employee.

"Why not give him a list of criteria, and copy what the Awakening Store is doing?"

And just like the Diamond Label, there is a list of qualifications that need to be met to gain access to the Superstore Customs, foremost of which is VIP access.

"What do you mean? Are you saying we should copy the Awakening Store? That's where you're wrong…"

"No, sir, what I meant is...."

"Reference, minion! Repeat after me: RE-FE-RENCE."

"RE-FE-RENCE…"

"Yes!" Urean exclaimed. "I can't believe you'd say such thing as 'copy' when there is a nicer way to describe it!"

"Does that mean we are just referencing what they've done?"

"Exactly. Inform him on what he needs to do to become a VIP member."

Despite the normal exterior, the Superstore's vision and mission statements are saturated with what the administration refers to as "manliness".

However, if a customer wants to access the Superstore Customs, they should then find out what SuperStore means when they talk about "manliness".

"Resilience is the way to become a real man! We can make that event happen!"

"About time you finally understand what I mean!"

Part of what the Superstore refers to as "manliness" is resilience.

"A real man doesn't avoid incoming attacks. He is strong enough to break swords on his pecs and shatter shields with his knuckles! That is how a real man should be! Strut like a boss, shrug off the loss!"

"Damn straight! That's how a real man should be!"

"Got it, sir! I'll let our customer know, right away, that he needs to improve his physical and magic defense to obtain our VIP access pass!"

Physical and magic defense are the two key stats in their criteria: if an awakener has stats that can render an opponent's attacks useless, they would gain massive resilience.

"I'm going to show you how we at the Superstore roll!"

***

From this point onward, every moment is important to Jake.

'I've wasted enough time already. I can't waste any more of it.'

Jake was given an opportunity to upgrade the shopping line given to him, and he had to seize the opportunity, basic bodily needs like sleep be damned.

'I can always sleep for a day or two once I get to Diamond Label.

Meals? I can subsist on what's needed so I can hunt at the top of my game.

I can always splurge for better food and drink later, again, once I get to Diamond Label.'

Everything is all about shopping now.

Getting to the Diamond Label is his priority target, and once he was able to get Song out of the danger that was Musashi's fortress, he was able to go back to fulfilling the requirements given for said access.

He was already done with nearly all of them, except two.

'Okay, gain at least 100 strength and agility, then buy a Legendary Creature.'

There is one more condition, but Jake ignored it.

'Spend ten million points in the Awakening Store? What a lame condition, I already met it a long time ago.

Were the people working at the Awakening Store aware of how many points I spent at their shopping mall? Anyway, Legendary Creature egg, huh? Intriguing.'

At this point, the lozenges he has to buy for strength and agility were only something Jake needed to fulfill requirements.

The total sensory experience of opening a delivery box was as far as it could go in terms of giving Jake pleasure.

The Legendary Creature egg, though?

It's a different matter: he hasn't bought one yet, and simply reading the description filled him with a thrill.

'Is it like adopting a pet?' Jake thought, probably the only one who compares Legendary Creature to a pet. 'Guess I need to keep on farming, then.'

'It's time for me to earn points to meet these conditions. Okay. This is a promise: I will only return to Carter when I successfully gain access to the Diamond Label.'

As soon as his mind was made up, he heard the custom notification for the Superstore.

[We have a new event for you! Check it out!]

While the notice was sparse, it was able to intrigue Jake just the same.

'Oh… right. You guys were there, too,' Jake thought, forgetting about the Superstore's existence for the moment thanks to his obsession with reinforcement.

As he opened up the window for the Superstore, he went in expecting something mundane that would make the Diamond Label access event look greater.

He wasn't through with the first page before he was forced to change his mind.

[The pride of the Superstore!

We're inviting you to our "Superstore Customs"!

The "Superstore Customs" is our VIP-exclusive customization service!

Not only do we have a wide variety of S-rank items, you can also customize these items any way you want in our Superstore Customs!]

'Hold up, Superstore Customs?

What do you mean, adding options?

This isn't like buying a car or something!

Does that mean you can add options to your sword or armor?'

[How long will you be using the same equipment as other awakeners do?

Time to step up your game and bring your own, personalized items that make your greatness stand out!]

'Yes!

That's exactly what I want!

Jackpot!

This is awesome!'

If he didn't check the event, he would have been in trouble.

'Okay, how do I gain access to this?' Jake thought as he read the conditions to use the Superstore Customs.

[VIP access is only limited to the manliest of men. And by that, we mean real men! Real men who break swords with their pecs, real men who break helmets with headbutts, real men who catch axes with their teeth! You know what I mean? RESILIENCE! Real men take hits like people in the tropics take mosquito bites. That's what our manliness is all about! If you get your physical and magical defense to at least 35 or better, we will give you a Superstore VIP Access Pass! Walk strong! And let them take swings at you!]

'Great! Easy enough to do. I'll get right to it.

Physical and magic defense to 35, huh? This is also something that I was planning to upgrade after luck – more defense is always good – so are there lozenges to upgrade these stats with?'

Jake was thinking of just buying lozenges and then brushing his teeth afterward, but what he read after the VIP access criteria wasn't something he expected.

[Physical and magical defense increases must be accomplished using items that the Superstore provides.]

'Okay, this should be more lozenges… let me see.'

[After being wounded by a monster, apply this medicine directly to the wound. As soon as the wound is healed, it will increase your defensive stats.

'What in the world? Is this some kind of amateur stunt show?'

***

Sure enough, something strange happened.

The sounds of monster blows were reverberating in the dungeon.

"What's wrong with him?! Shouldn't we help him out?" one of Song's lieutenants asked.

Jake had asked Liam, Song, and the others if they could go hunting before returning to Carter, he was met with approval.

After all, there was no need for them to rush, and the group wanted to return to Carter at their own pace.

That was why, during and after their recovery, they kept their edge as fighters sharp by hunting monsters to raise their levels and sparring among themselves to develop their skills.

It was all fine on paper, but Jake ventured out on his own, and began showing the eccentricity that Liam and the others had already known very well.

"He's tired, right?"

"Possibly," another lieutenant of Song's answered. "After all, he put up a hell of a fight against the Third Sword."

"Should we give him a hand?"

Liam and the rest of the party were seeing Jake being ganged up on and beaten by a lot of monsters.

As the strongest awakener in the party, Jake was able to go to places in the dungeon others couldn't, which is also why nobody in his party would interfere with his hunting.

The kind of monsters he hunts is beyond their ability… but right now, it looks like he could use the help.

Maybe he was injured after the previous fights, causing him to fight poorly?

"I'll help him," one of Song's lieutenants said, standing up, then ran to the three Caesars surrounding Jake.

These creatures were orangutans with bright yellow hair, and heavily muscled arms and fists – the kind of fists that could wreck a car in just a few hits.

More smacks echoed throughout the dungeon, and even Song was starting to worry.

"Crap!" Jake exclaimed as he was taking those kinds of hits throughout his body.

"I shall give you a hand!" Song's lieutenant exclaimed as he approached, but Jake shouted at him.

"Stay right there!"

"Huh?"

"Don't you see, I'm getting beat up here because I let them beat me up? I like it – it's therapeutic. Would you mind backing off before they think you have the same tastes as I do?"

The three Caesars looked at Song's lieutenant for a moment before they turned back to beating up Jake, and the awakener backed away.

***