Potential over all else

Okay, everyone, we're now done.

Starting from tomorrow, one chapter per day.

Peace!

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"..."

Dale was conflicted…

This time, the right option didn't come to him as soon as he finished reading.

However, he still eliminated the final choice.

'It's too passive.'

'If I understood this well, this is an Event like the previous one, and it's going to affect everyone just like last time…'

Last time, his choice changed the attitude of everyone in the village, and this time, he was supposed to choose their course of action?

'The nature of an event, what is it, and how it is triggered, still eludes me, but I shouldn't take it lightly.'

'The fate of Resko literally lies within my hands... It's not like much changed.'

'Pretty much, what I have to choose is between guaranteed survival, or power.'

'You could say that with power, comes greater chances of survival, but that is only in the long run.'

'However, the contrary can also be said, even if we survive now, there is no guarantee we'll survive later… In fact, that odds are against us as I believe our chances of survival are going to be tested soon enough.'

'Yer, right now, starvation is a serious problem, one that cannot be overlooked or maken fun of.'

'If I choose the first option, there is a massive chance that the crops will be destroyed beyond recovery by some unpredictable event, if that happens, starvation would soon follow…'

'Or so it should.'

Dale closed his eyes, fully focusing on his thoughts:

'It wouldn't be hard to get around this problem as I have a solution, and that is myself.'

'Getting provisions through the comunitary market isn't difficult, the problem is how long I can keep it, and the consequences of it…'

'If I keep taking food from my inventory for weeks to come, people are going to suspect something… Both the villagers and the players alike...'

'I can't sustain 100 people without anyone noticing that something's weird...'

'I could use the players for that, as they could work in the fields in the NPCs' place, however, that is a gamble I'm not willing to take.'

'I can't count on them in case something goes wrong at all...'

'The average player is still below Level 5, and it'll take a long time till the average becomes something like Level 60-70 which is Resko's recommended Level.'

'I could even say that people are going to grow faster here due to its resources, but the contrary can also be said, people may initially grow slower due to the difficulty of this place, and only grow faster as time goes on…'

'I'm no computer, I can't predict these things…'

'However, if I choose the Middle choice, there is a chance that in the future, the village will simply not be strong enough to ward off monsters.'

'And that comes with a mild chance of something actually going wrong... Lastly, I don't even consider the last option as it's the same as not doing anything at all.'

'So as always, I'm going to assume something bad is going to happen, and the only one who I can count with is myself.'

'If I were to choose the first option, and something went bad, what should I do to prevent it? To decrease its impact on the future day-to-day life of the villagers? Or should I try to fix the damage once its done?'

Dale remained thinking for a little while…

'The only solution that comes to mind are the players themselves.'

'Since they're going to hunt in the fields eventually, it wouldn't be hard to have them protect that area until the timer went off…'

'If I'm not wrong, that timer should be 2 weeks, the time the blessing will last.'

'Not too long, not too little, but more than enough time for many things to go horribly wrong... Problems that as I said before, I can't count on the players to resolve.'

'Let's look at myself, what will I be doing during this time?'

'Without a doubt, my quests… My routine training in the morning, followed by my quests…'

'My morning is already full, and my night is all about letting my character sleep... So I only have the rest to act.'

'I need to explore outside the Village in order to finish several quests, and that's going to take a while, so presumably, I'll probably remain far from the Village for most of the time.'

'So I won't be there to help in case something bad happens.'

Dale was in a bind, it was the classic dilemma of higher risks, higher rewards.

But Dale came to a sudden realization…

'Sigh… What am I even thinking so deeply about? The answer is simple.'

'The Village is already on a path filled with danger, and regardless of my choices, the Village is going to be destroyed if we aren't capable enough.'

'Between fixing starvation and dealing with a sealed Demon, I find the latter much harder and unpredictable, so I need to thoroughly prepare for that.'

With a nod to himself, he chose the first option any more second thoughts.

"Hm?"

The world started to become quicker and quicker, and the strange feeling he had vanished.

He was now standing there, looking at the books on the table once more with a conflicted expression.

"Dale… I'll now bring these books with me, there is a lot that I need to understand and show the others."

"I'll also go and see if I can have Jyter copy this one for me, it should be ready by tomorrow." Testros said with a smile

"However, I'll say it for the last time, see if you can rest for now, you look visibly tired." He said in an worried tone

Dale felt as if something had changed within the old man, but he soon remembered the system notifications…

'So he now sees me as family huh?... It's not that bad…'

He smiled genuinely, and said:

"Then… I'll do so… Heh, make sure to read those by tomorrow. I'm very keen in learning what's in them."

'Since I can't read these books, nor can I use the Skill books, there's no point in staying here further.'

'It's frustrating, but it's reality.'

'Inside those books lies the knowledge I need to advance many quests, but I can't access it because I am… Illiterate… Dammit.'

{For a moment there I thought you were going to say impotent…} David suddenly said, spoiling the mood as he failed to be funny

'... At least I have one, and it's bigger than you.'

Dale smiled victorious…

{?!?!?!}

While David almost broke his act as his brows furrowed, thankfully, Testros wasn't paying attention to the Holy Icon placed on top of the bed.

(Remember that David is more like a miniature head…)

"I'll go on my way then, the night is still long."

He turned around and walked towards the door.

"If you need me, I'll be in the Guild."

Dale nodded.

"I will."

With a last greeting, the old man left the room, leaving Dale alone…

Well, not entirely alone.

Behind him was David, who he rudely grabbed and placed on the table before going to the bed…

{Wait...}

'What is it?' Dale asked annoyed

{Are you going to sleep like that? Go take a shower, you smell of sweat} David said in a rude tone

"..."

Dale had no words to refute him, so he complied and went to take a shower; a few minutes later, he logged off.

The problems of the Village and the Players weren't his concern anymore…

…

/Back in the real world…/

Dale left the bathroom with a towel on his waist.

He felt weird, he took a showed in the game, and another one soon after when he logged off…

In fact, he had been taking several showers… One every time he left the Pod.

This is surely not good for his skin… Although he wonders if his skin is sensible enough with a Constitution value of 100.

"Having to take care of 2 bodies sure is annoying…"

Dale shook his head, gazing at the outside world through the window of his room.

It was still early in the morning, the game's tutorial servers launched at 3Pm, and his character had just gone to sleep.

Since the game is 3x faster than real life, the moment where the in-game time and the real life time becomes the same happens once every 3 days.

There were about 12 or so in-game hours until that time came, and that was equivalent to 4 real hours.

Of course, Dale had no intention of staying offline for that long, he only needed to do so until he received the buff for sleeping.

It may look like he is forcing his body by living such a strange lifestyle, and that is correct. But Dale's body is far from normal.

Going several days with a 2h sleep is nothing to it.

And each day, it's getting stronger…

/Creak…/

"Haa… I missed my bed."

He looked at the ceiling and said:

"Wake me up in 1 hour and… No, wake me up in 2h."

[Alarm Clock set] Said the mechanical voice of the house AI

So for the first time in a while, Dale closed his eyes, letting his worries wash away…

…

Dale dreamt of a strange Blue Palace on a tall mountain, serene…

The Palace seemed to blend in with the pure blue sky.

It felt magnificent, yet, he felt strange.

It was as if the Palace was waiting for something…

So he raised his hand, and even though he was far away on the bottom of the mountain, he just felt as if he could touch it.

The mountain then grew larger, but Dale felt nothing unusual as he continued to look at the mountain…

And just when he felt he was about to grab it…

…

/DIN DIN DIN DIN DIN DIN!/

His Godforsaken Alarm Clock started ringing…

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Notes

Several things happened in this chapter, and after talking about sleep so much, I'm also off to bed.

There are a few things that may be up to change, but I do change them tomorrow, I'll make sure to include them all next chapter.

See ya all, and have a nice day.