Looking at Skills
Jaff didn't know how long the test went. But after an indeterminate amount of time, the white light receded, and he slowly regained his eyesight. The test had left his eyes dry and irritated though, and as if they could read his mind, the staff member who had used the eyedrops on him came back and reapplied the eyedrops once more.
The doctor then helped him sit up and stand and explained to him that the test result would be given to him later after his job details are placed into the CSA system and the servers were updated.
He nodded and followed a different staff member as they led him out of the orientation zone and he was then left alone as they continued their work.
An N-HUD notification soon appeared. Dexta had messaged him saying that he should make his way to Level 35 Mess Hall to hang out with him.
Another notification popped up and he was surprised when the notification was of another person who wanted to be added to his contacts list:
Reeanen Molwerk.
He recognized the last name of the contact and smiled to himself as he thought about the short interactions that he'd had with the raven-haired beauty and accepted the request.
Although he expected a response from Reeanen, he noted that she was still probably still on the job and only sent him the request quickly in between her tasks.
He quickly booted up CSALTS and tasked the program to lead him towards the Mess Hall on level 35 and once again the augmented reality line appeared in front of him.
"Oh, wait!" he mumbled to himself as he tried to bring up the status screen on the CaSTE system. To his surprise, it worked.
Role: Eponymous Character
Character Synergy: 63%
Unlocked Skills: (none)
Points Available: 1
Current Objective: Complete Episode: "PILOT">
While he walked to the mess hall, he thought to check out the different aspects of the CaSTE system once again.
CaSTE automatically read his mind and a window appeared in front of him.
What are skills? Skills are abilities that the User can purchase from the Points Shop using their available points. The skills are varied and allow different bonuses and abilities for the User in their journey of completing objectives.
Possible Follow-Up Question Detected: How do you get Points?
How do you get points? The User is able to receive a varying amount of points depending on the completion of an objective, reaching certain milestones and unlocking achievements. (Achievements are locked until the show receives a series order).>
Jaff's eyes widened at the reveal of an achievement function. The depth and complexity of the CaSTE system seemed to grow and grow as he learned more about it.
He scratched the back of his neck absent-mindedly as he swiped the window away — an act that seemed so weird to him when he first woke up in this universe, and yet after only what felt like an hour or two after the N-HUD was implanted, he was already getting used to the action as if it had always been second-nature to him.
He sighed as he continued to follow the CSALTS direction and stepped into a massive capsule lift. Even though his mind was slightly distracted from the new information that he was constantly being bombarded with, he still had time to gawp at the truly awe-inspiring engineering miracle that the interior of the Maxo's Lightbringer.
The sheer amount of metal and glass that he could see around him made him slightly dizzy with awe at the thought of accruing the supplies needed to make even the capsule lift he stood in.
Even the amount of people that were constantly on the move around the ship that he had to walk past seemed to have been more people than he'd ever seen in his life before. From his rough estimate, there were about 40 people on the capsule lift with him right now and that knowledge created a sense of anxiety in him.
Was I always this anxious in my original universe? He thought when he realized he was feeling quite anxious.
He took a deep breath and tried to distract his newborn existential crisis by relaying the CaSTE system back up on his vision. He opened the Points Shop and studied its contents.
Points Available: 1>
Jaff's eyes widened again from shock when he saw some of the skills available on the Points Shop. Not only because their effects sounded insane, but the cost of unlocking the skill also seemed egregious.
Cost: 50 Points>
Cost: 50 Points>
After he read the system note about the two most expensive skills, Jaff realized why they were the most expensive. Not only were the skills overpowered, but when he thought about the skills in the context of a fictional character, he knew that the skill had its major drawbacks.
It's kinda good that those skills are so expensive, otherwise, this whole universe may be in danger of deletion if I had purchased either of them, Jaff thought pensively.
Jaff quickly scrolled down the screen to the cheapest items in the shop. Their effects were quite underwhelming compared to the most expensive skills, but to say that they were interesting would be an understatement.
In events where outcomes are up in the air, often something will go slightly wrong for your character. Raises The Viewer's sympathy towards the User's character.
Cost: 5 Points>
Your character will always find himself in the middle of every event noteworthy. Raises World Connectivity and improves The Viewer's enjoyment of the series as a whole if handled correctly, while the opposite effect happens if it's handled badly.
Cost: 5 Points>
Cost: 1 Point>
I guess being able to see another character's Status Screen can be helpful to stay on their good side, Jaff thought to himself, though I don't know if the cost is worth it right now.
Cost: 1 Point>
Cost: 1 Point>
Jaff was about to keep scrolling but the mention of a 'Creator' caused him to double-take. He hadn't thought about it, but a TV show always had someone or some people who created them, and they usually had ending plans even if it was very far in the future of their plans for the show.
Surely, having an insight into the Creator of the show would be helpful. He reached out to select the skill but paused. He started to second-guess the decision.
It feels like I'm just being a defeatist, Jaff frowned in thought, surely being able to see production notes would be helpful to figure out how I'm doing, but that's only for events that have already happened, and I can't change those.
Jaff's attention went back to the other 1-point cost skills and mulled over their usefulness once more.
The fact that I can only use these skills once an episode means that I can't spam their usage to gain a big advantage. All the characters that I've met so far have been pretty standard background characters with pretty obvious characteristics to serve their function as exposition, Jaff continued to reason, even Burly Man is simple, and I don't think I need to use Character Study to know what he thinks about me.
That leaves Leaked Script, Jaff concluded.
The skill seemingly stared back at him as he studied the description.
Probably best to get it first just to keep it in the back pocket.
Jaff chose the 'Leaked Script' skill and a window confirming his purchase popped up in front of him.
When he opened his Status Screen, the 'Unlocked Skills' section now listed the 'Leaked Script' skill and his 'Available Points' count had been updated also.
Alright, let's focus on heading towards the Mess Hall Dexta is at.
The journey to Mess Hall on Level 35 took approximately another fifteen minutes, and when he stepped into the massive room, Jaff's jaw dropped.