Chapter 8-Rewards. Quests. XP Store.
[Quest has been completed!]
[Obtained 1RP!]
[Obtained 1000XP!]
[Congratulations! XP mechanism has been activated!]
SIGH!
Rather than being excited about unlocking the possibilities of new realms, Liam let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't scared that he would fail to complete the quest and be killed. He simply wanted to get over with the tiresome quest as soon as possible.
Liam was lazy. He hated hard work when the same thing can be done with a little effort. He always searched to complete the given task in the easiest and quickest way possible. Even more if he didn't have to do anything at all.
"Fucking hell. I hope I never have to do this shit again in my life. Staying put without even moving a finger, uniform breaths, and clear mind. How the fuck can anyone do that?"
[I agree you find it hard compared to anyone here. You are not from this world, and you have never tasted the fruit of patience and boredom. Blame your lifestyle for that. Maybe you would learn to appreciate nature and grief about what you have lost unknowingly.]
"Is it just me, or do you add some insults every time I ask for information?" Liam asked with a slightly frustrated look on his face.
[Oh, let me correct you here. I don't provide you any information; I give you my opinion which may or may not be true or accurate.]
"Wait, what the hell? Aren't you supposed to be my guide? And last I checked, a guide is supposed to help and provide information— even without asking."
[A guide gets paid.]
"How do I pay you? Do you want me to feed you some codes? What do you prefer, binary or unary?" Liam let out a soft chuckle.
[You have to buy the information through XP. Now that you have unlocked the XP mechanism, let me explain how it works.]
A pop-up appeared in front of Liam.
[Welcome to the XP store! You can use XP and convert it to the items available in the store.]
[The items are divided into tiers.]
[Congratulations. Tier 1 has been unlocked.]
Liam looked at the stuff listed in tier 1, which was further divided into sections.
Under the currency sections.
[1 Silver coin - 10XP]
[1 Gold coin - 100 XP]
Under the items sections, there were scrolls, but they were locked.
There was also a skill section where Liam could buy skills using his XP, but that was locked as well.
There was also a 'pills and potions' section, where there were pills and elixir.
[Tier 1 HP potions - 100 XP. Heals minor injuries such as small cuts and visible bruises. Takes 30 seconds to start the effect.]
Pills were locked because of insufficient XP, but Liam could read the name and description.
'Well, I already knew how pills work, although I never tried them. I can't make them and buying them was out of option for me.'
At the very bottom, there was one more section called 'Journals'.
There were journals named after every cult, clan, gangs, organization, unions, and sect. Liam had encountered only one clan— The Shadow Clan, which is why he could only access that journal.
[1 page- 100 XP.]
After inspecting the XP store, Liam fell into a deep thought.
'This is the most exciting part of this system. As long as I have XP, I have an advantage over the others, but the way to earn XP is limited. I need to trigger as many quests as possible to gain RP and XP. Let's wait for another quest until then.'
[DING! A quest has appeared!]
[Find information about the shadow clan.]
Rewards- 1 RP. 1000 XP. 1 AP.]
'Nice! This one doesn't have a deadline!'
"Say, system. Show me the revenge list."
The revenge list appeared in front of Liam. It had 2 names.
'I will get 100XP if I kill one.'
Liam smirked from the corner of his lips and uttered, "Hey, add all the soldiers to the revenge list."
[Added 120 soldiers to the list!]
'That's easy 12000 XP if I kill them all. But damn, human life is only worth 100XP here?'
"Hey, add the five commanders, too."
[Added the five commanders to the list.]
'Nice. The commanders are worth 1000 XP.'
"What about that old man? He seemed someone important. He must be strong, too." He muttered.
[The old man has been added to the list. Reward- 5000 XP!]
"And don't forget those sons of bitches who killed me so brutally." Liam frowned. "I am holding a personal grudge."
[Added the restaurant guards to the list. Reward - 500 XP.]
[Added the host to the list. Reward - 10000 XP.]
Liam had to reward the XP reward, thinking he had read the figure wrong.
"Hey… did you add a zero by mistake? There is no way that host is worth more than that old man…"
[If you want, I can make it 1000 XP instead.]
"Of course not, more is better."
The entire day had passed, and the night had come. There were still a few hours left till the morning.
Liam rubbed his hands together and smirked as though he was planning something devious. "My skill cooldown is about the end too."
Out of five hundred hostages, nearly 80 of the children and 30 adults were already killed. Surprisingly, all the hostages under Lin Xueya were alive.
Liam was exhausted, but he didn't feel tired. He was physically bored and mentally exhausted.
"I can't believe I am saying this, but I am missing my phone."
[You might as well learn to live without them, in case you can't complete ten quests.]
"Pipe down. I already completed one quest. I bet you that I will finish ten quests in less than a week."
[Oh? Is that a challenge?]
"Not a challenge, but a fact. I have confidence in myself." He said with a smug look on his face.
[What if you fail? Would you like to make it a challenge?]
"Sure." He shrugged his shoulders.
[DING! A quest has been generated.
Finish 10 quests within a week.
Reward- 1000 XP. 1RP. 1 SP.]
"Whoa! Are you seriously giving me a System point if I finish 10 quests in a week?! That's so easy! I will keep creating challenges to trigger a quest. That's a cheat right there!" Liam rejoiced, with a delighted look on his face.
[Deadline- 7 days.
Penalty- Failure to complete the quest will remove all the RP points earned.]
"..." Liam realized that he had celebrated too soon. He also regretted creating a challenge to trigger a quest. He promised to keep his mouth shut from now on.
A few minutes later, Liam heard a few children who were younger than ten years, crying about being hungry and thirsty. The adults who were helping them cultivate their dantian asked for water to the guards, but their pleas were ignored.
'They haven't given us anything to eat or drink. I have been here for nearly twenty-four hours now. The others were captured before me. I wonder if they fed the hostages.'
At midnight, Lin Xueya came to the ground with her hostages.
She jumped to the higher ground and announced, "Where are you, O foolish commanders! Get your asses here!"
The remaining four commanders appeared in their own style.
"What is it?" Iron Fang asked.
"Did you call me a fool?!" Stone OX yelled out loud.
"You disturbed my sleep, Viper~" Thunder palm commented with a smile on his face.
"This better be important…" Crimson shadow muttered with his eyes closed.
"You bet it is important! All the 60 children under me have activated their dantian before the time limit!" She declared.
"...!" Everyone present there was shocked, including the commanders.
"Wait, sixty?" Iron fang and Stone Ox couldn't believe what they just heard.
"No one died?" Thunder Palm raised his brow. "That's interesting."
Crimson Shadow's aura flickered slightly as he asked, "Did you call me to flex?"
Lin Xueya turned to Crimson shadow. "Why are you angry? How many children under you have yet to activate their dantian? Do you even know how many of them are alive?"
"I do not care. All humans die one day, and in the murim, one must live each and every day as their last. They died while trying to cultivate their dantian. It's a natural death. I didn't kill them. I do not take the blame for their deaths."
"But you could have helped them cultivate their dantian. Like I did. Which is why all the hostages under me are alive."
Crimson shadow finally opened his eyes and uttered, "Will you help them their entire life? How many of them can you save? Use your brain, Lin. What you did is not an achievement."
"..." Lin Xueya fell silent and didn't say a word in response.
"Now, now. Don't shout at Viper like that." Thunder Palm intertwined. "Don't take it to heart, Viper. I believe what you did was an impressive achievement. No one can do what you did even if they tried."
'Oh man, is this guy a simp?' Liam wondered.
Liam was enjoying the show with an amusing look on his face until he glanced at Crimson Shadow and found him staring at him.
"...!" Liam instinctively averted his eyes to avoid eye contact.
'What the fuck?! His stare was so empty. Yet… so heavy…'
[DING! Congratulations. The Cooldown of your Ability- Immortality has ended!]