by Pegaz
The only upside to them is they can't be bothered with hunting humans. As a meal, we don't even fill them up, so as long as you leave them alone they won't bother you. That's how humans managed to map out the world.
Mentally drained from going over everything he’d learned, John decided to take a break by opening up the Idle System. Time to look at all the progress I’ve made this month...
Attack List:
Palm Toughness - Idlers 1/99, Power Level - 22/100, Speed - 0/100, Ignore Defence - 0/100, Time - 1mo 17d 6h 57m 16s
Knuckle Damage - Idlers 1/99, Power Level - 22/100, Speed - 0/100, Ignore Defence - 0/100, Time - 1mo 17d 6h 57m 16s
Elbow Damage - Idlers 1/99, Power Level - 22/100, Speed - 0/100, Ignore Defence - 0/100, Time - 1mo 17d 6h 57m 16s
Knee Damage - Idlers 1/99, Power Level - 22/100, Speed - 0/100, Ignore Defence - 0/100, Time - 1mo 17d 6h 57m 16s
Feet Damage - Idlers 1/99, Power Level - 22/100, Speed - 0/100, Ignore Defence - 0/100, Time - 1mo 17d 6h 57m 16s
Defence List:
Flesh's Strength - Idlers 1/99, Regeneration - 15/100, Time - 13d 8h 19m 59s
Organ's Strength - Idlers 1/99, Regeneration - 12/100, Time - 7d 9h 4m 44s
Blood's Capacity - Idlers 1/99, Cell Speed - 7/100, Time - 14h 6m 26s
Bones Density - Idlers 1/99, Toughness - 9/100, Time - 3d 16h 34m 21s
Muscle Elasticity - Idlers 1/99, Cardiac - 8/100, Time - 1d 5h 16m 43s
Mind's Strength - Idlers 1/99, Thinking Speed 20/100, Memory - 1/2, Senses - 2/10, Time - 4d 15m 54s
With the five skills in his Attack list, John took the Continue skill off before Knuckle Damage finished levelling. He waited ten-ish minutes for the other skills to complete as well, and then put all of his Idlers in at the same time to keep it neat and organized.
My Attacking Points got boosted, and I’ve soared past Rank H and now I’m at Rank G instead. But when I got all the skills past level ten on the first day in the library, it didn't show ten points. I think there's something else that boosts the points, I just don't know what.
I’m still not on the ranking for defence or stamina—not even close. But most of this month was used getting Idlers Speed up to level four and Maximum Idlers up to fifteen. Now I can keep one Idler on most skills at once and keep three Idlers working on getting more.
Even though this is worse than actually focusing a single skill, I don’t really have much of a choice. I calculated that Idlers Speed Level 5 needed over sixteen years to complete. The only silver lining is that number will go way down once the Level 4 Idlers Speeds skill kicks in.
But even taking that into account, with one Idler in the skill it will still take over three years’ time. And even if I put every Idler in, I'm guessing it will still take months.
I can't risk it. It would take more time than I can afford right now. Suddenly, John’s breath hitched as he was struck by an anomaly. Wait, my sense of Time skill does all the calculations for me, so doesn't that mean that the Idlers Speed Level 4 and Level 9 should be factored in? Do they not count? Unless there’s something that I'm missing...
So far I've only been focusing on the Idle part of the system. In the Idle games that I used to play, ninety-nine percent of them had a manual part too, a click for cash option or something along that line to lower the levelling times.
“System, please tell me you have something like manual clicking or something to help me out...?”
After a few minutes with no reply, John sighed and decided to leave the library. He greeted the librarian, whom he’d gotten to know on a fundamental level during his month here.
John strode past the man and exited the building. He couldn’t help but deem the librarian as unimportant, not even worth describing.
After coming out the library, he opened the system and looked at the top right corner where it read ‘Time: 4:55 pm’. He then checked the last bit of his skills.
Misc List:
Idlers Speed - Idlers 0/99, -1 Second Per Idler - 4/9
Maximum Idlers - Idlers 3/99, +1 Max Idlers - 15/2159, Time - 26d 21h 34m 15s
Analyser Eye - Idlers 1/99, Advanced - 0/1, Godly - 0/1, Time - 2mo 3d 16h 34m 12s
Sprinter - Idlers 1/99, Reduction Cost 2/10, Time - 2mo 25d 19h 15m 32s
Completed List:
Organ's Strength - Stomach Acid
Analyser Eye - Basic
Senses - Time and Sight
Closing the system, he walked towards the Adventurer Guild. Tonight was the last night for his free lodging, so before he started his first adventure, he wanted to learn about the local plants, monsters, and areas.
Since he levelled his Thinking Speed skill up to level twenty but kept his Memory skill at level one, he typically needed to read something roughly five times for it to stick in his brain for life. When the skill was at level 0, his thinking ability was like he had a roadblock in his mind where only small things got through. Even now, that roadblock was still there—it just had a bigger gap for more thoughts to slip through.
Mind Strength:
Thinking Speed: Same thoughts and even reaction time in a fight become quicker by 0.01s (10 milliseconds) each level.
Memory: Level 1 increases your long-term memory so you'll never forget and gives you eidetic memory. Level 2 increases short-term memory so you'll always remember and gives you photographic memory.
Senses:
Second Sense: Sight, Able to see further when concentrating, and look through all illusions.
I'm pretty sure starting out with level 0 in all the Mind Strength Skills was the system’s way of telling me I'm stupid. Just a little theory I’ve come up with. I've noticed that with the Memory skill at level 1, memorising writings and understanding their meanings are still rather difficult.
Pictures, on the other hand, are easy to remember, even if I've only glanced at it once. It’s like I’ve developed a photographic memory. Though, I suppose that's most likely the eidetic memory working, so photographic memory must be towards the writings instead. I did not know there was a difference, honestly. I always thought photographic memory was a perfect memory of everything.
Just as he got to the Guild Hall's Entrance, he heard the ‘ding!’ of the system’s notification.
Chapter 10
The End of the Holiday
Congratulations for finding a bug in the system! The Senses skill Time and Idle Speed skill both clash. We have rewarded you with 1 Skill Point.
The Level 4 and 9 bonuses for the Idlers Speed skill has been removed.
Stunned, John checked on the skill's description again.
Idlers Speed:
Every level increases the time taken off per Idler.
It's gone, so the system can update or upgrade itself?
With that thought in mind, he looked at the top of the screen.
Welcome to the Idle System 1.1
Wasn't it 1.0 last month? John rested his vision on the 1.1 text and counted to five.
Version of the system. Each skill obtained increases the version up to 1.9.
So getting the Sprinter skill made the version update… wait, what if I get a useless skill? Like, if I had to cook out in the wilderness, could it give me the cooking skill? I don't want that, thank god I spent a month just sitting in the library reading and eating my meals at the inn. I’d gone and done something else, I might have gotten a useless skill.
I wonder what happens after 1.9, though. Does it stay there forever, or will it upgrade to 2.0 somehow?
Wait, how come the system didn't reply to me straight away? It shouldn't have taken more than a few seconds, yet I've been walking down this street for minutes before a reply.
Have the roles been reversed? I'm the game that carries on with whatever I'm doing, and the system is the gamer who comes and checks on me every now and then? Who's the "we" whenever the system gives me something?
Too many unanswered questions. John didn't want to think anymore—his brain was on the verge of a complete me
ltdown. While he was walking, he put the new skill point into Idlers Speed to raise it to Level 5. After a few more minutes, he reached the Guild Hall.
Walking in, it was just as noisy as the first time. He looked at the ten counters. He knew the far left one was for registering new adventurers. The far right counter and the one to its left with the words ‘Buying’ on top of them was for the Guild Hall to buy the monster cores and any other goods one might want to sell.
The two remaining counters had the word ‘Selling’ hovering above them. John learned in the library that if one needed to buy a specific monster core or any pieces of equipment that you couldn’t find upstairs, you could put in a request here. The other five counters had ‘Quests’ written above them. Those were where you could accept, turn in, abandon, or commission quests.
John walked up to the registering counter since there was no line. The very same woman who registered him only a month ago was looking down and reading. Noticing him walk over, she raised her head.
"Hi, I know this is the counter for registering, but I was wondering if there was a way to learn about the areas around here.” John spoke quickly, as if trying to get everything out before the woman could shoo him away to another counter. “I've finished the books in the library, and I wanted to get a better grasp before going out and doing quests.”
"Usually when accepting a quest,” the woman replied in a flat tone, “the information about the area’s monsters, plants, and travel routes are provided. But if you want to learn all surrounding areas, the guild does have an area map for sale. It includes things like highest ranked monster seen in the area, various weather patterns, and safe routes."
"And how much would that cost?"
"£10 for each area map."
I've got £11 in total, John frowned deep in thought. If I'm going to do a quest, I might need supplies like food, water, a tent, and if it's cheap enough a basic fire monster core to start a fire.
"Sorry, haven't got enough,” he said with a shrug. “Guess I'll have to go take on a quest then. Thanks."
The woman just nodded at John and continued reading.
John walked to the far right where the job board was. Looking at the board, he saw each mission was divided by rank, the categories only going up to Rank C. Maybe because it's the newbie town and Rank C was the hardest quest they would accept to post here?
John walked down to the Rank H newbie quests. Even though his stats put him at a Rank G, he'd never been in a real fight before. The bat he managed to kill shouldn't have counted since it was the boulder that knocked it out. He didn’t know how he would react when facing something larger like the Continuous Bear in an actual one-on-one fight.
Most of the quests listed here revolved around finding herbs and other plants. Some were going along with other parties to be a baggage carrier.
John picked up a quest to find a rare plant in an area called Loose Forest. He walked off to the Quest counter with the fewest people in line.
When it was John's turn at the counter, the man at the counter put his hand out and waited for John to give him the quest slip. John gave him the sheet and looked at the man, who was bald with thick black eyebrows and droopy eyes. The man accepted the paper and read it over, pulling out a folder from underneath the counter and drawing out a piece of paper.
"Give me your ID, and I'll mark this quest as being taken,” the man’s voice slinked out with all the dreariness of a bored office worker. “If you don't return after seven days, the guild will assume you have died and will repost the quest. All information needed to complete the quest is here."
John nodded, handed him his ID and took the paper. A few seconds later, the man returned the ID and put the folder back under the counter. John went to the area with the seats, sat down, and started reading over the quest details.
Quest: Find a Black Petunia Flower.
Description: Black flower with five straight edges, silver and green in the middle. It usually grows on rocks, digging its roots through stones to absorb the compound silica. It doesn't need sunlight to grow and is not poisonous.
Location: Loose Forest.
Locations Dangers That Are Known: Rank H Continuous Bear is the strongest creature in this area.
Reward: £75
When John read the description it suddenly clicked. Loose Forest must have been where he woke up and met Alan and the others. It was about a six-hour walk northwest from here.
The woman at the register counter had said that, usually when accepting quests, you were given details about the location. But this seems a bit.... lacking, doesn’t it? The reward is high, though, so that must mean that the flower is rare.
Sighing, John got up and asked around about where he could buy camping supplies. He was directed outside of the Adventurer Guild and to a little shop right around the corner.
Entering the shop, he found canned food at £4 each, a water bottle at £8, the cheapest tent they had at £30, a small compass for £1, and finally a small sack was £2.
The problem was that John only had £11. Sorting out his priorities, he purchased the water bottle, compass, and a small sack. The bottle had a clip at the end which he proceeded to tie it to the bottom of his shirt. He didn’t want to clip the bottle to his trousers; he had no belt so the weight of the bottle might pull down his pants. He’d already experienced enough indecent exposure to last him a lifetime.
He put the compass in the bag, which was light enough to safely tie it to one of the belt slots on his trousers. Almost ready to venture out, John turned to the store clerk and asked where he could fill the bottle up.
The closest well to here was at the centre of the city, not far from the Guild Hall. John thanked the man and proceeded to fill the water bottle from the well. With all preparations made, he headed back to the inn for a good night’s rest.
Tomorrow, he’d be on his own to survive.
While John was eating his dinner from the Inn, the manager came and notified him of the inn rates. If John wanted to carry on renting, the price would ring up to be £15 a night. This included breakfast, lunch and a safe deposit box at the back of the Inn. John promised that he would rent out a room upon his return from a quest into the Loose Forest. Quite pleased, the manager smiled and offered the Sider a gift of free breakfast in the morning—a congratulations gift from the inn for starting his adventure. John thanked him, finished his meal, and headed to bed.
6:30 am
John could see the time blinking in the corner of his vision. Eyes adjusting to the light that was pouring in through the curtains, he opened up the system to check over his statistics once more.
Blood's Capacity - Idlers 1/99, Cell Speed - 8/100, Transportation - 0/10, White Cells - 0/10, Time - 7h 8m 35s
Muscle Elasticity - Idlers 1/99, Cardiac - 9/100, Skeletal - 0/100, Smooth - 0/100, Time - 14h 18m 21s
Blood's Capacity and Muscle Elastic levelled up in the night, but he didn't feel any different. There were no points added to attack or defence either. He thought it odd until realised that he hadn't checked the information about the other skills.
Organ Strength:
Regeneration: Heals all organs and shifts them back into place if an impact was strong enough to knock them.
Lung Capacity: When holding air, it will last much longer before needing to breathe again.
Stomach Acid: The user can eat and drink whatever he wants without worry. The Stomach Acid skill will dissolve bones, poisons, and even metals very quickly. It will also be impossible to suffer from any illness that involves the Gastric acid.
Bonus for maxing all skill levels: Strengthens all organs most outside flesh, they become as hard as steel but keeps the flexibility and functions.
Regeneration Level 10 = 10 points, Level 25 = 40 points, Level 50 = 75 points, Level 100 = 150 points.
Blood's Capacity:
Cell Speed: Increases the speed of all cells through the blood without harming the circulatory system.
Transportation: All
cells can carry more.
White Cells: Boosts all white cells attacking ability, at max level, it can get rid of everything harmful to the body, and you will be immune to all diseases and poisons that enter the circulatory system.
Bonus for maxing all skill levels: The body will have ten times more Defence points.
Bones Density:
Toughness: Increases the bone's strength while keeping the weight of each bone the same.
Marrow: Increases the number of stem cells in each bone.
Cell production: Turns the stem cells in the bones into other cells the body needs at a faster rate.
Bonus for maxing all skill levels: All bones will become as hard as diamonds.
Toughness Level 10 = 10 points, Level 25 = 40 points, Level 50 = 75 points, Level 100 = 150 points
Muscle Elasticity:
Cardiac: Makes the heart able to pump harder per beat but keeps the rhythm, sound and everything else the same.
Skeletal: All movements can be ten times faster at max level.
Smooth: Allows all organs with this muscle to expand and relax much faster.
Bonus for maxing all skill levels: The whole body functions much faster than an average person.
Holy shit, so when all these are complete, my immune system will be near perfect. The only poisons that would be able to harm me would be the ones affecting the skin, since my organs and blood will be completely immune... Is that right?
Then, if I compare a regular person who, for example, pump a litre of blood every second... My body will be pumping maybe ten or twenty times that...
It’ll be as is my body is on stimulants twenty-four hours a day without any of the risks or side effects!
After the excitement wore off, John got dressed and made sure that he remembered all of his supplies. After double-checking, he went downstairs and waited for breakfast.
By 7 am, he’d bid his goodbyes to the manager and walked out of the inn. He needed to head towards the West City Gate, where he first entered the city. Pulling his compass out, he looked up at the correct direction began walking.