5 IDLE points. That's the amount the Dimensional Clone got from killing the first Worker Ant.
'This should be an idle game, right? Why is it so weak that it was already about to die after killing one?'
'Is this the tutorial phase? Probably not. It should be the opposite if that was the case. Instead of being too hard, the enemies should be too easy to let the player get a good feeling for the game.'
Following that logic, this idle game that was presented to him didn't have any tutorial, only tooltips that would show up whenever he would point his cursor onto something.
Aldrin shook his head and moved the cursor to the five choices presented to him and turned his eyes back to the Dimensional Clone that was clutching its stabbed abdomen wherein its black blood continued to flow out of it.
It appeared fierce and powerful when it charged towards that Worker Ant. And he could honestly say that the graphics of this game were leagues ahead of any other games.
The downside was… Aldrin didn't know where it actually came from and how it could pluck a clump of his hair to be sent inside the game.
He wasn't dreaming, he's well aware of that. Moreover, he could still vividly recall everything that happened ever since he was roused from his sleep.
'That ad… It's possibly specifically aimed at me.' He suspected.
Shaking his head once more, he cleared his head and began focusing on what was happening inside his screen.
'Should I let it die? Seems to be a waste to heal it by using the only IDLE points it got.'
As he wandered his cursor to the other choices presented to him, it was painfully obvious to him that the other three were grayed out.
He only had 5 IDLE points and those three choices needed 20 to activate. If he couldn't understand that then he's even worse than being worthless and useless.
Hovering the cursor above the last choice 'Leave the Dimension', a descriptive pop-up tooltip appeared on the game's interface.
Upon seeing that, he hurriedly read it before making his final decision.
[Leaving the Lower Dimension while your Dimensional Clone is still alive will convert the total IDLE points it got during this run to an equivalent Dimensional Energy. However, it will still count as a used-up chance of playing in Idle Adventure Mode.]
… Aldrin's expression instantly froze after reading the highlighted words.
Dimensional Energy!
Among everything written on it, that's the one thing that instantly took Aldrin's interest.
'Is this real? Converting Dimensional Energy? In the first place, is this even possible?' He disbelievingly muttered to himself.
He's not waiting for an answer since he's alone. If ever, the only companion he had were the night birds chirping outside his window.
However, although unbelievable, he couldn't help but become even more suspicious of whoever was behind the bogus dimsite that was the origin of this IDLE Database.
His suspicion of its developer watching him at this very moment was turning even more concrete.
Not that Aldrin was afraid of him. Truthfully and with complete honesty, Aldrin deemed his existence as useless and worthless.
His family was actually thoroughly disappointed in him. After graduating high school, he failed every college application he took an entrance exam for. Moreover, when he thought of applying for a job instead, the best he could get was to be a part-timer at a local convenience store.
He did that for at least two years before quitting. Since then, he became a slacker who spent his days playing on his PC. It's already a wonder that he could still pay the rent for this low-end apartment with only what he saved when he was doing that part-time job.
He did have a source of income but that's too little to sustain a rather normal life.
That's why, he thought that if the one behind this IDLE Database was someone who would do him harm, he's the one losing out, not Aldrin. Because that someone wouldn't be able to benefit from tricking him who was already at the bottom rung of this society.
Putting the identity of the culprit at the back of his mind, Aldrin brought his focus back to the descriptive popup.
If the IDLE points could truly be converted to Dimensional Energy then he's getting the jackpot here!
That's the idea running inside his head at the moment. In fact, he was too excited that if he was really being used as a guinea pig, he would be willing as long as they delivered what they promised.
What is Dimensional Energy?
It is the Energy that led humanity to enter the Dimensional Age!
Back in the old times when humanity's home planet, Earth, had run out of resources and was about to bring everyone on the verge of extinction, the last of the brightest minds walking on Earth discovered Dimensional Energy.
The origin of Dimensional Energy was debated back then and it was continuing until now. However, one theory stands out the most among the numerous possibilities that were presented.
It was called the 'Everpresent Theory'. It was stated that Dimensional Energy has existed ever since the start of time and humans couldn't just perceive it before its discovery.
As to what the catalyst that allowed for them to detect it right when the whole race was in crisis, no one knows. Perhaps it was because someone was looking out for humanity or it was just the survival instinct of humanity that triggered it.
In any case, thanks to that Energy, the impending doom of the whole human race was averted.
Dimensional Energy was the one that allowed for the world's technological mileage to reach another threshold. Applying the said energy to the Earth's technology at that time, the last of the Scientists, Inventors and the likes successfully created a method to open a Dimensional Portal, migrating the last of humanity to the farther reach of the universe where they could start anew.
Moreover, Dimensional Energy that was integrated into every form of technology also allowed for humanity to terraform planets for human settlement.
It was already thousands of years since that day and at this point, humanity had once again proliferated. And it's not just on one planet.
However, the resettlement of humanity and becoming a universal civilization didn't go as smoothly as one would think.
As the history books stated, humanity faced many challenges before fully establishing themselves in this new sector of the Universe where they migrated to.
There were the so-called Dimensional Rifts opening up that spewed out beasts and monsters of unknown origins that could utilize Dimensional Energy to strengthen themselves.
Because of those rifts, a lot of emerging human settlements in a lot of habitable planets they were trying to terraform were destroyed.
Although the humans at that time tried to fight back using weapons that also utilize Dimensional Energy like the Metadomes; two or four-limbs mechanical constructs that could be piloted by a human much like a new generation of weapons, that was proven not enough.
The bitter struggle against the Rifts continued on for more than three centuries until one of the leading Scientists at that time risked the uproar of those Human Rights Advocates to experiment on copying the beasts that could utilize Dimensional Energy on their bodies.
And he was successful in his experiment which led to the birth of the so-called Energy Refiners.
Taking in the literal meaning of that title, they were humans who could refine Dimensional Energy to strengthen themselves. Furthermore, due to their ability to refine and use the Dimensional Energy for themselves, the new generation of weapons such as the Metadomes that was utilizing the same energy became a lot more terrifying weapons in their hands, allowing the humans to finally get to an even ground against the beasts, monsters and other beings coming out of the rifts.
As more and more humans became Energy Refiners, the fight to defend against those Rifts subsided and the new age for humanity arrived.
"Change my life? If I can become an Energy Refiner because of this then… use me to your heart's content!" Aldrin almost shouted as he decided to pick that last option.
There's no guarantee that the Dimensional Clone could kill another ant now that the colony would be alerted by the ant who witnessed the killing. Besides, he's more excited to find out if what he read was true.
Being an Energy Refiner wasn't for everyone and especially not for someone poor like him.
Back then, the first Energy Refiners were artificially made through lab experiments but as those Energy Refiners gave birth to their children, most if not all of them became natural Energy Refiners and it continued onto every generation.
Sadly, Aldrin's lineage didn't hail from any generation of Energy Refiners.
However, it's not like there's no path for those unlucky ones. There was a way for non-Energy Refiners to become one.
It was to undergo the same treatment as those artificially-made Energy Refiners or… just be lucky enough to get the ability to harness the omnipresent Dimensional Energy and strengthen oneself.
The treatment needed loads of money which Aldrin didn't possess while he's as unlucky as he was useless and worthless.
But with this chance presented to him, if it was true then changing his entire life wouldn't be a dream anymore!
As soon as the game interface darkened, Aldrin saw the clump of his hair in the shape of the Dimensional Clone leave his screen and go back to where it was plucked out.
Following that, he read what showed up on the interface which detailed this particular run of the Idle Adventure Mode.
[Idle Adventure Mode Run Time: 2 minutes, 39 seconds]
[Total Creatures killed: 1]
[Total IDLE Points gained: 5]
[Total IDLE Points used: 0]
[Total IDLE Points to be converted: 5]
[Lower Dimension Conquest progress: 0%]
[Remaining Chances: 4 (will reset at 0:00 local time)]
[Evaluation: F- Rating]