Natalie didn't check my groceries. But she did ask if I bought everything I've listed. The answer is obviously not because I'm on a tight budget, especially after preparing for the fight with Khione. I'm not rich like her. My pocket money comes from Terrence's parents and my own savings from helping in the academy and part-time jobs near the academy. They're not much, and I still have to save up.
***
Reward claimed! You got additional 30 TP by helping (3) people!
***
I just remembered that Ozzie's system has additional points that I can claim through helping people. In the plaza, I helped an auntie get a yogurt from the rack in the supermarket and a guy taking a picture by the fountain. That's two. The last one must be the boy. Well, if that boy was being honest and he did find this, then I just helped him get out of trouble. That boy did say he found it in a field. If someone ever confront me for it, I'll just feed the person my bullet. Flat characters are not important.
I put my groceries on the floor and put the pendant on my desk. Then I heard another ding. This time it's my Arrow, the smartwatch given to every students in the Terrace. It works like a phone would, with its internet like stuffs and social media.
I look at my Arrow screen and am surprised to see the sender.
.
From: Rean
-1 sweeping 4 PM. Do you want to come?
.
He's in need of one more person to fill in his sweeping team today. Good timing! I've just shopped today and I'm kinda broke now. Not to mention that after the exam, I wouldn't have enough energy to do part-time jobs. I would be starving after the 2nd exam, and I choose not to be in debt to the cafeteria.
I immediately reply to him that I'll be there. He doesn't reply, but I know he got the message.
I still have some time before the mission start, so I sit on the floor and plan my strategy for tomorrow.
When it's almost time, I got a message from Rean about the meeting location. So I pop in a chocolate croissant into my mouth, courtesy of the auntie I helped, and leave the dorm.
I go to the academy's entrance and Rean's already waiting there with two other people I don't recognize. They must be side characters.
"Isn't this guy that gunner from your class, Rean?" The female one looks at me disapprovingly.
The guy scrunches his nose at the question but does not say anything. But it's clear that they guy's expressing his disapproval too.
"Don't judge people by their weapon of choice. You weren't a pro either when you pick up those swords." Rean scolds them.
The two immediately looks away awkwardly. Then Rean turns to me. "Thank you for coming. You'll be our range attacker."
I smile at their disgruntled expressions before turning to Rean. "Aye aye boss!"
Sweeping mission is, as the name said, sweeping. Students who accept this mission must clear a certain area from monsters. Usually due to random spawns near dungeon area. There are dungeons outside of the city, and monsters spawn there regularly. The academy is located in the southwest side, near the outskirts of the city. There are small villages here that depends on the academy for protection, thus, this sweeping mission is enacted.
We get into the academy-issued vehicle a.k.a borrowed car from the academy and go on our way. I'd like to sit with one of the two chumps, but Rean insists I sit in the passenger seat beside him. Boo. But I did as he asked.
"Why did you agree to come, Terrence?" Rean asks as he drives.
I almost tell him I needed some money, but I decide to peek the rear-view mirror to see how the chumps are doing. They're looking annoyed at the window, so I decide to make the car ride more interesting for them. "Well~ I've never been in these missions before, thought I'll give it a try."
The two in the back immediately lose hold on their jaws.
"You've never…? Rean!! He'll be a hindrance!"
"How could you bring someone inexperienced with us?"
Rean ignores them. "Good. If you're having a difficulty, tell me."
"Gotcha."
The two look at him in disbelief and try to argue about my existence in this temporary group. But Rean deflects them away. "Enough. I'm not stopping the car. So if you don't want to work together, just jump out."
They immediately shut up. But I can see the girl glaring at me from the rear-view mirror. I only smile at her. This is gonna be fun.
Rean drives us to the Mimosa Village and parks the car in front of the chief's house. The chief is already waiting there with his old man's trademark warm smile.
"Good afternoon, Rean. Sorry to trouble you today." The nice old man welcomes us.
Rean smiles back with a protagonist's trademark cool smile. "It's our job. Where is it today, sir?"
"It's near the shipping shed. The workers fled first thing at lunch, and no one dares to check because they said it's Direwolves. A villager said one even got into the shed." The man told us the condition.
Rean nods. "Alright. We'll try and see if we can help." The old man thanks him and he returns to us. "Let's go."
The shed is located between the village and the city. We passed it on the way here, and I can say that I didn't see anyone there, so the evacuation must've been done quickly.
"Before we go in, Rean." The female stops the group. Then she points at me. "You, noob, don't stand in our way. Just stand at the back."
"Julie…" Rean looks disapprovingly at her.
It'll be fun to make fun of her, but I don't exactly have time to spare for flat characters right now. I still have to plan my strategy because the D-day's tomorrow. So I told her. "Lookie here, Rean's the leader. So I'm gonna do what he tells me to do." Then I turn to Rean. "Let's get this over with, yeah?"
Thankfully, Rean understands and stop the arguments. She can only grit her teeth in annoyance.
We enter the shed's area and surely, there are visible tracks of Direwolves here. I let the others walk in front of me while I take the back. As the leader, Rean is obviously in front of all of us. We creeps to the front of the shed where the double door is still wide open. We can hear growls from inside the shed, and he hold his hand to stop us.
"Terrence, give me vision." Rean said.
I get what he meant, so I zig-zag myself among the stack of produces to find a good position to see the situation. I find a good spot behind a stack of hay and take a peek. The inside of the shed is a mess. I can see three Direwolves that are bigger in size than that of ordinary wolves, with bigger and sharper teeth. The two of them are chewing something like a big chunk of jerky inside the shed, and one of them is just sitting near the door while chewing its own jerky.
I run back to the group and tell them the situation.
"Alright. Each of us takes one. Terrence, make sure no escapees." Rean sheathes his sword. They go in while I resume my scouting position with my handgun drawn. I don't help Rean because he easily takes one down, so I help the other two.
One is about to chew on the guy's hand, so I aim my gun at it and shoot. Now, I'm not saying I'm a proficient marksman, but I've trained a lot in the two months I've been in this world. I mean, I'm in a world full of monsters. You can't expect me to sit down and take it easy. So I have quite adapted to using this handgun and my aim is sometimes—
The bullet hits the wolf directly in the eye and the wolf staggers.
"Amazing." I whisper, feeling so proud of myself.
The guy immediately swoops in with his sword and takes the kill. He looks over to me and nods, then he goes to help the girl. Both takes the last wolf together within a few slashes. Then our sweeping is done.
We return to the old man afterwards, and he expresses his gratitude. He insists we stay for tea, but Rean refuses on behalf of us because it was an easy mission. So the lady of the house packs each of us small pouches of cookies. Yeay!
We bid the two nice couples goodbye, then we drive back to the academy.
"Good job, you three. I'll file the report so you can claim your money tomorrow." Rean said like a no-nonsense person that he is.
Nobody said a thing in the car after that, so it's quiet and nice. Rean parks the car in the academy's parking lot and all of us get out at the same time.
"Hey, blondie." I turn around, it was the guy. "Thanks for today. And sorry."
I shrug. "No problem." I hear a 'hmph' on the other side of the car and I see the girl walking away while stomping.
"Please forgive Julie. She's…"
"I don't care." I cut the guy. "Well, good evening to you." I leave the guy hanging and catch up to Rean who is waiting for me at the parking lot's entrance.
"I'm impressed you can keep your cool." Rean told me.
I smile. "Well, no need to make any trouble. Might need their help one day, who knows."
The last sentence is a lie.
He offers me his cookie bag. "Here."
"Ooo~ Treats! Woof!" I take the bag from him.
He shakes his head with a small smile. "I don't understand you, Terrence."
"I'm not made for this world, Rean. I'm too amazing." I said wholeheartedly, but he doesn't know that.
We return to our dormitory rooms, and I immediately take a shower. It's not a hard mission, but I still need the bath. When I'm done, there's a notification from Ozzie.
[Congratulations! You've reached level 6! You have 3 unused Ability Points and additional 10 Trading Points. Would you like to use your AP now?]
Oh, right. Ability Points. It also exists for the game characters. It's extra points that I can add into any of the character's status to enhance their ability. In the game, it's kind of a useless feature for me because I'm not a maniac gamer who likes to calculate status percentages. But in here, I think every point counts, especially for me. This body is hella weak, and if I don't do anything to change it, I won't survive.
"Yes, please."
Ozzie's interface pops up in front of me and I add all the points to my strength.
***
Name : Terrence Blair , Host : *****
Age : 18
Level : 6
Affiliation : Orion Terrace
Hometown: Chertan Town
STARs rank : -
Job : Terrace Student
Status :
- STR 36 - MAG 40
- LUC 100 - VIT 56
- WIS 77 - AGI 47
- DEX 52
Active skills: There is no active skills.
Passive skills: Gameplot knowledge
Weapon: Gun
Items: 5 Potions, 5 Antidotes, 1 Beruang Greens, Yellow Pendant
***
Huh, some of the status points changed after I levelled up. I now understand how this works.
"Thanks, Ozzie." I said. The interface closes.
I pop in a cinnamon roll and pull out my notebook again. I have already finished my strategy, but I'm running it in a few scenarios just in case. Besides, getting a high score is easy, but getting higher than Rean is questionable. Especially if I have to do it by myself. I just wish that splitting up from my group won't deduct my points, because I really can't have a deduction from that.
After running it a couple of times for hours, I wish myself good luck and sleep the night.