------------------(I'll put this here at the beginning because most people don't read the author's note: Apologies for the delayed chapter, as I mentioned before, I had a terrible headache, still had to work early the next day, and I'm pretty sure I have a fever, so I apologize for the delay. Tomorrow's chapter should be out in the evening. Anyway, happy reading. P.S. Please read the author's note after reading the chapter; I've included something there, didn't put it here to avoid spoilers.)------------------
It had been just over a week since I completed the dungeon in classic mode. I was sure I wasn't ready for the next level, so I just did Guild missions while keeping the stream open.
A few things happened in those few days. First, I figured out why I had no members on the stream, even though it was quite popular. I should have at least had Stark as a member since he was the one who actually watched most of the streams.
The other viewers had work, school, and other obligations. Stark was the only one with free time, but even with that, it was strange that none of them had become a member or commented on anything, especially Red.
Looking for the reason, it was something pretty foolish. Basically, I had to set the price. No one had become a member yet because the option wasn't available to them. I needed to choose a price for them to become members.
The stream really needed to notify about these things, not just throw it out there and expect me to figure it out on my own!
I ended up setting the lowest price possible that the stream allowed, ten SP. It was a small amount, but I cared more about them becoming members than the SP itself, for one simple reason.
The Wizard had invited two new viewers to the stream, and Stark had brought in two more. I don't know why they saved the last invitation, but it wasn't my concern. With these four new viewers, the stream reached ten simultaneous viewers in one day, and I received some notifications.
(10 Simultaneous Viewers!: Achievement Unlocked - 10? That's almost 11! - 1000 SP!)
(First Stream Member!: Achievement Unlocked - Pay to Win? 500 SP!)
SP was always good, but it wasn't these notifications that changed everything, but this one:
(First Stream Member!: Feature Unlocked - World Missions - Random).
At first, I thought it was useless since I couldn't do anything that would impact the world for now, but no, it had nothing to do with that.
World missions were like the Guild mission hall. Three random missions appeared every day. The difference was that the stream created the missions, and they were like this:
(Mission: Do you hate pirates? Great! Join the navy and start hunting pirates with them! / Objective: Join the navy / Time limit: 2 years / World: One Piece / Reward: Random Wazamono sword and 10,000 SP)
It was basically a discounted world travel. If I accepted the mission, I would go to another world to complete it!
I had to physically restrain myself from screaming with joy. Damn! I had a plan to get stronger. It was slow, but it was the best plan I could come up with with the resources I had. But with this?
Depending on the world and where I would appear in it, I was sure that in a week, I could triple my strength, speed, stamina, everything! Maybe even more! That's not to mention the mission reward and the items I could pick up from the world!
But it wasn't all sunshine and roses since the missions were truly random, and most of them were kind of... well, like this:
(Mission: Do you like hunting things? Great! Help an old man kill beasts! / Objective: Join the hunter's dream and end the hunt / Time limit: Indefinite / World: Bloodborne / Reward: The Holy Moonlight Sword and 1,000,000 SP!)
Seriously, I'd rather die the most horrible way possible than accept this mission. At least, I'd only die once. No matter how ridiculously good the rewards were, just no.
So, I spent this week basically doing small Guild missions to rank up and studying the inscriptions on the chains that bound the Mother Slime.
Using Analyze: Item, I discovered that they were essentially runes. Of course, I wasn't going to mess with runes without knowing what they did, so I looked it up in the library. It seems that information about these runes no longer exists in this world, or the more likely option is that they were from a higher floor to which I didn't have access.
So, I was left with one option: analyzing each rune. But it was expensive!
(1000 SP required to fully scan this item!)
That's for each rune! There were dozens of different runes. I had given up before even starting. I had received quite a bit of SP, but it was far from enough. However, the Wizard and his friends seemed to want to see me studying the runes.
[WiseWizardGleam]: I have a proposal, my friend. If I donate enough SP for you to analyze all the runes, would you study them on stream? I'd love to learn the magical system of another world! (Emote of a wizard hat with bright eyes!).
[GryffinHouseMatron]: It may not be my area of expertise, but I'm curious too. I can help with the SP, and I'm sure Severus would love to learn about these runes even if he hasn't said anything.
I needed to be an idiot not to figure out who they were at this point.
Basically, the three of them donated enough SP for me to analyze each rune. I spent most of the time studying them to understand what they did. The Wizard and his friends were helpful in this regard too, as they could explain the parts that were similar to their world.
As I studied the runes, I found that it wasn't a complete runic alphabet; some parts were missing, but it was enough to do some simple things. I also discovered that yes, I had mana or the equivalent of this world in my body, but it was a pathetic amount!
I practically emptied myself after empowering a single rune in a test and had to wait over eight hours to try it again.
Overall, it was good to find out that I could do magic, but sad to know that I was a little better than a magical failure. Just one more of my many problems to solve, but this one I had an idea of how to solve quickly.
"So, Stark, what do you want to do to make and send me a printer or something that can carve these runes into a surface for me?"
[GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: Oh! Do you need my help? I could do it for free if you kneel down and ask nicely. (Emote of Iron Man laughing).
[StarkAssistant]: Tony! The kid is already in a horrible situation, try to help him a bit! Have some compassion!
[TechTycoonStane]: Ignore him. I could make you that machine in exchange for one of those chains. You have 9 of them; it wouldn't be much to part with one.
Ignoring Stark being a pain and what I'm sure is Pepper trying to inject some compassion into him, did Stane think I was stupid? A printer for an almost complete runic system from another world? Did he think I was born yesterday?
Anyway, I had other options.
"Hey, Red, could you get something like that for me?"
[RedHuntressLive]: I can see! I don't think they sell something that prints letters on metal, but if they don't, I can make one for you! Give me about a week or so. (Emote of Red Riding Hood giving a thumbs up).
A love as always, she didn't even mention any price. I'll need to do something to thank her.
"Thank you, Red. You're a sweetheart," I expressed my gratitude.
She didn't type anything, just sent an embarrassed emoticon. She must be glad she was the only one from his team on the stream. Normally, her sister would try to type something to embarrass Red and all that.
But it seems Stane had something to say about it.
[TechTycoonStane]: Hold on there, little girl. Me and the streamer have alre-
[GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: Ignore my mentally deficient uncle. I'll see what I can do too. Just buy me a drink later if we meet. (Iron Man emoticon waving).
I didn't respond, just waved in agreement. I'll stick with what Red sends me.
At times like these, Stark's genius title really shone. He must have stopped Stane from typing whatever he was going to write. Good for him, I was one step away from muting or banning the imbecile, depending on what they wrote.
Overall, that was basically it. I needed to wait a few more days for Red to send me the printer. I was going to spend these days relaxing, but that changed this morning when the missions updated.
(Mission: Let's kill some zombies? How about it! / Objective: Survive / Time limit: 3 months / World: High School of the Dead / Reward: 10 SP for each zombie killed)
Let's think with our heads first and ignore the female cast of the anime. First, it was a post-apocalyptic world. I could grab everything in my path, and I had a large inventory that I intended to upgrade if I accepted the mission.
Second: Ten SP for each zombie might seem low since one bite was game over, but considering they were the slow and dumb type of zombie and there were thousands of them, it was practically an SP farm for me!
I just needed to upgrade my inventory and stock up on food and water, and I was ready to loot everything in my path!
[WiseWizardGleam]: Zombies? I've seen a Muggle movie like this before, they're similar to Inferi, aren't they? (Emoticon of an old wizard scratching his beard)
[GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: A post-apocalyptic world? You're going to loot everything using that magic bag, aren't you? That's what I would do! (Iron Man emoticon agreeing)
[RedHuntressLive]: Zombies! Darn it! I really wish I could go with you. It would be so cool! (Little Red Riding Hood emoticon with stars in her eyes)
Hmm? Red couldn't see me kill a mimic or my blood, but she liked zombies? Curious.
Before heading out to buy food and get water, I emptied my inventory and upgraded it.
[Living Map LV3: 5000 SP]
[VoidBag LV2: 1000 SP]
(SP: 12562)
Even after spending the majority of the SP I received to analyze the runes, I still had a large amount of SP left, so I didn't need to worry.
Updating the inventory, it glowed white as before and returned to normal. Its appearance had remained the same. Studying it quickly, I found that there hadn't been many changes.
The interior size had increased significantly, as I expected, but the best change was that now I didn't need to put my hand inside the inventory if I wanted an item. I just had to put my hand next to it and speak the name of the item out loud, and it would appear in my hand.
It wasn't perfect; I still had to speak the name out loud and put my hand near the VoidBag, but it was a good improvement.
I also noticed that the mimic meat I had put inside the inventory last week was still fresh. The second update must have improved something to prevent food from spoiling, as time still seemed to pass within the inventory.
[Living Map LV3: 5000 SP]
[VoidBag LV3: 10000 SP]
(SP: 11562)
Unlike the map, the next update was for the ten thousand SP I had anticipated. I intended to upgrade the inventory once more, but this upgrade should suffice.
Putting everything back, I left the inn to buy food, fruits, meat, vegetables, whatever I could find. I also got some buckets of water.
Taking advantage of the fact that it was the same path, I went to Markus's store to buy another chainmail suit, along with an iron longsword, gloves, and boots. The extra reach would be welcome against the zombies, and the extra protection too.
With everything ready, I equipped my armor, informed Geralt that it might take a while to return since I didn't know if time would pass slower, faster, or stop when I accepted the mission, and left the realm.
When I was a good distance from the realm, I accepted the mission. This time there was no passage through those colors I saw when entering the dungeon; it was practically instantaneous. I was in the middle of a forest and then appeared in an alley.
I noticed almost immediately that the air in this world seemed 'dryer,' more 'incomplete,' as if something in the atmosphere was weaker, missing. It didn't take me long to connect the dots and realize it was the lack of mana. It still existed in this world, but it was much thinner, nothing like the mana in Terraria.
Leaving the alley, to my bad luck, I could see that I was in Japan. I had hoped to be in another country, one with more firearms I could steal, but the stream wanted me to stay close to the anime's main cast.
Putting my sword into the inventory to avoid problems with the police, I started walking along the sidewalk.
Contrary to what I expected, the apocalypse hadn't happened yet. People walked calmly on the sidewalk, cars passed by on the streets, and even the day seemed like a good day for a picnic in the park.
I might have thought that too if I didn't know that the world was going to hell in less than twenty-four hours. I just needed to stay alert; I didn't know if the apocalypse was today or tomorrow.
The easiest thing would be to head towards the protagonists' school, but even if I wanted to do that, which I didn't, I didn't know the name of the school, heck, I didn't even know where I was!
Whatever the stream had done before to make me understand the Terraria language had also given me knowledge of Japanese, which was good, but it had been so many years since I had seen the anime that I didn't remember the name of any places!
And also, the fact that when I watched the anime, I was a teenager, around fourteen or fifteen years old. Clearly, there were better things to focus on than the names of places.
With nothing to do, I went to a nearby park and sat on a bench, relaxing. People passing by stared at me a bit, but most thought my armor was just a well-made cosplay, so I had no problems.
[GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: Thinking about it, I can understand these people too. I don't remember learning Japanese, what the heck? I don't even remember learning whatever language it was in the world you were in before!
[RedHuntressLive]: True! Something with the stream? Does it translate voice and writing for each of us? I'm hearing Devas in the language of Remnant! Even your messages are written in the same language as Remnant too. (Red Riding Hood emoticon saying WOW).
[GryffinHouseMatron]: Some kind of translation spell? I'm writing in English, not in that language you're speaking, Lady Red.
[WiseWizardGleam]: Another of the many mysteries of this stream, I see. (Wizard hat emoticon with bright eyes!).
For my 'luck' and the people of this world's misfortune, I didn't have to wait long. After just half an hour of sitting and enjoying the view, I managed to, not see, but hear the beginning of the apocalypse.
An explosion occurred in the distance, and shortly after, the screams began. Soon, I could see a man walking in my direction.
He looked similar to what I remembered from the anime. The zombie was a man; by the torn and bloodstained suit, I would guess he was a salaryman.
His skin was grayish and dull, his eyes were whitish, seeming blind, his teeth irregular, and his walk erratic.
Overall, a generic zombie. I got up and took my sword out of the inventory while stretching my neck, warming up.
"Well, let's get this party started then."