Larcen examined the device in his hand and thought, 'So this is a smartphone, huh... Not like it matters now. After all, no one can predict the outcome of an awakening. Even the people here could turn into monsters or die...'
He let out a long sigh before rising from his seat on the bus and departing. He didn't want to waste any time, and his next stop was conveniently located near a convenience store, he knew it thanks to the information he had been forcefully fed.
Stepping off the bus, he headed toward the direction of the convenience store. He was eager to test his so-called talents, and a convenience store seemed like the perfect place to scan random objects.
On his way, he attempted to scan the walls, trees, and poles, but he received an error message on the screen that said,
{Exceeding weight limit. Unable to replicate}
He shrugged it off, pondering the unspoken rules that all divers needed to know. There were three rules, with the first two primarily applying to newcomers.
The first rule was simple: come back alive and avoid greed. The second was more of an informative tidbit, stating that the first dive was always random and represented the divers' affinity, which determined their value. The third rule remained a mystery, as no one had informed him about it.
"Affinity, huh..." he muttered as he entered the store and looked at the shelves. Most of them were stocked with instant food, snacks, and various raw ingredients like vegetables, meat, grains, and flour. There were also necessities like soaps and shampoos.
Suddenly, he paused and checked the bag he was carrying, something he hadn't paid much attention to until now. It was only when he thought about paying for the items that he considered the currency of this world.
The sole accepted currency here was the UD, or Universal Dollar, available in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, and 500. While he didn't deem it crucial in the long run, as the value would likely plummet during the awakening, it was currently the most important resource he possessed.
He fumbled through his wallet and discovered a few 500-dollar notes, which even surprised him. He had information forcibly implanted into his brain, but accessing it efficiently remained a challenge. He could only recall specifics when he actively searched for them.
Closing his eyes, he recalled the background of Jack Turner, the individual whose body he now inhabited. 'Hah... turns out I'm quite wealthy here... But that's all going down the drain now,' he thought as he resumed walking. Jack Turner had been a university student who had amassed a considerable fortune during the crypto trend.
Larcen didn't dwell on it and concentrated on how to utilize the money before it became obsolete. He had only about 20 notes, a mere fraction of his online wealth. Converting crypto coins to dollars was a cumbersome process, taking over 12 hours due to stringent government regulations. He discarded the idea and checked his bank balance, finding it quite reassuring. His phone displayed $258,762 on the screen, which was far more than he could spend in the immediate future.
He grabbed a shopping cart and began filling it with items he might need, scanning them as he went. This time, it worked but displayed another error message after a few tries.
{Error: Not enough slots}.
He sighed and attempted to discern the issue. He played around with the screen for a while, only to realize that it wasn't interactive.
'Hmm... since it isn't responding... oh wait. Are both of my talents connected? Or is something else going on here?' he pondered as he tried to use the inventory. It merely altered the contents on the screen in front of him, revealing ten empty squares. He then tried the replication part of the manufacturer talent and that was where the problem lied.
Ten green squares appeared on the left side of the screen, arranged vertically, each displaying images and descriptions of the scanned items. Most of them were soaps and trivial snacks, so he swiftly removed them with a mere thought.
There was a confirmation message when he did so and he simply clicked on the yes button mentally before looking around properly to decide on the things he needed.
"Something that is not electronic and has the least chance of getting affected by the awakening. Oh... I can store different versions of the same thing in one replication slot?", he muttered to himself as he read the information on the slots.
To confirm the fact he scanned many different soaps and they all were crammed into one replication slot while giving him the option to choose whichever he needed. He deleted it swiftly as soaps wouldn't really make much of a difference in the near future.
"First, food and water. Then, other essentials like fire and weapons. If things go well, I can consider items like soap. No, I need to find something that can serve as currency, something that will always have value. Soaps do have value but there are better things." he mused as he headed toward the meat section.
He spent approximately thirty minutes carefully selecting and scanning useful items, then paid for them and left the store. Once outside, he ensured no one was watching and transferred all the items in the cart into his inventory before booking a cab.
While waiting for his cab, he checked the last talent of his.
{Server Administrator: Sets up a server that can be upgraded with system points}
'How do I acquire system points though? I saw that it was used to do the replication too.', he thought as he stared at the screen but unlike before, he got a response.
{System Points can be obtained through the shop function once the server is set. Level 1 System comes as a perk with the Talent: System Administrator}
'So it's like that huh....', he thought as he went back to his Replica slots and Inventory tab to make sure he had everything ready.