Chapter 4 - Local Drug Dealer Calls Cops on Florida Man for Stealing Their Heroin.
Felix rubbed his hands, eagerly awaiting his reward. He wondered what he would get.
Extra mana?
A skill?
A status point?
A special item?
A gorgeous female assistant?
A ring with the soul of a super expert lurking inside?
A Lamborghini?
Felix was excited. He gazed at Jessica with great anticipation. Meanwhile, Jessica dully stared at the dork and muttered in her usual monotonous voice.
"A supply crate?"
Curious, Felix opened his inventory and discovered an icon of a wooden crate.
*DING*
Just as Jessica had said, as soon as Felix thought of pulling the crate out of the inventory slot, it materialized in front of him. Opening the crate's cover, Felix discovered a bundle of necessities such as gallons of water, packages of rations, lighters, a portable tent, sanitary items, antibiotic medicines, first-aid kits, a bag of coffee beans, a carton of cigarettes, and a combat knife.
Looking at the crate, Felix gulped. He wondered why he would need it after the transmigration.
"…"
Felix silently deposited the entire crate back into the inventory. Inspired and alarmed by the upcoming transmigration, he decided to leave the house to gather more mana elsewhere.
.
.
7 PM.
A Toyota Vigo 2000 arrived at a local junkyard, 10 miles from Felix's house. Felix got out of his father's truck and admired the abandoned junkyard, filled with rusty frames of ancient vehicles. This junkyard once belonged to a local family of five. But ever since this family had won a Powerball lottery, they sold the place to an investor who planned to turn it into a resort hotel.
Construction vehicles were already on the premises, but there were no workers. It was already 7 PM, and nobody worked overtime.
Felix climbed the fences and sneaked into the construction site. He approached the remnants of a mountain of rusty car frames and a pile of metal junk.
Looking at the mountain of trash, Felix rubbed his hands and asked Jessica, "Can you help me convert these into mana? They're too big for me to move into the system screen."
Once again, Jessica sighed and shook her head.
"Oh, nice."
Felix grinned and began his experiment. He grabbed the edge of the screen and noticed that he could touch it. Pushing it like a shield, he started plowing through the mountain of metal junk.
*DING*
Within the first few seconds, Felix managed to harvest almost one mana from a few pieces of junk. He licked his lips and pushed the system screen like a vacuum cleaner, sucking everything in front of him into the void. Then, a surprise message caught his attention.
"…Shit."
There were hidden drugs there. Fortunately, it seemed abandoned. Otherwise, Felix might have gotten himself into trouble. But since he would leave this world tomorrow, there was no point in worrying. Felix shrugged and continued working all night.
At 3 AM, Felix finished cleaning two acres' worth of trash without approaching the nearby construction site. Avoiding the CCTV cameras, he crept in the dark and climbed the fences back to his truck.
Upon getting back into his truck, Felix drove off, heading back home. While driving, he glanced at the bright blue screen on his right side.
---
Name: Felix Ariel
Bloodline: [Unknown]
Element Affinity: Fire, Metal, Void
Level: 2
Energy: 10/35
Mana: 35.25
---
Level 2!
It was worth the grind. Felix patted his chest to calm his racing heart and parked the truck at the side of the road to admire the new system perks and the system quests.
Opening the quest menu, the daily quest remained almost the same.
---
**Daily Quest**
- Increase mana credit by 10. (CLEARED)
- Create one firearm of any type using your system feature "Arsenal of Freedom".
- Create 100 cartridges of any type using your system feature "Arsenal of Freedom".
- Purchase any item from the Florida Man's Online Store. (LOCKED)
---
Two new daily quests were unlocked, and a new teaser quest appeared, hinting at the next feature of his system. In addition, the daily quest hadn't reset yet even though it was already a new day. Answering Felix's doubt, Jessica clarified how it worked.
"Oh... that's cool. I thought they would reset at midnight."
Since Felix had time to spare, he explored the new system option. As usual, the options tab was located on the left side of the screen above his status detail option. Upon pressing the text, the screen changed.
---
**Arsenal of Freedom**
You may spend your energy to create firearms and ammunition to spread democracy and freedom. However, you require special permits called "Super Democracy Pass" to enable this feature. The pass can be acquired by completing main quests or secondary missions.
Currently, you have no permit. You can only create basic firearms and ammunition.
**Craftable Firearms**
- Makeshift Peashooter x 1 (10 Energy)
**Craftable Ammunition**
- 9mm Round x 10 (1 Energy)
---
Felix wasn't familiar with the gun's name. He frowned and looked at Jessica.
"What's a Peashooter? May I see the sample model or specs?"
"...Is this a scam?"
"…True."
Testing the system's ability, Felix pressed the "Creation" button at the bottom left of the screen. Blank images of craftable weapons and ammunition appeared, including their price tags. Felix chose to create the Peashooter, which cost all his energy.
*DING*
A black automatic handgun manifested from nothingness and landed on Felix's lap. He picked it up to examine it. At a glance, it resembled a Glock 17. However, the plastic material, rough chamber, and unbalanced weight made Felix frown.
This was a defective gun! He'd rather use it as a throwing weapon than risk shooting himself!
*DING*
"…"
Instead of answering Felix's question, Jessica updated the information and informed him about the completion of another daily quest. Since Jessica refused to communicate normally, Felix checked the specs of the new system weapon.
---
Makeshift Peashooter
This weapon was assembled by an amateur tinkerer who used recycled materials to make the gun parts. This weapon is unreliable and unsafe. It is advised to use it as a throwing weapon during an emergency.
---
Felix shook his head as this system perk seemed useless. He questioned Jessica.
"Will this system skill ever be useful?"
"If you say so," Felix said, changing the subject. "I see that my energy is depleted. What do I have to do to regain it?"
Reminded of the energy potion Jessica had just given him as a quest reward, Felix opened the inventory menu and checked the new item. Indeed, a new item was already there.
The energy potion was a modern canned drink with a transparent surface, revealing a fizzling blue liquid inside. He pulled it out and opened the can.
*FZZ*
Opening the can, the carbonated drink let out a sound. Felix pursed his lips and smirked. "A soda can? A potion? Really?"
"…"
Many things sounded wrong, but Felix drank it anyway. It tasted like blueberry juice mixed with carbonated lemonade. As soon as the liquid reached Felix's stomach, he felt refreshed. Rechecking his energy status, he noticed that it had recovered to full.
35/35
Felix had enough energy to mass-produce some ammo. As there was an incomplete daily quest, Felix tried to finish it before the daily reset.
Activating the Arsenal of Freedom system, Felix chose to create ammunition. Testing the waters, he created only 10 rounds, the minimum requirement.
Ten glossy 9mm cartridges fell onto his lap. He gathered them and inspected the quality and type. All cartridges were simple full-metal-jacket rounds that anyone could find at a range.
*DING*
Another game-like item appeared. Felix pulled it from his inventory and asked Jessica.
"My status doesn't show my HP. How does this work?" Felix asked.
"Ah, it's nice to have, I guess." Felix stored the item back in his inventory, hoping it would come in handy.
Reminded of the time, Felix looked at the clock. It was almost 4 AM.
"Alright. Fine. I'm sleepy, too." He stopped what he was doing and drove home.
---
Arriving home at 6 AM, Felix went to sleep, gathering strength for the upcoming transmigration. However, he forgot to set an alarm clock.
Felix had converted almost everything in his house into mana. He no longer had an alarm clock.
Thus, he overslept.