"System, I need you to answer something."
Immediately, a blue status screen appeared with a question:
[What do you wish to know?]
"Could you analyze these golden eggs and determine their purity level?"
[I don't need to analyze. Don't forget, I was responsible for transforming the uncontrolled energy in your body into gold.]
Little Joe got irritated and complained immediately:
"Well, since you wanted to make me curious, satisfy it then. If that's the case, why do I have to eat broquitos and drink raw pearl-gold water? I want to know what would happen if I didn't do this for the gold to appear in my body."
[Due to the process I performed, if you don't at least eat one broquito and drink a cup of raw pearl-gold water, your body, receiving the energy discharge without a target, will automatically turn into stone, bringing inconceivable pain and complete paralysis within 48 hours.]
Little Joe was frightened; this wasn't as great as he'd imagined.
"So you mean I'll have to keep eating and drinking that water forever? And what about the pain I endure? Can't you do anything?"
[I don't have that knowledge. There are rare people who know what's necessary to relieve, reduce, or stop that pain. However, it's up to you to find them.]
Although there was no emotion in the voice, the system closed its blue screen, signaling irritation with little Joe's attitude. To avoid turning it into a discussion, Joe accessed the system he trusted most:
"Per Joe! Do an analysis of this egg."
⬆️ on ⚒📱🔍 [...'..'...'....'...'....'...'...'...'...'...] [Adversity Detection Skill: Golden egg, with size, diameter, and weight equivalent to the egg of a Barin Bolinhus, level one of purity.]
"Really? So much pain and sacrifice for a level 1?" he murmured, regretting his complaint the next moment. After all, who else in the world could achieve such a feat? However, the system continued:
⬆️ on ⚒📱🔍 [...'..'...'....'...'....'...'...'...'...'...] [The egg is about 3 cm long, with a diameter of around 2.4 cm, and weighs 11 grams. But it hasn't reached the necessary stage or hardness to be evaluated and marketed.]
"What? What do you mean by that?"
[You need to wait a certain number of days for it to start gaining the necessary consistency to not be recognized as a fake and lose its real value.]
"Right when I thought I'd get rich..." Joe lamented.
Then, he remembered he still had something to do, one of his favorites: checking XPs and leveling up ants.
"Per Joe! How many ants have screens? And describe the types of ants I have at my disposal."
[You have 1 queen ant, 12 archer ants, 1 healer ant, 26 digging ants, and 178 worker ants, totaling 218 ants.]
"Huh? I have 3 more than expected? Can you explain this, Per Joe?"
[The queen ant can be left out of this count, but the two extra ants under your control are bonuses for every hundred you equip with a status screen.]
"And how much XP do I have?"
[So far, only 139.5 + 35 XPs from your previous balance. But by morning, you'll definitely have a lot more.]
"I'd really have a lot if the system vault weren't so stingy," he grumbled, heading to the bathroom to retrieve another egg and then to bed.
The night passed quickly for little Joe, and after his usual routine, he prepared to drink the water made from the pearl-gold nugget and eat a delicious broquito. After all, this was more than a duty; it was an obligation, or he could simply die.
"Per Joe! Show me today's earnings!"
[🏹🦗 12 Archer Ants = 0 XP / 💉🦗 1 Healer Ant = 13.2 XPs / ⛏🐜 178 Worker Ants = 2349.6 XPs / ⛏x10🐜 26 Digging Ants = 3,432 XPs]
Then little Joe's eyes widened:
"What do you mean the archer ants didn't earn any XP?"
[Could it be because they don't have bows and arrows or any objectives?] the Sime system chimed in, activating its blue screen and interrupting the conversation.
"Be quiet and disappear, Sime!"
In an instant, the blue screen vanished.
"Yeah, as much as I hate to admit it, Sime is right. I need to do something about this. And what about the queen ant?"
👑🐜 **Queen Ant 📣 ---<<< 217 ants = 579.48 XPs
"Wow! Why did she earn so much? Is she commanding the other thousand or two thousand ants?"
[She decided she would collect only 10% from the ants with screens; after all, they earn more XP working when they're leveled up. If the work is quickly completed by others, you'll earn little XP.]
"She decided? How smart is she?"
[Her intelligence, which increases daily by reading Ylsean's journal, allows her to absorb 10% of it too, even though it doesn't show in her attributes.]
🔺 [System Alert!] [Intelligence increase detected 🧠 + 0.50%! Now you, Florida the ant, and the worker ants with micro screens can communicate fully intelligibly. Your intelligence level is now Lv. 2.65%. 🧠.]
"That's great, Per Joe! How many ants can I equip with screens now?"
[The system has granted you the capacity to gift 50 more ants, bringing the total to 265 + 2 bonus, totaling 267 ants.]
"Great, my little friends! Florida, order 50 more ants to come here; I want to gift them right away."
🔺 [System Alert!] [You have accumulated 579.48 XPs from the queen ant and 5,794 from the other ants, totaling 6,374 XPs. With the Restrictive Vault active, you can withdraw 2.65% of that amount, or 637.4 XPs,] informed the system.
"And where's what I deposited yesterday?"
[Here it is. You have a total of 13,636.37 XPs after my share was deducted. Would you like to use it now?]
"And if I deposit this amount, will you pay me? Will it multiply?"
[Yes, but I'll enter phase 2 of the charge, which is 100 XPs for services rendered. If you continue doing this, your gains will be huge, but my fee will also keep increasing. The vault will also only last 10 days, regardless of your decision. How much would you like to deposit?]
"All the XP I have."