[ Congratulations! You have completed the first stage.]
[ Would you like to see all the achievements you amassed during this stage? ]
•YES• •NO•
Alex peeled her gaze from the familiar screen that she had become accustomed to seeing, shifting to observe her surroundings.
Alex found herself on the circular platform, surrounded by lofty mountains. After a few moments of observing the bright scenery and adjusting to the abrupt change in light intensity. Alex's gaze returned to the question before her.
She stretched forth her left hand, intending to pick 'yes' only for the screen to suddenly change as if understanding her choice. This caused a slight frown to appear on her unruffled features.
' Can they read my mind?' That would cause a few complications for her, which prompted her brief moment of worry.
' No, that's likely not the case. If it were there is no way the deity wouldn't know I bought that [ Soul ] information.' In such uncertain times, Alex had already realized her greatest weapon would be her mind.
She looked back at the screen, smirking at the first achievement.
||Achievements For The First Stage||
•Lone Victor•
[ A hundred set off on an eery path and only one reached the final destination. The blood of your comrades wails in defiance, yet you get to march on. ]
Reward: Blood Bestowal
( The blood of your fallen comrades has been swallowed by the deity's 'lake of serenity', forging a beautiful pearl that grants the strength of the deceased to any who dares to swallow it.)
• Decimator •
[ Inferior physical ability is nothing against teamwork. A hundred deers faced a thousand hunters, only for the 'hunters' to quickly change to the hunted.]
Reward: Thorough Eyes
( You and your team refused to spare a single enemy, so this reformation of the eyes will enhance your ability to spot every lurking threat.)
• Solitary Leverage •
[ In the face of true strength, numbers remain numbers. You faced over ten zombies on your own.]
Reward: Equalizer
( A gun that is never exhausted of ammunition.)
• Bottom Feeder •
[ To become powerful one must be willing to make unthinkable sacrifices. Without knowing the consequences, you ingested a zombie's power crystal.]
Reward: Devourer
( You automatically know when anything you eat is going to kill you.)
Alex found the titles ridiculous, but it was close to RPG titles that she was fond of. A simple thought ushered Alex to the next prompt.
[ Would you like to claim these rewards or push them forward? Pushing forward will ensure a better reward later.]
•CLAIM• •PUSH FORWARD•
This reminded Alex of the last time she had been made such an offer and how she still had not gotten any rewards.
Fortunately, Alex was aware of what truly mattered in the ranking process and what would happen after that. She realized that strengthening this body further was merely a waste of time especially when 'pushing forward' promised greater returns. What mattered was her rank and achievements.
' There's more to be gained from throwing all this in for-profit.'
Alex decided on pushing everything forward and the decision was automatically applied to all the rewards.
The translucent screen finally disappeared from view. Alex took in her surroundings, noticing she had been effortlessly teleported.
Water still cascaded enchantingly down towering waterfalls, parting unnaturally down the towering rocky mountains. This created five different entrances that all had a path connecting them to a circular platform.
There was a slight difference in the picturesque scene from Alex's last visit. She somehow had not noticed it sooner, but all the water had formed a light red mixture, akin to diluted blood.
" Strange," Alex muttered while staring at the entrance she knew led to the second stage. Half of her was expecting the purple bear creature to appear before her again. Although she had spent quite some time waiting, she was only met with a pang of disappointment.
The map feature and icon, which she had worked tirelessly to update, had all but disappeared. The golden timer was nowhere in Alex's line of sight, eliciting a smile from the girl. She despised the golden numbers, counting down every second. She could also see a [ Shop ] attached to her sight as well, different from before. Her eyes drifted from there as well.
Once Alex decided she had waited enough, she thought of the fluffy quilt she had collected in the tree base and it instantly materialized in her outstretched arms. She placed it on the ground, swiftly falling into the realm of sleep.
Alex awoke some hours later and tapped on the cube symbol on her shirt. As the storage cube expanded before her eyes, Alex watched as one of its panels opened. She dropped her quilt before straining her neck to inspect her weapon's battery level indicator.
The chakrams both had a healthy green shine emanating from them. This curbed the likelihood of total stamina depletion while in the second stage. She ate some bread and drank some water before swiftly purchasing information on the next four stages.
After reading through each panel and absorbing what lay ahead, Alex strode into the entrance with an illusory figure 2 above it.
°°°
This time there was no portal behind her on arrival, she felt wet soil beneath her as blades of grass tickled her exposed arms. She was lying in the grass.
Alex opened her eyes to see lush blades of green in every direction. There was not a single tree in sight. Farther away, Alex beheld a towering mountain, its peak obscured by misty clouds. Alex smiled knowingly in its direction.
Alex found herself preferring this location to the bare desert already. The soothing breeze and comforting rays would always win against the sand.
"I promise I won't burn you this time." Her old habit resurfaced as she mumbled to the grass, relishing the refreshing scent of living nature.
Her eyeballs slid down to her trusted aid and sure enough, it was there. Her map icon was ready to be used. The minimap only showed her current location - a white circle - and a splash of green. She wanted to access it immediately but found herself unable to expand the map.
'Expand Interface' did not work and Alex could not tap it as it appeared like a video game hub, moving with its user's vision.
' What's going on?' She suddenly became more serious, standing and mentally preparing her next set of actions when a pop-up appeared.
She was already used to this and simply began reading.
[ The second stage will begin in 1 hour and 39 minutes. The interface and details for this stage will be restricted until the start of the stage. Until then, do as you please.]
Alex previously wondered why there was no achievement for completing the first stage. Her question had just been answered.
Anyone who bought the information pack for the second stage would know exactly where to go, what to do and how to surpass others. This early access to the second stage before others would certainly make a phenomenal difference.
She acknowledged all these benefits, yet there was a deep scowl on her face.
' It's back,' Alex's eyes were locked on the annoying golden countdown.