At last, all his stats exceeded human limitations. Breaking through these limitations wasn't easy—most people only managed to do so after reaching the fourth or fifth floor. But due to his luck, Sanjay had been somewhat successful in killing many zombies.
A sound came from his stomach.
"I need to eat sometime. Let's check how much money I have," he muttered to himself. He took out his purse and found a five-dollar note. The original owner had only one hundred dollars with him, but Sanjay had exhausted most of it by eating out and taking the bus to school. This currency, the Asian Dollar, was used in this nation. He looked at the bill closely—could he replicate it?
He concentrated and tried to create the same amount of money. To his surprise, there was the same five-dollar bill. Now he had two five-dollar bills. He smiled. Having money was the most important thing in any world. With this, he could start creating more money, live in a big house, drive a fancy car, marry a beautiful girl—he could do anything he wanted. He dreamed of all the things he desired, feeling jealous of the rich people.
Afterward, he checked his mana: one unit had been deducted. He frowned. It felt as though he had just fallen from heaven to the ground. The deduction was too much. But even with the deduction, he didn't stop. He began creating more bills. After making almost ten bills, totaling fifty dollars, he stopped.
He checked his mana again.
"Huh," he said, surprised. His mana was six. He had previously had fifteen units of mana, and after creating bills, one unit would be deducted for each five-dollar note. According to that logic, he should have had only five units left, not six. Why was the consumption suddenly reduced? He created one more note and checked his mana—it was still six. He created another note, and his mana dropped to five.
He was surprised.
Assuming the system didn't show fractional values, it seemed that creating two notes consumed one unit of mana. Was there something like that in the system?
Without delay, he checked the web regarding mana consumption. He found an entire article about it:
"Well, well, well, someone's late for exams and doing a last-minute revision on mana consumption. If that's you, you're in exactly the right place. What is mana, you ask? Most of you will probably be able to answer that, but if there's a question about mana consumption, many of you might start losing confidence. Mana consumption comes with practice—the more you practice your abilities, the more proficient you become. The more proficient you are, the less mana your skills will consume. So, how do you calculate how much mana your skill will consume? It depends on your skill set—the more powerful your skill..."
The entire page was filled with explanations and calculations.
After reading the article, a smile finally appeared on Sanjay's face. According to the explanation, the more he used his skill, the less mana it would consume.
He then checked the internet for mana recovery liquids. There were special shopping sites for players. One of the most common was Metazon. He opened the Metazon website and began looking for mana potions. They must have huge supplies of mana potions. But when he opened the website, the first page he saw advertised full-body armor.
The armor was covered from head to toe and was labeled Level Four, costing a whopping ten million dollars.
"What the hell? Why does it cost so much?" Sanjay checked the stats of the armor. Strength +2, Agility +2, Mana +3.
"And why are the stats on the armor so bad? If Level Four increases stats this much, how much worse are the armors of Level Three or lower?" Sanjay stopped thinking about it and checked the potion section. He had no idea that these were only for rookies. For VIPs, auctions were held where armors and weapons with better stats were sold at much higher prices.
There were potions to refill mana, potions to refill strength, and even potions for animals. Maybe in the higher floors, there were missions related to animals.
He checked the price of mana potions. The lowest one cost a whopping ten thousand dollars, and there didn't seem to be any limit to the highest ones.
"This is daylight robbery!" he exclaimed. "How can anyone survive the tower if it costs so much?" But then he thought about it—these potions must be produced inside the tower, so they could be used inside as well. They were a strategic resource, something that could be crucial in times of dire crisis.
But he didn't need the potions to use inside the tower. Maybe if he managed to get one, he could replicate it with his skill inside the tower as well. Feeling excited, he started searching for mana potions created outside the tower. There had to be some alchemist among the players who could create them outside, right?
After five minutes of searching, he finally found the section for items created outside the tower. There was an entirely different section, with categories like potions, weapons, clothing, and more.
He checked the potion section and found the best mana potion for one thousand dollars. The best one could restore full health for up to thirty units. It was almost one-tenth of the price. Looking at the ratings, it was noted that this potion was commonly used while training. However, there was a catch—it couldn't be taken inside the tower as it was created outside.
Still, he didn't have enough money for the mana potion. He would need to work for at least five hours if he wanted to earn one thousand dollars through replication. He began to wonder if there was another way.
"Ding!"
A message popped up on his phone. He saw it was from the association's official number.
"Congratulations on successfully completing the first floor of the tower. Please register yourself at the nearest Asian Association office if you haven't done so already. Please note that failure to register within twenty-four hours of completing the first floor will result in criminal proceedings."
Most likely, his teacher had informed the association about all the students who had exited the tower. That's why he received the completion message.
Okay, so he needed to register himself. Most likely, they would test him to assess his rank. He didn't plan to reveal his actual gift. Instead, he would create a dummy skill. In his opinion, his skill was too valuable to be public knowledge, and he didn't trust the association. As a military personnel in his previous world, he had plenty of experience dealing with so-called government organizations.
After ordering a few dishes for dinner, he slept like a baby, completely exhausted from the day's battles.
The next morning, he was finally ready, mana fully restored. He wore a T-shirt, and with his strength now above average, his muscles were visible under the fabric. He boarded the bus to the association office.
Even on the bus, due to his charisma of seven points, he attracted several glances from females. Two even came up to ask for his number, and he happily gave it to them. What man would reject a girl asking for their number?
A few minutes later, he reached the association office. It was more than one hundred floors tall, and elegantly designed with only a few flaws. This wasn't even the main headquarters—Sanjay wondered how massive the main office must be.
He walked toward the entrance, where a stream of people were entering and exiting the building. Many of them were carrying swords, bows, and even spears. No one stopped them from entering, so the association must have been absolutely sure of their security.
Once inside, he saw a huge hall with counters everywhere. People were at every counter. He spotted a large sign that read "Registration."
He went to the counter with the shortest line, where a middle-aged woman was sitting behind the counter.
"Hi, I'm here for registration," Sanjay said.
"Name?" the woman asked.
"Sanjay Sharma," he replied.
"Any official ID?"
Sanjay took out his school ID and handed it to her. She took it and entered the information into the database.
"Okay, take this form. Fill it out and move to the next counter," she instructed.
"Next!" she called out.
Sanjay grabbed a pen from the stand and began filling out the form.
There were questions about his name, age, parent's name, address, and phone number. Then came the important questions—things like his skill's name, how much mana was used for each skill use, how it was used, and so on.
After completing the form, he went to the next counter and handed it to the lady.
"Please enter the third examination room. Your skill examination will take place there."
Sanjay nodded and walked toward the third examination room. When he entered, he saw there were already people inside, sitting on chairs. It was like a large training dojo, designed specifically to test people's powers.
An old lady entered with a notepad in her hands.
"Candidate one, please come and show your skill!" she called.
A boy with glasses stood up nervously and walked toward the supervisor.
"Okay, you're an attacking type. Try to attack the dummies," she instructed, pointing to some nearby targets.
The boy nodded, raised his hands, and shouted, "Fireball!"
A fireball, about the size of a fist, shot from his hands and hit a dummy square in the head. He seemed exhausted afterward, no doubt having used up all his mana and unable to cast another spell.
"Okay, good. B rank," the lady said.
"Yes!" he shouted, overjoyed. The other candidates whispered excitedly to each other. A rank B was impressive—there might only be a few thousand B-ranked individuals in the city, and that was out of millions.
"Silence!" the woman ordered.
"Next!"
A girl in a white shirt and red skirt stood up confidently and walked toward the supervisor.
"Another attack type. Please attack the dummies," she said with a smile.
The girl raised her hand, and roots burst from the ground, catching the dummies and throwing them far away. The dummies shattered into pieces.
"Good, A rank," the supervisor said.
Everyone in the room was astonished. An A rank was very powerful—much more than anyone could imagine. If there were thousands of B ranks in the city, there were only a few dozen A ranks. A rank was far rarer than a B rank.
Everyone stood up and started clapping, except for Sanjay, who didn't care. People surrounded the girl to congratulate her. Even the supervisor, who had been focusing on the test, joined in the applause.
But the girl didn't seem interested in the attention. She sat down in her chair, arms folded, exuding an air of attitude. Seeing her unbothered by the crowd, the energy in the room faded, and everyone returned to their seats. The girl noticed that Sanjay was the only one not fawning over her, but she didn't mind much. Although he looked good, she could tell he was poor.
After the commotion, one by one, the candidates were called. Most were D candidates, and some were even C candidates. But none were B-ranked, let alone A-ranked.
Soon, Sanjay's name was called. He stood up and walked toward the testing center. The supervisor didn't even tell him what to do. But after observing what everyone else was doing, he quickly understood what was expected of him.
He stood there, aimed his hands at the dummy, and shouted, "Water!" A jet of water shot out from his hands, hitting the dummy.
Since a water attack was weaker than fire, he was given a C rank. It wasn't bad, he thought. He had initially considered using water as a jet cutter, but that would have been too powerful. Adding mana on top of that would make it capable of cutting any animal in half.
At first, he thought of using that, but then he realized that if he did, he might be given a higher rank—maybe even an A rank or an S rank. And that would attract the attention of some powerful people.
Which, as it turned out, was a valid concern. The whereabouts of the city hunter were being searched worldwide. All new B-ranked and above candidates were under extra surveillance. According to the association, the person who scored SSS on the first floor must be among them, and if they wanted to enter the second floor, they would need to register their ID with the association.
The association had already set traps for him, while the guilds were not far behind. They had activated their intelligence networks to identify the person who had scored so high. Their spies within the association provided them with updates on all the new B-ranked and above candidates that the association was keeping an eye on.
Upon receiving this information, everyone went into full swing, offering high prices for recruits. The competition was fierce, with offer prices for B-ranked candidates reaching as high as one million dollars. As for A-ranked candidates, they were free to demand whatever amount they wished, and they were hired at those rates.
Unaware of the commotion he had caused, Sanjay was happy with the ten thousand dollars in his bank account. This was the one-time registration fee for his C rank. He immediately went to the ATM and withdrew five thousand dollars, opting for the highest denomination of one thousand dollar bills. With this, creating a few more dollars would be no issue.