‘But progressing by another level wouldn’t be as easy as what I just did. I mean, even if I brew the required potion now, the best result I’ll be able to accomplish would be half a level…’
‘Most important of all, what makes me really reluctant in doing this is the fact that by continuing to rely on drugs for breaking through, I would be gradually ruining my own foundation and even destabilize and hinder my path of cultivation in the long run, which is something I want to avoid at all costs.’
Following those thoughts, he whispered, “For that to not happen, I need to either wait for a rather long time for my body and mind to digest everything… or I need to fight it out and quicken the process.”
Afterward, without any wavering, his logic directly pointed at and selected the most efficient path, ‘Combat would be the quickest way… it seems I would need to reserve a Rift or two to fight some monstrous beasts.’
Putting the matter aside with a simple shake of his head thereafter, the list of materials he required in order to brew the next potion flickered through his mind.
‘Heart of a Six-eyed bear, Negun Sar plant from the planet…’
Subsequently, he called the CEO ugly, “How long will it take for you and the Island ugly to collect the entire list of materials that I just transmitted into your consciousness.”
After a short duration of silence, the CEO ugly’s reply was heard, “Um, master, except the heart of the six-eyed bear, everything else on the list can be gathered in a week or two at most. But as for the Six-eyed bear… that’s a type of a four-starred monster and buying it will not be easy in a short time.”
Since the mission of collecting various stuff for his master had become a common subject now, the CEO ugly was quite quick in calculating and responding.
“Hmm, I see. Do you know the rough location of any rifts that expels this kind of monster?”
“I-If I’m not mistaken, I think it’s the rifts around Chicago that have the most probability of producing this type of monstrous beast… but you’re not guaranteed to encounter them even there.”
“Alright. Except for the heart of the Six-eyed bear, don’t forget to gather the rest. That’ll be all.” He ordered before hanging up.
…
‘Hmm, I should hunt the six-eyed bear myself, that’ll be like killing two birds with one stone.’ And with that, Virus was determined to go and procure the carcass of the Six-eyed bear by himself since, in this way, other than getting his hands on its heart, he would be also accomplishing his aim of combat. Therefore, picking up his phone once more, he directly opened his Guardian Application.
This time, however, he didn’t enter the Guardian License section, instead, he pressed the ‘Reservation’ icon.
[Welcome, Guardian DS! Please select the State you’d prefer to reserve a Rift in.]
\u003cCalifornia\u003e \u003cTexas\u003e \u003cFlorida\u003e \u003cWashington\u003e \u003cIllinois\u003e \u003cArizona\u003e…
Seeing the list of states, Virus didn’t hesitate to select \u003cIllinois\u003e and then \u003cChicago\u003e.
Subsequently, the picture of eleven rifts displayed itself in front of him. Below each picture, the details pertaining to each of them were also revealed for him to see.
According to the details, three were two-star rifts and they were all going to activate within three to four days, seven were three-starred and were expected to activate within a week, and the final one was a four-starred rift which was going to activate in eight days.
‘Hmm, I wonder how they specify the danger level of the Rifts?’ For a brief moment, he pondered about this essential question, however, not delving on the matter and putting it aside temporarily, his finger touched and chose the only four-star Rift option.
\u003cInsufficient experience stars, you can’t choose or view more details about this rift!\u003e
Furthermore, it was followed by another notification.
\u003cOrdinarily, beginner Guardians who possess (0) stars in the [EXPERIENCE] segment would be required to start reserving from (1) star rifts and progress accordingly. However, since the average of your other three attributes is (4), you can begin from reserving (3) star rifts.\u003e
Seeing this notification, with a mere nod of satisfaction, Virus didn’t dilly-dally in selecting one of the seven 3-star fractures.
\u003cThis rift has been already reserved.\u003e
Immediately, a furrow showed up on Virus’ brows, however, just as he was about to click on another option, a smaller notification in a corner attracted his attention.
\u003cYou can forcefully buyout this Rift for the price of: $28,000,000\u003e
\u003cDo you wish to proceed?\u003e
Having read the lines, Virus couldn’t help but murmur, “Greedy… but smart. It seems the Abnormals Association won’t let go of any chances to earn some free money.”
‘Meh, it’s good for me anyway. Considering how I won’t need to be bothered by the annoying matters of reserving them earlier than others now.’ Still, he didn’t jump into pressing the \u003cBuyout\u003e button. Instead, he tried reserving the other six 3-star Rifts.
\u003cThis rift has been already reserved.\u003e
\u003cThis rift has been already reserved.\u003e
…
Unfortunately, he encountered a similar result for the rest of them. Thus, he could only sigh in some disappointment before selecting the Rift which was going to be activated in exactly seven days.
\u003cYou can forcefully buyout this Rift for the price of: $30,500,000\u003e
\u003cDo you wish to proceed?\u003e
\u003cYes.\u003e
As he selected yes, the amount was instantly withdrawn from his already bound bank account to Guardian Application.
…
SEVEN DAYS LATER, AROUND CHICAGO
Having just ambled before his forcibly reserved Rift, Virus was faced with annoyed expressions of two unfamiliar Guardians who were standing before the Rift.
“Tongue Woman, when do you think he’s coming? The Rift’s already about to activate.” Said the man with a long mustache.
“Just wait, Gun Mustache, he’ll definitely be here since not showing up before a Rift you’ve reserved is a great crime. I just don’t understand why the fuck would he buyout our Rift? Doesn’t he fucking know buying out a Rift that’s been already reserved a very frowned upon act among the Guardians?” The woman replied while her forehead was clearly creased in anger.
And it was exactly at this moment when Virus arrived. “Hmm? I believe I reserved this Rift… why are you two here?” Spotting the two, Virus questioned.
“Hello. This Rift was initially reserved by us, don’t you know it’s not very well taken to buyout someone else Rift?” A sharp glint went through the woman’s eyes as she inquired immediately.
“So? I don’t care about it being well-taken or not. All I care about is that I reserved the Rift already, so get lost.” Not bothering himself to be polite whatsoever, Virus just told them to leave in a rude manner.
“You! Do you know who we are? We-” Before she could finish, however, a bored light shimmered through Virus’s eyes as he didn’t hesitate to connect to the world’s database as he extracted every single information about the two before interrupting her.
“Of course I do woman! You are Tongue Woman from the [Musketeers] guild, your real name is Nancy Pot, 31 years old, the mother of two. You have a big mole on your left butt-cheek and your husband’s di…” And so, in a single breath, he went on to reveal even the most embarrassing secrets she had just to prove the point he did indeed know her. That he knew both of them to the smallest detail.
“…”
“…”
