Chapter 186

[The shop level has increased.]

It had truly been a long time since I’d seen that message. It brought a bitter smile to my face despite the joy—it was one of those perfectly timed moments.

“Are you seriously watching me?”

……

“If you’re watching, answer me.”

……

I tried speaking just in case, but as expected, there was no reply.

Well, I hadn’t expected a response to begin with. I didn’t know for sure, but perhaps the basic stance was to avoid direct interference with the players as much as possible.

‘Judging by the timing, maybe they just forgot to level up the shop.’

A creator who makes mistakes—thinking of it that way made them feel oddly human.

It was just a vague guess, but maybe those occasional “System Logs” were being typed out manually by the author each time.

I didn’t remember the details too clearly, but if I compared them, I think the format of the info window changed a little each time.

‘Tch. Let’s check the shop window first.’

I opened the Point Shop to check out the new items. But as always, there wasn’t anything particularly useful for me.

The only noticeable changes were a slight improvement in the exchange rate between points and credits, and that they had started selling Green Hunting Ground Tickets.

‘They’ve added [New Valhalla City Citizenship] and [Random Module Draw Box] too.’

The list of items was starting to feel more and more like a video game.

Of course, none of it was useful to me.

A Lv.3 Arcane Module? With enough materials, Miyu could make that kind of thing with her toes.

‘Sigh. Figures.’

Even with the useless list, I wasn’t particularly disappointed. You know what they say:

You only feel betrayed if you had expectations. If you don’t expect anything, there’s no betrayal to be had.

So far, every time the shop level increased, not once had there been anything useful for me—so there was no reason to get my hopes up now.

Still, regardless of my expectations, something about the list rubbed me the wrong way… It blatantly screamed, “You’re strong enough already. Let the others have a turn.”

‘Everything’s only useful for everyone else except me. That’s just unfair.’

Maybe the author was trying to maintain balance between me and the other transmigrators. Thinking about it that way, it also kind of explained why my item drop rate had been crap in the hunting grounds. It was basically a subtle way of telling me not to hog everything.

‘Guess I’ll just use the remaining points on a [Module Level Up Ticket].’

With that in mind, I scrolled through the shop list—but something was off. Just a moment ago, both the [Module Level Up Ticket] and the [Module Compatibility Enhancement Ticket] had been there, but now they were gone. The two items I had invested the most points into.

“You’ve got to be shitt—!”

I barely managed to hold back the curse that rose to my throat. If Miyu weren’t asleep next to me, I would’ve unleashed a string of profanities loud enough to wake the dead.

‘Seriously? You’re really doing this to me?’

There wasn’t a purchase limit before, was there?

You really are trying to screw me over, huh?

This is just petty.

‘I mean, come on. I’ve been carrying the whole damn story from Act 1, Part 1 to Act 4, Part 2 and you can’t even toss me a bone?’

Oh? Is that how we’re playing it?

Should I just get rid of the other players?

How about I retire everyone in the Transmigrator Alliance and leave only myself? Maybe if I boycott the scenario progression entirely, someone’ll come to their senses?

As I struggled to contain the fury boiling inside me—

‘Wait a second.’

A certain thought suddenly came to mind. Without hesitation, I reached out to contact the other members of the Transmigrator Alliance. The easiest person to contact, of course, was Serena—so she was my first call.

I found her in my contacts and dialed her number. After a few rings, she picked up.

[H-Hello!?]

She must’ve just woken up—her voice clearly betrayed her surprise.

She probably never imagined she’d get a call from me at this hour.

With a strangely excited tone, she spoke.

[What’s the matter, Aaron? C-Could it be you called because you wanted to hear my voice late at night—]

“There’s something I need you to check.”

[Huh?]

I asked Serena to check her Point Shop list. Specifically, whether the [Module Compatibility Increase Ticket] and the [Module Output Level Up Ticket] were still there.

Her answer came quickly.

[They’re not there?]

“Were they originally?”

[P-Probably?]

“Got it. Thanks. Sorry for waking you. I’m hanging up.”

[W-Wait! While we’re on the phone, maybe we could talk a bit mo—]

Click.

It seemed like Serena wanted to say something else, but I ignored her and hung up. The next person I contacted was Kara, who I spoke with fairly often for one reason or another.

“It’s me.”

[Mm. What’s going on this late at night? Something serious?]

To her question, I asked the same thing I’d asked Serena—and got the same answer in return, before ending the call.

After Kara, I went down the list, contacting other transmigrators one by one.

It was the middle of the night, so not many picked up, but those who did (aside from a few who couldn’t remember what was originally on the list) mostly gave the same response.

‘So it didn’t disappear just from mine.’

It was there, but now it’s gone.

Those two extremely useful ticket types—nobody could buy them anymore, not just me.

It was only after confirming that fact that I finally allowed myself a triumphant smile.

‘Actually, this works out.’

If it had been just me who lost access to them, it would’ve been a problem. But if they were removed from everyone’s shop lists, then it worked in my favor.

I’d practically monopolized all the points from Act 1, Part 1 to Act 4, Part 2. Even for me, the price of the [Module Level Up Ticket] had been pretty steep—so the others probably hadn’t even dared to think of buying them.

In other words, I was the only one who ever benefited from those powerful tickets. And now, the other transmigrators could no longer use the same method to create game-changer-class builds.

‘Not a bad bit of ladder-kicking.’

Then again, it was kind of broken that a single ticket could boost both module level and compatibility like that. Thinking of it that way, I guess it was a fair measure to restore balance.

‘It’s a shame I couldn’t stock up on a few more… but I’ll settle for this.’

Thankfully, the [Module Level Up Tickets] I already bought hadn’t disappeared. If I used the three I had now to craft Lv.6 Arcane Modules, I might actually be able to take down a dragon one-on-one—no joke. Though I wasn’t sure my body could handle the power.

‘So, for the remaining points…’

I searched through the shop again to find something to spend them on, but nothing really stood out.

Maybe I should just save them for an emergency?

‘No, something like this might happen again later.’

It was now clear that just because the shop leveled up didn’t mean the items for sale would necessarily improve. Especially in cases like this, where something available now might become unavailable later.

I should spend some points in advance.

I figured it would be best to leave about 5000P and use up the remaining 10,000 points. And among the remaining items, if I had to pick something useful…

Yeah, it had to be this.

—-

[Random Module Draw Box]

[Green Hunting Ground Admission Ticket]

—-

A 2000P gacha and an entry ticket, each.

This was basically the only worthwhile use of points now.

Of course, Miyu was a genius capable of casually producing even military-grade Lv.3 Arcane Modules like it was second nature, but technically, since she was just a student, creating modules above Lv.3 was outright illegal.

‘That might cause issues later and disrupt the supply of modules or Arcane Essences.’

To prepare for that, stocking up on Hunting Ground Tickets and Module Draw Boxes was currently the best use of points.

The former would serve as a source of materials for new module production, and the latter would be a wild card in case module crafting or purchasing became problematic.

‘Most standard Adaptees have multiple backup modules and change their setup depending on the situation.’

Most of the modules I had were basically ones provided by the Stingray Group. I did have a few new modules like [Corpse Eater] and [Black Out], and I’d slightly adjusted the setup based on Miyu’s advice, but the core framework remained similar.

Which meant the Stingray Chairman more or less knew what modules I had. That could become a disadvantage if we ended up as enemies later on.

‘So far, the utility of [Cloud Spider] and [Techblade] was good enough that I didn’t need any other setup… but who knows.’

It never hurts to be prepared.

Especially since the boxes provided completed products, which meant I could save both time and materials—a huge advantage. Unlike during the creation of [Black Out], I could completely avoid prying eyes this time.

Of course, the concern was that, being a “random box,” there was a chance I’d get worthless trash not even worth the 2000P.

Considering how the author kept trying to screw me over, I was cautious about whether it’d be filled with utterly useless modules… but I couldn’t resist a gacha.

‘I believe in you, Author.’

It was better to get something in hand than let the points sit unused and rot. And if the item turned out to be worthless, I could just sell it back to the Point Shop.

With that in mind, I invested 10,000 points to purchase one Green Hunting Ground Ticket and four Random Module Draw Boxes.

Now I had two Green Hunting Ground Tickets. But… Hunting Ground Tickets could also be used for teleportation, so having more wasn’t a bad thing.

Alright, time to crack open the boxes.

I opened the first box.

【Arcane Module】

[Lv.4 Vitality Enhancement]

Shit.

For a moment, I almost hurled the module chip that popped into my hand straight at the wall—but I barely held myself back.

“Whew…”

Okay, let’s think positive.

Hard to believe, but this was still a Lv.4 Arcane Module. It was in the same tier as Irie’s [Thousand Pound Weight]. The effect itself was so… unique that, if sold on the market, some perverted Adaptee uncle with problems would probably bankrupt himself to buy it.

…Thinking of it that way, it suddenly didn’t seem so bad. Just how amazing would I become if I equipped this? As a man, I was… no, actually pretty curious—but this wasn’t the kind of thing to test out here, so I set it aside for now.

Alright, next box.

【Standard Module】

[Lv.3 Mantis Blade]

Ah, now this was definitely junk.

This thing gave you built-in arm blades—but you could find something like this for sale in the Black Market. Probably around 200,000 credits. At best, it might be useful for Irie or Silence.

Next.

—-

【Arcane Module】

[Lv.2 Cure]

—-

This one was… decent.

Most modules only enhanced self-regeneration, but this one allowed you to heal others. Being Lv.2, you couldn’t expect much more than basic first-aid, but depending on the situation, it could prove useful.

And now, the final box.

【Arcane Module】

[Lv.4 Mana Reservoir]

A Lv.4 Arcane Module.

That spec alone made it worth far more than 2000P. But the name “Mana Reservoir” didn’t really give me a clear idea of what it did. Storing mana, a substance toxic to the body—what for?

Half in doubt, I checked the detailed info on the module. And as I finished reading the description, I struggled to suppress the grin creeping up my face.

This was it.

This was a jackpot.

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