Chapter 25 (1/2)
On the morning of the 30th day.
As planned, Cinzia made the announcement of the deadline being extended by another two months after ordering every Survivor to gather in the Neutral Zone's theatre. She sounded like she was being magnanimous towards everyone, and that led many of the survivors to breathe out a sigh of relief. Most of them had failed to gather 1000 points until now, that was why.
Of course, not everyone displayed the same reaction.
”What is it, Hao Win?” (Cinzia)
Cinzia knew that Hao Win was staring at her for a long time, but she decided to reply only now and s.h.i.+fted her own gaze towards the man in black suit.
Hao Win's eyebrows rose up ever so slightly.
”It's nothing, really. Just that….” (Hao Win)
”Just that?” (Cinzia)
”It's different from what I've heard.” (Hao Win)
Wasn't it originally three months to begin with? Hao Win seemed to have found a way to imply those words without saying them out aloud. He had no real reason to reveal the truth and get on Cinzia's bad side, after all.
”Is that so? What a shame. I don't know which moron told you those things, but you must have not heard that I'm the general manager this time around.” (Cinzia)
”If you say something like that, then I guess there's nothing more for me to add.” (Hao Win)
Hao Win shrugged his shoulders and turned around, breaking eye contact. Cinzia then casually swept her gaze across the rest of the survivors.
”So, how was the first month of your stay in the Zone?” (Cinzia)
Only silence replied back - the inside of the theatre was completely devoid of sound.
The reality of these survivors' situation was that, no matter how many had gathered to form a team, none could crack a single 'Normal' difficulty mission yet.
”Unless you're an irredeemable moron, I'm pretty sure you have began to realise the harsh truth by now, haven't you? 'Ah, so I was this worthless. If I go outside now, then I will die right away'. You must've thought about such things, no? Hey, what about you, burrito?” (Cinzia)
The burly Mexican man who complained about not being let into the Paradise avoided meeting her gaze in embarra.s.sment.
”Looks like you've all woken up by now.” (Cinzia)
Cinzia seemed to be satisfied by the reactions, because the tone of her voice softened just a tad.
”Now that you've become aware of your own reality, surely you're much more willing to listen than ever before. Most of you probably have ama.s.sed some Survival Points by now. Correct?” (Cinzia)
That was indeed the case. Pretty much everyone did nothing but to complete the missions like possessed men and women until now, after all. Even those who entered the Zone with 0 points had ama.s.sed a few hundred points at this point.
”Well, I've prepared a gift for all of you.” (Cinzia)
At the mere mention of a 'gift', the eyes of the survivors opened up wide in antic.i.p.ation.
”For tomorrow only, the Chamber of Awakening will open up for you. And inside this Chamber of Awakening, you will get to meet the seven G.o.ds that rule this world. Not only that, you will receive 'Jobs' that best suit your situation as well as your disposition. Simply put, you will be able to use your magical powers from that moment on.” (Cinzia)
Rustle, rustle….
The once-quiet theatre grew noisy in an instant.
”Once you receive your 'Job', it should become easier for you to figure out what kind of missions you should take on, or what kind of roles you should play during the cooperative missions. And also….” (Cinzia)
Cinzia's eyes arched up.
”….Also, the Survival Points you've earned so far will become even more valuable pretty soon.” (Cinzia)
Several questions came flying at her from the audience seats. Unlike the first day, Cinzia patiently answered every single one of them.
Meanwhile, Agnes was sighing softly on the sidelines. She could already tell what would happen in the Neutral Zone after the Awakening.
Just as Cinzia has eluded to, the moment one's Job was a.s.signed, one would be able to utilise his or her magical power. That also meant that, inevitably, one would have to receive specialised training on how to use it properly, as well as the training specifically tailored to suit the new Job. Such matters could be resolved quite easily through spending one's SP. One just had to purchase either 'Abilities' or 'Magic Power Application' from the stores and study them.
But that was the core of the issue - one could become stronger too easily. Unfortunately, they would hit the limit to their growth just as quickly, too. It'd be more correct to say that one would forever be stuck at a certain level and never improve by relying on this method.
The gap between relying only on what's shown on the Status Windows, and perceiving the 'truth' on your own was absolutely huge. And that gap would only grow wider and wider as one's levels increased.
Perhaps, Cinzia was aiming for this - to turn those who spend SP as soon as the Awakening was completed into a useable combat force as soon as possible. In other words, those who 'knew what they were doing' would be left alone, while those who had no clue at all would be, well, ushered around like that.
Cinzia's methods of doing things were too ambiguous to truly label it wrong, and likewise, Agnes couldn't definitely pick faults with her decision making process. After all, it all boiled simply down to matters of differing opinion.
More importantly, though - as Cinzia was the general manager of the Neutral Zone this time 'round, it was her prerogative on how she'd 'raise' this flock of young hatchlings.
Seol was glad to hear about the extension of the deadline by another two months. Now he'd be able to use up all the Competence he had bought already without feeling the urgency.
Yes, he could still use any items, including the Competence, bought in the Neutral Zone outside as well, but then again, that was 'outside' these safe walls. The Neutral Zone was constructed solely for the purpose of ensuring the survival and the training of the future combatants, which meant that there would no better place out there than here to safely use the Competence.
”Your job will be determined tomorrow in the Chamber of Awakening.” (Agnes)
Agnes spoke as she cut into a slab of juicy T-bone steak. Seol had agreed to her suggestion and stopped eating junk food spirited away from the convenience store. He now ate proper meals from the restaurant.
Doing that caused him to feel a deep regret over two matters, though.
The first regret was all to do with him not coming here sooner.
Not only the food tasted amazing, they also provided the right amount of necessary nutrients as well. It didn't simply fill him up; he felt like his body was visibly getting healthier, too. Of course, the tastier the food, the more expensive it got, but such things didn't matter to Seol at all.
Second regret was that he should never fool around Agnes when it came to food. There was this one time not too long ago, when Seol inadvertently broke the promise of buying her a meal once everyday.
She coldly told him, ”You had your meal alone, I see. Why don't we get started training right away?”
Then, she proceeded to not talk to him for the next four days. When he thought about how much he had to sweat while trying to appease her cold, simmering fury, well….
”What's on your mind?” (Agnes)
”….Well, uh, the thing is, I've already made up my mind about which Job I want.” (Seol)
Seol quickly came up with an answer. Agnes sighed softly.
”You don't get to choose your Job, but it's chosen for you.” (Agnes)
”Oh… Is that so?” (Seol)
”The seven G.o.ds that rule over this world debate among themselves before granting you a Job out of these four beginner cla.s.ses - Archer, Sorcerer, Priest, or Warrior.” (Agnes)
Hearing this, Seol tilted his head slightly.
”Only four? That's not as many as I expected.” (Seol)
”That's only in the beginning. Depending on how your level progresses later on, countless other Job paths will become available to you.” (Agnes)
Agnes elegantly chewed on the meat and swallowed it before continuing on.
”For instance, let's say the level 1 Warrior uses a sword as the main weapon. Then, he levels up to 2. Then, his Job t.i.tle will change to 'Swordsman' from then on. If you prefer axes, then you will become 'Axe Warrior', instead. It is the same for the Archer cla.s.s. If you rely on short swords or daggers as your main attack weapon, then when you reach the level 2, your Job will become 'a.s.sa.s.sin'.” (Agnes)
In other words, only the initial stages would be the same, and the evolution of Jobs would entirely depend on how one developed themselves. After carefully thinking about a few things, he couldn't help but become curious.
”What would happen when you're chosen as a Sorcerer but you level up using a sword all the time?” (Seol)
”You'd become a Level 2 Magic Swordsman, but I wouldn't recommend going down such a route. It should be very difficult to dig just one well, after all.” (Agnes)
Indeed, raising one's Stats accordingly to suit the Job bestowed made sense. There was no point of becoming a jack of all trades that weren't so good at any one thing by trying his hands on this and that. Seol nodded his head in agreement, while Agnes continued on with her explanations.
”Also, when you level up to 5, the dividing line separating the lower cla.s.s and higher cla.s.s combatants, you will be asked to choose which G.o.d you wish to serve. That is the moment when the Job path you have chosen becomes critically important. It is the same story when you reach the Level 7.” (Agnes)
”I must choose a G.o.d?” (Seol)
”Mm…. Think of it this way. Your Job will either evolve or become even more specialised to suit the powers of the G.o.ds you choose. For now, this much information should suffice.” (Agnes)
Seol's brows furrowed slightly. He thought this whole 'Job' situation would be something a bit simpler, but it turned out to be far more complex than he bargained for.
”As for our future training schedule….” (Agnes)
Seol thought that whatever the case may have been, he'd get to figure it out eventually as he carried on. However, as soon as he heard Agnes, he became quite tense. Whenever Agnes mentioned 'training', his body automatically reacted in this manner.
”You must inform me immediately as soon as your Job has been chosen. We will need to tailor your training to match that.” (Agnes)
”Are you talking about the Job-specific training as well as Magic Power training?” (Seol)
”Yes. You know about them already.” (Agnes)
”I heard about them today. If it's only those….” (Seol)
”I strongly do not recommend buying the Applications from the stores for that purpose.” (Agnes)