'Cut the crap and answer me. Why didn't you tell me I could save blueprints?'
Vio glared at the system messages.
[The hero didn't ask.]
'I'm asking now, you—' He paused, took a deep breath, and continued, 'Explain the difference between saving blueprints and using them directly.'
[Difference: The hero will not have to repurchase or spend resources.]
'Give me the downsides.'
[Downsides…]
Vio clenched his teeth in frustration while converting the blueprints into coins.
[2,000,000 obtained.]
It was obvious—if he hadn't asked, he wouldn't have gotten an answer.
[The hero can store as much external data as there is available space. The system can help summarize, analyze, and explain information in the simplest way possible, but the hero must understand and apply it on his own. Additionally, he must physically gather the required resources.]
'Holy crap!'
[It is recommended that the hero increases the Intelligence stat to ease my suffering.]
Vio narrowed his eyes. The last word quickly changed.
[...the hero's suffering.]
'I can smell your stench, you filthy old thing.'
At last, a useful reason to raise Intelligence.
He was about to check the map but then remembered something important from yesterday.
'Why didn't the 'Kill or Be Killed' mission activate?'
The missionion didn't bother him much since he already had an idea. The soldiers he encountered at first had no intention of fighting; they were merely guiding him. But the last group was different—they had clearly decided to kill him. And yet, no mission had been triggered.
A chill ran down his spine. If the mission had activated, he would have been forced to kill them himself. If he had escaped using 'Teleport Eye', it would have been considered that they died due to The Furious Night, which meant the penalty for not killing them himself would have been enforced. The result? His heart stopped.
As relieved as he was that it hadn't triggered, he was just as confused about why.
['Kill or Be Killed' activates when the hero must not hesitate to kill enemies for a valid reason—when there is no way to avoid it.]
That didn't convince him. He reviewed all his battles, which only made him more doubtful.
'No, I could have escaped.'
[No, the hero could not.]
'Hey, I said I could.'
[Hey, I said no.]
'Ugh.'
[The hero is wrong.]
'I'm not convinced,' he said stubbornly, staring at the system.
[The hero is advised to test it next time to be sure.]
'You damn thing, are you a friend or an enemy? Do you want the penalty to be enforced on me?'
He tried to let it go, but something still lingered.
'What about the main mission update? Didn't you say the system doesn't make mistakes?'
[The system does not make mistakes.]
'Then how did you misjudge the difficulty at the start of the mission?'
[The hero's choices made the mission harder, so the system updated the rewards—because the system is fair.]
'choices? What choices?'
[Detected slow comprehension from the hero.]
[Searching for a simplified explanation…]
[The hero's mission was simple: escape.]
[Escaping means sneaking out.]
[Sneaking out means no one should know.]
[The hero made the entire mountain aware of his existence—and even got chased.]
[Anything else?]
The more the system spoke, the more it sounded like a scolding. They could argue forever, but Vio didn't want to distract himself.
dropped the argument and focused on the map, where the system had marked several locations as possible targets.
There was no need to visit all of them. He already knew exactly where to go.
The psychopaths were intelligent, arrogant, and loved doing the impossible as much as they could. The place Zaves chose was the closest to the village. They enjoyed doing things under others' noses without them realizing it, so it made sense to choose a nearby location, but not so foolish as to be completely exposed. Otherwise, they would have left the hideout on the High Mountain.
Upon arrival, Vio scanned the area with a smirk. Found a twisted plateau that no one would have paid attention to—which was exactly why Vio noticed it.
Placing his hand on a rock, uncovered an unusual hole.
Pulled out a key from his clothes and inserted it into the lock. Another sign that he hadn't planned on visiting this place—usually stored all important items in his inventory.
[Demon's Hideout discovered.]
[Zaves' Hideout.]
['Demon's Chest' obtained.]
[Evaluation completed: 176%.]
'This looks promising.'
The space inside was barely enough for one person.
Bending as he entered the tiny hut, could barely stand inside.
Along the stone walls, shelves were lined with books, keys, herbs, and containers filled with what looked like pills. Lots of them.
'This is really annoying.'
A quick glance told him there was no way he could take everything. That meant he'd have to convert some into coins and others into Evaluation Points.
Vio didn't even bother with the herbs and pills—his cyborg body had no use for them.
[11,000,000 obtained.]
'Man, this stuff is worth a lot, huh?'
But what really irritated him were the keys and books.
Even though couldn't read them, understood the psychology of the Demon he had encountered. It was clear the Demon recorded information on people or places, which was something Vio found interesting—he liked collecting information.
He thought about storing them in his inventory, but then realized the problem: the sheer number of books and keys. The system wouldn't count them as a single item. Each book and each key would take up a separate slot.
'Damn it.'
With a sigh, he converted the books and keys.
[Evaluation completed: 476%.]
[Map updated.]
The map now displayed several markers—camps, houses, and farms.
'Damn, this lunatic worked hard.'
Two large chests to the side, he stepped toward them, but stopped when he spotted something strange on the ground.
'What's this?'
A circle had been drawn on the floor, surrounded by words that looked like the language of the world Alam. At the center was a drawing of a three-eyed head.
With a finger, he wiped part of the circle, only to find that the substance stuck to his fingertip.
'Is it just me… or is this blood?'
Dealt with blood many times before, so there was no way he could mistake it. Still, he wanted to be sure.
With a mental command, opened a small slit on his finger, allowing the foreign blood to enter his body and mix with CyborgBlood. The system reacted immediately.
[External substance detected.]
[Does the hero want to analyze it? Yes/No]
'Yes.'
[Analyzing…]
Even the simplest task took longer than it should.
'Maybe I should buy additional cores.'
While waiting, he opened the two chests.
In the first, he found something familiar.
'Purple Flame Scroll'
He retrieved one from inventory, obtained one before when he killed Zaves. Inside the chest, there were five more.
He examined them before—they looked like stone tablets tied together with a rough string. Touching them did nothing, and the same happened with the new ones.
'Whatever. I'll store them for now. If they turn out to be useless, I'll just convert them into coins.'
Putting them into inventory, but the system refused to group them all in one slot.
'What the…? Don't tell me… Are they not the same?'
Checked them again, but they all looked identical.
[Analysis complete.]
'Let me guess—human blood?'
[Yes and no.]
[Yes, it contains elements confirming that.]
[No, there is a component that should not exist in a normal human's blood.]
'Man, you and your riddles.'
Temporarily placing the Scrolls back in the chest, he moved to check the second one.
It was filled with large stones—some glowing, others metallic.
It was obvious they were valuable, and it was obvious Vio wanted to take them to assess their worth before selling them. But the problem? He couldn't carry them all.
'Life is unfair.'
So convert the metallic stones first.
[10,000,000 obtained.]
'I don't have another choice.'
Opening his inventory screen, tapped the + sign to buy ten extra slots for ten million. Now he could store the glowing stones as well.
Their glow made him reluctant to sell them, so he decided to keep them along with the other Scrolls.
Scanning the place again, he found nothing else of interest.
'Alright, I think I'm done here…'
But just as he was about to leave, a strange feeling made him turn around quickly, his expression tense.
Looked around, but nothing seemed out of place.
'What is this feeling…?'
As though guided by an unseen force, his gaze locked onto a faint crack in the wall. He reached out and pulled out a map.
[Evaluation completed: 631%.]
[Map updated.]
On the three-dimensional map, fortress-like structures appeared at the top of the mountain.
"Damn it." Vio muttered. "Are they… carving their castles into the mountainside?"
Smacked his forehead.
'Why am I even surprised? These guys summon ice and electricity—why should this shock me?'
With a smirk, and a command, making seven chests appear.
As always, he was eager to open them.
[Hidden mission completed.]
[mission: 'Know Everything.']
['Robotics Engineering Science' obtained.]