The upgrade tab is what catches my eye. In this section are all the upgrades that can be purchased for my home base and me. I can upgrade the System store so that it shows more advanced items and can access the bazaar, a place Users put up items for auction. I can also upgrade the bonuses that my home base gives me. I can increase the regeneration bonuses to health, mana, and TP. Most amazingly, I can add new bonuses. The one that seems the most interesting is the time compression option. It would let me change how much time passes in the real world when I’m in my home base. The cheapest option is a 10% time compression. Which means for every 60 minutes I spend in my home base, only 54 minutes will have passed in the real world. However, the upgrades on that feature go all the way up to 50% in the store. Which means that only 1 hour would pass in the real world for every 2 hours I’d spend in my home base. Not only can I upgrade my home base, but I can also upgrade me. Well, the System parts of me. I can upgrade the number of slots I have in my inventory space; I can purchase themed User Interface packs that change the way the System looks. I can make it all themed for things like a hacker, fairy princess, noir, or after various video game and movie characters. I especially like the Spiderman theme that changes the color scheme to blue and red and adds webs. None of the User Interface themes change how it works. It’s all cosmetic. But it is good to know that I could change it if I wanted to.
Now I’m not sure what the dollar to credit conversion is, but things in this System Store are expensive. I mean, they gave me five credits, and the only thing that gets me is a can of Super Ultra Wake Me Up Coffee drink. Even the cosmetic stuff starts at 20 credits. The cheapest weapons and armor are hundreds of credits. Don’t even get me started on the good stuff in the store. That battle suit? 198,000.17 credits. Why did they add on the .17? I don’t know, but it seems like a dick move because nothing else in the store costs .83 credits. So the .83 credits are just going to sit in your inventory forever, taunting you.
So, I buy the one thing I can afford, the coffee drink. On the outside of the can it promises to make you feel like you had a full night's rest. If I plan to check out a dungeon today, I’ll need the boost in energy. I pop open the tab on the drink and take my first swig. Hmmm, not bad. It tastes like a sweet coffee drink with a bit of a metallic aftertaste. A feeling of euphoria and refreshment comes over me as soon as I finish off the drink. I notice a small icon appear in the top left-hand corner of my vision. I look at it, and it expands.
Nectar of the Gods Buff
For the next 12 hours, you will not need sleep and will function as if you’ve already had a full night's rest. However, there may be some side effects at the end of the 12 hours.
Well, there you go. It’s official; I love this drink. I wonder if I can just pound one of these things every twelve hours and just stay up indefinitely?
Well, time to change into some day-wear and get to that dungeon. It’s not going to clear itself.
Chapter 14
All energized from the coffee drink, I head to the autobus stop and jump on the first one that comes. Since I don’t have any idea where a dungeon will be, I don’t have a particular destination in mind and figure I’ll just ride the bus and scan for dungeons until I find one.
I pull up the information on the skill Dungeon Scan.
Dungeon Scan
Level 1
When activated, a scan for dungeons is done in a 50-yard radius from where the User is located. Higher levels of this skill increase the radius of the scan. The highest levels of this skill add options to scan for dungeons with particular characteristics.
Not being sure how to activate the skill, I open the guidebook, but the book provides no guidance on this particular skill. So, I think about how I activate most of the commands for the System. I just say or think the right keyword with the intent of using it, and it happens. So, I think ‘Dungeon Scan’ while focusing on my desire to find a dungeon. A thin beam of white light shoots out of my chest and extends about half a football field’s length away, then the line rotates around me on a horizontal circular plane, passing through everything around. No one else seems to notice the line, and I can only assume that the line is only visible to Users or maybe just me since I’m the one with the skill. The scan only takes a few seconds, and when it’s complete, a blue window pops up.
No dungeons detected in scan radius.
Well, I can’t say I’m not disappointed. I was hoping I’d find something right away, but I can’t expect a dungeon to land right in my lap. It takes three hours of riding the bus, transferring lines, and scanning before I finally get a hit.
Dungeon detected within scan radius.
I grab my backpack and get off the bus. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to find the dungeon, but at least I know that one is nearby. I know that the dungeon scan skill has a one-hundred-yard radius and I try to eyeball that distance from my location. Looking around, I see an empty parking lot and a two-story indoor mall, so I can only guess the dungeon is somewhere in the mall.
I haven’t been to one of these in years. I remember when I was in junior high, some of the guys from school and I would meet up here to check out the cute girls. I would tell my mom that I was going to study, but I would really take the bus here to meet up with friends. We’d walk around, pretend like we had enough money to buy stuff at the stores, and of course check out the cute girls. Occasionally, one of the guys would get up the nerve to talk to one of the girls our age. When it was my turn, I froze up big time. I thought it was so scary to approach Ruth Quiroz when she was with her friends that I couldn’t say anything besides, “Hey, you look nice.” The group of girls all giggled and laughed, then walked away. That’s what actually happened. However, my school friends heard an entirely different version of events. They heard the version where I was a smooth operator and had no problems laying down the compliments and jokes.
This mall looks like it’s seen better days. There are only a few people coming in and out of the place. The outside looks like it could use a fresh coat of paint, and the big Macy’s sign outside is missing a letter. It just says ‘Macs.’ As I walk towards the mall entrance, the doors slide open with a slight squeal, and I’m greeted by a gust of air as I walk in. Another squeal tells me the doors have closed behind me. Just inside the entrance is a store dedicated to anime next to a puppy model agency masquerading as a pet store. Next to that is a hair salon and a Wetzel's Pretzels. Even though this isn’t the mall I used to visit as a teen, it feels very similar. All the same stores are here. The jewelry stores, the shoe stores, the food places. Heck, there’s some poor kid wearing clown colors putting hot dogs on sticks. However, what isn’t here are customers. I mean, there are people here, but they’re mostly older retirees and some moms walking around with their kids.
The more I walk and look, the more I notice that there are lots of spaces that are empty or have old signs in the window saying ‘coming soon’ that have obviously been there for years. Walking past the food court, I see a clock and note that it’s almost 1 pm. I realize I’ll have to go home in a few hours since I still have to make dinner for Marie before I leave for my evening classes.