Prologue III : Cutely Spending Points

'Your new family has been selected, I am unable to relay any information regarding them unless you use your points, but I can tell you that you will be far from disappointed.'

He didn't mind not knowing anything about his future family right away as he'll have plenty of time to get to know them. With everything related to his beginnings completed, he moved on to the next step, his powers and abilities.

After asking the otherworldly being some questions, he found out you truly could ask for anything, from creating your own systems that would help you in your growth and display your entire being in a statistical and game-like manner, or being able to ask for non-existent, to his knowledge, cultivation techniques that you would be able to train and improve in.

You could ask to become a mechanical being like a mech or a robot or ask to become a digital being and have the entire internet as your playground. You could ask for superpowers like flight, super strength and laser vision and become superman in your new world. Now that he thought of it, why couldn't you become superman in your old world, did you actually have to go to a new world? The otherworldly being had not informed him if they had a choice.

"Hey, before I start spending my normal points, are we allowed to choose between going to a new world or staying here?" He was just asking out of curiosity as he had already made up his mind and wouldn't have changed it even if he knew prior to deciding.

'There are three rules that I have not informed the player about, as they would only be mentioned if the player does or asks something related to any of them.'

'First, the player must go to another world, regardless of the criteria they set for their new world, be it for a world as similar to their old world as possible, or as different as possible. Second, the player must use up all their points, both exclusive and normal points, not a single fraction of their points must be left.'

'Third, the player may refuse the offer of using their points for powers or going to another world and may return to their old world in the condition they were left in, memories intact. If the player had died when they were selected, they will return dead. If they were on the verge of death, they will

return on the verge of death, if they were alive, they will return alive.'

'While we try to convince players that do not wish to go to another world or finish all their points, players who refuse to abide by these two rules will not be allowed to continue. There is no time limit or any punishment for players unable to choose between refusing the offer or accepting the offer and following the rules. The player is unable to die while in the selection process, but we cannot guarantee your mental health and sanity.'

Something surprising had been uncovered to him, he didn't even think of the other two rules, while refusing the offer was understandable to some extent, he could imagine why someone would not want to use all their points for an advantage in their next life.

He wondered how many people discovered these rules, and how many just went along with the process without questioning anything and never finding out about them.

"So... are you able to tell me the reason for these rules? or the percentage of players who found out about them?"

'I am unable to disclose the reason.'

"Of course..."

Seeing as he didn't have to worry about these three rules as they would not apply to him, and he wouldn't be getting any answers about them, he decided to move on.

"Let's just continue... I'm thinking of starting with the local powers like magic... I read the basic information and know that affinities are something everything has, from living things to even non-living things and that all things have an affinity towards certain attributes, could you build upon that?" Magic affinity was something he was highly familiar with as it was a common trope for protagonists to have an extremely high magic affinity in one attribute or even all attributes in certain cliche light novels.

'As you can guess, magic affinity is the synchronization factor between an organism or object and a magical attribute, determining the potential one has when not only using but also comprehending and improving the specific attribute.'

'For objects like common rocks or complicated machinery, their magic affinity is usually determined by their materials, the environment they are in, and various other factors. Their magic affinity would affect the interactions between other attributes used on them or increase the synchronization effect of the same attribute, like using the wood of a tree that grew near a volcano to create a wand for fire magic.'

'Those with low affinity with an attribute like fire would not only make their spells weaker and harder to control, their comprehension of fire will be difficult to increase when studying fire magic and even make them more vulnerable against fire compared to those with higher affinity.'

'Those with high affinity with fire would be able to control fire like a second limb and cast spells of great magnitude, they would easily comprehend the essence of fire and what it stands for and would have great resistance to it as well.'

'Magic affinity has many factors to take into account for all living things for how it is determined and how it could change. This is especially important during birth or in the organism's formative years. Affinities, in general, have certain trends depending on the organism like marine life having a good affinity for water, dwarves having a good affinity with earth and fire, and humans having a better affinity with all attributes with a boost towards the four elements.'

'Though the magic affinity for sapient races is usually more erratic than the trends suggest, with any sapient being able to have a strangely high or low affinity or multiple affinities for no apparent reason, with humanity being the most erratic with their general affinity with all attributes.'

'There are still some fixed factors such as bloodline and birthplace, where a child can inherit the affinity of their parents or even ancestors like genes, leading to famous mage families who specialize in a single attribute or similar attributes.'

'Your place of birth can determine your affinity as well, being born near the sea or near a volcano will certainly give you a higher chance of gaining good affinities with water and fire respectively, it is a method famous mage families use frequently.'

'These fixed factors cannot overcome the erratic magic affinity of sapient races, however. A prodigy in earth magic could be born into a famous water mage family that had spent resources and money to give birth to a child underwater. '

Though the concept didn't need to be explained to this extent, he appreciated the world worked before he even arrived. It gave him a better understanding of magic affinity and how to better spend his points.

"I really don't like leaving my magic affinity to fate, nor do I want to learn the magic affinity my parents have using points, I'll definitely be using my points to change it..."

The number of magic attributes revealed from the basic information was only a fraction of those that exist as the otherworldly being had told him, thankfully there were still a dozen or so, including the typical four elements along with a mix of other common attributes in the world.

Looking through the list, it contained attributes he was familiar with and could easily understand their uses like space magic and healing magic, the attribute that caught his eye was Neutral Magic, an attribute that isn't commonly seen in the stories he's read but knew the basics about.

"Can you tell me more about Neutral Magic, if I'm not wrong it should be the magic that everyone is taught when first using magic right?" Though he didn't think he was too far off, it still could be different in another world in comparison to the novels he had read.

'You are correct, Neutral Magic is the basis of all magic, as Neutral Magic is the most basic of magic involving the shaping and forming of unaltered mana, mana that had not been changed into any other attributes. For that reason, it is seen as the easiest magic to learn as all sapient beings have at least some affinity to be able to use it. It is also the hardest affinity to master as raw mana without an attribute is unwieldy in control and inefficient in terms of mana usage due to the primitive nature of Neutral Magic.'

'It is also the attribute that has the lowest number of users and skilled mages as most people in the world have a minuscule amount of affinity in it, even those considered talented in Neutral Magic in terms of affinity are easily outmatched by the affinity of the prodigies of common attributes like the four elements.'

'Even the Grand Mage of Neutral Magic in the current era only has their affinity for Neutral Magic to be equivalent to the affinity of a moderately talented mage of one of the four elements. Though that is the case, as a Grand Mage, they are able to rival other Grand Mages in terms of power despite the disparaging difference in affinity as their command of Neutral Magic which is said to be the hardest to master speaks greatly of their skill.'

'That is not mentioning the potential raw power Neutral Magic has as it can rival the raw power that Fire Magic can exert'

If all those details pertaining to Neutral Magic did not convince him to min-max on it, then he should be cast into the fiery pits of hell, but luckily it had.

"It's decided!! I'd like you to increase my affinity in Neutral Magi...wait... I know a better way to do this! Is it possible for you to transfer all my affinity for every other attribute into Neutral Magic?" He stopped himself halfway after thinking of a brilliant way to save even more of his points.

Though he knew that it still wouldn't be free, at least it would be way cheaper, he had no qualms about not being able to use other attributes as he loved min-maxing and took every opportunity to min-max in games when it was viable, his motto for min-maxing was 'to cover up all weaknesses with your overwhelming strength!'.

'It is very much possible and would only cost 0.65% of your points, upon being born into the world, your affinities will be compressed into Neutral Magic.'

"That's cheap! Lock it in! Oh but before that, increase my affinity with 0.35% of my points please."

'Purchase locked in, you have 99% of your points remaining.'

"Next up, how much would 1% of my points increase my processing power and memory?" Since the world he was in was sci-fi fantasy, he wanted to be able to easily remember all of the complicated information like magical and scientific formulas and cast complicated magic at an insane speed. Though he had good grades in school before, he wanted to experience being a prodigy.

He would need his brain to become a supercomputer to achieve that, though he knew supercomputers had nothing on the capabilities of the human brain.

'1% of your points would be able to increase your processing ability by 437 times or increase your memory by 117 human lifetimes.'

He could not imagine what it would feel like to be able to think that fast or remember so much, it will certainly make him a prodigy.

"Okay... use enough points to increase my processing ability by 1000 times and my memory by 200 human lifetimes, and also give me flawless memory, and lock it in."

'Purchase locked in, processing ability and memory cost was 3.99%, flawless memory cost 0.63%. You have 94.38% of your points remaining.'

Next up, he had seen in the basic information that the world had a system in place for your own personal soul equipment, something linked to your soul that grew in power as you grew and were able to summon at will, be it a tool, weapon or even animal. There even were those who had soul equipment like cars or guns.

He only knew that it existed and basic information like how they are used and some examples of possible equipment, there was no other information about it, he wouldn't spend any points to know more as not only would it be a waste but he also wanted to be surprised.

Looking over to the side, he spotted his multipurpose shovel he always brought along to his biweekly camping trips, he once had an apocalypse phase where he learned all there was to learn about survival in the wild and the best locations in his city to build a base and prime looting areas.

He had even decided to try camping to simulate living during an apocalypse and had bought the necessary camping equipment needed after extensive research and learning, he had purchased the shovel online due to its aesthetics and having multiple tools attached to the handle that could be detached into multiple segments.

Looking back on it, it was such an amateur decision that made him cringe at times, but he had still continued using the mediocre multitool shovel during the camping trips that he'd been doing for over three years. It may have been less optimal than having proper tools, his shovel got the job done, multiple different jobs in fact.

He'd created a strong bond with the shovel despite not giving it a name, it had more sentimental value than anything else in his life. Although he called them camping trips, after a lot of experience and trial runs, he'd begun 'outdoor survival' trips just a year after his camping trips and still did them to this day.

The trips would consist of him having minimal tools and resources and would just be him and his shovel surviving three days in the wilderness where he would have to forage and build a shelter, and sometimes even catch some game in traps he made.

"Could... my soul equipment in Vanteria be my shovel? I want something to remind me of my previous life and this is the item I have the greatest bond with." His shovel had dents and scratches from constant use and due to its unorthodox design, made it less durable overall, but it was well taken care of and maintained regularly and thus was in good shape as a whole.

'Yes, you are able to override your soul equipment to be the current shovel you hold for 0.21% of your points, you will also be able to increase the growth factor of your shovel as well if desired.'

"Let's do that for sure, don't worry buddy, I won't be neglecting you." He said as he pat his shovel, thought his ultimate goal was to reach the epitome of cuteness, there was no reason he couldn't bring his shovel along for the ride.

"I have 94.38% of my points left right? Since that's the case can you use the points I have until 80% left to increase the growth factor of my shovel and give it an extremely girly and cute paint job and special effects that are also cool and badass? Lock it all in!" If he was going to have his shovel for the rest of his adventures, he well might as well make it fit the part, as the weapon of the future Goddess of Cuteness.

'0.21% of your points have been used to override your soul equipment to be the shovel in your possession, 0.1% of your points have been used for an exquisitely cute, girly and badass paint job and special effect that will evolve and change as your shovel grows, and 14.07% of your points have been used to increase the growth factor of your shovel and will be added on top of the growth factor from the system in place. You have 80% of your points remaining as requested.'

His shovel had slowly turned into particles the moment the otherworldly being had started speaking, the particles consolidating into a point and shooting out into his chest as he felt something settle inside of his being. He had been surprised but mostly happy that his shovel had, what he could only assume, linked to his soul.

"Now on to the main course...Cuteness, here I come!!"