Scenario One - Try Not To Die (V)

"Ahhhahh... ugh..." I groaned slightly.

Yeah, sleeping on the hard ground was definitely not a good idea.

Just like I thought yesterday, I spent most of my time hunting giant rats and spent the last six hours sleeping.

I hunted for two more hours because I wanted to reach level 10, but no luck. No matter how many giant rats I killed, I just couldn't level up.

[5 minutes remaining...]

Looking at the countdown, I sighed heavily.

One of the things I noticed was that when I was close to Alaine, the constellation "Shivering Veil" always emanated a deep chill.

That could only mean one thing...

That same constellation hated Alaine because she was using fire magic, which can be considered the enemy of ice magic.

There should be a fire-related constellation that she hates or something like that.

"Ah... You're up, bro?" Daniel's voice was groggy as he woke up from his deep sleep.

"Yeah, yeah..." I stretched my arms wide, hearing a satisfying crack.

"Oh... Sorry! I didn't realize you two were already like that!" Daniel's eyes suddenly widened, and he quickly got up and left.

"What does he mean by that?" I tilted my head, puzzled.

Yawn...

Then, I heard a soft yawn from below... and thinking about it now, I felt an unusual weight on my lower body.

"Ah... of course." I looked down and saw Alaine clinging to my legs.

She had her head resting above my knees with her hands tightly wrapped around my left leg.

"Good morning..." She mumbled sleepily as she yawned again.

"Oh..." Her tired eyes met mine.

"Do you want a good morning kiss?" She blinked slowly before suddenly pulling herself up by my neck and drawing me closer.

Smoochh~♥

She directly kissed my lips without my consent.

And if that wasn't enough for her, she twisted her head sideways and boldly extended her tongue into my mouth.

Chu♥... Churup...!

"Phwa..." She finally parted away from my lips, with a saliva bridge spreading from her tongue to mine.

After our intense kiss, I just stood up.

There was no need for drama—it was just a good morning kiss, after all.

"Daniel?" I called out, looking for him.

"Yo!" Daniel popped up suddenly in front of me and gave me a slap on the back.

Huh... his strength really did increase.

"You want to die so soon?"

Crack...

I cracked my knuckles. I wouldn't let that slide.

"A-ah... Lucius! Wai—KEUGHHH!!"

Thud!

I knocked him out with a punch to the stomach. Well, he's not really knocked out since he's still groaning in pain.

But, whatever, now he should have learned his lesson.

"You guys are fighting so soon...?" Alaine appeared from behind me and exclaimed as she rubbed her eyes.

"I just taught him a lesson, nothing more."

"A lesson that almost KO'd him?" She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yeah."

"...."

I knew I might have overreacted, but sometimes that's just how it goes among friends.

Maybe next time, Daniel will think twice before slapping me on the back.

If he's alive at that moment... that is.

"Anyways... the countdown finally reached its end." Alaine spoke as she looked at the screen that had popped before her.

I, too, looked at that same panel.

[Congratulations, the Earth's First Scenario has finally ended.]

[The rewards will now be handed out. Keep in mind that each sceneario completion has a certain grade depending on the player's evaluation.]

[The grades are: iron, bronze, silver, gold and platinum.]

[Calculating...]

With those words, I awaited my rewards.

"Oh! I got another skill, Lucius! It seems that there was a bonus for people who killed more than ten monsters!"

"Me too... Did you also receive a gold rating, Daniel?" Alaine asked curiously.

"Yeah... what about you, Lucius?"

...My rewards are still being calculated.

"Same here." I lied with a straight face.

If my reward is taking that much time to be calculated, it should be at the platinum level.

"Ah, really? I guess getting platinum rewards should be extremely difficult to get..." Daniel scratched his head as he uttered "status panel".

Anyways...

When was it going to be done...?

[Congratulations!]

[Your clearance grade is Platinum.]

[You have received 10.000 Coins.]

[You have received the skill—"Master of Mana"!]

[You have received the skill—"High Magic Recovery"!]

[You have received a platinum-grade Newbie Gift Pack!]

[You have received +2 Magic, +1 Dexterity, +2 Constitution!]

{You have received a low-grade Katana!]

[Due to your performance as the only player who has received a platinum-grade clearance and also as the first player to kill a monster...]

[You are going to receive a title that corresponds to your tendencies.]

[...]

[You have received the title—"Demon In Human Form".]

[This title grants the player a 20% exp boost and increases the player's affinity with evil-constellations.]

[The player's mana properties has now been changed to "Darkness", and now the player has a higher chance of being loved by highly-dangerous individuals.]

Ah... just great.

But well, if you compare that title to my past...

It makes sense with what I was doing before.

"Status Panel".

[Name: Lucius Sirius (18)]

[Current Level: 9]

[Title: Demon In Human Form]

[Sponsor: - ]

[Coins: 18.500]

[Attributes: Strength 13 | Dexterity 22 (+5) | Constitution 15 | Magic 18]

[Stat Points: 9]

[Skill Points: 5]

[Skills:

▶ Ice Manipulation

▶ Master Of Mana

Grants the user perfect control over mana.

▶ High Magic Recovery

The user's magic will recover at a very fast rate.]

[Unique Skill:

▶ Secret Eye (Level 3)

Allows the user to see things that are hidden from players.

Allows the user to see the weakness of anything his eyes land on.

Allows the user to see if someone is telling the truth or not.

N/A]

[Stigma: - ]

Well...

None of these skills need skill points; they are just great.

"Lucius... what did you get from the newbie pack?" Daniel tapped my shoulder.

"Oh... I didn't open it yet." I just realized that.

I opened my inventory and selected the newbie gift pack.

"Open."

[You are opening a platinum-level newbie gift pack...]

[You've received 5.000 Coins.]

[You've received authority to use a platinum-level store!]

"Ah... was that it?" I tilted my head.

"Did you also receive 1.000 coins and authority to use a gold-level store?" Alaine, appearing out of nowhere, asked me.

I simply nodded my head.

"In this store... there are a lot of items, especially those Upgrade Orbs I told you about yesterday."

"The only thing... is that even the weakest one costs 10.000 coins. It's damn expensive." She sighed heavily.

"Thankfully, we can also use the stores from the lower ranks." She added with a faint smile as she continued browsing through the store.

However, she soon frowned and furrowed her eyebrows.

"What happened?"

"Well... it seems that each store has a stock of things, and that same stock only restocks every month. So, the players are taking the opportunity to buy things immediately."

"It's a bit bad... We don't have many coins..."

[Uhmn... hello?]

Suddenly, another screen popped in front of us, but this time, it had a small clown-like figure on it.

[Before we start with the second scenario, I'll be explaining a few things about the "authority" thingy. Firstly, you cannot upgrade your authority anymore, which means that you'll remain with that same "authority" even in later stages.]

[So, if you got a low-clearance rating... it sucks to be you, I guess. Going on, those "authorities" are very special in this new world. For example, a silver level can make a contract with a high-grade constellation, but an iron or bronze level cannot. They can only make a contract with a low or mid-level constellation.]

[Ah... I almost forgot to mention that! Every constellation has its own grade, which are: low, mid, high, and mythical. Only gold and platinum-level players can make a contract with a mythical constellation.]

[However, a platinum player has a very special benefit! While other players can only make a contract, he can do multiple! He just needs their constellation to agree to be allies.]

[Still... is there any platinum player? Kikiki~]

The clown-figured laughed loudly.

At that moment, I really felt like it was looking directly at me. I couldn't help but smile upon seeing this.

After all, I had received a notification saying that I was the only one that got a platinum-level clearance...

That meant that I had the entire platinum-level store to myself.

[With that being said... let the Second Scenario commence!]

The screen disappeared as another one popped up.

It was the details of the second scenario.