The Aftermath of Stage One - Part 4

I continued killing pigs left and right.

[+190 experience (Boosted)]

[+190 experience (Boosted)]

[+190 experience (Boosted)]

[+190 experience (Boosted)]

[+190 experience (Boosted)]

[+190 experience (Boosted)]

...

My potions had almost run out by the time I got my next rare drop. I had been grinding for almost to hours. I got to experience the dopamine rush from the confetti and bright colours once again. This time, the confetti was a deep purple colour.

!?

[ULTRA-Rare Item!]

?!

Wait what was this?

I was met by an almost infinite rain of confetti splashing into the sky. The bright purple formed a dense cloud before dissipating.

{}

[+1 Farmer Contract!]

{}

It was another contract!

A sheet of paper fell to the ground and I picked it up. On it, I was given three choices on which farmer to select.

-

{Form a contract with a farmer and gain passive rewards. Upgrade your famer with Upgrade Tokens. Collect the rewards from the contracts menu. Choose from the below options on which farmer to form a contract with.

Very Lucky Farmer: 40% more likely to receive rare drops.

Cow Farmer: Farm cows instead of pigs.

Intelligent Farmer: Becomes more efficient at farming over time.}

-

I had three very good options to choose from. Both the 'Very Lucky Farmer' and 'Intelligent Farmer' were very tempting. However, I was interested in what was different between cows and pigs. There was no information on what the difference, however, I had to satiate my curiosity. After a few seconds of introspection, I decided to pick the 'Cow Farmer'.

{Contract Formed}

Suddenly, an entirely new area spawned and a pen filled with cows appeared. Inside, there also appeared a farmer.

Beside the pen, there was some information on the cows.

-

{Unlike pigs, cows do not drop experience or items, however, every once in a while, a cow will drop an [Enchanted Milk Bottle] which can be consumed or sold.]

-

There was no information on what an 'Enchanted Milk Bottle' was but it sounded like it was something that was quite good.

At this time, I also decided to take a quick look at my experience. My potions had just about ran out and I didn't really want to buy more.

~

<Experience>

28105 [35000 needed to level up]

-

I was actually quite close to levelling-up. After almost five hours of continuous grinding, I was beyond exhausted. I didn't want to exhaust my body too much before the match tomorrow, even with my recovery pod, major injuries still took a long time to heal and it was almost night-time.

I decided to call it a day and get some rest before my match tomorrow.

I made my way to the recovery pod and lied down in its comfortable bed.

*

At around midnight, I got out of the recovery pod and travelled back to my house. I was starving as usual, especially since I did so much physical activity. As I got transported into my house, I made my way to the kitchen and grabbed out a packet of instant noodles. I had purchased a 5-pack the last time I went to the convenience store so I still had some left.

I put the water on boil and waited as it slowly warmed up.

Once it finished, I poured the water into the cup and consumed my meal. I know that this definitely isn't a sustainable way to live my life but I just didn't have the money necessary to get better things.

Spectrum-Judgement often recruits level-2 to level-4 Espers as a part of their team to contain justice within the city. The pay is dependant on your skills and experience so oftentimes level-2 Espers get paid very little and are stuck with more information gathering-type jobs and barely see combat. They usually used your official level assigned by The Future ESP Regulation Committee but they will also take into account anyone who does decently well during the Interschool tournaments, even during the qualifying rounds.

At the moment, the number of Spectrum-Judgement personnel stays around six-hundred in our city. There is a further 2000 personnel within the NPO. The crime rate has been especially high recently so they are on the lookout for more members. I hoped that I might be able to get in and earn some money to help pay for some better food and other things I hoped to buy.

Well, at the moment at least, I just wanted to focus on the next match.

The winners from the first round of qualifiers are always scheduled to fight against someone who is newly introduced into the second round. So level-0 to level-2 Espers always fight against either a level-3 or a level-4, meaning there is no chance that you get an easier match by fighting another Esper the same level as you.

This means I am guaranteed to fight either a level-3 or a level-4. Also, during the second round of qualifiers, the rule against general mechanical weapons still exists. Meaning there is no use of any guns or grenades aside from flashbangs. The rule against lethal damage also stays, meaning that you are not allowed to kill or severely injure your opponent, although that is generally up to interpretation as to what level of damage you are allowed to inflict.

The main difference is that the obstacles in the middle of the arena are removed, so it is completely empty with only you and the opponent being inside. You are allowed to create artificial environments or obstacles however.

For the most part, I needed to think of any way I could attempt to defeat a level-3 or a level-4, although if I am put up against a level-4 I would likely just forfeit as there is practically no chance that I would be able to defeat one at this current state.

I just needed to hope I am put against a level-3 and one that is able to be countered by my set of abilities. At that point, it becomes a pure battle of wits and strength.

Oh well, it was about time I slept, although it was a little bit difficult to get to sleep due to the fact that I had slept for a few hours in Haven.

I decided to put some music on and closed my eyes until eventually I drifted off to sleep.