Giant Rats (2)
A man with brown eyes, black hair and a face looking tired, wearing blue jeans and a gray sweater walks into a construction site, with a sad look on his face. having lost the love of his life making him the sole guardian of his little daughter, was exhausting, but she was the only thing keeping him from crumbling. He works day and night to provide everything she needs, having the role of a father as well as a mother to her.
His wife Beth, a construction engineer in the disaster site. caused her to lose her life. It was one of the worst days in his life. He could do nothing but come here everyday and pray, talk to her, tell her about their daughter, how she's growing and her school life. He conversed with her for hours until he had to leave for his next job.
He comes in, looking exhausted. having lost his job, a more qualified employee they said...
But he knew, the one that replaced him was no qualified employee, the kid was an idiot, having been given everything since childhood made him a spoiled brat, he was not qualified to even work as a pencil sharpener but due to his fathers' influence landing a job at the same company as him was easy, so HR had to cut down on staff and he was chosen with 2 more people. they were fired and replaced. the only thing he could think of was coming to see his wife.
"I'm sorry Beth, I'm really trying my best. i can't do this without you."
WOOSH
A boy, looked like he was the same age as his daughter, shows up out of nowhere and scares him.
"AHH... WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM" the man yelled with surprise.
Red looks in front of him, he sees the man, surprised by what he just witnessed.
"Hi, i'm sorry i didn't mean to scare you" says red apologetically.
"Ho.. How did you do that??" the man asks
"I ahh i awakened my powers not too long ago and was just testing them." red responds. he didn't care if he knew he was a ranker or not, the man saw him teleport back, no lie can be told and he's a stranger so he'll probably never see him again.
"I have to go. Sorry again sir" says red as he starts running.
"Oh.. Ok" says the man. having a hint of jealousy in his look. Awakening powers are the same as hitting the jackpot, if something like that could happen to him, it would make it way easier on him.
"Hey dad, you're here again... you should rest more, you'll find a new job don't worry." a girl's voice can be heard from behind the man.
He turns around, seeing his daughter with a concerned look on her face. carrying a plastic bag, from the bright red logo on it, it seemed like food.
"Yes, sweaty, sorry. How did you know i lost my job?" the man asks
"I heard from Jack, your coworker. He told me a relative of the companys' owner took your spot. don't worry about him, we can focus more on the store now, we'll make it popular just like the old days when mom was with us." the girl says with a smile.
"Yeah, we'll give it a try." the man says with a forced smile.
Since his wife passed away, he stopped taking care of the store, it reminded him of her.
"Ok hun, Let's go.. Wait, is that your school uniform?" asks the man
"yeah, why?" answers the girl confused
The man remembered red, he was wearing the uniform his daughter wore.
"huh, never mind." says the man
the girl and him say their prayers to the deceased and leave.
Red runs home. still shaken by what he just did. in a dungeon or with an immediate danger, his mind keeps calm and he can think logically and act upon it, but after leaving, the effects of the skill faded. his memory of the events scared him, how calm he was.
But in order to grow stronger it was a needed skill. Red gets home, takes a shower and goes to his room and lays down on the bed, not feeling like cultivating or doing anything. He laid his head on the pillow and fell asleep.
"Hey, red get up. Why are you sleeping? are you ok?" a cute thin voice can be heard.
Red opens his eyes. seeing his little sister in a pink apron, with her hair tied in a bun.
"Come let's go eat. mom told me to wake you, she had something important to tell us." said liz with a puzzled look.
"Yeah, ok. coming" said red while getting up
they head downstairs. seeing his mother setting up the table wearing her blue business suit minus the jacket.
"Hey, liz told me she found you sleeping when she got home. you no longer play your games are you ok?" his mother asks
"Yeah, just a bit tired. what did you want to tell us?" asks red
"Let's sit and eat first," his mom finished setting up the table and they sat.
Red was a bit confused. his mother rarely cooks dinner, she's always tired and eats whatever red and liz made, showers and goes to bed. but she was different this time, she looked... depressed?
"Hey, What do you guys think about selling the house?" Their mother spoke in the middle of their meal with a sad tone.
"WHAT?" red says raising his voice a little
"I ... I got fired, they hired new people, me and other employees were disposed of" His mother says with some tears in her eyes
They were already having a hard time keeping up with the living expenses, but now that his mother was out of work this was all she could think of.
Even when Red and his mother didn't have a good relationship together, he felt like crying after seeing his mother's look.
"Status.." red whispers. and secretly taps on the cash word. (CASH 153.37 $)
"How much is needed?" asked the voice. "150$" red commands.
"Mom, here. this should help with some of the bills right?" says red as he hands her the 150$
"What?. Where did you get that money?" his mother asks.
"I met a ranker, I started helping him with some small tasks and he said he'll give me that amount or even more whenever I help him out." red lies. He had to, if he told her about him being a ranker himself she would freak out, not letting him put himself in any danger.
"Who's he and why is he paying you, what do you do for him?" his mother asks.
"Calm down mom, i'm just an errand boy for him but he pays me well, this amount is nothing to him so he doesn't care. i met him recently" red continues
"I'll give you whatever pay i get for now till you get another job ok?" says red
"No, I can't have you doing that. we'll find another solution." his mother demands
"No, we can't lose this house. i don't care, we'll do this until you get another job" red says with a serious face.
"Are you serious red?.... Don't do anything weird or dangerous for him ok?" his mother said with a worried face
"Oh my god mom, what weird thing are you talking about. their just errands" red adds with a small laugh.
"I'm already looking for work, it won't be long ok?" said his mother
"Hehe red is the man of the house now, PAYING BILLs" says liz while laughing
"What was it before? one of the girls?" answers red laughing as well.
When they finished their dinner, red went to his room. the smile leaving his face, he had to afford to buy the skills and give his mother money to keep them floating for now.
"Enter level 1 dungeon" red says. and with a small flash of light, he disappears.
Red is teleported to the same room from before. He wanted to re-do the rats room, if not he'll move on to the next one.
then suddenly 'Do you want to replay the dungeon? (Yes / No)' a window popped up
Red was happy, it was possible for him to keep grinding the weak monsters until he's ready for the next room. He reaches with his hand and presses YES...
"Quest received : Eliminate all the Giant rats in the first room 0 / 5" The female voice spoke
"Good, so i don't get XP from killing monsters but get quests? this is better. I get money as well in the reward." red confirms
Using the same strategy from before, red managed to kill 2 rats with a one shot each.
'Quest : Eliminate all the Giant rats in the first room 2 / 5'
'Loot (2 Giant rats) : YES / NO'
"YES, god... stop asking me and just loot them. how annoying" red states
'(1 Giant Rat meat / 3 Bones / Lesser Life Stone) Looted'
"Command Understood, activating auto Loot" the female voice reported
"What? It had this option as well? not bad" red says happily
...
'(2 Giant Rat meat / Lesser Life Stone) Looted'
'Quest Completed: Eliminate all the Giant rats in the first room 5 / 5'
'Reward : (100 $ / 100 xp)'
To next level : 160 / 200
'Mana Bolt Level Up'
Mana Bolt : A skill that attacks by emitting mana. Attack power increases by INT. Range is 15m. mana consumed -%5. (Level 2 / Active)
'New skill acquired : Blunt Weapons Mastery'
Blunt Weapons Mastery : Allows the user to freely handle blunt weapons. 10% increase in attack damage with blunt weapons. 5% increase in attack speed with blunt weapons. (Level 1 / Passive)
"Wow, so using a weapon more than once grants you a mastery? I killed one rat after disabling him with Mana Bolt. Awesome, then I'll have to practice on weak monsters with the weapon I want to gain a skill for." red Continued.
"So do i have to go back and re-enter the dungeon to re-do it?... Leave the dungeon." red though
Red teleports back home, making quite the ruckus as he slips and falls not used to the teleportation thing.
"Did you fall? you ok?" Asks Liz after rushing in.
"Yep, just tripped. thx sis" answers red
liz laughs and leaves, red goes to the door and locks it.
"That was too risky, I should have locked it before I went in, they could have seen me.... Enter level 1 dungeon" says red
...
'(4 Giant Rat meat / 3 Bones / Lesser Life Stone) Looted'
'Quest Completed: Eliminate all the Giant rats in the first room 5 / 5'
'Reward : (100 $ / 100 xp)'
'Level Up'
"Status...."
Name : Red Max Hp : 410 / 440 Max Mp : 100 / 130
Level : 4 To next level : 60 / 400
Class : Unknown Title : Unknown
----------------------------------------------------------
STR : 6+(+5) VIT : 5+(+6) AGI : 3+(+8) INT : 18+ WIS : 6+ LUCK : 2+
----------------------------------------------------------
LP : 5 CASH : 203.37 $
Red puts some in INT +2 (18 -> 20). But adds the rest to LUCK +3 (2 -> 5).
Drops will be a big thing he can make money from, so he added to luck as well. and repeats the dungeon once more.. "Leave the dungeon .... Enter dungeon"
'(5 Giant Rat meat / 1 Bones / 2 Lesser Life Stone) Looted'
'Quest Completed: Eliminate all the Giant rats in the first room 5 / 5'
'Reward : (100 $ / 100 xp)'
To the next level : 160 / 400 ........... CASH : (303.37 $)
Red was improving fast. He wanted to re-do the dungeon once more before he goes to bed. The rats are no longer a threat to him. He learned their patterns on his second try today. Before every attack all these rodents do is jump using their tails to boost themselves and attempt to bite the opponent. it was easy to counter them after that, red even started using his Iron Rod trying to level up the Mastery skill. killing all of them without a scratch.
'(3 Giant Rat meat / 4 Bones / Lesser Life Stone) Looted'
'Quest Completed: Eliminate all the Giant rats in the first room 5 / 5'
'Reward : (100 $ / 100 xp)'
To the next level : 260 / 400 ........... CASH : (403.37 $)
Red went back to his room. laid on his bed and opened Inventory. he found the items the system had been looting plus the old ones.
(Iron Rod / Giant Rat meat*18 / Bones*14 / Lesser Life Stone*7)
Red noticed something, he remembered having only 5 slots in the inventory available, but now it was 11 slots. thinking that every time he levels up 2 new slots appear.
Red sold the 14 bones, getting him 14$. 1$ per bone. also the giant rat meat, getting him 72$ with 4$ per one.
............ CASH : (489.37 $)
He didn't sell the Lesser Life Stones, he didn't have any use for them for now, they are materials for crafting low level healing potions but the reason why he didn't sell them after seeing it's price and the price stated online in the rankers guild, red wanted to keep them for now.
The system offered him 5$ per stone, and the guild offered 15$ per stone. He needed to save them for now until he registers as a ranker.