Chapter 9: Magic Internet 0.2 Version Update

Nate hadn't expected Lucy to move in next door, but after thinking about it, it made sense. The apartment he had chosen was the cheapest one near the guild. There were cheaper options, but they were farther away.

"Nate, when did you get back?" Lucy asked, equally surprised. "Didn't you say you were going to complete a commission this morning?"

"It's already done," Nate replied, noticing the luggage she was carrying. "Need help?"

"Huh?" Lucy was startled for a moment but then happily nodded. "Thank you!"

Nate felt a little helpless at her response. He had only offered out of politeness, but the young lady didn't hesitate to take him up on it.

With no other choice, he helped Lucy move her luggage and clean her new place. Fortunately, there wasn't much to move, and the apartment was small, so they finished quickly.

"Phew... it's clean now. Thank you, Nate." Lucy wiped the sweat from her forehead and cheerfully handed him a glass of water.

"No problem. We're neighbors now, so helping each other is only natural."

Nate noticed the silver ring on Lucy's left hand. "You got the ring without any issues?"

"Ah? Yes." Lucy extended her hand to show off the ring, smiling. "I think I was really lucky. I got one of the last few rings."

So all 98 rings had been claimed?

Nate checked his task progress.

[Task: Maintain 80+ active users for three consecutive days, with an average daily online time of 2 hours.]

[Task reward: 1,000 rings.]

[Active users today: 99.]

[Average daily online time today: 7.05 hours.]

[Total registered users: 100.]

Nate was astonished by how much time people spent online. An average of over seven hours a day—did these people not have jobs?

Even more surprising was the number of active users. Besides himself, all 99 people who had received rings had logged in at least once, including Lucy right in front of him.

For two days now, the task requirements had been met. If things went smoothly tomorrow, he'd complete the task the day after.

"Oh, by the way." Suddenly, Nate took out a golden key from his pocket. "This is part of the reward from my commission."

Lucy's eyes lit up, practically drooling.

"Ah, the Sagittarius Key!!" One of the Zodiac Keys, representing the ninth house, Sagittarius!

"Wait, hold on. It's not yours yet." Nate quickly pulled the key back before Lucy could grab it. "You haven't paid, miss."

"How much?"

Lucy knelt by the coffee table, leaning in so close that her face was almost touching Nate's. Her big eyes were filled with desire. "I really want it!"

"Hmm... how about 10 million?"

"What?!"

Lucy was stunned.

Nate had no idea how much a Zodiac Key was worth, but with only twelve in existence, it had to be valuable.

"Wait, 10 million?"

Lucy repeated, dumbfounded. In Hargeon, she had bought a silver key for the Canis Minor Celestial Spirit for 30,000 J. She didn't know the exact value of a golden key, but they were rare and priceless.

"Nate, I don't have that much money. Can't you lower the price a little?"

"No."

Unwilling to give up, Lucy clung to Nate's arm, her face full of tears.

"Please~ lower the price~ Nate-sama~"

"..."

Nate felt a soft sensation from his arm, and his mouth twitched slightly. Was she seriously trying to charm him?

"8 million."

"Lower it a little more~"

Lucy pouted and stared at Nate with her big eyes, holding up two delicate fingers.

"200,000!"

Nate quickly pulled his arm away from her warm embrace, rolling his eyes.

"Why don't you just go rob someone?"

"I only have 200,000 J left to my name! I'll give you all of it—please sell it to me."

Lucy was desperate, clinging to him tightly.

Nate knew she had run away from home and didn't expect her to have a lot of money on hand. So he made a suggestion:

"You can write an IOU."

"We're neighbors, so you can make dinner every day for 3,000 J. I'll cover the cost of ingredients."

"How about that?"

Lucy's mind raced as she calculated. 8 million J divided by 3,000 J per day meant...

2,667 days!

That's 7.3 years!

"Alright, I agree!"

She nodded vigorously. After all, she had to cook for herself anyway, so why not for two? Plus, if Nate covered the ingredient costs, she could save even more money.

I've struck gold! Lucy thought gleefully to herself, certain that Nate hadn't realized this loophole.

"Deal, here you go."

Nate handed her the golden key. "Now write the IOU, and since I haven't had dinner yet, go buy some groceries and cook."

As her creditor, he immediately exercised his rights.

He's so bossy...! Lucy grumbled inwardly. It was already late, and she had no idea where to buy groceries.

But holding the golden key, she couldn't suppress her excitement.

"Got it. I'll go write the IOU now. Thanks, Nate!"

She cheerfully ran off to write the IOU. Instead of going out for groceries, she simply heated some bread.

Nate didn't mind. After eating and collecting the IOU, he stood up to leave.

"Remember to buy groceries tomorrow. Don't forget, and I'll reimburse you for the ingredients."

"Yesss~~~"

Lucy saw him to the door, quickly closing it once he left, and eagerly took out the Sagittarius Key to admire it.

"I really am lucky! I didn't have to spend a dime, and I can even mooch off Nate for dinner. Hehe!"

Behind the door, Lucy's laughter could be heard.

Nate shook his head, glanced at the IOU, and thought to himself: 'You should probably ask your dad for some money soon!'

...

The next day, Nate arrived at the guild early. There weren't many people in the hall yet, but the hostess, Mirajane, had arrived even earlier than he had.

"Nate, you're back?" she greeted him in surprise.

"I got back last night. Good morning, Mirajane."

Nate sat down at the bar. Now that he had money, he could begin his life of leisure at the guild, doing nothing.

Commissions? Anyone who wanted could take them.

"You haven't eaten yet, have you? I'll prepare breakfast for you."

Mirajane smiled and headed to the kitchen.

A short while later, she returned with a delicious-looking breakfast.

"As promised, the best breakfast from the guild."

"This is amazing, so good!"

Nate ate without hesitation, praising the meal. "Who's the chef? They're really skilled."

"I made it," Mirajane said with a smile. "Thank you for the compliment."

"You made this?"

Nate looked at her in surprise. It was one thing for her to be beautiful, but she could cook this well too?

'I'd love to marry her.'

(Note: aren't we all?)

"By the way, Nate," Mirajane asked, recalling the commission. "How did the task go?"

"Of course, it's done. It was an easy S-Class mission."

Nate briefly explained the events at Galuna Island.

"I'm glad there weren't any major issues." Mirajane breathed a sigh of relief. "But how did such a large amount of evil energy gather and form a barrier over the island?"

It was due to the Moon Drip ritual, of course.

Nate didn't mention it. Knowing Mirajane, she might ask him to go deal with the Moon Drip ritual, and he didn't want to. After all, the demon was already dead, so melting the ice wouldn't cause much trouble.

"By the way, has the Master returned yet?"

"No, not yet," Mirajane shook her head.

Just then, a loud cry came from behind.

"Ahhh, I lost again!"

"Why is it that every time I'm the landlord, everyone else has better cards than me?!"

It was Wakaba's voice.

Noticing Nate's presence, Wakaba suddenly rushed over.

"Nate, you're back?"

"Good morning, Wakaba-san."

Nate smiled and greeted him.

Wakaba grabbed Nate's hand with a serious expression. "Nate, I have a once-in-a-lifetime request. You absolutely have to help me."

"...What is it?"

"Can you give me more sign-in points?" Wakaba cried. "I blew through my 10 points in one go. Now I can't play cards anymore! What's the point of life?"

Nate: "..."

Mirajane chuckled, covering her mouth. She still had over 700 points herself. She understood Wakaba's pain. Losing all your points was a terrible feeling.

"Increase the sign-in rewards?"

Nate thought for a moment and nodded. "I understand. The points system does need some tweaking."

Without points to play games, users might lose interest in logging in. He decided to separate the game currency from the points system.

For example, 1 point could be exchanged for 1,000 chips. He'd also increase the sign-in rewards. Each day, users would receive 100 points, equivalent to 100,000 chips, which should be enough to play...

Hopefully.

It shouldn't be possible to lose all of that by morning, right?

"Give me a moment, and I'll make the changes."

Immediately, Nate set aside his breakfast and opened the programming tool, typing away to make the adjustments.

Mirajane and Wakaba watched him work.

After a while... they exchanged glances, seeing the same three words in each other's eyes:

'We don't understand!'

The changes were simple enough for Nate, who quickly updated the points system. Not only that, but he had also finished setting up the framework for the [Library] the previous night. Now, he just had to integrate it into the forum.

To encourage users to upload books, he set up a reward system where users who uploaded books that weren't yet in the library would receive points. The rarer the book, the higher the point reward.

Done!

"It's ready. I'm releasing the update now."

Nate smiled as he pressed the sync button.

Wakaba immediately logged into the Internet.

Sure enough, there were changes.

[Magic Internet alpha0.2 Version Update Announcement]

Instead of seeing the forum, the first thing that popped up was an announcement.