Investment

Lenny arrived back at his scattered apartment. He brought down his bed, which was propped against the wall, and fell tiredly on it.

He took out his phone and read the notification.

[Task completed!]

> You have been rewarded (15) v-points for completing [Task #1: Defeat Boss Falcone's three goons].

"Haaa…"

Sighing, he dropped the phone down beside him.

'…Boss Falcone will definitely be back. He could even arrive any second now…' Lenny thought as he glanced at the door, paranoia settling in his mind.

Employing precaution, he knew he had to make necessary investments and proceeded to enter the Attributes tab once again.

[Attributes]:

Strength — 7.

Perception — 25 [MAX].

Endurance — 9.

Charisma — 5.

Intelligence — 15.

Agility — 11.

Looks — 8.

Lenny stared at his attributes for an extended period, contemplating his next investment. 

He believed if he upped his Strength and Endurance to considerate levels, it wouldn't be too bad. However, that wouldn't ensure he could win against Boss Falcone and his men.

After all, maxing out Endurance wouldn't prevent his flesh from giving way under the surgical knife nor would maxing out Strength ensure he couldn't be pinned down by 20 of Boss Falcone's henchmen. 

Lenny knew his life was on the line and time was of the essence, so he wasn't privileged enough to explore.

In a certain sense, Intelligence wouldn't be too bad as he would be able to make smarter decisions. But, yet again, it wouldn't ensure he would be able to outsmart Boss Falcone because one could only apply intelligence to knowledge that was known and at most, speculate about the unknown. This introduced unpredictable variables, hence, rendering maxed out Intelligence, unnecessary.

He finally settled on maxing out his Agility, however, he felt a tinge of regret since he had many other things on the app to test.

But, with the fear gripping his heart and the occasional glances he took at the entrance door past the small kitchen, the feeling of regret was quickly overcome by his extreme fright and anxiety. 

At present, he would lose woefully if Boss Falcone burst through that door with the suited goons in tow, and that loss would spell his imminent and painful death.

Sighing again, Lenny quickly invested 14 of the v-points he just earned in the needed attribute.

Agility — 11 >> 25 [MAX].

Seeing he had managed to ensure he could at least run away if he was suddenly attacked, he let out a breath of relief.

He immediately stood up and noticed his movement was sharper and his muscles were more agile. 

He dashed to the bathroom, took off his clothes, and remained in blue briefs. In front of the mirror, he observed the slight tightness of his lean muscles that were now ever ready to spring into action, compared to before when he had throes of lazy and dull movements.

"Hoo! Hoo!" Lenny dashed from side to side, testing how agile and fast he had become. 

He felt the air push against his face as he moved with maximum human quickness. 

"Haha!" Lenny dashed out from the bathroom and zoomed from one end of his room to another, clearly elated. 

With the rising adrenaline, he jumped over the full width of his bed continuously, that was… until he missed a step and was headed for the floor face first.

In that split second, he seemed to experience time slightly slower and instinctively raised his arms and sharply landed with both palms on the laminate floor, his face only an inch or two away from impact with the ground. He had acted reflexively!

"W-Woah…" He slowly got up and sat on the bed, respecting himself before he mistakenly broke his nose by playing around.

Lenny realized that with this Olympic athlete-level of quickness, flexibility, and reflexes, coupled with his high perception of his surroundings, he would be almost unstoppable in a dark and wide environment like the abandoned mental hospital.

'…Adding maxed-out Strength into the mix, I wouldn't need to solely rely on environmental factors to attack. Anyway, if worst comes to worst and I'm running away, I'll lead my adversaries there…' Lenny made a mental note.

...

[Rule #5: Pointers have the liberty to utilize their earned v-points however they see fit.]

...

Reminded of the goons he battled earlier, Lenny took out the gun he "borrowed" from the dark-skinned goon in his early thirties, and inspected it.

'…I've never been gun-savvy. But holding a real gun, it's—it's kind of surreal…' Lenny carefully held it and marveled at its sleek design and weight. 

Neapolis had strict safety laws on the management of guns, swords, and explosives, where only authorized personnel in security-related fields, including police officers, soldiers, and security guards protecting government figures or foreign delegates could be in possession of firearms. And even then, the police weren't allowed to easily use them. Hence, his surprise when he saw a common goon pointing it at him.

He opened his phone camera and used WiSearch Lens to search for the gun, which he found out was a black Glock 22 Gen3 Semi-Auto Pistol that was commonly used worldwide by law enforcement. 

'...Law enforcement, the irony…' Lenny mocked the goons, not reading too deep into that fact.

'…I'd be arrested if I'm seen with this. With Neapolis' strict gun control, I wonder how Jug and Lizard got theirs. Should I report it to the police? No, if they start investigating, instead of waiting to sell my organs, Boss Falcone could opt to just kill me so I wouldn't be able to help them. The rationale behind calling a hit on me despite the amount I owe him could be that, as long as he is not caught, he could make the amount I owed tenfold. My death would be for naught…'

Feeling slightly depressed at his helplessness, Lenny decided to keep the gun for his protection. He stood up, went over to his standing wardrobe, and hid the gun beneath the few clothes in the bottom drawer. 

Lenny then pondered his situation as he circled about his room. 

"Still, I need to increase my income rate. All I am doing is preventing Boss Falcone from selling my organs and buying myself time. I still need to pay off the debt. Then, I wouldn't need to report anything to the police and I'll be a free man. No target on my back and no debt…"

Wishing to get out of his current predicament completely, he believed the first step was finding a stable means of above-average income. That way, he could at least pay the debt installment every month and still have enough to invest in other ventures.

In this day and age, what faster method was there to earn money other than an online means?

Lenny recalled his plan to test out the app's Go Viral feature. He had been awarded 15 v-points and only invested 14, so he still had a point to spare.