Denver froze and dropped the steel rod he was holding. His eyes trembled, and his breathing hitched. Amid the fast breaths, he tried to calm down.
'System, can I really meet Jackie? Is he still alive?'
[Opening index… Lifetime Quests! These quests will give you massive points to exchange for various items in the Symbiosis System's shop function. The probability of these quests is often uncertain due to multiple factors. However, triggering them denotes the existence of the subject and the object!]
[Opening index… Lifetime Quest: Reunite with Jackie Turning! The probability of success is currently 0.5%! To heighten the chance of reunion, the subject… Denver Turning… must accomplish the following: Reach the designated quest location, gain more Intel about the object… Jackie Turning… to find the correct quest location…]
'System, is he still alive?'
[Your request cannot be processed. Try a different keyword.]
'System, what's the probability that Jackie Turning is alive?'
[Gathering data from all sources… please wait… please wait… please wait…]
[Computing obtained data… please wait… please wait…]
Denver's hope quickly ran out. He bent down to collect the steel rod from the floor. He pulled on the tape to join the rod he held.
[Data has been analyzed! Quest object… Jackie Turning… is 100% alive.]
Denver dropped everything he held. The look on his face instantly changed from somber to blank. He turned to Lulu, who frowned at him. The loud sounds of clanging steel must have made her jump. However, she was now more frightened by the intense stare Denver had given her.
She stepped back. "What? Are you going to eat me?"
The man slowly walked towards her. He stood before her without a word for a few seconds before smiling. His hand reached out to her face. "You offered to look for Jackie using my blood, didn't you? Are you serious about that? Can you do it now?"
Lulu stared at his hand and then his face. She gritted her teeth. "My range is small. My existence is also bound to you. You'd have to go outside the city if you want me to find him."
"…" Denver retracted his hand and looked at the big red heart. He walked towards it and placed a palm on it. "…can you hear me? You're supposed to offer me services and upgrades, right? Can you protect the people in the building?"
[Your request cannot be processed. Finish the (Timed Quest: Protect the Heart) to establish communication with your Homestead Manager.]
"What the fuck…?" Denver couldn't help but laugh to himself, however. He caressed the heart as if a friend who pranked him. His forehead even leaned against it as he sighed. "Okay, okay, I'll put you behind the curtains now. What a princess…"
Lulu watched him quietly work on the steel rods again. She glanced at the big heart and then back at him. Her lips pursed into a line. "…why didn't I realize his match would also be a madman?"
…
[Your homestead is ready! You can now access its services and upgrades!]
[You have successfully accomplished the Timed Quest: (Protect the Heart)! You will now receive your rewards!]
[You have earned 1 skill point/s!]
[You have earned 1000 eater point/s!]
The voice in Denver's mind spoke almost non-stop. All he did was put curtains around the heart and the man booth. A smile was on his lips, but his eyes gleamed in dissatisfaction. He descended the ladder and began folding it.
[The Shop function has been unlocked! Earn and use points to redeem extraordinary items from the Symbiosis System's Shop!]
[The Skill Shop function has been unlocked! Earn and use skill points to improve survivability in this world!]
[The Homestead Shop function has been unlocked! Earn and use points to improve and upgrade the various aspects of your homestead!]
[You have unlocked Achievement Tasks! These small and big tasks are not announced prior to the subject's actions. You can receive rewards from discovering and accomplishing them.]
[An Achievement Task has been completed! You have… bought an upgrade from the Homestead Shop Function! Rewards will now be given…]
[You have earned 5 skill point/s!]
[You have earned 20000 eater point/s!]
Denver glanced at Lulu's image by the couch. She seemed bored and asleep, especially when her cute face was marred with frowning brows. He walked to store the tools he used to build the curtain walls. His gaze often darted in the heart's direction, seemingly hoping for something invaluable to gain from it.
'Am I going to do things blindly? How do I earn points without relying on quests?'
[Opening index… Eater Points! Categorized as… System Currency! Eater points can be earned in various ways. The easiest method is devouring organic beings. Each organic being will give a different amount, however. Use your skills and wits to catch organic beings to be devoured.]
[Warning! Organic beings must be devoured raw! Applying heat will render the organic being devoid of points to be tallied.]
Denver frowned. 'What do you mean, organic beings? I can devour other eaters, too?'
[Opening index… Organic Beings! Categorized as… Power Source! Organic beings refer to any living being that has a complex brain. Plants and microorganisms do not count as organic beings in the books of the Symbiosis System. Eaters… humans and… animals count as organic beings.]
His eyes flickered. He looked down at his hands, feeling the weight of the handheld drill. At the strange feeling, he cleared his throat.
'How do I devour an organic being?'
[Processing request… Please wait…]
[Accessing Skill Web… Displaying…]
Denver's vision was dyed red all of a sudden. Unlike the red overlay from before, everything had turned solid red. He gasped softly as words faded into the red background. The letter squiggled as if translated from a peculiar lexicon to his alphabet. Black dots turned into readable words.
The Skill Web indeed looked like a web. Each intersection had black dots that represented the skills he had not yet unlocked. The first six dots in the center were like the usual game character stats. His intelligence (INT) was marked the highest with 6 points, followed by dexterity (DEX) with 4. His strength (STR) and luck (LUK) were pretty average with 2, while his vitality (VIT) ranked the lowest with only 1.
The sixth dot was labeled with [???] and had no points on it.
Denver focused on the next circle. It was a list of items called 'passive skills', but only one was unlocked with 10 points. It was labeled 'Observation'.
"That should be the one influencing my eyes and ears…" Denver figured this passive skill was responsible for his senses. Upon focusing on it, a tooltip showed up and confirmed his theory. He went back to focusing on the [???] stat.
[The ??? stat will be generated after an evaluation. Unlocks at 50 total skill points.]
A smirk pulled on Denver's lips. "Okay, I'll spend my six skill points on good skills then. Should I worry about my build? That's what Jackie calls it, right?"