Episode 37

Out of the three weapons, Rumor required the least amount of resources and could be used again and again. Since Black Fire required special bullets, Su Jin guessed that it could take different types of bullets, so it would work very similarly to Kano Mai’s Soul Whisperer. Judging from the description for Tyrant, that was probably considered heavy artillery. It didn’t require as much Spirit Power as the Demon Lord’s Longbow but the damage it could create was pretty impressive.

“I’ll exchange for Rumor!” Su Jin’s first choice was Rumor. Both weapons he had on hand right now, required large amounts of Spirit Power and he was now very sure that the Demon Lord’s Spirit Power was eating into him every time he used some. It was highly possible that he would become a devotee of the Demon Lord the moment he finished consuming the Spirit Power in the Demon Lord’s Eye, or turn into something even worse than he could imagine.

Rumor was a weapon that only required 1 point of Spirit Power, so that would greatly reduce the rate at which the Demon Lord’s Spirit Power would eat into him. It was unfortunately not possible for him to completely give up using any of the Demon Lord’s Spirit Power. If he was in a life and death situation, he was still going to end up using it just to survive.

After confirming his choice, 900 points disappeared from his balance and he now held a rhombus shaped piece of blackened metal. It was a little rough to the touch and fit perfectly in his palm, so he could hide it easily. He didn’t have any knowhow on using stealth weapons, but he could just spend some points here to learn and practice his technique, so that wasn’t really a problem.

He thought about his options again and eventually decided on taking Black Fire. Tyrant was more powerful, but Black Fire didn’t require Spirit Power at all, which was more important to Su Jin right now.

Once he confirmed his choice, Black Fire floated above the Handbook. He held it in his hand and gave a pleased nod. He had no idea what material this gun was made from, but it was a good weight and fit well in his hand too.

Now that he was done looking for weapons, he continued to look through the other items available to him to see if there was anything else worth exchanging. The last item listed made his eyes widen and his heart started pounding excitedly.

Lucky Draw Bag: In theory, you have a chance of picking absolutely any item available within the Handbook. But the higher the value of the item, the lower your chances of getting it. Items include various Spirit Power equipment, rare items and even the Spirit Power Activation Potion! Each bag only requires 100 points, so it’s a real value for money choice that everyone can afford!

Su Jin gulped his saliva down when he read the introductory paragraph on this Lucky Draw Bag, especially when he saw that he might stand a chance to get the Spirit Power Activation Potion.

“Calm down! Calm down! All those best case scenarios I’m thinking of now could just turn out to be like clouds in the air that get blown away easily by the wind! Nobody’s THAT lucky. Besides, I’m always so terrible at playing any games that are based on chance.” Su Jin smacked his forehead to snap himself back to reality. He had never been the lucky type and never got anything good from a lucky draw. Every time he tried his hand at a lucky draw, he usually got some message to thank him for participating and nothing more.

“I’ve already spent 1,750 points on exchanging for two weapons and one armor, but I still have 950 points.” Su Jin glanced at his remaining balance, then looked back at the Lucky Draw Bag and couldn’t decide what he should do.

“Maybe…maybe I’ll just buy four bags and hope for the best!” He finally caved in to the temptation and went ahead with getting four Lucky Draw Bags.

There were now four drawstring bags stacked up on his Handbook. Each bag was woven with gold silk with a red string around the opening and silver clouds embroidered on the front.

“These clouds…is the Handbook mocking me?” Su Jin grumbled under his breath when he saw the embroidery.

He picked up the first bag, took a deep breath and pulled it open. A beam of light shot out from inside and a joyous melody filled the air.

“Wait, could I have gotten an amazing prize after all? On my first try?!” Su Jin was about to jump for joy when a doll made from straw floated out of the bag next.

“What on earth?” Su Jin stared at the doll.

“This is a Voodoo Doll. You can use it to increase your target’s body temperature, make him dizzy, cause blindness, make him weak and other negative effects. The actual effect on the target will vary depending on how strong the target’s body already is. It’s 100% effective on an ordinary person and you get to choose what effect you want on others,” explained Blackie.

Su Jin sighed. His luck was still as terrible as it usually was. He kept the Voodoo Doll away in his Handbook and continued opening the other bags.

Two bags later, Su Jin’s heart was filled with regret for doing this in the first place. The next two bags contained different things and were probably worth more than the 100 points he used to exchange for them, but there was one major problem with all these items – they were all useless to him!

“Super Oxygenated Chewing Gum. After chewing, the gum will provide enough oxygen to keep a grown man alive for three days. Comes in a pack of ten!”

“Foldable Stool for the Lazy. You can unfold it anywhere and use it on any terrain. After a tiring day, this could help to relieve your exhaustion.”

“Fuck my life,” muttered Su Jin as he stared at the items from the first three bags. He had one last bag left. He took a deep breath and opened it. The same cheery music filled the air again, but this time, a bottle of red liquid appeared before his eyes.

“Mid Level Body Strengthening Elixir!” Su Jin was stunned when he first heard Blackie tell him what it was, then the feeling of ecstasy took over. Blackie told him the last time that it was rare for the Body Strengthening Elixir to appear among the items for exchange and it was true that it hadn’t been part of his list this time. He was so pleasantly surprised that he had actually gotten it through a lucky draw and it was a level higher than the last too.

“This must be fate!” Su Jin exclaimed.

He immediately knocked back the entire bottle of liquid without hesitation. This time, he didn’t black out, although he really wished he did. The Mid Level Body Strengthening Elixir felt as though it was ripping his entire body apart from the inside and he felt like every bone in his body had been broken.

“AHHHHH!” Su Jin screamed miserably from the excruciating pain he felt deep within his body. He was certain that there was no form of torture or execution in the world that could match up to this.

Ten minutes later, the pain slowly subsided. But Su Jin also didn’t have any energy to do anything. He didn’t even have the energy to tell Blackie to restore his body.

Thankfully for him, Blackie had artificial intelligence and restored Su Jin’s body without needing Su Jin to instruct it. After the restoration process was complete, Su Jin instantly felt the difference. The Low Level version had made him feel like his muscles were filled with energy, but this Mid Level one made him feel like there was energy bursting from even his bone marrows.

“Blackie, how strong am I now?” Su Jin asked Blackie.

“Your body is now stronger than an average human and you are now at Level C. If you need a comparison to a fictional character, you’re now at the same level as Captain America,” replied Blackie.

Su Jin pondered this for a moment, then asked, “Are there many other Handbook owners who are as strong as I am?”

“I am not able to answer your question. There are many aspects in which an owner can strengthen himself. There are many other owners who are as strong as you in terms of their actual physical bodies, but there are many others who have strengthened themselves in other areas even if their physical bodies are not as strong as yours,” explained Blackie.

Su Jin looked at the Lucky Draw Bag option again. These bags could contain items which were seriously pointless, but they could also contain good stuff. He didn’t get something as amazing as the Spirit Power Activation Potion, but getting a Mid Level Body Strengthening Elixir was incredible too. The Low Level one already cost him 1,000 points, so he imagined that this Mid Level one would have cost him at least double. He had gotten a good deal this time.

He was now left with 550 points. He wasn’t going to spend them on a bunch of Lucky Draw Bags anymore, so he went to look at the menu with the special bullets. But after looking through the menu, he sighed again. These special bullets weren’t that cheap either. Each bullet would cost him 1 point.

“If you need bullets, I suggest you take a look at the menu in your Team Hell Domain instead. That area will offer you higher level bullets at the same price,” Blackie suddenly piped up.

“That’s right! I’ve got a Team Hell Domain!” Su Jin smacked his own head. “How do I get there?”

“Opening your link to your Team Hell Domain right now!” A black hole soon appeared within Su Jin’s Personal Hell Domain.

He walked into the hole and found himself in another space. Kano Mai was already waiting for him here and there were five podiums in front of her that looked just like the one in his Personal Hell Domain.

“You’re here!” Kano Mai stood up to greet him.

He walked further in and noticed that the five podiums were evenly spread in a circular formation. He placed his own Handbook on one of them and the book immediately flipped open.

“Does five podiums mean our team can only have five members?” he mumbled to himself.

Kano Mai nodded and said, “Our team is newly formed, so it’s considered a Level D team which can only have a maximum of five members. But as the team rises in level, the maximum number of members will also increase and you’d also be able to access a number of other team functions.”

Su Jin nodded slightly and looked around. “We don’t get butler service here?”

“Nope. The Team Hell Domain is a private space for teams, so our Personal Hell Domain butlers are not privy to anything that happens here. Only our Handbooks and members are allowed in this space,” said Kano Mai with a nod.

He looked curiously at her and laughed. “Mai, why do you know so much about this team?”

“Once I found out that owners could form teams, I started gathering any information I could about teams, that’s why I know so much,” explained Kano Mai in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

He nodded and said, “I’m looking to exchange points for some special bullets. Is there anything I should be looking out for?”

“Special bullets? You need some Domain Clips first.”

“Domain Clips?”

“Yeah. The same type of bullets have to be placed together in the same clip and each clip can take up to 1,000 bullets. The more types you have, the more clips you’d need,” said Kano Mai.

Su Jin nodded and looked through his Handbook for these clips. Each one cost him 10 points, which wasn’t really too expensive. He asked her for advice on which bullets to take and ended up spending 400 points on some of the better types.

After that, he exchanged some points for $10 million, since he would always need money in the real world. When he saw that he was left with only 50 points, he sighed at how he never seemed to have enough points.

Meanwhile, Kano Mai opened her own Handbook and started looking at the items offered to her. She moved very quickly, as if she had already decided what she wanted beforehand and was done with everything in less than ten minutes.

“What items did you exchange your points for?” Su Jin asked curiously.

“You know, for a Handbook owner, every item we exchange points for is a secret. It’s not nice to ask so directly!” said Kano Mai with a cheeky smile. This woman behaved very differently during a Challenge and outside a Challenge.

During a Challenge, she was so resolute, calm and seemed aloof and unapproachable.

But once the Challenge was over, she became bubbly and her perfect smile made one want to befriend her. It was so hard to hate her.