Chapter 97: Mount Massive Asylum Settlement |
[Script "Mount Massive Asylum" completed. Calculating rewards...]
[Total Script Survivors: 18. Awarded 720 bonus Points.]
[Detected that Player killed Chris Wolf. Awarded 100 Points and one Script Chest (Rare)
x1.]
[Detected that Player killed Rudolf G. Wernicke. Awarded 200 Points and one Script Chest (Rare)
x1.]
[Detected Side Quest completed. Acquired equipment "Night Vision Camcorder" and passive skill "Media Photography Lv.Max".]
[Detected Hidden Quest "Whistleblower" completed. Rating increased. Acquired Roulette Draw x1.]
[Detected Hidden Quest "Rescue Operation" completed. Rating increased. Acquired Roulette Draw x1.]
[Hidden Ending Bonus Reward: Randomly acquire one Rare grade equipment (category selectable) or one Rare grade permanent skill card.]
[Current Script Completion Rate: 100%]
[Acquired Items/Equipment: Press Badge, Lucky Marble, Night Vision Camcorder.]
[Acquired Skill: Media Photography Lv.Max.]
[Acquired Bloodline: None.]
[Acquired Title: None.]
[Your comprehensive personal Script Rating is: S. Earned Points and Community Time increased to 150% of the original amount.]
[You have acquired 2730 Points and 600 hours of Community Time.]
[You have completed three random Scripts and have been promoted to E-grade.]
[Trading Market is now open.]
[Training Room is now open.]
[Please select your promotion reward.]
Bai Mu finished reading the settlement list. He had finally advanced to E-grade. Setting aside the newly unlocked functions for a moment, he prioritized checking his clearance rewards.
The Points awarded this time far exceeded his expectations. It was actually more than he had earned in the Death Journey, totaling a staggering 2730 Points.
The bulk of these rewards came from the patients he had rescued. It seemed that for every additional survivor, including Players, he earned a bonus of 40 Points. That was the equivalent of killing two special Mutants in the Death Journey.
"It seems rescuing those patients was quite the difficult feat," he mused.
Under normal circumstances, these patients were completely incoherent. Moving them was almost like hauling heavy furniture; they simply had to be carried to the vehicles. Furthermore, if he hadn't saved Stephen and Waylon, the Players would have only had one car. Cramming even five or six people into it would have taken a monumental effort.
If anyone else had been in his shoes, it would have been nearly impossible to shove all eighteen people into those vehicles and drive them out.
After all, Murkoff's pursuit team had been hot on their heels. Had they delayed for too long, a firefight with armed soldiers would have been inevitable. In the end, the very people they had worked so hard to save could have easily been gunned down by Murkoff's forces.
Out of all those people, the only ones who weren't dead weight were Stephen and Waylon. Yet, saving them required meeting various strict conditions. Earning a mere 120 Points by keeping three people alive was already a massive challenge, let alone transporting eighteen people as if he were herding helpless chicks.
After reviewing his Points, Bai Mu moved on to take inventory of his newly acquired items.
[Name: Press Badge]
[Type: Special Item]
[Quality: Rare]
[Effect: Binding this item grants the "Reporter" profession.]
[Note: A professional reporter presumably wouldn't mistake some inexplicable object for a rare medicinal mushroom.]
This was the reward for the Hidden Quest. To his surprise, it was a class-change item—a professional Press Badge with a blank portrait.
Tapping on the "Reporter" section, he could see a brief overview of its characteristics.
[Profession: Reporter]
[Profession Description: Professional reporters always dare to venture into all sorts of dangerous places to uncover the truth. They might not excel at combat, but they possess unique expertise in infiltration and observation. Furthermore, they can always find a way to sell their news for a good price.]
This appeared to be a profession geared heavily toward Script exploration and stealth. The phrase "sell for a good price" gave him the distinct impression that it could yield extra Points or other valuable resources.
Overall, it was obvious that a Reporter was not a combat-oriented profession, but rather one focused on growth and development.
Bai Mu's profession slot was currently empty, and having one was certainly better than having none at all. However, he didn't use the item immediately. Since he had just unlocked the Trading Market, he planned to go there first to check the going rates for similar items and see if he could find a profession that suited him even better.
Continuing with his inventory check, he bypassed the Lucky Marble for now and took out the equipment reward from the Side Quest.
[Name: Night Vision Camcorder]
[Type: Special Equipment]
[Quality: Rare]
[Effect 1 - Soul Photography: Can capture images of certain entities invisible to the naked eye.]
[Effect 2 - Model Photography: You may select a target as your Model. When you photograph the Model, they will cooperate and strike a pose. (Only targets with a lower Spirit attribute than the wielder can be selected as Models, and each Model will cooperate for a maximum of ten photographs.)]
[Equip Requirement: Media Photography Lv.Max]
[Note: Damn it, why did a photo of three people develop with four people in it!]
It was a piece of equipment with two distinct special effects. Its appearance matched the very Camcorder Bai Mu had used in the asylum, and its capabilities were remarkably powerful.
The first effect could be used to detect ghosts or supernatural forces, while the second acted as a strong crowd-control skill. He could hold the Camcorder in his left hand to immobilize a "Model" and raise his revolver with his right hand to blast a hole right through their forehead.
The utility of this equipment was undeniably potent—at the very least, far superior to the block of butter sitting in his backpack. Its biggest drawback was the requirement of Media Photography mastery to equip it. Fortunately, Bai Mu had already acquired that exact skill as a reward for completing the Side Quest.
Satisfied, he placed the Camcorder into the second slot of his inventory for quick and easy access. As a side note, the first slot was reserved for Lucy's doodles.
With his equipment and items sorted, he moved on to opening his Script Chests.
He had two Rare Chests and one Normal Chest. Before opening them, he clenched the Lucky Marble tightly in his hand. Opening loot boxes was always a thrilling experience, and he pinned his hopes on this marble to bring him a stroke of good fortune and grant him a lucky streak.
He opened the Normal Chest first as a warm-up to test his luck, yielding a bloodstained kitchen knife.
Exhaling slowly to steady his nerves, he built up the anticipation before popping open both Rare Chests in quick succession.
[You have acquired the reward: "Murkoff Pistol" x1]
[You have acquired the reward: "Piggy Plush" x1]
The former was a handgun. In Paradise, any firearm or thermal weapon was guaranteed to have at least a Rare grade rating. The latter was a Special Item.
[Name: Piggy Plush]
[Type: Special Item]
[Quality: Rare]
[Effect: Grants the wielder Strength +5.]
[Note: During his elementary school years, Chris Wolf was often called "Piggy" by his peers due to his unusual obesity and large stature. In truth, he didn't like this Piggy Plush at all. Even though he carried it with him everywhere—whether heading to the battlefield or going to sleep—he was merely roleplaying as his childhood classmates, using the toy as a prop to vent his repressed anger.]