Chapter 158: Mushroom Lover |
Bai Mu spent 1,200 Points to buy the Mimicry Mushroom, leaving his balance at 2,236 Points, before using his free shop refresh. A new page of merchandise materialized before him, featuring two Rare-grade items: a skill card and a pendant. The skill card had a limited number of uses. The description indicated it could only be activated three times, yet its price was still a steep 1,000 Points. [Skill Name: Doppelganger Transformation]
[Quality: Rare]
[Category: Active Skill]
[Effect: Undergo Doppelganger Transformation, lasting 5 minutes.]
[Note: Doppelgangers have no vital organs, feel no pain, and do not even experience pleasure.]
Despite the usage limit, the skill's effect was incredibly tempting to Bai Mu.
A Doppelganger would not die even if its head was blown off or completely severed. Transforming into one meant he would essentially possess an immortal body for five minutes.
Even if he sustained severe injuries during the duration, as a Player, he only needed to use consumables to restore his Health to be perfectly fine again once the effect ended. If this were a permanent skill card, its price would likely far exceed 1,000 Points. However, as a limited-use card, the cost remained well within Bai Mu's acceptable range.
After reading the skill card's description, he turned his attention to the pendant.
[Name: Tattered Lord's Pendant]
[Type: Accessory]
[Quality: Rare]
[Attribute: Holy]
[Equipment Effect: Strength +3, Agility +3, Spirit +3]
[Requirement: None]
[Note: The flesh, the mind, and the soul form a trinity.]
It was a simple, straightforward stat-boosting item. In total, it provided nine base attribute points. In terms of cost-effectiveness, it offered four more points than the "Piglet Plushie". Bai Mu decided to buy it without much hesitation.
However, the skill card and the pendant cost a total of 2,500 Points, leaving him slightly short on funds.
Before making the purchase, he decided to use his roulette spin.
This time, he only had a single spin. The roulette wheel spun with a whir before slowing down. Thanks to the effect of the "Badge of Honor", two options appeared for him to choose from.
Although there were technically two choices, in reality, there was only one. The alternative drawn was a Common-grade military ration pack containing ten meals.
His primary roll, on the other hand, had yielded a Rare-grade item, and surprisingly, it was another type of mushroom.
[Name: Guard Mushroom]
[Category: Special Item]
[Quality: Rare]
[Effect: You can plant the Guard Mushroom anywhere and gain its field of vision.]
[Note: Acting as the eyes of Doppelgangers, Guard Mushrooms grow in various corners. They appear incredibly ordinary and have almost zero presence, yet they offer tremendous strategic value. After all, you can never go wrong with planting a few more wards.]
Counting the Guard Mushroom, Bai Mu had now obtained three types of mushrooms from the Abandoned City of Doppelgangers Script. Since he had already acquired the first two, there was naturally no reason to reject the third.
And when he claimed the Guard Mushroom, a notification suddenly popped up.
[You have acquired the title "Mushroom Lover".]
[Title: Mushroom Lover]
[Title Rank: D]
[Effect: Your mushrooms will be firmer and last longer.]
[Requirement: Obtain three different mushroom-type items or equipment.]
The condition to acquire the title was quite straightforward. Judging by the effect, it probably increased the defense and duration of his mushroom items. Since it was only a D-grade title, it certainly could not compare to something like "Witch's Friend". Still, it was better than nothing. Perhaps it would prove useful whenever he decided to equip a full set of mushroom gear.
With that, he had more or less finished taking inventory of his haul from the Script.
He opened his profession tab and sold the "News" he had recorded during the Script to the "Newspaper Agency." Unfortunately, it did not yield many Points or much profession experience.
He had explored too little of the Script. The only things of value were his observation diary on the Mimicry Mushroom and the video he had recorded in the apartment building, capturing a conversation between Doppelgangers hidden in one of the rooms.
Together, they sold for 200 Points and granted him 600 profession experience points.
To upgrade his Reporter profession to level 4, he still needed another 1,400 experience points. Without leveling up, he could not unlock any new skills and would have to wait until the next Script. 'Looking at it this way, leveling up a profession is actually quite difficult,' Bai Mu thought to himself. 'If I take on a secondary profession and experience gains get halved, then going from level 3 to level 4 would basically require 4,000 experience points.'
'Who knows how long it will take to raise it by just one level.'
'I should try to explore more in the next Script and see if I can gather enough experience for an upgrade.'
The three basic skills of the Reporter profession were all quite good and highly practical. He was rather looking forward to seeing what kind of skill he could learn at level 4.
Adding the 200 Points earned from selling the news, he now had 2,436 Points. He was a mere 64 Points away from the 2,500 needed. 'I wonder how long it would take to earn 64 Points if I went to work in the community area,' Bai Mu thought as an image of himself standing in the hub world holding an advertising sign suddenly drifted into his mind.
He quickly tossed that messy thought aside and took out the Piggy Bank.
With the Piggy Bank in hand, he hadn't yet been reduced to begging for scraps on the street.
[Do you wish to deposit 2,000 Points into the Piggy Bank? (Points cannot be withdrawn until the Piggy Bank is smashed)]
[Yes / No]
[Yes]
He deposited all 2,000 Points into the bank, then took out the "Lucky Marble" and rubbed it between his palms.
After mentally preparing himself, he swung his Baseball Bat directly at the rear of the pink glass pig.
Crash! The glass shattered all over the floor. However, accompanied by a prompt from Paradise, the glass shards vanished from his room, signifying that the item had been successfully consumed.
[You have smashed the Piggy Bank.]
[You have received 2,480 Points.]
Bai Mu did some quick math. With a possible return rate between fifteen and thirty percent, he had hit twenty-four percent. That was not bad at all, landing comfortably above average. Adding his remaining 436 Points, his total balance came to 2,916 Points. He then proceeded to the shop and spent 2,500 Points to purchase both the skill card and the pendant.
He had just completed another massive spending spree. Thanks to the "Shopaholic" effect, both his Point utility and shop efficiency were extremely high. However, this also meant that his pockets were practically empty once again.
Of course, 416 Points was more than enough for him to live comfortably in the community area. A single Point could buy plenty of food and daily necessities there. He was eager to test out his newly acquired weapons and items. It was human nature, after all—who wouldn't want to rush out and bash a monster a few times after getting their hands on powerful new gear?
That led him to think of Yan Yu again. He really needed to spar with a high-level Player to get a proper feel for combat.
Opening his friend message tab, he finally noticed an unread message. Surprisingly, it was from over twenty days ago.