Gear Up and Forum Firestorm
Waiting Room. ‘Was it Balista or Ballista?’ Looks like the message I sent helped somehow. Finally, I can buy gear. Perfect timing. I can snag one more survival tool before the next summons. Consumables are unlocked too, so potions should be available. Gear first.
The gear tab that popped up was a bit disappointing.
Rotation? Are you kidding me…
Weapons and armor, five each. Grades matching the mercenary ranks: Normal, Rare, Elite, Hero, Legendary—one of each. With all those weapon types combined with five grades, only five items total on display. Options were super limited.
Still, not bad luck.
Thank god. Leather armor at exactly Elite grade.
Current Cron balance: exactly 3,000. Gear prices jumped by order of magnitude per grade. Normal armor was plate mail.
◈ 65 Cron
And Legendary armor was a robe.
◈ 476,000 Cron
Highest I could afford was definitely Elite-grade.
◈ 2,750 Cron
That was close. Whew.
Weapons? Current ones were fine. No daggers even showed up. Available weapons: gun, sword, greatsword, hammer, staff. Way more weapon variety than armor, so something usable for me would take time. Even Hero-grade armor starts at 10k+, so at least six summons to afford. No real choice from the start. Or should I be grateful for options at all?
Remaining Balance: 250 Cron
A cheerful popup and a bright ding sound. A chest-like box appeared in the corner by the bed. Inside: neatly packed dark gray leather armor.
So it's not exactly like a full game, huh? Kinda hoped for a popup next to the item listing special abilities or something. But nope—armor feels sturdy when worn, that's it. No restrictions on movement, which was weirdly impressive. This high-spec body? Or Elite grade? Who knows.
Anyway. Back to the shop popup. Consumables were similar. Health potions, stamina potions, mana potions—three types. A couple special items, but both sold out. Open run? If they're out of stock, probably good stuff. Gotta check periodically.
Potions all flat 100 Cron. No assassin uses mana, so I grabbed one health and one stamina with leftovers.
What if skill shop unlocks later and I can use magic? Sneak up and fireball the back of their head… tempting.
Remaining Balance: 50 Cron
Seeing the popup made me sigh. Two runs' earnings gone in three clicks. That extra stay 150 Cron might be a steal.
Suddenly, two small glass vials on the bedside drawer. Perfect OX-mall size. Memories of doping on messenger gifts.
Shopping done.
Time to peek at the community.
Tap community tab—familiar popup hits my eyes.
_____
Nick… name? This is too…
Reality crashes in hard. Facing something so normal in this unreal place freezes you up. But overthinking changes nothing.
QuickMaster. Typed my old Fortress of End nick without thinking. Probably unique, but if someone recognizes it from my guides… hope they say hi. Novel tropes always have one like me. Maybe another player soul in a merc body.
Logged-in community was simple: single board, no categories, comments only.
Ah, this vibe? Like that shady site from Ji-hoon days, but stripped down.
Bound to have these.
Yep, aggro bait. Clicked—predictably, "buy item or nah?" post.
Scrolled, one title caught my eye.
No aggro, real worry. Clicked—
B-Rank promo that hard? Perfect attendance exists? Wait—10 years? 5 years?
"Fuck."
The curse slipped out loud. Perfect attendance seemed like tenure promo if you survive. But this industry treats 10-year contracts like insanity. And they chose it. Me? Woke up enlisted. With 1,000 years to discharge.
Fuck.
Couldn't resist commenting.
Reply in under 3 seconds.
Aggro treatment. Sigh. These guys. But whining "1,000 years" is noob bait. Better not dox myself.
Wait. Already aggro? Go big?
Replies faster.
Central Management called Management Bureau. Reactions not bad. Kinda… fun. Dark side of me thrashing wildly.
Might as well post.
Net 1,400 after cuts. Make it 1,600 now honey lol. Comments explode again.
Aha. One sold-out was status ailment potion.
2k base pay and Hero-grade rare. No 2k units in game either. But this ain't game. Need precise info.
To dig deeper… perfect way.
Frfr. Storm of replies.
Gotcha. Industry standard 500. I'm absurdly high-paid. Sure, tied to near-lifetime contract 200x minimum.
Why this guy spamming? Space rabbit roast real??
Curiosities eased, back to lurking. Board vibe wholesome. Peers sharing woes/questions. Stuck solo in isolation waiting summons, makes sense. Even I felt less lonely.
Blasted pages, back to front—new post title stole my gaze.
Window possible? For real? Beyond the wall? Trembling, I clicked the title.