The VIP Shop Has a System...

The VIP shop, just as the System had said, did not carry many kinds of items. The selection was closer to extremely sparse.

But the number of items was not what mattered.

Quality over quantity.

Yujun, especially, had come into a vast hoard of items the moment he took the No-Pay Casual Gamer character's inventory. Anything he already owned held little real temptation. And yet the VIP shop's list contained several things he did not possess—and several he needed.

Every one of them was a consumable he needed. The only sour note was that each existed in a quantity of exactly one. The variety was already thin, and there was only a single copy of each besides.

He understood. If treasures like these were sold with no limit on quantity, the damage would not stop at a collapsed balance. Or perhaps the shop was simply out of stock.

Still. To think they'd have a Fruit of Evolution.

The Fruit of Evolution, first of all. Someone might well ask what made it worth ten million points. But it was an item whose true worth only grew the further into the late game one went. He had already used a Fruit of Evolution twice, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and he had felt those effects to the fullest. The corner of his mouth climbed toward his ear.

Could be because it's the VIP shop, but the prices look inflated across the board.

He could afford every item in the place anyway. Expensive as the VIP goods were, they did not feel like a waste.

Yujun bought everything in the shop.

At once, the eight items he had purchased took shape before his eyes.

Oh. This is insane.

Dazzling things. They shone.

Yujun stared at them, rapt. One item among them, though, he did not recognize: the Growth Accelerator. He had never once seen it in War of the Gods. It cost the same as the Fruit of Evolution. What kind of item was it?

Might as well check.

"So it was an item sold as a set with the elixirs."

Yujun smiled, satisfied. It was worth its ten million points. And no wonder—a Special elixir was already an excellent item on its own. To double the effect on top of that... He could not possibly hold himself back with something like this in front of him.

Yujun snatched up all four elixirs at once.

The other stat elixirs worked the same way. Strength, Agility, Constitution, Magic—elixirs that could raise a stat by as much as fifty. The drawback was that no matter how many you held, you could eat only one of each. If you could swallow them without limit, that would have been even more absurd.

Yujun dabbed the Growth Accelerator onto the four elixirs a little at a time, spreading it evenly.

Tsk. Used the whole thing.

He had tried to be sparing, but there had never been much of the accelerator to begin with. It hardly mattered. He was not going to be eating any more Special elixirs anyway.

He chewed the elixirs slowly and swallowed.

Crunch. Crunch.

Shaped like pills, they tasted bitter.

Bitter as they are, they ought to be good for you.

"......Is it because my luck is high?"

The gains to Agility and Magic had hit the absolute ceiling, and Strength and Constitution had come within a hair of it. Yujun stroked his chin, savoring the change.

And these are all raw stats...

A gain of one hundred could not be taken at face value. Item and title effects would amplify it dozens of times beyond what the window showed.

"Whew. I'm full."

Watching his stats climb left him feeling rich all on its own. The only thing on his status window he still disliked was his level. Set that aside, and everything else was satisfying.

What remained were the Stone of Omnipotence, the Fruit of Evolution, and the Long-Aged Elixir.

Plenty left.

No. I spent fifty million buying these. Can I really call that plenty?

Either way, the three items still in hand were ones whose effects were guaranteed.

Right. The Fruit of Evolution raised all stats, too.

He did not bother checking the Stone of Omnipotence's options. Confirming them after he socketed the stone would not be too late.

Yujun decided to take the Long-Aged Elixir first. There was a chance it might yield a trait or skill worth spending the Fruit of Evolution on.

He drew a deep breath. This one small elixir could lay an enormous gift in his hands. If his luck ran bad, it would lay disappointment there instead. But Yujun trusted his luck. In situations like this, it had never once fallen short of what he expected. There had been a point to chomping down the Ring of Luck.

He tipped the elixir into his mouth and swallowed it with his saliva in a single gulp. It slid down his throat in an instant. A cool, clean sensation lingered, then faded.

"......"

Yujun's expression turned complicated, and with reason. He had obtained the Swift Sword trait once before, back in War of the Gods. Honestly, he had never thought it an outstanding trait—the sort of ability that was nice to have and no great loss to lack. Swift Sword simply let him swing a sword a little faster.

Even so, he was not disappointed.

A sword trait is nothing to sneeze at.

Mediocre for something drawn from a Long-Aged Elixir, perhaps, but still a trait that could genuinely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠help him.

And this is the first time it's come out at A rank.

The Swift Sword he had obtained on the No-Pay Casual Gamer character had been B rank. This was better than that, wasn't it? A single step of rank could split power into entirely different worlds.

Shall I test it?

He got ready to leave. There was nothing left to see here anyway. Just in case, he had scoured every corner of the place and found nothing worth noting.

You'd think a hidden piece would turn up somewhere.

If a search with EX++ Ancient Magic could not uncover anything in a space this cramped, then there truly was nothing.

"Tsk."

While Yujun was still nursing the regret, the warp began.

Vwooom—!

Flung outside in an instant, he found himself face to face with Manuela. She was scraping the dirt with the toe of her shoe.

"What are you doing?"

"Waiting."

"For what?"

"So we could go together."

"You finished what you came for?"

"Yeah."

Manuela hesitated.

"What?"

"The thing is, I actually have something to give y—"

"Hold on. I've still got something to do."

"......"

He wanted to confirm Swift Sword's effect with his own hands. Yujun drew his sword. Without using a single skill, he swung it from high to low.

Whoosh—!

A sword-path without so much as a hair of waver. He tilted his head. He still could not quite tell.

After that he swung dozens of times more, and not once in all that time did his breathing grow rough.

Something has changed, though.

There was a difference from before. When he brought the sword down with everything he had, its speed felt quicker.

Swift Sword did take a little influence from Strength.

With his Strength as high as it was now, maybe the change simply stood out. On top of that, he possessed EX-rank Swordsmanship. Where the sword was concerned, he was on a level the No-Pay Casual Gamer character could not compare to. Perhaps that was why the shift in speed registered so clearly.

In that case, it was not bad at all, was it?

He found himself looking at Swift Sword again. At this level, it seemed likely to matter a great deal in a real fight.

Wait. Then...

Yujun looked at the Fruit of Evolution. He hesitated, just a little, over whether to spend it on some other trait or skill, or on Swift Sword.

If I'm going to use it, the efficiency is higher on a lower rank.

He made his decision. He would use the Fruit of Evolution on Swift Sword.

The original plan had been to spend it on another skill or trait, but Swift Sword's effect was quietly impressive. No—correction. Not quietly impressive. Very good. Good enough to suit him perfectly. If the rank climbed higher still, he could hardly ask for more. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠And so he set his mind on using the Fruit of Evolution on Swift Sword.

"Hoo..."

He was a little tense. The Fruit of Evolution, too, had to be left entirely to luck.

He hesitated no longer. Holding Swift Sword in his thoughts, Yujun used the fruit.

Fwaaah—!

Light flashed, and the Fruit of Evolution vanished. A hologram window appeared before him.

"Again?"

He could not believe it. The Fruit of Evolution was a fine item, but it did not jack a rank up this drastically every single time you used it. And yet this time, too, the result was SSS.

Come to think of it, haven't all three uses jumped straight to SSS?

Yujun let out a breathless little laugh. Even accounting for the Ring of Luck he had eaten, this was excessive luck—enough to make him wonder whether some lofty figure up above was looking down on him with favor. This time, the trait's name had even changed. Not Swift Sword. Flash Sword.

The trait evolved. Plain and simple.

The Fruit of Evolution had lived up to its name. In the face of luck that simply would not stop, Yujun's laughter would not stop either.

He could not sit still after gaining a new SSS-rank trait. He began to swing as he had before.

Shwaaack—!

A stroke even his own eyes struggled to follow. It was not at a level one could simply call fast. He could not see it. If even the man swinging the sword felt that way, what of Manuela watching from the side? She stood dumbstruck, mouth hanging open.

Yujun shifted his stance and kept swinging. Thanks to his outstanding Swordsmanship, Flash Sword's effect seemed amplified still further. The two felt as if they were feeding each other. With the speed increased, the sword's power must have risen as well.

If I can do this without even using magic...

Was there ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠anything a sword could not do? Confidence welled up in him that he could cut through anything at all.

"But..."

He had no opponent. A shame. Maybe he should have left at least one God's Minion alive.

That was when he spotted Manuela. The moment their eyes met, she startled and stumbled backward.

"W-wait a second. I think I've gotten to know you way too well. I can tell exactly what you're thinking right now."

"Hm? You can? What am I thinking?"

"You're about to try that skill on me, aren't you? Aren't you?"

"......"

What. How did she know? She's like a ghost.

Were witches just naturally quick on the uptake? It was a trait, not a skill, but still—a chill ran down his spine.

"So I can't?" Yujun said, scratching his head.

"O-of course not! You trying to get somebody killed?"

Manuela put distance between them in a flash.

"Shame."

He could always try it in a real fight. The rank had gone up, so the power had probably just grown stronger with it. He had not gained some new force or energy, so there was no real need to test it.

For now, he decided to finish the work that remained.

The Stone of Omnipotence. The time to use it had come.