Chapter 2
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: The Karma System (1)
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The next day.
When I sobered up completely, I was greeted by the game screen, now at level 2.
I had leveled up.
In a normal game, this would be nothing special.
Going from level 1 to level 2 is just something that happens in the early stages.
But in this game, leveling up meant something different.
This happened in a game that showed no experience points to begin with, a game where levels seemed meaningless.
To think there was a hidden way to level up in a game that didn't even have a proper tutorial or guide.
It was only natural for me to be interested in the results of this level-up.
- Observer's Eye (Lv.1) has grown.
- It has become Observer's Eye (Lv.2). You can now observe the continent with a clearer view than before.
The first thing that changed was the skill called Observer's Eye.
Just because it was a skill didn't mean I could use it at will.
It seemed to be a passive skill that was always active.
And after I acquired this skill, the game's graphics changed.
It wasn't a drastic difference, but the shapes of the characters became more distinct.
Before Observer's Eye evolved, I could only make out their human-like forms.
But after the skill evolved, the characters' appearances gained a bit more detail.
I could at least distinguish their gender and hair color.
"And this... is dialogue popping up?"
Another change came along with the graphical update.
I could now see the conversations between characters.
Speech bubbles appeared above the characters' heads, and the content of their conversations was displayed as icons.
Of course, the "dialogue" was only just enough to understand the purpose of their interactions.
But creating an AI that acted human was impressive enough; it was too much to ask for more detail.
I decided to make do with what I could see.
"Well, what more can I expect from a free game?"
Having answered my own question, I checked the other new skills.
My leveled-up account had a few more skills besides Observer's Eye.
The skill right below Observer's Eye was called Scales of Karma.
It seemed related to how I'd gained experience by wiping out a village.
- You have acquired Scales of Karma (Lv.MAX).
- All actions that affect life and death will now generate Karma.
- Karma that is excessively skewed in one direction has a high chance of triggering a Causality Correction.
It meant that my actions affecting the game's characters would return as experience points.
It seemed I could level up by killing characters, just like yesterday.
Below that was a warning about a Causality Correction, but it didn't explain what that was in detail.
Of course, mindlessly tapping on characters like I did yesterday would just make my finger hurt.
If possible, it would be better to find a more efficient way to hunt.
"The next skill is... what is this?"
I scrolled down past Scales of Karma to check the next skill.
And I saw something unbelievable.
There was something clearly out of place in the skill list.
It wasn't the kind of skill name you'd expect to see.
- You have acquired Premium Currency Shop (Lv.MAX).
- You can now use premium currency to purchase items from the shop.
Skill name: Premium Currency Shop.
It was a skill that let me use the cash shop.
No, it was embarrassing to even call it a skill.
Premium currency is something you're supposed to buy by charging real money.
But I have to learn a skill just to be able to buy it?
It was a completely absurd skill.
"Seriously, why did they put something like this in the skill list?"
Seeing the Premium Currency Shop, I groaned in disbelief.
I'd heard plenty of stories about how greedy modern games have become, but this was crossing the line by a long shot.
Level up and you can spend real money! Who wouldn't find that completely ridiculous?
I take back everything I said about the developer being amazing for making a free game.
This developer was obsessed with money.
And in a uniquely twisted way, at that.
"...."
I stared intently at the shop button in the corner of the screen.
Hmm. I have no desire to spend money on a game like this.
Besides, I'd just spent a ton of money on drinks yesterday, bar-hopping until the third round.
And now I'm supposed to spend money on this garbage game?
No way, not while I'm sober. Absolutely not.
"Maybe I'll just take a look at what's inside?"
or so I thought for a moment.
My gaze remained fixed on the shop button.
After all, I was a little curious about what the Premium Currency Shop was selling.
The game was structured so you could play it just fine without spending money.
So what on earth was this shoddy game selling for real cash?
My hesitant hand reached out and quietly clicked the shop button.
Click.
With the familiar sensation of a tap, the shop page opened before my eyes.
- Welcome to the Premium Currency Shop.
- The Premium Currency Shop sells a variety of items to enhance your gameplay experience.
It said "a variety of items," but there was only one thing for sale.
The monetization model was the infamous 10-pull gacha.
It didn't even offer a free first pull.
The shop page didn't even show what items you could get from the pull.
It was the kind of product only a complete whale would buy.
What's more, the price for a 10-pull was a whopping 49.99.
For a 10-pull in an obscure mobile game, that was a pretty outrageous price.
"Fifty bucks for a 10-pull? Who would ever buy that?"
With that kind of money, you could get at least one 10-pull in a major mobile game, or even dozens of pulls in a more player-friendly one.
It was an amount no sane person would spend on this.
Seriously.
Being a sane person, I didn't even dare to try.
It was a price only someone with money to burn would consider.
As if reading my mind, the game displayed a new message on the screen.
- By using the 10-pull, you can acquire a variety of items helpful for gameplay.
"Are you crazy? As if I'd pull that."
The average spending in mobile games wasn't low, but I wasn't the kind of whale who would spend money on a game like this.
I'd rather spend a hundred bucks on another game.
Just as I thought that and was about to close the shop window...
I felt something was wrong.
The cause was my own finger, which was operating the screen.
"...Ah, I mis-tapped."
While trying to exit, I had accidentally pressed the 10-pull button.
Of course, in a normal game, this wouldn't have been a big deal.
A purchase confirmation window would have popped up due to insufficient currency, and I could have just canceled it.
But this was not a normal game.
The moment I pressed the button, it went straight to the 10-pull screen.
"Ah, what the... why didn't it ask for confirmation?"
Even the shabbiest games have a purchase confirmation.
Yet this game brilliantly ignored even that bare minimum rule and showed me the 10-pull screen.
Whoosh.
Ten items appeared before my eyes in sequence.
There weren't even any effects to indicate their rarity.
I couldn't tell if I'd gotten all bottom-tier items or if the items in this game simply had no rarity tiers.
My eyes quickly scanned the list of items that appeared.
- You have obtained Rusty Iron Sword.
- You have obtained Rusty Iron Sword.
- You have obtained Crude Dagger.
- You have obtained Hard Black Bread.
- You have obtained Spellbook: Lightning.
- You have obtained Hard Black Bread.
- You have obtained Hard Black Bread.
- You have obtained Hard Black Bread.
- You have obtained Torn Cloak.
- You have obtained Rusty Iron Sword.
Just by reading their names, they all looked like complete trash.
And most of them were duplicates.
The moment I saw the items, I realized these were things I should never have purchased.
No, I already knew that to some extent; now I was just feeling it firsthand, painfully so.
After seeing the item list, I immediately went into denial.
"I didn't even select a payment method, so it couldn't have gone through, right?"
Ding.
As if on cue, a message arrived the moment I finished speaking.
It was a message from my bank, informing me of a 49.99 charge.
And it wasn't even a credit charge; the money was taken directly from my bank account.
I thought such a shoddy game wouldn't even process payments properly, but it took my money with razor-sharp efficiency.
This game was a master at screwing over its players.
"No, what is this...? How did it actually go through?"
The more I played, the more of an enigma this thing became.
With the money already gone from my account, all I could do was cross my arms and think.
Should I delete the game and ask for a refund?
Or should I just write it off as bad luck and keep playing?
After mulling it over, I made a decision.
"Hmm... Right."
I had been enjoying it so far, after all.
I decided to think of the fifty bucks as the purchase price for the game.
It takes consumers like me for more diverse games to be made, right?
Though, of course, it would be better if they ditched this kind of monetization model.
Having made my decision as quickly as possible, I closed the shop and returned to the main screen.
Then, I examined the items I'd received from the 10-pull.
- Rusty Iron Sword.
This was trash.
There was no way to interact with it other than dropping it on the ground.
It seemed that only the characters could move things around.
I checked the next item.
- Hard Black Bread
- Crude Dagger
- Torn Cloak
These were the same as the Rusty Iron Sword.
The only option was to drop them.
In other words, all I could do was scatter them for the characters.
To think these were the things I got for fifty bucks.
It was impossible not to be disappointed.
- Spellbook: Lightning
However, this last item, the Spellbook: Lightning, was different from the others.
It was the only one that had a direct interaction button for me.
When I tapped the Spellbook: Lightning in my inventory, a selection window popped up.
The new message was about learning the spell.
- Would you like to learn the Lightning skill?
- The spellbook will disappear upon learning.
- Yes No
There was obviously only one choice.
I pressed 'Yes' without any hesitation.
Ding.
With a cheerful chime, the spellbook vanished from my inventory.
- You have acquired Lightning (Lv.MAX).
- You can now use the Lightning spell by consuming mana.
At the same time, the Lightning spell appeared in my skill list.
Unlike the other skills, the Lightning spell button was pressable.
I immediately pressed the Lightning spell.
A small targeting reticle appeared, and my mana dropped by nearly a tenth.
KRA-KOOM!
The moment I tapped a point on the screen, a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky.
Lightning, a low-tier spell that shoots a bolt from the sky.
It was the moment I acquired my first active skill in this game.