The Primal Hunter

The World Congress had only lasted about 10 hours total but had without a doubt been a defining moment for the enlightened races of Earth. Most of the powerhouses of the planet met, and alliances, truces, trade agreements, defensive pacts, or just generally friendly relations were established between many factions.

To distinguish a ”winner,” if one may, would be difficult. While Jake and Haven had gotten all the voting results, they wanted and managed to secure both Herbs and the Treasure Hunt event, that didn’t mean they had somehow won out over everyone else. They were far from the only ones, as it wasn’t like the Treasure Hunt was unpopular, and Ores and Metals was the first option voted in, along with the foodstuff one.

The only way to truly say there had been a winner was if a World Leader was selected, but such an option was far off. Perhaps it would happen in a year, or perhaps later than that. Many theorized ways the system would one day enforce that one had to be selected, but that day hadn’t arrived yet.

In the end, it can be said that all of humanity won out. No wars or conflicts were started, as the World Congress had in general been a pleasant event that only led to a stronger bond between the enlightened races, and everyone came out on top – even the undead who had feared for the worst.

Jake, Lillian, Miranda, and Neil appeared back at the good old lodge inside Jake’s valley. They had only been gone for 10 hours, but all of them – besides Neil, who actually seemed quite energetic – were exhausted.

It took a lot out of you to always be on your toes, and even if Jake hadn’t been under as much pressure as Lillian and Miranda when it came to discussions, he was still tired. Jake tended to find social interactions, even those he enjoyed, exhausting in the long run. But the most exhausting thing had been the talk with that Kim Eunseo woman – or Kimmie as she told him just to call her.

She had told him quite a bit about what she and William had been up to, and while Jake had let her talk and he listened, he honestly didn’t care very much about that metal mage anymore. Jake didn’t truly know him as he had only spent a few moments with the guy. He only knew the metal mage more as an idea or a concept than a person.

To Jake, he was a representation of Jake’s own failures during the tutorial, nothing less and nothing more. He had been a living reminder that Jake had fucked up and not even tried to help people he honestly did care about – no matter how much he sucked at showing it. In that sense, Jake wouldn’t say he hated William; he hated what he represented. The only real feeling he felt towards him was apathy.

This ultimately leads to the question: would Jake kill him the next time they met? He couldn’t answer that. He did feel a strange mix of puzzlement, doubt, and even humor in how William had apparently been traumatized by Jake smashing him into the ground. But if he would kill him… time will tell.

If Jake were honest, he would prefer just never to meet the guy again. The psychiatrist talked about him how he was ”improving” and to start moving towards forgiveness if that was at all possible, but Jake really didn’t feel like he had anything to forgive him for. If anyone truly had a bone to pick with William, it wasn’t Jake either… it was Casper, and even more so than that, his girlfriend. William had either been the direct or indirect cause of her death. Jake wasn’t sure which, and he hadn’t been insensitive enough to ask for details.

And one thing was for sure… if Casper decided that little shit needed to be squashed, Jake sure as hell wouldn’t interfere.

”So… what’s the plan now?” Jake asked, shaking his head to get some of those annoying thoughts out of his head.

What was important now was preparing for the Treasure Hunt and nothing else.

Both Miranda and Lillian, who stood there like they were in a daze, just looked at him weirdly as Miranda asked. ”Check out the System Store?”

”Oh, shit,” Jake exclaimed as he swiftly opened it, and instantly a store opened up before him:

Limited System store

Categories:

Ore & Metal

Herbs

that as he opened up the Herbs category and instantly felt a bit… disappointed. He had a

Credits available: 133.972.000

of the mushroom-killing poison devices, and a lot of other minor matters he wanted to be done. He was also fully aware that he had overpaid for pretty much everything, at least he thought so. He had given Miranda 500.000 to

out all the best stuff. Yet the best he could find was a scarce few uncommon

what the store had

System Store only accepts

Store restocks every

and can be bought by

surroundings (if you have spatial storage, it will appear

the System Store are appraised, and you will be paid immediately based on their estimated worth (determined dynamically, with the current development of

but these were the important ones. Especially the restock-thing was a relief to Jake due

Credits, with the inferior-rarity version costing 25. Jake left the inferior-rarity versions alone, as quite frankly, he didn’t need it. However, he did see that the inferior-rarity Lavender was disappearing rapidly, likely being bought up by all the different

was a near-infinite supply of inferior-rarity Lavender. As for the common-rarity

it – nearly 1000 plants of each version, making him spend nearly a million Credits right away – he felt it instantly appear within his spatial storage, neatly

and began buying up some more stuff, such as all the Bluebright Mushrooms, which was about 70 total only, and more than half of the uncommon-rarity toxins available. That was more than a million Credits down the drain again. He didn’t really sweat it, though, because he quickly tried to do something

took out a potion and willed the

to sell [Health Potion (Common)] for

but damn, that was some good value. One has

the ingredients by turning them into a potion by about a hundredfold. The only limitation was his own time

5 potions from the same batch, restoring the same amount of health each. He sold the first one and saw it disappear from his hand. He quickly did the same two more times and noticed the price reduce slightly, increasing

like to sell [Health Potion

would get around 80 less

cities could buy it. He decided to start high and put it at 15.000 Credits, more than double what the system offered. He didn’t actually think anyone would buy it right

[Health Potion (Common)] has

thousand Credits was a lot to normal people… but then again, a potion restoring nearly your entire health pool is close to a second life. Jake sure as hell wouldn’t be able to be where he was today without chugging

of potions?” Jake asked

saw a weird nugget of metal appear beside her. “It’s your Credits.” Another weird piece of metal appeared, and what

rolled with it and put up all the potions he had made as he prepared for the fight against the Prima as well as most of his

left one issue… bottles… Jake was

as the thoughts appeared, so did the bottles. Hundreds, no, thousands of small potion and poison bottles appeared on the ground just beside Lillian, who stood there with

to have a supply of bottles sold right after returning at a reduced price, and I was waiting to snipe the postings,” she explained, a small smile creeping onto her lips. “You did mention how you needed bottles, and I assume that

goddamn hero!” Jake said, giving her