[ Invasion attempts: 2 ]
[ Success:Failure: 0:2 ]
[ Core depleted. Hunting mode has been closed ]
"The lack of failures in these invasion attempts seems strange. How strong is the defense chanism of the sacred ground? Maybe a Gold Grade Rank-1 or a Rank-2 creature would be able to dismantle the tentacle barrier and rob this place."
Euri naturally did not want to see that happen. But seeing every invasion attempt being foiled was making his mind itch, as if the prospect of being robbed was a teasing possibility constantly hanging above his head. He did have so curiosity towards seeing the outco of that route.
Shaking the intrusive thoughts out of his mind, he checked his third hunt's haul.
[ Dread Spider ]
[ Rank-0 Lifeform ]
[ Physique: 0.1 ]
[ Special Attribute: Aura ]
[ Thief Dove ]
[ Rank-0 Lifeform ]
[ Physique: 0.15 ]
[ Special Attribute: Speed ]
Neither had particularly impressive stats. But at least the Spider had sothing new and unique. Considering its affix, the aura was probably related to spreading fear among its opponents. Unfortunately for the spider, the tentacles didn't seem sentient enough to feel fear. All six of its limbs had been stretched to the limit, leaving it dangling like a helpless chunk of flesh.
After considering his options for a while, Euri decided to extract the Dove's core. This ti, instead of choosing the [ Consu ] option, he sacrificed it to the Sacred Ground's Core—the gas well.
[ Beast Cores Sacrificed: 1/100 ]
For a mont, nothing else happened, and just as Euri's disappointnt was about to mount higher, Sol-Wa appeared on the screen, kicking away the notification box and bringing one of her own into view.
[ Congratulations to the Administrator for choosing to be selfless and contributing to the Sacred Ground's Developnt Program! Sol-Wa has made a good choice! ]
The cute priestess danced across the screen, throwing kisses at him in exaggerated gestures. Euri's eyes got narrow as he recalled the similar notifications during the start of the ga.
The ga repeatedly implied that Sol-Wa had chosen him to play this ga. But the incarnation of Sol-Wa he had t in real life had been murdered so easily in a random alley. Did she really die? And what motive might she have for forcing him to play the ga?
He needed to dig a little deeper before coming to a conclusion. There was definitely sothing worth investigating here. And Euri wasn't so naive as to believe the alien (possibly) makers of this insanely advanced technological wonder of a ga would have no hidden agenda behind forcing soone from an underdeveloped civilization to participate in it.
[ You've earned the approval of the Sacred Ground's consciousness! Please accept your reward and utilize it well! ]
A little shocked at the revelation that there was another hidden entity observing his administration of the sacred ground, Euri waited for the reward package to drop. But nothing showed up even after five minutes.
Thinking it was a gift that might have manifested in real life sowhere near him, Euri was about to search his whole room with a torch. But then he noticed a tiny new icon on top of the screen that he had never seen in the ga before. It seed to resemble those skill trees in role-playing gas.
His excitent returning like a boorang, Euri clicked on the icon, and the entire view of the grove was replaced by the new data window.
[ Administrator Profile ]
[ Rank-0 Lifeform ]
[ Physique: 1 ]
[ Special Attribute: - ]
[ Familiars: Scout Dog, Brawler Rat, Scavenger Rat ]
[ Administration Skill: - ]
While seeing his evaluation in the ga like the beasts he had been taming were shocking enough due to the implications it carried, Euri couldn't move his eyes away from the last stat. It was lit brighter than the other lines, inviting him for a click.
[ Initiating Search For Available Administration Skill... ]
A brightly colored, round roulette appeared on the screen. It had three layers. The small inner ring, the mid sized middle ring, and the dominant portion taken by the outer ring. The na of skills written on these rings were all blurred. But he could at least see that each layer contained three skills.
[ Using Blessing Token...]
The roulette board started spinning by itself, but only the inner ring moved. It didn't take a genius to guess that he'd get one out of those three smaller skills. A mont later, the spinning ca to an abrupt stop and one-third of the inner ring lit up. The blur effect on the skill's na disappeared.
[ Congratulations to the Administrator for acquiring his first ever skill: Shepherding! ]
Sol-Wa appeared for a mont in one corner of the screen to shower him with applause. But Euri didn't have the opportunity to watch the whole animation. A searing pain jolted through his head, almost similar to the strike that had knocked him out yesterday. The pain lasted for about ten seconds, and that was enough to make a cold sweat co out of his back.
When the pain subsided, a series of mories flashed across his mind, as if he were recalling a dream he had just had. In this dream, he had spent a month learning how to communicate basic gestures to a dog and a rat. By the end of the month, both animals understood his simple instructions after several attempts.
"So not only those extracted beast cores, but also pure knowledge can be transferred and manifested into reality. Neither my stomach nor my brain is inaccessible to the makers of this ga. Should I be worried or not?"
Euri closed his profile window and blankly stared at the grove. The dog was lying down near the well with a look of yearning on its face, just as usual. The Brawler Rat was busy beating up the Scavenger Rat, mostly resorting to choking and full-body ramming—the most basic skills in physical combat.
Dread Spider was still tied up by the tentacles. And until he allowed it to cultivate, it seed unlikely that the tentacles would let it go. So Euri clicked on the [ Cultivate ] option on its data window. He didn't expect that this action would invite another pang of pain in his head.
The dream sequence forcibly added to his mories was now longer, and he could distinctly recall instilling the knowledge of basic gestures to a spider now, alongside the dog and the rat!
"This ans, every ti I acquire a new beast familiar, I'll experience this transmission of knowledge from the ga because of my administrator privilege... But why does it have to be so painful?"
Clutching his head, Euri hurriedly concluded his remaining routine in the ga and went to swallow a couple of pills ahead of schedule.
The effects of the ga on him were getting stronger and stronger, and he couldn't decide if it was a good thing or not.
Reviews
All reviews (0)