I knew trampling on the Duchess’s pride would mean I’d have limited time. It was her own self-entitlement’s fault though. Despite this, it was mutual. I didn’t want to stay any longer than I had to. She wouldn’t want me here any longer than I had to be either. So, I guess we did have a sort of unspoken understanding.

The haul I got was quite… I don’t know. I had just heaved myself out of the uncomfortable wooden chair and onto the less uncomfortable bed. I opened my system, and found a red dot next to Inventory and Shop. I decided to experiment for a moment.

I pressed my finger into the air at the button. It worked. I then willed it closed. It did so. Either would work, so I opened it again by hand. It displayed four aspects. Currencies, Armaments, Vehicles, Weapons, and Support. The red dot moved from the Inventory tab down to Currencies. There were 2,250 Points. Next to it was an information tab. I clicked on it and made a pop-up.

[RECEIPT-

1,250P Small Greyl Cores (5 Points /each)

1,000P Large Grey Cores (20 Points/ each)

Total - 2,250 Points

EXTRA: Loot Boxes

1x Gold Box

1x Platinum Box

Notes:

Gold for talking, Platinum for surviving - A.]

I moved to the shop section.

Unlike before when I last looked at it, it was now populated with a variety of stuff on the landing page. It reminded me of a Pay-To-Win shop, with items scrolling every few seconds to advertise what was in the shop. Clothes, weapons, vehicles, and support tabs were on the side. One more thing was here. At the top right was a large box. Within it, it was called Loot Boxes. There was a red dot next to it and it said 2x directly in the middle.

I clicked on it.

It displayed A gold gift box and a platinum gift box. There was also an information button at the bottom. I clicked on it.

[Information:

Gift boxes can be gifts given for feats or milestones. They can also be bought with points. Gift boxes, however, cannot be summoned on the spot. Gift Boxes are delivered via Same Minute Delivery (Drop Pod) or Same hour delivery (Airship). Drop boxes are loud and obvious to any onlookers. The airship will be a more discrete option. Airships will cloak themselves upon entering your Area of Operation, choosing the most discrete path. However, they can be detected via sound or thermal optics. Cloaking can also be detected by keen eyes.

Content Values(1P =1 Dollar): Bronze Box (10-100P), Silver (101-1,000P), Gold (1,001-10,000P) Platinum (10.1k-100k P), and Legendary (100.01k- 1mP)

Supply Crates exist. They will supply EXPENDABLE supplies (Ammo, Lethals, Tacticals, etc) without the cost. These are randomly awarded, or upon completion of tasks.]

I closed out of it.

It was definitely something I was interested in, but was not in a position to use at this moment. I moved back into the main shop and browsed through the sections. There was an assortment of stuff. Many of which I wanted right now. Though, sadly, they were priced close to real-world costs. Which meant that more high-tech and specialty items were priced out of my current wallet. With 2,250 points, I had to temper my needs.

Upon tabbing into the support section, I found exactly what I needed.

[Health UP 500P: magically heals all wounds (Does not include limb loss or non-biological attachments over a day (Requires a safe area to do so).]

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

And

[Cyberware replacement 1,000P: Replaces all damaged damages cyberware regardless of their original cost (Requires an hour per ware and a safe place).]

Both also had 100% discounts on them with the condition that they both be Same Hour delivery. I would have loved it to be right now. However, they were cost-prohibitive for the moment and the healer had said they’d bring a better healer. Thus, it wasn’t imperative that I waste points on something I would get free either way given some time.

I found there was a favorite button and clicked on both of them.

Moving on, I also found one for companions. Flesh 1,000 points and non-flesh ran up to 5,000 points. Both with the same conditions as Health Up and Cyberware replacement. Which meant that fixing Yang was out of the question. There was a Full Charge option for 100P and I purchased it. Yang immediately gave an All Green signal on the battery.

With 2,150 left, I spent 150 on clothes. Mainly, 50 on clothes repair and another 100 on weatherproofing. This meant that my suit was now winter rated - or so it said.

With 2,000 left, I browsed the firearm section.

I had one monowire left, and the claws in my tips. Last night’s life-or-death battle showed me that I did not want to be caught in a close-quarters battle with goblins. That being stated, I wanted a ranged option to, at the very least, whittle down any horde again. This time, without having them within 20 ft of me.

There was an assortment of firearms ranging from the poorest quality to high-end cutting-edge energy weapons. Before I was killed, energy weapons had just passed the RnD threshold to be viable. The biggest barrier? Cost. My father’s company estimated that one energy rifle would cost nearly 100k. That was with the 30% markup a normal merchant would. They were also finicky and prone to electrical failures when the external environments got too extreme.

Traditional kinetic weapons were king. With smart weapons being their troubled child.

Smart weapons were also cost-prohibitive, though acted as a surefire way to make sure you killed who you wanted. Their floor was 30k. This included the firing system, an onboard neuralware modification, and its smart munitions. These were used by peacekeeping forces within cities. Never any wetworks.

Now, why did the kinetic reign as king?

The floor was less than 200 eurodollars for the cheapest pistol. An ugly cast iron pistol. Moving the floor higher into the 400-600 range netted you reliable workhorse firearms. They were dumb weapons - meaning no cybernetic modifications were needed to use them. A baby or an elderly person could pick up one and shoot. Which also meant that they had no trace to any one person outside of fingerprints.

But that aside, I looked around the shop and noticed that some of the prices changed in real-time. I watched one bundled 9mm drop from 499p to 350p. It was a PSA Dagger Compact. It had a few fancy things on it and whatnot. What drew me to the listing was that it came with 9 spare magazines. Given that the magazines were also listed for 50p each and the gun 500 separately, I was sure any person with a penchant for money would know the next option.

I purchased it and a notification came up that it was in my inventory. I then found its a bulk deal for 180p on its ammunition.

1,470 left.

I moved over to the rifle category. Pistols were close to medium-range engagements. While my monowire was in the same range, it was also limited to its charge. Which would leave me dry after a few uses depending on how I used it. That meant I needed medium to long-range engagement tool. Hence, a rifle.

With the brand PSA in mind already, I browsed the shop once more; cursing that this system did not have a filter of sorts, whilst firing off a quick complaint to A about that. It took a few minutes but I found it after some time. I found a PSA AR15 for 600. 16” barrel, M-Lok rails, and it came with an MBUS iron sight set. I also picked up a 500-round + 10 magazines. For 380

490 left.

I then moved over to the apparel section and moved to carriers. The battle last night showed me that I was ill-equipped even with my cyberware. The pistol did the heavy lifting - until there were no more filled magazines. I needed to carry more with me. Keeping this at the forefront, I checked through the plate carriers. They offered extra protection while having the ability to carry more.

None of them fell within my remaining budget…

I moved to a different carrier section. Ones without protection. The price was far more agreeable with my budget. I ended up buying a black condor chest rig for 39p. I also got myself a battle belt for 64p with two rifle/pistol combo pouches at 95p each. I ended it with a holster for the pistol at 55p.

The end result was 142p left…

I felt exhausted by the end of it and laid back in bed… The healer did not come for another hour…