Matt spent the rest of the day in his cave trying to tear the troll into edible chunks with fangs not fit for the job, but by the end he had 400 more Evolutionary Points to add to his reserves. That prompted a new round of browsing on the shop. He still had only seen a fraction of the things available, which included things like blood upgrades, fantasy items, superpowers, etc. Most of the items were blocked by needing an additional currency called tickets, which he speculated came from results in the games themselves.
With things like a Death Star up for sale for the low-low price of 1,000,000 points, it gave him a sense of perspective. There was no reason to get arrogant when he had just moved up to E-class threat on his status. A high enough calber gun could potentially kill him, much less some of the other things. There was even Saiyan-descent on there!
If he wanted to live he needed to decide on a direction for development besides immediate benefits soon. There were 3 major directions that could be taken to the end from what he could see.
1. Keep getting larger and tougher until he could hard carry everything with his scales.
2. Focus on ambush style stealth with his poison.
3. Focus on a superpower like magic, ki, cultivation, etc that would make his attack stranger and harder to defend.
To be honest, Matt figured he'd about run the potential out of #2. It was practically impossible to block every avenue of sensing him technologically or with superpowers, and he didn't like the thought of being vulnerable in that situation. That left #1 and #3, and while both had elements he liked #3 was cut off for the moment until he had tickets.
In the end he decided to buy [Strong Bones(Rank 1)] and [Sturdy Organs(Rank 1)] for the price of 300 points each. They were rather humbles skills, but the might save him from a situation where his scales held out but his body was still squished or attacked in an unconventional way.
With that settled, he made himself comfortable for sleep.
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Weeks passed, and by Matt's reckoning his time in this tutorial was running out. He hadn't run into any threats like the troll, which would have made him happy if it wasn't for another thing that had happened to him. Evidently the designers of this game weren't stupid, and as his strength increased the points he got from eating weaker prey decreased as well. That left him far short of his goal that he ha hoped for, but there was nothing he could do about it other than leave himself purposefully weak.
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His status was now...
Player Name: Matthew Forester Titles: Poisoner, Big Eater Species: Assassin Viper Evolutionary Points: 2710 Threat Level: E Special Skills: Rapid Digestion Rank 2, Camouflage Rank 2, Deadly Poison Rank 2, Deadly Poison Resistance Rank 2, Infrared Vision Rank N/A, Gigantism Rank 1, Enhanced Senses Rank 2, Natural Armor Rank 2, Strong Bones Rank 2, Sturdy Organs Rank 2, Environmental Resistance Rank 1, Fatigue Resistance Rank 1
He had made some improvements as well as saved up for any emergency buys he might need, so he was as set as he could be. Unfortunately he had been unable to acquire any new titles no matter what he did, which was a sore point. Now it was just resting and making sure he was at 100% for whatever was to come.
Speaking of which...
Congratulations Contestant #128523, You have cleared the Tutorial! Now it's time for something a little hard, are you ready?
Fuck you.
First Game's setting is.... Random Type - Movie Random Beginner Movie - Predator
Main Task Kill Dutch as well as at least 3 Hero Reincarnations without letting the Predator die. Reward C-level ticket and 5000 Evolutionary Points Penalty for Failure Death Optional Task Kill additional commandos or Hero Reincarnations Reward D-level ticket and 2000 Evolutionary Points each Penalty for Failure N/A
Initiating.... Good luck....you'll need it
Matt's vision went black.