"Okay, okay, okay!" Lemonk waved his hands. "I get it. It's getting too complicated. Just tell me how the shop works and what LP and coins are used for."
"Aww… is my precious little host overwhelmed?" the system purred mockingly. "I should've known your dumb, idiotic brain would choke on actual knowledge."
Lemonk's face flushed red.
He opened his mouth to retort… but nothing came out. Not even in his head. The damn system heard everything anyway.
"…Can we just focus?"
"Fiiine," it replied, stretching the word like a yawn. "The Shop unlocks once you upgrade it to Level 1. The higher the level, the better the items inside."
"Coins are your currency to buy those items. LP (Level Points) are rarer. You use them to upgrade the shop, evolve skills, and later… unlock bigger things."
Lemonk nodded. "Alright. That makes sense."
"Also, you should probably evolve your basic skills now. They're cheap at this level and will boost you more than you think."
"Got it." He whispered softly, "Profile."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[Progress System Interface]
Name: Lemonk
STATS• HP: 150• STRENGTH: 10• STAMINA: 10.5• AGILITY: 10• SPIRIT: 57.7
SKILLS• Walk – 100% (Can be evolved)• Hand Movement – 100% (Can be evolved)• Cooking – 30% [1]
SHOP• Level: 0 (Next Upgrade: 1 LP)
LP: 5Coins: 150~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lemonk focused on the "Walk" skill.
A prompt appeared immediately.
Do you want to evolve [Walk] into [Run]?Cost: 2 LP[CONFIRM] ✖
Lemonk tapped Confirm.
[Walk → Run] evolved.LP -2
He did the same with Hand Movement, evolving it into Advanced Hand Movement.
Then he spent his final LP to unlock the Shop:
Shop Level upgraded to Lv 1.LP -1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[Progress System Interface]
Name: Lemonk
STATS• HP: 150• STRENGTH: 10• STAMINA: 10.5• AGILITY: 10• SPIRIT: 57.7
SKILLS• Run – 0%• Advanced Hand Movement – 0%• Cooking – 30% [1]
SHOP• Level: 1
LP: 0Coins: 150~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lemonk stretched out his arms, then bounced lightly on his toes.
"…Whoa."
His feet felt lighter. His hands steadier, more precise. He hadn't gained any raw stat points, but something had definitely shifted.
"You're more efficient now," the system said flatly. "Better body control. Better energy use. More bang for the same buck."
"So even without stat boosts, I'm… faster?"
"Smarter. Sharper. Stronger. Welcome to the Strengthen path, kid."
Lemonk grinned.
He opened the Shop tab, eager to see what awaited him now that it was finally unlocked.
[Opening Shop: Level 1 Items Unlocked]
[Skill Scroll – Basic Meditation] – 50 Coins[Muscle Recovery Balm (1x)] – 30 Coins[Basic Iron Pickaxe (Durability Upgrade)] – 100 Coins[Nutrient-Rich Meal Pack (Restores 15 Stamina)] – 20 Coins[Unknown Egg (???)] – 150 Coins
Lemonk's eyebrows shot up. "Huh… some of these look useful. And others…"
He squinted at the glowing icon of the Unknown Egg.
"What the hell is that?"
"Who knows?" the system replied, unhelpfully cheerful. "Might be your doom. Might be a chicken."
"…Great."
But Lemonk smiled anyway.
His stats were growing. His skills were evolving. His shop was open.
He'd started with nothing.
But now?
Now he had a system.