Chapter 2: Giving Herrscher of Sentience a Home???
"Traveler? Doesn't sound like a particularly powerful talent. Does it mean the more I travel the world, the stronger I become? Not exactly what I hoped for, but at least it's not another 'helping others' talent." Relieved by this seemingly profound yet ambiguous talent, Roshin finally exhaled.
Though the Traveler talent sounded mediocre, it was still better than being forced into relentless altruism.
Call it "helping others," but Roshin felt more like a tool.
Not that he had anything against kindness, but constantly showering goodwill made people take it for granted.
He understood the saying: "Give them an inch, and they'll take a mile."
But just as he began examining his Traveler interface, Roshin froze again—he spotted something terrifying.
[Quest List]
Damn it, so it's still about helping others?!
You've got to be kidding me!
Roshin's Traveler interface had four main tabs:
[Main Screen]
[Quest List]
[Friends]
[Inventory]
There were other options, but they were grayed out, their names unreadable.
Before he could check anything else, the sight of the Quest List alone gave him a headache.
[Quest List]
[Helping others is a virtue. Good deeds yield good rewards. Offering kindness during your travels often brings unexpected surprises.]
Though the description made his heart skip a beat, Roshin was at least relieved that the list was currently empty.
The [Main Screen] displayed a 3D avatar of Roshin, accompanied by various stats.
Name: Roshin Amakawa
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Title: Roshin the Great Philanthropist (Gold): As a good person, you gain others' trust more easily and receive more requests from them.
HP: 100%
Primogems: 0
...
Roshin's face darkened at this. Seriously, is a good person just meant to be taken advantage of? Are good people doomed to be used as tools?
[Friends]
0/50
Hmm, is this mocking me for having no friends?
I do have friends, okay? Just not many.
I may have few friends, but they're high-quality.
Finally, the most anticipated feature—the Inventory.
Ah, the Inventory—Roshin understood this well. Isn't it just storage space? That's how it works in games.
What kind of game inventory doesn't let you store items? If it can't hold things, can it even be called a inventory?
And logically speaking, shouldn't a system like this come with a beginner's gift pack upon activation?
A system without a beginner's gift pack—can it even be called a system?
Roshin excitedly clicked into the Inventory interface, only to find... nothing at all.
Damn! Almost forgot, this really isn't a system—it's my talent.
It's all because this thing looks so much like a system that Roshin completely got the wrong idea.
For a moment, Roshin felt disappointed.
The greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment—exactly like this.
And most crucially, this so-called EX-rank talent, "Traveler," didn't seem impressive to Roshin in any way.
Hmm, it was just utterly mediocre in every aspect. Roshin didn't even know how to use this thing.
Useless talent. Got my hopes up for nothing, and the description made it sound so grand…
Roshin instantly became sullen.
The worst part was that he couldn't even cheer himself up.
[Ding! You have 1,000 Primogems waiting to be claimed. Would you like to claim them?]
"???" Hearing this, Roshin's body jolted inexplicably.
For some reason, the moment he heard "Primogems," his spirits lifted.
"Why are there 1,000 Primogems?" Roshin couldn't figure it out.
This is a talent, after all. How could there be a beginner's gift pack?
But then, a strange, indescribable memory suddenly flooded into Roshin's mind.
[User Manual]
After taking a moment to recover, Roshin irritably shook his slightly throbbing head.
"Couldn't you have brought out the manual earlier?"
Once Roshin had calmed down, he finally digested the memory.
Only then did he understand—those 1,000 Primogems were the reward for the nearly 1,000 good deeds he had done.
Originally, there could have been more, but since his talent hadn't fully awakened back then, the maximum number of Primogems he could accumulate was capped at 1,000.
However, it seemed the excess Primogems he couldn't obtain could accumulate as "Fortune," which would be applied to his first gacha pull. According to the manual, the Fortune he had accumulated now guaranteed that his first 10-pull would definitely yield an ultra-rare special 5-star—the kind that's one in a million among 5-stars. After this, there would be no such benefit again. That actually sounded like a pretty good deal…
As for the sources of Primogems, they could be obtained by completing commissions, helping others (with varying amounts), or by defeating monsters.
And since this talent was called "Traveler," Roshin would also receive some Primogems whenever he encountered scenery that moved him. Not a lot, but enough to get by.
There were also all sorts of bizarre achievements that served as additional sources of Primogems.
These Primogems could be used for gacha pulls and… purchasing skills?
The gacha part was easy to understand. Once Roshin saved up 1,600 Primogems, he could unlock the gacha system and start pulling.
The gacha pool had everything—from planet-destroying motherships down to soda for otaku. He could even pull character cards and get himself a 2D waifu. But what he actually ended up pulling would depend entirely on his luck.
As for the skill-purchasing function…
Simply put, it allowed him to buy other people's talents or special skills—but it cost Primogems.
In the "Traveler" talent, Primogems were omnipotent.
The prerequisite for purchasing skills was that the other party had to be his friend.
That's right. If they weren't his friend, the only option was to kill them and see if they dropped any skill scrolls or something similar.
In that case, the skill scroll obtained would be random, and there was a decent chance it wouldn't even be a skill they originally possessed.
Roshin couldn't help but feel that this Traveler's Talent looked more and more like a game system the longer he examined it.
And "beating to death"... was such violence really appropriate?
However, when Roshin glanced at his completely empty friends list, he instantly fell silent.
If—and Roshin meant if—he could find a way to kill a tardigrade, would he possibly gain that nearly indestructible ability they possessed?
Generally speaking, it was probably possible. But the prerequisite was that the tardigrade would actually be recognized as an [enemy] by the Traveler's Talent.
"Ding-ding-ding!" The bell rang—not for class dismissal, but for vacation.
The last class on Friday afternoon was always the most grueling, but Roshin had spent the entire period immersed in various bizarre thoughts, so time seemed to fly by.
"Roshin, it's my turn to clean today, but I've got something urgent. Can you cover for me?" As soon as their homeroom teacher left the podium, a male classmate darted over to Roshin's desk.
[Ding! New commission available.]
[Cleaning Duty]: A lovestruck classmate who can't be bothered with cleaning wants you to take over his duties.
Reward: 5 Primogems
Difficulty: 0 stars
"But..." Roshin hesitated.
Still... earning Primogems wasn't anything to scoff at.
[Ding! New commission available]
[Shelter the Herrscher of Sentience] (Time-limited): The Herrscher of Sentience, freshly scammed by her own mother via telecom fraud, has been swept into a spacetime rift and severely injured. Go—give her a home!
Reward: 600 Primogems + Any Weapon Mastery
Difficulty: 0 stars
Countdown: 20 minutes
(Time-limited quest. If not accepted at the location before the deadline, it will automatically disappear.)
(Note: This is an extremely rare commission. Choose wisely.)
"So it's a yes? Thanks." The male classmate said without a shred of gratitude.
"Ah..." Roshin's deskmate sighed.
Wouldn't cleaning alone take a full 20 minutes? Looks like he'd have to help out.
What a disaster—how did he end up with such a deskmate?
"Like hell I will! Do your own damn work!"
Five Primogems? What am I, a beggar?
A tool? Not anymore!!!
May you finish cleaning late and get stabbed in the kidney by a blue spearman!!!
After flipping the guy off, Roshin vaulted over his desk and bolted out of the classroom at breakneck speed.
The male classmate and Roshin's deskmate were left utterly bewildered.
Though unlike the former, a glimmer of surprise flashed in the deskmate's eyes amidst his confusion.