Chapter 49: Earnings!

"You are right... I was really ignoring the major things and only thinking about the fantasy side of things."

Kyle finally admitted it.

The more he thought about what the system had said, the more he realized just how reckless his previous excitement had been. He had been so captivated by the idea of entering another world that he had completely ignored the most fundamental question of all.

Could he actually survive there?

The answer, at least right now, was obvious.

No.

He was nothing but a greenhorn. He barely had anything under his belt, and even the things he had learned recently were nowhere near enough to make him confident about surviving in an unfamiliar world.

He knew how to throw a few punches. He knew how to dodge, block, and use some basic fighting techniques thanks to the training he had received from the robot. He had even managed to defeat several armed men under extreme circumstances.

But that didn’t make him a real fighter.

In a world where martial arts could potentially reach absurd levels or where people could wield magic, his current abilities would probably amount to little more than child’s play.

’No.’

Kyle reconsidered that thought.

’Even calling it child’s play might be giving me too much credit.’

A martial arts prodigy from another world could probably fold him into a pretzel without breaking a sweat.

And fighting people wasn’t even the biggest problem.

There were animals.

There were monsters.

There could be beasts that were stronger, faster, and more dangerous than anything he had ever encountered on Earth. He might end up in a forest and get eaten by something before he even understood where he was.

The option to return didn’t magically solve everything either. What if he was injured so badly that he couldn’t give the command? What if he was unconscious? What if something prevented him from accessing the system properly?

And while the system’s protection was certainly useful, Kyle had already learned that it wasn’t some omnipotent shield against death.

He was still responsible for keeping himself alive.

[Well, I’m glad you’re finally growing some brains. That’s promising progress.]

"Fuck off!"

The system immediately went into its usual seclusion, leaving Kyle alone with his thoughts.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"How do I increase my combat abilities and gain superpowers?"

That was the real question.

If he was serious about traveling to another world, then he needed strength.

Not just random abilities that looked impressive on paper, but genuine combat skills. Something that could allow him to protect himself when things inevitably went wrong.

He could figure out other abilities later.

Right now, he needed something that would help him survive a fight.

"But how the hell am I supposed to get those?"

Kyle leaned back and thought about it.

The obvious method was completing quests, but quests weren’t exactly something he could summon whenever he wanted. Besides, his accumulated System Points before this quest had barely been enough to buy anything worthwhile. He had earned roughly twenty or thirty points over a considerable period of time, and even that had required plenty of effort.

Then a thought struck him.

"Shouldn’t the marketplace have stuff related to combat?"

His eyes brightened slightly.

The marketplace had always seemed to contain a ridiculous assortment of things, although Kyle hadn’t explored it extensively. He couldn’t remember whether actual combat skills were available there, but if the system had a marketplace for abilities and items, there was a good chance he could find something useful.

Kyle immediately opened the system window and entered the marketplace.

The familiar interface appeared.

[Available Balance: 2016 SP]

Kyle froze.

He stared at the number.

Then he blinked.

Then he stared at it again.

"Am I seeing this correctly?"

He leaned closer to the translucent screen.

"Do... does that say two thousand System Points?"

Kyle’s expression became increasingly dumbfounded.

He couldn’t comprehend what he was looking at.

"Two thousand?"

He rubbed his eyes and looked again.

Still there.

[2016 SP]

"I must be hallucinating."

He shook his head.

"This can’t be real."

A nervous chuckle escaped his mouth.

"Two thousand System Points? That’s bullshit! How the hell could I possibly earn that much?!"

He had struggled to accumulate even fifteen points before. He remembered practically celebrating whenever his balance increased by a handful of points.

And now he had more than two thousand.

There was no way that made sense.

Kyle hurriedly opened the marketplace, wanting to confirm that the number wasn’t some sort of display error.

However, before he could even browse the shop, another notification suddenly appeared.

[User, congratulations! You have met the requirements to upgrade the Marketplace to Level 1.]

[Do you want to upgrade?]

[Yes — 250 SP]

[No]

Kyle’s frozen expression instantly twisted.

His eyebrows pulled together, his lips curled downward, and several muscles in his face visibly twitched as he stared at the upgrade price.

"What the fuck?!"

He pointed at the notification.

"Two hundred and fifty System Points just to upgrade the marketplace?! Are you fucking serious?"

His expression became one of pure contempt.

"That’s straight-up daylight robbery!"

He stared at the price again.

Two hundred and fifty points.

It wasn’t technically expensive anymore considering his current balance, but that wasn’t the point. He had spent days struggling to gather points, and the system was casually asking for 250 of them just to unlock the next level of its own shop.

Still, despite his outrage, curiosity began creeping into his mind.

The current marketplace hadn’t exactly impressed him. If upgrading it unlocked better items, skills, or something genuinely useful, then perhaps spending 250 points wasn’t such a terrible investment.

Kyle stared at the two options.

’Well... I’m already sitting on more than two thousand.’

He sighed.

"Fine."

He selected Yes.

[Congratulations, User.]

[You have successfully upgraded the Marketplace to Level 1.]

[The Marketplace is currently being upgraded to provide you with improved products and services.]

[Estimated completion time: 10 minutes.]

Kyle stared at the notification.

"Seriously?"

His excitement immediately deflated.

"I actually have to wait for it to upgrade?"

He had expected the process to happen instantly, like downloading an application or unlocking something in a game.

Instead, the system had charged him 250 points and then told him to wait ten minutes.

"First you rob me, then you make me wait."

[Remaining Balance: 1766 SP]

Kyle looked at his balance again.

"How did I even earn this many points?"

That question still bothered him.

If he had received 500 points from the quest, then having around 1,500 more shouldn’t have been possible.

He had barely accumulated thirty points before.

Something else had happened.

Kyle narrowed his eyes.

"Where the hell did all these points come from?"

He thought through the system’s various functions.

Then he remembered the video section.

The system had once mentioned performance and earnings, but Kyle had never paid much attention to it. Perhaps that was where the missing points had come from.

He opened the video section.

The screen loaded.

[Performance & Earning]

Kyle’s eyes moved downward.

Then he froze.

There was a single entry displayed prominently on the screen.

[Video: Fucking the brains out of my girl]

[Rank: E — 2x Multiplier]

[Views: 753,892]

[Likes: 39,599]

[Dislikes: 846]

[Points Earned: 1,506]

*****

What kind of worlds would you like to see kyle visit first? Tell me in the comment section.

Discord: discord.gg/d6EZJB3Wxg