BXBX NOVEL Chapter 50: [A Conversation with Alice!]
"Did everyone make it?"
She nodded at my words. Even though she was a bit shocked to hear that I was the reason why the tutorial ended early, based on how much she had seen and known, she more or less already expected it.
"So whazz yor… nom nom gulp… next plan?" She asked as she looked at me after finishing her portion of the sandwich. A bit of the myonesse was stuck below her lips, to which I pointed before passing a tissue to her.
As she wiped the myonesse, I looked at the city below us before speaking,
"The priority is the next tutorial. Though on the sidelines, I was also thinking of taking control of the entire safe city, and the first floor. It\'s a bit of a piece of work, but it needs to be done if I want to sleep peacefully without being worried about anything later."
It was something that I just thought of right now. The fact that there were people above me like the Admin and that \'Soul of the floor,\' I couldn\'t feel it right wondering what would happen if one day they tried sabotaging my life? I must make my move discreetly and slowly if I don\'t want that to happen.
"The floor?" Alice was really surprised as she paused her hand action with that handkerchief still on her lips. Though there was slight confusion in her eyes, as if she didn\'t understood the complete meaning behind my words.
I recollected my thoughts for a brief moment before speaking,
"Alice. Let me ask you this question. Will you work for me? Not \'with me\' or \'beside me\' but \'for me.\' I must tell you there is a difference-"
"Yes," she answered without a moment of hesitation as she looked at me. I observed her for a few seconds before nodding at her as I spoke,
"Then follow my commands for the time being. I won\'t tell you everything, but I will tell you everything that\'s necessary. It\'s not that I want to hide things from you, but because of certain reasons it\'s better if I don\'t tell anything."
She pondered before speaking," you are the only one among us who seemed to have a total grasp of the entire situation. Honestly, as long as it\'s not against my ethics, I don\'t mind following your commands. Though… we are still friends, right?"
I smiled as I nodded," We are. And don\'t worry about it."
She smiled as she nodded before asking," should I bring Mark in as well? He too would follow all of your commands without asking any questions."
Though I shook my head before speaking," it\'s better if we don\'t. Although he is trustworthy, my plans aren\'t exactly gonna be a white sheet of paper. Involving him right now would make things worse than better. At least not until he has seen the reality of how cruel this world can be."
"So when are you going to meet with him? Even though he is not showing, he is far more worried about you than anyone in the group," Alice asked with a deep look on her face. It seems she was worried about Mark here.
"Not right now. Maybe in the next tutorial? Though that depends on the situation itself," I gave her a crude answer since even I didn\'t know when would be the best time to meet him. And it would only get dangerous for him to get involved with me with all the things that I am going to pull in the future.
"Is that so?" Alice was a bit saddened with the response.
"Don\'t feel so bad now. It\'s better if we don\'t meet for the time being… also, since we have met, I think it would be better for you to know a couple of things about this tutorial and the next," I got her attention back as I began explaining about the entire scenario and the stuff that was going to happen in the next tutorial.
Her eyes widened as she took in all the information that I told her. From what she explained, she had 6 free skill slots right now, with the three of them wasted on the F-Grade skills. The last one was a B-Grade skill, [Hunt!], which she got after hunting all the monsters in the tutorial.
Surprisingly, the innate skills she had were not counted in the [Skill Slots!], which made her [Gift!] all the more valuable.
Though, she was still sad to hear that she wasted three skill slots for nothing.
"Don\'t worry, I will get you some [Skill Eraser] artifact to help you with the skill slots. For now, just focus on saving Points and focusing more on [Items] than skills. I think it would be better for you to aim for 2 B-Grade Skills, 2 A-Grade skills, and 2 beyond that," I gave her a simple task, to which she nodded immediately.
I saw her smiling a lot as I was explaining, to which I asked," what?"
She chuckled as she answered," nothing. You are always reliable, no matter what the situation is. Whether it was before the apocalypse or after, it\'s as if you are always prepared for any sort of situation."
"Live a life like mine, and it will become a necessity," I sighed before wondering if I missed anything that I should tell her. Though it seems, I passed on all the things that I needed to pass.
So that brings us to the next task,
"With that being done, there is something that I would like you to do in the time that I am not with the group. First, tell them everything that I told you. Of course, keep my existence a secret as well. And while you are at it, spend some points to go to the [Training Camp!], tomorrow. It would be better if you can bring Mark and the others with you.
Though not much, it should Help you guys get stronger by a small margin."
Clair, the Admin of this floor, told me about various facilities that the floor provides. The [Training Camp!] is one of the areas for the beginners who are new to this whole fighting monsters and stuff. The price is neither too cheap nor too heavy on the pocket, so I guess Alice and the others won\'t have any problem taking up that camp.
\'It will also be a good way for them to adjust with the new world,\' I pondered as I looked at the glistening face of Alice. It seems she really liked this idea of mine.
"I was wondering what was the best way to spend Points without wasting too much of them. As expected of our leader and strategist. You always know the right answers," she smiled as her personality was becoming rather too energetic. Just where did our cold hearted silent Alice go?
Though looking at that smiling face, I felt a little happy, too.
"All right. So I have to tell everyone about the [Cards], the next tutorial and also about the [Training Camp!]. Is that all?" She asked as she recounted the tasks she had for now.
I nodded before standing up and speaking," I will meet you tomorrow morning. Just stay anywhere out in the open, I will reach out to you."
She nodded as she asked,"At what time?"
"Let\'s meet at 8 AM," I answered before adding," Now hurry up. They must all be waiting for you."
I saw her nodding before she waved me goodbye. Then hurrying back down, she vanished from my sight as I stood there alone again. Though this time, I felt a little bit happier than before. The previous tinge of sadness… it wasn\'t there any more.
"All right. I should go and sleep now… it was a fulfilling day, tomorrow is only going to get busier," I yawned a little before activating my [Stealth] and [Illusion!] once again.
On my way back, I found that the night city was much more active than the day. The number of people doubled, and more shops were open than there were in the day. Even the atmosphere was twice as lively as in the morning.
My eyes then landed on a familiar person eating ice cream in the distance. She was Adalaide, the half vampire who was pretending to be attacked by some thugs in the morning. Looking at the group of people she was walking with, they seemed to be a group of adventurers.
Surprisingly, Adelaide, along with 3 more people in that party were Players, while the rest of them were NPCs. Given the face that she was a half vampire, does that mean that people from other worlds also come here as players?
\'I thought that only humans would appear here as Players, while the demihumans or other beings were NPCs of this world. Fascinating,\' I was amazed a bit at this miniscule information that changed the perspective of the way I looked at this world.
Walking onwards, I then reached a nearby fancy hotel. Since I didn\'t mind spending a little, I decided to spend 120k points on a lavish hotel that provides multiple services. To rest was also a very important decision since tomorrow was the day when the official Tutorial ends.
Though it wasn\'t exactly related to me, I still had to find a couple of people that I knew from the back alley days. Given how roudy they are, there is a high chance they would be among those who will complete the tutorial without dying.
\'It\'s been a while since I met them. I wonder how they are now,\' I thought as I went towards the receptionist. I didn\'t realize but a smile was present on my face all the time I was thinking about tomorrow.