Seeing the price on the loaf of bread alone was very discouraging. He had already known what to expect, yet seeing it was something completely different.
'This damned Tower.' Min-ho began to scratch his thumb.
The Tower was kind enough to know that its challengers would need these consumables to survive in this world, yet it made sure acquiring them would be near impossible.
If anything, it was ironic.
Of course, Z-Streamers did not care either. Considering the fact that a good portion of Spectors were edible, no one really dreaded not being able to buy food from the System's shop.
No, what was really important was the jug of water.
[[Jug of Water]]
[Description: ]
[Price: 10,000 Coins]
[Purchase]
Apart from the ingredients which were each priced at 500 to 1,000 Coins, the price tag of 10,000 Coins was a staple across the major consumable items. And the higher up they climbed in the Tower, the more the prices would bump up.
If they could find a spring of pure water, then this wouldn't be a problem.
Thinking back on the rain, Min-ho felt foolish that it had slipped his mind to purchase several canteens to bottle up the rainwater.
His scratching on his thumb intensified.
It couldn't be helped now. Next time he would be ready.
He held off on purchasing any consumables for now and began to search the entirety of his System.
By the time he was done, he had purchased a few items.
First, he purchased almost everything in the Utility menu.
Then, he purchased ten more canteens, a pair of clothes, and finally… a Relic.
[[Gongio's Eye]]
[Rank: E, Tier: 3]
[Uses: 2/2 (Resets each day)]
[Enchantments: Petri]
[—Petri: Will petrify anything the eye is pointed at for 10 seconds (Effects will only work once on a single target)]
[Description: Gongio was the child of Medusa, yet despite his heritage he was a weak gargoyle and a disgrace to his family. At the age of 13, he was assassinated and his eyes were taken as a trophy. Yet despite his death, his eyes still hold the power of his malice and will petrify anything that he looks at]
[Price: 25,000 Coins]
By the time he was done, he had already run out of space in his Inventory, causing half of the items he had purchased to fall on him as he lay on the floor. Unfortunately, the option to purchase more space was not available.
But fortunately, there was a way—a trick which had been discovered a while back. Min-ho wrapped most of the items in his sleeping bag, then willed it into his Inventory. And without any trouble, it stayed in place.
Of course, this little exploit had a weakness. There was only so much a person could squeeze into a single slot of Inventory before it finally rejected it.
But nonetheless, it was an incredible cheat.
Feeling a bit satisfied, Min-ho returned to his main menu and stared at the number of Coins he had left.
[Name: Mee Min-ho, Rank: E]
[Affinities, Equipment]
[Inventory, Shop]
[Coins: 98,650]
[Developer Options]
The sight pained him. He had already used up a sizable chunk of his Coins, with the bulk going to his Relic—a Relic which he just couldn't pass up on.
Having the ability to freeze an enemy in place even for just 10 seconds could mean the difference between life and death.
Not to mention it would go hand in hand with Dok-su's Affinity.
Pushing the pain of his Coins to the side, Min-ho wanted to check one final thing before leaving his System.
[Affinities: Monarch's Will]
He expanded Monarch's Will.
[[Monarch's Will]]
[Affinity Type: Passive, Affinity Rank: E]
[Monarch's Will: If a subject is made through the kissing of a hand, the Monarch will be able to control the subjects to a certain degree and gain a percentage of the subject's collected Coins without affecting their own total. Percentage increases by increments of 10% for every two subjects gotten. Increments will cease to continue once the limit of 20 subjects has been reached]
[Uses Available: Unlimited, Whiplash: Death's Revenge]
[Death's Revenge: If a subject under the Monarch's rule dies, the death of the subject will be shared with the Monarch depending on his taxing percentage]
[Subsidiary Affinities: Command, Enhance, Sacrifice]
[Subjects: Cho Im-hee, Han Dok-su, Han Ji-su, Ji Jang-book]
Min-ho's eyes widened when he saw the last two sections.
Subsidiary Affinities and Subjects. They were completely new to his System.
He carefully read through each description before falling silent. A part of him felt off, because due to his Affinity, he was given an ungodly amount of control over his teammates.
Some were good, some not so much.
For instance, the Enhance Sub-Affinity was nothing if not a manifestation of camaraderie.
[——Enhance——]
[Affinity Type: Active, Affinity Rank: E]
[Enhance: Enhance a subject's physical prowess for 30s]
[Uses Available: 3/3 (Resets Daily), Whiplash: None]
[Activation Cost: 5,000 Coins]
With this, he could make his team that much stronger to fight and increase their chances of survival.
But as for Command…
[——Command——]
[Affinity Type: Active, Affinity Rank: E]
[Command: If a subject is being hostile, a single word can bring them to their knees]
[Uses Available: Unlimited, Whiplash: None]
[Activation Cost: None]
[——Sacrifice——]
[Affinity Type: Active, Affinity Rank: E]
[Sacrifice: If a subject is dead or gravely injured, the Monarch can take a chance to either save the subject's life, or die trying. Percentage of death varies from person to person]
[Uses Available: 1/1 (Resets Daily), Whiplash: None]
[Activation Cost: 20,000 Coins]
These two Sub-Affinities, each one worse than the last, gave him the ability to not only control a person's will, but even death itself.
Not to mention he was given access to all of their information. In the Subjects section, Min-ho could view their Systems as though they were his own. He could see their Inventory, Coins, Affinities, and anything else the System had to offer.
All of this didn't feel right to Min-ho in the slightest.
If there was one thing he hated most in his life, it was having one's freedom taken away—being unable to control their own fate.
He never thought it was fair for anyone to have control over someone else. And yet here he was, given the opportunity to turn into a power-hungry dictator.
Min-ho knew he would never fall to such levels, but he also knew how easy it was to fall into the temptation of power.
All of a sudden, his Affinity started to feel less like a boon, and more like a realization of his worst fears.