[STT] Chapter 74: Kid (Patreon)

Clarissa and Thomas waited for him to latch onto the bait and say something. Ben refused to dig a grave for himself, so he ignored the nobles standing in front of him and looked over the rewards.

After all, he was really curious what options he'd gotten! And even though he was excited to know the numbers, he was also dreading the options.

He could only choose one, after all.

There were four options in total, and he read the first one.

- [Construct Blueprint: Mana Shell] (Author-Signed)

He read it a second time just to make sure his eyes worked. He could assume what a blueprint was, but the note at the end threw him off somewhat.

Author-Signed? What does that mean?

He could take a guess, but he really wasn't sure what it meant. Was it like [Learning Model]? Did someone leave notes in there...

If that's the case, it'll be really cool.

No, really, it would be. He would love some instructions or information by someone far better than him at something he was trying to learn. Not to mention, that name was a bit exciting.

[Mana Shell], huh?

He wondered just what kind of construct it was. From the sounds of it, he thought it was some kind of armor. Though he had no idea how it worked, given that it was a construct.

Pushing that thought aside, he moved his attention down to the second reward option.

- [Memory Shard: Tier 3 Guardian]

Damn.

That sounded really good, honestly.

He recalled how much he'd suffered to get the [Regeneration] memory shard. It took him ages, and many tries to get it. That led him to believe that memory shards were rare, considerably so, or at least rare enough.

And not to mention this one was from a Tier 3 monster!

Or guardian, I guess.

Maybe it would have a skill in it? Or some kind of technique.

Whatever it had inside, it had to be helpful, right?

A tapping sound brought him out of his thoughts. Even though he had been mulling over the options in his mind, barely a few seconds had passed outside. Thanks to [Focus], not only he could think in parallel, he could also think faster.

Still, he would admit that he'd forgotten himself a bit, lost in the reward options he was so excited about. Looking down, he saw Clarissa tapping her foot impatiently, glaring daggers right at his face.

Ah... yeah.

He was being confronted right now.

Sighing, he dismissed the system entirely. He couldn't exactly sit here and read through other options while a very angry teenager demanded something she thought she was owed. It was just common sense. 

"Oh, did the little commoner realize how pitiful his score is?"

Clarissa smiled for some reason, raising her voice enough to make everyone around them pay attention.

What is she on about?

"He opens his status, turns completely pale, and immediately hides it away in shame. How utterly pathetic."

Oh.

She thought he was looking at his status. More specifically, his points. So that's what gave her such confidence.

She really thought she'd already won.

Ben noticed at least a half dozen others drifting closer to the commotion. Clarissa had been loud enough to draw an audience.

He wondered why she was so patronizing. Just what went wrong in her childhood? He assumed being a child of nobles had to be hard for the kid, but still, for so many of them to turn out as they did, there had to be something, right?

Maybe it was the environment of Houses?

He could empathize, perhaps a bit too much for someone actively trying to get in his way. It was admittedly one of his bad habits, but...

She's just a pitiful kid.

"I'm just tired, Clarissa. Let's just go back to camp."

"You will not walk away from me!" 

Stepping directly into his path, Clarissa sneered. "Hand over the bag and your staff. Now."

"The staff is broken. And the bag is mine."

"You dare lie about my things to my face?" Clarissa scoffed. "A mere Tier 1 weakling like you could never break a magical staff, unless you were too dense to use it properly. You simply wish to hoard it for your own selfish gain even though I have rightfully won it back."

Rolling his eyes, Ethan stepped up beside Ben. 

"Listen to reason, Clarissa. We just survived a rift collapse and we are all exhausted. There is no need for this pointless hostility right now. We can settle this later."

"Stay out of this, Ethan. This street rat needs to learn his place before he infects the rest of you with his cowardice."

Alice crossed her arms and mirrored Clarissa's haughty posture. 

"We are leaving."

"Not until he gives up what he promised! He lost!" Thomas said.

Rubbing his temples, Ben felt a migraine building behind his eyes. He had actual shards of glass stuck in his stomach and he went through a lot earlier. He really did not have the patience for this drama. 

"Fine. You want to know my score?"

"Admit your failure."

Lifting her chin, Clarissa proudly announced their combined score.

"Four thousand six hundred and twenty-two points."

She looked incredibly smug about the number. And she had a right to be, honestly. It was indeed a massive number. Catching Ben's eye, Ethan snuck him a knowing smirk. He clearly knew exactly what was coming and had no intention of stopping this farce.

Frowning slightly, Alice actually looked a bit concerned, and it made sense, since she didn't know how many points Ben had. She probably thought he was about to get socially ruined.

To be fair, he might be socially ruined. He didn't even know his points… He hadn't actually looked at his points in a while. He might not even have enough points to win this thing. Pausing, Ben hesitated. And Clarissa immediately pounced on that single second of hesitation.

"Nothing to say? Did you even break a hundred?"

Sighing, Ben just rubbed the back of his neck.

"I haven't looked for a while. I don't know my exact score."

"Do you hear this excuse, Thomas? He hasn't looked! He's too terrified to even open his status!"

And the crowd eagerly muttered right along with her. Everyone knew exactly what a commoner's score usually looked like, so they were eating up the drama.

Looking at her face, she seemed to think she'd already won.

Ben honestly just felt tired.

She's just a kid. I really don't want to humiliate her in front of everyone.

Ben told himself.

"Look, you can just have the staff. I don't care, it's broken anyway. Let's just skip the whole point comparison thing."

Clarissa glared at him with pure venom.

"Do not patronize me! You will read your number out loud, in front of everyone, and admit you lost!"

Staring at the furious teenager, Ben was a bit lost.

Why does she want to do this so much?

He doubted she cared about her things that much.

Giving up, Ben mentally pulled up his system. He just wanted to get this over with so he could finally go get his stomach fixed. He was very irritated right now, even if he had perfect control over himself thanks to [Focus].

Looking over his stats, he navigated straight to the rift page to find his total points.

Looking at the bold text, his brain stopped momentarily.

…huh?

That wasn't right. He distinctly remembered having a little over four thousand points the last time he actually paid attention to his score.

But the number sitting right there on his screen was completely different. It was significantly higher. Blinking, he stared hard to make sure he wasn't hallucinating due to everything that had happened. And he definitely wasn't. The number stayed exactly the same.

Thinking back on the last few hours, he realized he must have gotten a massive completion bonus for surviving that collapsed rift. Or maybe getting some credit for "killing" the guardian? Conquering the rift could've given him points too…

Maybe his "performance" and contribution also added to it?

He honestly had no idea.

Either way, he was now looking at a score that completely eclipsed Clarissa and Thomas's combined total.

Well. This is going to be awkward.

Tapping her foot, Clarissa leaned forward.

"We are waiting! Stop stalling and read the number!"

Looking up from his numbers, Ben glanced between her intensely smug face and Thomas's eager grin. Everyone else was waiting for him to say the words, too.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Ben actually felt a tiny bit bad. 

"Are you absolutely sure you want to do this? Because I really don't mind just giving you the broken staff."

"Read it!"

"Seven thousand four hundred and twelve."

Next Chapter