"Hu..." Clovis let out a sigh of excitement after getting what he wanted from the mall. The desire to get more money became stronger in his heart.

    Even though he wanted to eat the chips right away, he had to test the essence he got from the Saber-toothed Tiger.

    Looking at the two bottles of essence, Clovis muttered, "How much progress can I get from these two bottles? There are more than a hundred, so I should expect something, right?"@@@@

    With this thought in mind, Clovis stabbed his left arm and started injecting the essence into his blood.

    In that instant, his body began to warm up as though he had a fever. This was a normal symptom since his body was assimilating the essence.

    It took Clovis an entire hour for his body to return to normal. After that, he opened the system to check on his progress.

    Name: Clovis Hacfield

    Tier: 0

    Evolution Rate: 15%

    Brain: 0%

    Heart: 0.3%

    Blood: 0.3%

    Muscle: 1.4%

    Bones: 0.6%

    "Seriously?" Clovis exclaimed in shock. "100 ml is equal to 1.6% progress? But I need about 500% for each of them. So, I need more than three hundred times that. So, 30,000 union dollars to become a Tier 1? If it''s a talented person, they only need 5,000–8,000 dollars to become Tier 1.

    "It''s said that after Tier 1, the progress will become even harder. A few hundred thousand might only be the start; what about the next tier? A few million? Then, a billion?"

    Clovis let out a long sigh. The rich could definitely nurture a lot of people, but if they didn''t make their money back, it would be useless. It was no wonder why people wanted talented people.

    In exchange, Clovis looked at the Another World Mall in a new light. He could make more progress than the essence with far less cost.

    He could focus on getting real money and use the otherworldly coin to nurture other people or pay for equipment.

    It seemed that he had gotten on his own path.

    "There''s no helping. Let''s just use these chips for breakfast, then hunt more tomorrow. I need to at least get 500 union dollars in tomorrow''s hunt so that I can upgrade the membership the day after." Clovis smiled, finding his path.

    ...

    The next day.

    Clovis headed straight to the gate. This time, he changed his target from the tiger to another animal called Dire Wolf. According to the information, it was a large and powerful carnivorous mammal that lived during the Pleistocene epoch.

    They had strong jaws and sharp teeth, making them formidable predators. They likely hunted in packs, collaborating to take down large prey.

    This was quite ambitious for Clovis, but he still had his pistol if he got cornered by this beast. And in this place, their number should have been thinned out, meaning only a few of them would appear at a time.

    Clovis rushed toward the southeast. According to the map, this area had a lot of dire wolves.

    "Each beast has a different value for the attributes. According to the information, this beast will give a boost to Brain, Blood and Bones. Since I have the chips for Heart and Muscle, the beasts should be perfect to balance my progress."

    Like previously, he would sell the majority of the essence and absorb the rest.

    ''Wait a minute. This guy doesn''t have a companion anymore. He seems to be talented and strong. Should I make him my companion? If his evolution rate is low, I can simply boost his progress with the items in my mall, right? Of course, only after I can completely trust him.'' Clovis squinted his eyes, examining Jay.

    ''This guy should have been selling a lot of essence yesterday. His martial prowess doesn''t seem to be lower than mine. Looking at how fearless he is by hunting alone, shouldn''t it be good if he becomes my subordinate? If I return to the family with talented subordinates...'' Jay smirked, excited to see people''s faces when they knew about his achievement.

    Both of them suddenly looked into each other''s eyes and asked, "Hey, you! Do you want to be my comrade (subordinate)?"

    "Huh?!" Clovis and Jay''s eyebrows twitched.

    "If you''re going to join me, then I should be the leader!" Jay argued while raising his tone.

    "No way! I''m going to become the greatest explorer, so I am the leader!" Clovis gritted his teeth.

    "Then, what is your evolution rate?! My evolution rate is 95%. If your evolution rate is higher than mine, I will follow you." Jay harrumphed.

    "Is that even relevant? Why do you care about the evolution rate when it''s just a number? What matters is strength, right?!"

    "It seems that you don''t have confidence in your evolution rate." Jay had a smug smile on his face.

    "My evolution rate is 15%," Clovis stated with a determined expression.

    "Hah?!" Jay thought that Clovis was lying. "You want to become the strongest explorer with only a 15% evolution rate?"

    "It''s because I only have a 15% evolution rate!" Clovis corrected his words.

    "!!!" Jay''s body shook. Just for an instant, he saw Clovis''s future figure which somehow left him in awe. Clovis was serious about aiming to become the greatest explorer. "Do you even understand what that number even means?"

    "I know it very well. All I have to do is kill seven times more beasts than you." Clovis harrumphed.

    Clovis''s seriousness somehow moved him, but it also made him look silly. There was no one as insane as Clovis, but it didn''t seem that Clovis was bluffing.

    When he glanced down, he noticed the swords on Clovis''s hands.

    ''Wait a minute. What are those swords? What materials are used to create those swords? Now that I think about it, those swords can slice even the fox''s fangs. Those swords should be better than my swords. He might not be an ordinary person.

    If that person thinks that this man will become a great figure, then I...'' Jay''s expression turned serious.

    He pointed to the side. "How about we make a bet?"

    "A bet?" Clovis frowned.

    "Yes. It''s just a little competition. How about we find a big pack of dire wolves and kill them? Whoever kills more will be the leader." Jay smirked.

    "You are insane. That competition is simply throwing your life away! But..." Clovis fell silent before smiling excitedly. "...we both know that to make us drop the idea of becoming a leader, we have to put our lives on the line."

    "That''s right. If you don''t dare to accept the bet, you don''t even have the right to rule over me. At the same time, if I''m not brave and strong enough to challenge those beasts, I am not fit to make you put down your ambition. How''s that?"

    "That''s a fair agreement. We both are insane to even agree to this kind of competition."

    "True. But none of us are going to back down, right?"

    "Alright. I agree to the bet. Let''s have a competition. I''ll definitely make you my subordinate. Having a 95% evolution rate subordinate sounds amazing, right?" Clovis grinned.

    "You said it earlier. It''s just a number. That insane mind of yours is what piques my interest. Get ready to call me, Sir Jay!"

    "We''ll see if you''re capable of that or not!" Clovis harrumphed. "In that case, we have to find and decide which pack of wolves we''re going to hunt."

    "Let''s go then."