CHAPTER 42: UPGRADE

I went upstairs to my room, gently closed the door behind me, and sank into the chair.

Now that the diner was running... it was time to optimize me.

I opened my system window.

One area had become painfully clear during the dungeon trial — my aim was good, but not good enough when the target’s speed spiked. Those wolves had turned and dodged too easily. I couldn’t afford off-mark shots when stakes got higher.

So I dumped points into Marksmanship.

[Marksmanship Lv.6 → Lv. 7 (1600 Points spent)]

A gentle electric tingle ran down my arms — my nerves felt sharper, my visual calibration cleaner, steadier. Good.

Next — Movement Arts.

I remembered those moments where their claws grazed me. Too close for comfort.

[Movement Arts Lv. 5 → Lv. 6 (800 Points spent)]

My legs felt lighter, like the air had less drag around me.

Then Detection.

I shut my eyes and focused.

Just with a thought — the entire space beneath me sharpened in sense. I could hear the clink of a fork and plate, the subtle shift of clothing, even—

"...tsk, seriously— under the table, in a diner?"

I opened my eyes and snorted.

People really had no shame when sugar and romance mixed.

Still — my detection had definitely taken a leap.

[Detection Lv. 6 → Lv. 7 (1600 Points spent)]

That was 4000 gone.

And I wasn’t done.

I flicked toward Intimidation. I had already seen how useful it could’ve been in shutting certain fools down instantly.

[Intimidation Lv. 3 → Lv. 6 (1500 Points spent)]

A subtle weight settled in my presence — like a silent, invisible pressure I could flick on whenever I wanted.

After all that, only 4000 points remained.

I pulled up my new status:

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Name: Lucien Ashborne

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Race: Human

Affiliation: Imperial Academy / House Ashborne

Personality Traits: Arrogant, Impulsive, Calculative, Pragmatic

Stats:

Strength: 11

Agility: 7 (+50*)

Endurance: 7

Intelligence: 17

Mana: 4

Charm: 63

Skills:

Mana Control Lv. 5

Horse Riding Lv. 3

Basic Etiquette Lv. 4

Intimidation Lv. 6 ↑

Cooking Lv. 8

Marksmanship Lv. 7 ↑

Detection Lv. 7 ↑

Movement Arts Lv. 6 ↑

Culinary Creator (Passive)

Points Remaining: 4000

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

I leaned back in my chair.

"Damn... I’ve gotten stronger."

Not physically. Not like those meathead swordsmen. But this was the kind of power that counted — precision, speed, awareness. In a world of monsters — these things mattered more than biceps.

Though my attention drifted back to the personality section.

Arrogant. Impulsive.

Two traits still remained — stubbornly.

The cruel and condescending traits had finally vanished — but arrogance stuck like glue.

I rubbed my forehead.

"Well... if it’s still there, then it is what it is. At least I’m not a sadist anymore."

I let out a long breath and leaned back, staring at the ceiling.

But personality traits weren’t the only thing on my mind.

Yesterday made something painfully obvious.

My shotgun was powerful — yes — but it had one crippling flaw:

damage falloff over distance.

At close range? Instant death.

But once the target got even a few extra meters away?

Half my shells were wasted — just to land one solid hit.

That wasn’t efficiency.

That was burning money.

If I was going to hunt higher-ranked beasts — I needed a second weapon. A true long–range one.

So I opened the system shop again.

The screen unfurled — and an entire arsenal of firearms came into view.

Sniper rifles.

Semi-auto rifles.

DMRs.

Anti–materiel rifles.

Marksman rifles.

Even futuristic weapons that didn’t exist on Earth.

And every single thumbnail had a glistening finish — polished steel, matte black frames, beautifully carved grips — each one looked like a masterpiece crafted by an artisan madman obsessed with perfection.

I felt myself grin unconsciously.

"These... are beautiful."

Sharp. Elegant. Deadly.

One of them could erase monsters at 300 meters like popping balloons.

Compared to this, my shotgun was nothing more than a big stick with fireworks strapped to it.

I scrolled slowly — appreciating the craftsmanship like a man admiring luxury cars.

Yeah.

If I wanted to move to the next stage of this game — these toys were where the true power began.

I needed a weapon worthy of sniping down monsters before they even came into skill range.

A proper long-range weapon.

I scrolled until my eyes blurred, loving and hating every single polished thumbnail. The rifles here weren’t just tools — they were promises. Promises of clean kills, of fewer wasted rounds, of making distance irrelevant.

And then I found one that didn’t make my stomach drop.

Dark walnut stock, hand-rubbed to a soft glow. Brass inlays tracing the receiver like filigree. A smooth lever that looked like it wanted to fall into rhythm with your hand. It wasn’t the absolute top tier — no impossibly futuristic railgun or dragon-bane sniper — but it was sensible, elegant, and built for work.

Winchester Lever-Action Repeater — mid-range rifle.

Specs: 8 rounds, fast follow-up shots, accurate to ~200 m, reliable in moving fights. Great balance of fire-rate and punch.

Price: 3,500 pts.

I swallowed. It was expensive, but not ridiculous. Practically a bargain compared to the monstrosities up the list. I hovered over the purchase button, watched the little confirmation prompt blink, and then clicked.

The system accepted me without ceremony. My heart thudded in that peculiar way it does when you buy something that changes your life a little.

Points: 4,000 → 500.

Then the ammo screen popped. Bullets. Fancy casings. Mana-coated rounds for special effects. Regular ballistics for price. A single standard round: 20 pts.

I didn’t hesitate. Twenty rounds would buy me breathing room for tests and practice — a week’s worth of range time, if I was careful. I selected twenty and hit confirm.

Points: 500 → 100.

A soft chime, a brief, satisfying shimmer on the HUD, and the purchase was complete. The rifle materialized in my hand with clinical neatness: an icon, a short description, and a new line in the weapons list.

With that I was poor again.

Sigh~ 9000 points gone just like that.

But its worth it.

******

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