Azimuth: The Elden Throne

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[DING]

[Achievement: A Pouch of Gold]

[You have been awarded with the unique player effect, Gleem]

[Achievement: A Bucket of Gold]

[You have been awarded with the unique player effect, Shinny Gleem]

[You have been awarded with the unique player effect, Golden Gleem]

/Shine.../

Without him knowing, his player ID above his head started to shine in golden light…

"... What? How disappointing." Dale mumbled to himself as he read the notifications

'A cosmetic effect? Sigh... Well, I'm not complaining, the developers may reward me whenever they want with whatever they find proper.'

'Not all actions are well rewarded, and not all rewards are what one wishes for.'

'But I wonder where this is from, I didn't get anything when I accumulated Millions of Favor, but I get one when I spent barely half a million, it doesn't quite add up.'

'Is the Achievement counting for the total debt I have?... If so, it would make sense...'

Noticing that he had something to do, Dale eventually resumed what he was saying:

"Urg… I was interrupted for a moment but as I was saying, there are indeed other items I'm looking for."

"Do you guys sell Stat Potions? Or anything that provides permanent buffs?"

"Not directly." The Clerk replied as he shook his head

"Not… Directly?"

"The items you request can only be acquired through a Mystery Box."

"..."

Disappointment was written across Dale's face.

His worst enemy, odds.

'So at the end of the day, it's back to gambling?... Somehow, every game I play these days has some sort of mechanic involving that.'

'No matter how many laws the government implements, they'll always find a loophole, and in the end, money talks, the government is only a speaker for the ruling wealthy.'

'But I can't lose such an opportunity either…'

"Sigh… Since it's like that, starting from each Tier would I be able to get the items I want?"

"Any Tier, you can get the highest rewards from the lowest tiered box, it's just unlikely through the odds."

"That's not what I meant… I'll rephrase that then."

"Which Tier should I get to be able to consistently pull such items?"

"Hard to say, given there are multiple instances that fit with your requirements, but if you wish for a reliable and cost-efficient choice…"

/Thud…/

[Mystery Box (Unique)

Description: A chest containing Unique and not so easily forgotten stories, it's unknown which may appear!

]

[12,500]

"Not too expensive but not inexpensive either." Dale said out loud as he inspected the box

'Looks like gambling is going to be my downfall…'

'Let me see… If I buy 100, that's going to be 1,25 Million, any more than that would be an exaggeration, I have better things to look out for than a few extra Stats.'

'Okay, if I can't get what I want with these, I'll only buy more after I've bought everything I want from this Event.'

'My Skill Books come first.' He thought as he raised his head

"I'll have 100 of these."

"Understood, according to the discount, that's a total of 12,500, and adding to your previous debt, it now becomes 60,170,675 Favor."

"Urg… Making a living isn't easy…" He said to himself as he scratched the back of his head

'I'll open these with Ermin too. Maybe give a few to them to see if their luck rubs off on me or something.'

"Next… Do you repair items?"

"Yes, we do! However, the services are rather limited as we can only repair 'ordinary' items." The Clerk said with a light smile as a new System window manifested in front of Dale's eyes

With a quick confirmation, Dale found out that he couldn't repair the items Ermin gave him, much to his disappointment.

But his previous swords were easy, so he quickly paid the price before asking to see their stock of weapons, willing to give it a try and buy something just in case he met a particularly difficult foe.

And as expected, the options were plenty, so he stood there for a while before leaving, satisfied.

Now, he had a new goal, to accumulate 60 Million and return to pay for everything he had bought, and given he still had 19 Million with him, he just had to triple that.

It didn't seem as impossible as it looked.

/Flash!/

Without saying much, Dale left the shop.

…

/At the same time… Across the Ocean of the Real World…/

/Knock knock…/

"Enter." Roger said as he read through a virtual stack of documents

/Creak…/

"Sir."

"I've been waiting for you... How's the reception to our newest announcement?" He asked plainly as he cast everything aside

"Rather good, and as expected, there isn't much attention on the subject due to the ongoing Event." The Buttler replied as he passed a few documents to Roger through his tablet

"It remains to be seen if this will cool down over time or if things are only heating up."

"Hm... This is good enough."

Roger rested his head against his seat, thinking deeply as he closed his eyes.

'Together with the other report, everything went by smoothly. Now I only need to wait.'

'Everyone's attention is at Babylon, competition is rising and everyone is witnessing the potential of Azimuth.'

'This is where everything truly starts...'

'About twenty days until the promised time.'

"... On another subject, are the preparations for our 'field trip' finished?" He asked opened his eyes

"The Low Orbit Craft is ready for takeoff and it has been modified to fit with your requests, the only problem is that I'm still having difficulty with getting approval from the Diet... They've been unusually stubborn, no matter how much I try to discuss it with them."

"They again?... Sigh, how long will they bother me for what happened in America?" Roger asked with a bothered frown

"Likely for a while sir, they weren't pleased at all with your actions."

"Humph…"

Roger spun his chair lightly as he turned around, gazing at the world outside of his window.

It was unknown what went through his mind at that moment, but from his ever-increasing frown, it likely wasn't anything pleasant.

…

/Back at Babylon.../

"... Loot Boxes? Really Dale?" Ermin asked as he looked at him

"Do you want to open some?" Dale asked nonchalantly

"Yes, of course." He said with a smile as he moved his fingers in excitement

"..."

Rolling his eyes, Dale pulled a box from his inventory, placing it atop the table.

It was pretty similar to the ones he opened before, and aside from some carvings and details in the wood and metal, it looked practically the same.

"This is surprising, you didn't come to me as someone that liked to Gamble." Eleonora said as she raised her head to look at him

"And I'm not, it's just that an item I'm looking for can only be acquired through these, would you like to open some? My luck hasn't been that good lately..."

'Maybe because everything flowed smoothly for me but the boxes I opened before were lackluster at best.'

"It would be a pleasure, I used to stock on these whenever I could to open them all at once." She said with a smile

"C-Can I...?" Erminia asked shyly on the side

"Of course... How about ten each?" Dale asked with a chuckle

"Hey, that's unfair, at least twenty." Ermin complained on the side as he crossed his arms

"Hey, I may not like gambling, but opening these boxes is rather satisfying, so no compromises."

Ermin couldn't retort to that, he was mostly joking anyway.

So with that, Dale manifested a few boxes around them, putting them all on the ground before grabbing the one atop the table, and pressing on the glass dome as the dice within started to roll.

/Shine.../

/Clack!... Stop.../

[80][1]

"Ohh! That's quite the start." Ermin said with a smile as he crossed his arms

"Quick, open it, I'm getting curious!" Erminia said as she almost jumped over the table, only to be pulled down by the older sister

"..."

With a calm expression, Dale opened the chest.

[Ding]

[You've gained, Enchanted Apple]

[Enchanted Apple

Type: Consumable

Description: A simple red Apple that has been enchanted with a powerful Sleeping Curse, whoever takes a bite out of it will be forced into a deep slumber for all time until the Spell is broken.

While in deep Slumber, metabolic needs are halted and aging is slowed down.

]

"Huh?... This looks... Useless." Erminia said as her excitement died out

"It's a bit... Nostalgic? I feel as if I've seen this before, somewhere." Eleonora pointed out as she tilted her head a little

"What a scam, even with a good roll you got that? What's the point of this then?" Ermin asked as he poked the apple

"Hum... Everything has a use, besides, I expected this."

'In the first place, this kind of box doesn't make much sense.'

'The Normal item box's price is inconsequential, but for the Unique Box to only cost 12 thousand? That's too little.'

'Players out there struggle to even get Rare items, what to say Uniques.'

'If they put in the effort with a good party, getting a few of these before the end of the Event isn't an impossibility, so it may as well be possible for them to get out of here stacked to the brim with Uniques.'

'It would break the fragile economy that has just been born.'

'So I was expecting for this box to contain mostly miscellaneous items, another reason why I didn't want to buy it.'

'The same reason goes for the Mythical ranked one... The price may as well be out of proportion so it is inconsequential, but for those that have the ability to pursue it, wouldn't its price be too accessible?'

'A Mythic item shouldn't be that easy, and even if higher-tiered boxes reduce the chance of getting trash, I wouldn't place my bets on it.'

'But this is a good start.'

"It's your turn now." Dale said with a chuckle as he pulled a box from the ground, giving it to Ermin

"Sure thing." He said as he raised his hands, shaking them in the air

""...""

/Silence.../

"What are you doing?" Dale asked with a frown

"Don't you know? This was the Prayer ritual of the Woodlings for Luck." Ermin replied stoically as he cracked his neck, ready to open the chest

"..."

'How would I remember something so incomparably specific?'

Nevertheless, he stood silent...

/Shine.../

/Clack!... Stop.../

[8][2]

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The moment the number appeared on the chest Erminia started to laugh uncontrollably, even the older sister tried to hold her laugh but almost lost it herself.

"Is this where your confidence comes from?" Dale asked from the side

"Shut up..."

Dale shook his head as he opened the chest.

[Ding]

[You've gained, Golden Spork]

"..."

/Chuckle.../

This time, even Dale laughed a little.

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Notes

[1] I'm feeling lucky! .

[2] I didn't roll this right after the last one, it was a 23 but I wanted to make Ermin seem more tragic so I rolled again and it became 8 lol

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