“Alex. Will it be possible to talk privately?” Eric walked up to me accompanied by several leaders of the different teams. I knew the time had come and it was not hard for me to guess their motives.

“Sure.”

“Then, let’s go to the merchant tower. I think you are also curious about the building blueprints.”

He was not wrong, but I also was not interested in buying them. I went along, under the expectant eyes of many. The clerk sighed upon seeing us. He took out the blueprints and started his explanation all over again.

There were ten buildings that could be purchased. The cheapest was the Barracks; they cost only 500 points while the most expensive was the Alchemy Tower, costing 5000 points.

“Let me guess… You all want me to purchase the Barracks, right?”

Eric bit his lips and spoke with guilt. “Yes, we do. It will benefit not only you but everyone else. I know we are asking for a lot, but we will repay you once we start earning points. We can also let you use the Barracks first.”

My eyes fell on the information of the blueprint:

[Barracks Blueprint]

Activate to construct the Barracks.

Cost: 500 Points

The Barracks will be accessible to all and will provide the following services and benefits:

Bonus 1: Allows hunters to hire soldiers to both guard the village and accompany them on their hunt.

Bonus 2: Physical training at the barracks is enhanced and will yield twice the results.

Bonus 3: Allows hunters to purchase special potions for physical training.

Bonus 4: All hunters will have the opportunity to challenge the head instructor of the barracks; a unique reward will be provided to the first person to defeat him.

‘The barracks… I remember them. In my past life, everyone paid about 5 points and we unlocked the building. It is extremely useful and after purchasing a few guards, it will make the village more secure. However, the barracks were also the cause of internal conflicts. The recruited soldiers would only obey the recruiter, and this led to a power struggle among the different leaders. The special potions and the physical training are both good but that is not something I need. As for the chance to defeat the head instructor, it is a beautiful dream that will never happen. Nobody managed to even land a hit on that guy as far as I can remember.’

“Do you even realise what you are asking me to do? Do you think it is so easy to collect 500 points?” I asked coldly.

Eric lowered his head. “I know but it is for the greater good of the village. Everyone will benefit and become stronger and once we started earning points, we will immediately give you five points. Think of it as a loan where at the end, you will receive an additional fifteen points.”

I felt amused by Eric’s idea. “Think about it. How long will it take you to get out of debt and how long do you think it will take the others to do so? Even if I do nothing, at most, I just have to wait for seven days before collecting enough points to purchase the First Floor Ticket. Will I even get anything from buying the Barracks for you?”

Eric knew I was not wrong. Furthermore, it was my right to use the points I collected as I wanted.

While Eric remained silent, but the other leaders didn’t.

“How can you act so selfishly? So what if you managed to obtain so many points? It is your responsibility to contribute to society!” An Asian woman said angrily.

“The majority rules! So what if you are strong? If we expel you from this village, what can you do?” Another person shouted but he was hidden at the back of the crowd and I was unable to identify the speaker.

I frowned at the empty threat. I glanced at Eric who remained silent and turned my attention to the Asian woman. “You are?”

“Xia Shiyu! The leader of Team 3. No wonder you have not even been acknowledged as the leader of your team despite having so many points. You are just a selfish as*hole!”

I vaguely remembered seeing her name near the top of the daily ranking. While she still had 0 points, being at the top of the list meant that she had high potential.

‘Entitled b*tch!’ I coldly snorted and closed the discussion. “I would like to purchase a storage belt. 500 Points, right?” I smiled at the clerk.

The latter nodded and played along. He took out a belt on which a small pouch was attached. He handed me the item under the terrified eyes of the hunters. “I’ll buy it.” And without further ado, I grabbed it and placed it around my waist.

“There you go. No need for any more debate. My answer is no. Come back when you start earning points and maybe we can arrange something.” I headed toward the exit forcefully, pushing the crowd apart.

“You dare! Refund this item right now!” Xia Shiyu exclaimed. She lunged toward me aggressively. However, before she was able to reach me, Eric grabbed her arm, stopping her in mid-air.

“Stop. We should not resort to violence. It is his choice. Since he does not want to buy the building blueprint, we cannot force him. It is also unfair to push the whole cost onto one person.” Eric said cautiously.

Xia Shiyu was flushed red in anger. I glanced over my shoulder before continuing on my way out. Nobody tried to stop me; I only received a few insults behind my back but that was not going to change my mind. Everyone knew it was unfair, but they also supported Xia Shiyu. Everyone hated it when others were successful while they themselves still had trouble getting off the ground. Deep inside, they wanted me to let go of my hard-earned points; they wanted to see me struggle like everyone else.

“Why did you stop me? That bastard! We should kick him out of the village! How can he not take responsibility? People who have more naturally need to contribute more for the greater good!” Xia Shiyu shouted, violently swinging her arms.

“If I did not stop you, you may have already died. You did not notice it but there was a faint spark on his spearhead when you were about to hit him. He holds his spear such that the spearhead is aiming at the ground but this way, he could have easily stabbed behind him.”

“F*ck!” Xia Shiyu was furious. “He would not dare to attack me! This person, how can he think about hurting a woman?”

“Don’t think about hurting him. It is not a coincidence that he managed to obtain so many points in just a few days. That person is not weak. Next time, I won’t be there to save you.” Eric said calmly. He briefly looked at the other leaders before heading out.

“We will see!” Xia Shiyu muttered, her eyes gleaming with a murderous glint.

 …

The night fell and after a warm dinner, I once again went to the canyon. This time, to my surprise, I noticed several lit torches moving in the distance.

“Did the others realise that we could hunt at night?”

“Levi. You did not share any information about this to the other fairies, right?” I glanced at the nervous fairy at my side.

“I did not. I guess that a few fairies must have been following you from afar. Their hosts were probably curious about the methods you used to obtain so many points. Now that they know you hunt at night, they decided to take a portion of the monsters.”

I fell into deep thoughts. These people ruined my plans but fortunately, I was not planning on hunting at night for much longer. “Let’s go then. Show me the hidden entrances you found. Also, make sure that no fairies are following me this time.”

“Are you no longer going to hunt the monsters? You have the storage belt and the enchanted spear, but the rest of your body is vulnerable to attacks.”

“No. It is useless to hunt now. These idiots lit up a torch. They are in big trouble now and I don’t want to be dragged into this mess. Hopefully, they have a healer with them, and no one dies.”

“You are still wishing for them to come back alive after how they tried to force you to purchase the blueprints for them?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “They are stupid and jealous, but not necessarily evil. The more people there are in the village, the safer this place would be. As for how they think of me, I could not care less. I am not here to make friends but to reach the first floor and survive. You should learn how to ignore the comments and remarks of your peers. They often just like to think that they are the smartest person in the room.”

I followed Levi through a complex path. We were careful to avoid the monsters and Levi went out to scout the surroundings a few times to ward against the other fairies. Then, we stopped in front of a large boulder, pressed against the sidewall of the canyon. There was a ton of dirt that accumulated around the boulder over the years but according to Levi, there was a small gap hidden underneath. The gap was just large enough to allow me to crawl inside. This small gap led to a tunnel that would progressively become larger.

I followed Levi’s instructions, digging out the dirt before forcing my body through the small gap. The inside of the tunnel was rough and sharp; I cut myself several times as I struggled to move forward. It was hard. I felt a strange feeling of suffocation more than once and I did not suffer from claustrophobia as far as I could remember.

After five minutes of torture, crawling through the tunnels, my efforts finally paid off. The tunnel started getting larger.

At that moment, the voice of the tower whispered to my ears.

[Congratulations. You have discovered a secret area. Welcome to the Tombs of Nazlock]