D.I.O

“That’s interesting. Am I really unable to learn that skill?”

Even with Aura Vision, Merlin couldn’t understand how cloning worked. It seemed that it just ‘happened.’

“Users and monsters can develop their skills and abilities, but I guess system functions are set in stone?”

As he mumbled, Merlin approached a male guide who was responsible for one of the sections on the third floor.

“Hello, my name is Carlin. Is this your first time here?”

“Ah, yes. I heard you’re in charge of inventory and housing.”

“Please wait a moment.”

Just like Ellen, Carlin split himself in two and created a clone. There were many customers that needed his attention, so it was necessary to do this.

“Since you haven’t been here before, I should explain- huh? It seems you already have a Housing Card.”

“Ah, yes. I purchased one on the second floor.”

“Then, you don’t need to hear about housing. Our inventory, housing, equipment maintenance, and other services are fairly straightforward and simple. For example, we can increase the size and weight capacity of a given space and also strengthen a space by reinforcing it. Additionally, it is also possible to expand the maximum summoning range.”

After saying this, Carlin drew a line in the air, and a blue window popped up.

“Oh, so I can increase my inventory capacity?”

Though it cost some experience points, it wasn’t that expensive, and because Merlin possessed 3,640 Spirits of experience, he would be able to considerably expand his inventory. He hadn’t done much monster hunting, so he was able to operate with his inventory’s limited capacity, but higher-level users would most likely have extensive inventory spaces.

“Does it seem cheap?”

“Yes, it’s not too bad. Okay, let’s increase the size of my inventory first.”

Then, Merlin clicked on the part of the window that said ‘Increase Inventory Capacity.’

/Your inventory capacity has increased to 125 kilograms!/

“Alright! Since it’s like this, I should raise the capacity to 200 kilograms… huh?”

Merlin’s hand stopped in mid-air. Just moments ago, the charge had been 500 Spirits, but now, it was 1,000 Spirits. His inventory capacity and maximum summoning range would still be expanded by the same amount, but the price had doubled.

“Unfortunately, the price doubles whenever you enhance your inventory capacity.”

“Damn…”

The cost wasn’t inexpensive at all. With each upgrade a user bought, the price would continue to double and eventually reach astronomical numbers. Only people with an exorbitant of experience points would be able to fit something as big as a dump truck in their inventory.

“Will you continue increasing your capacity?”

“No. Maybe later, but I don’t think I’ll be spending more experience points on my inventory capacity right now.”

“How about equipment storage? While you can’t increase the number of slots, you can increase the capacity that each one possesses.”

Merlin mulled over Carlin’s offering. A single gear slot could contain up to 100 kilograms. No matter how much he racked his brain, Merlin couldn’t think of any gear he had that would go over this capacity.

“I think my equipment storage is fine as it is.”

“Okay. Since you have housing, please take a look at this.”

A new window popped up.

“Huh? C type is fairly large.”

Merlin hadn’t stepped into his housing yet, so he didn’t know its exact size. However, when he looked at the description, he was able to get a reasonable estimate. From what he could see, it was 12 meters long, 20 meters wide, and five meters high. It was larger than an average classroom. Moreover, it could hold up to five tons.

“Will you expand your housing’s capacity?”

“No. I have a finite amount of experience points, so I’ll pass. What else is there?”

“Special effects and Gate maintenance. The special effects available are ‘Production of Alternate Life’ and ‘Reduction of Log Out Time.’”

“An alternate life?”

Didn’t this mean that those who bought this could revive themselves at will? Merlin excitedly asked about this special effect.

“How much does that cost?”

“500,000 Spirits. You can purchase up to three.”

“Ack! 500,000 Spirits?”

It was a monstrous amount of <meta charset="utf-8">Spirits. How many monsters would have to be captured to acquire so much experience? How many missions would he need to complete? Merlin couldn’t wrap his head around such an immense number.

“The log-out reduction time effect is relatively cheaper. It does increase in cost as you go, but the first upgrade is only 100 Spirits.”

“Oh, that is much cheaper. I’ll buy it.”

Once he heard the more affordable price, Merlin readily agreed to the upgrade.

/Your log-out time has been reduced to 29 seconds!/

It was a one-second reduction. The new price was now 200 Spirits. After purchasing another upgrade, a message popped up, stating [Your log-out time has been reduced to 28 seconds!] The new price was now 300 Spirits, and Merlin upgraded once more and lowered his log-out time to 27 seconds. This upgrade raised the cost to 400 Spirits.

“Dang! The price is becoming more burdensome.”

In the end, Merlin bought more log-out time reductions until he could log out in 25 seconds, which meant that five seconds had been removed in total. He had used 1,500 Spirits to get to that point.

“I have 1,640 Spirits left. I should just log out in a safe place.”

He had used up half of his available Spirits, so Merlin felt that it wouldn’t be wise or safe to spend any more.

“This final offer is our main event, Gate maintenance.”

“Gate maintenance?”

“DIO is a multidimensional world. Although Dynamic Island is vast and expansive, users often go to other worlds to complete their quests, missions, events, or level-up tests. The upgrade hasn’t been implemented yet, so it’s not available at the moment, but this multidimensional travel will soon open up and offer a variety of new opportunities.”

‘There are already so many things happening here.’

Having spent some time in the world of DIO, Merlin understood what Carlin was talking about. While Dynamic Island was the main server, users would eventually be able to travel to other servers and areas.

“When you travel to these different worlds, this is where Gate maintenance comes in. Typically, when you travel to another world, there’s a time limit, but if you let me know beforehand, I can allow you to spend far more time outside. You can even take a vacation. However, once you return to Dynamic Island, you’ll have to notify me if you want to leave once more. Actually, instead of just listening to an explanation, it would be better if you personally experienced it.”

Carlin explained the terms like an insurance salesman, and a window soon popped up.

“Not Available?”

“Those places haven’t been open yet since we’re still in the beta. Also, even if they get released in the future, there might be additional restrictions to travel there.”

“It doesn’t matter if they open; I can’t go to them. They’re so expensive.”

Yet, the concept was refreshing. If someone had to constantly fight and live in one area, they would inevitably get bored. It was nice to have options like this.

“The training room sounds interesting, but since my ability stats are capped, it’s not like it’ll really benefit me. I’ll just train through the normal gameplay.”

Merlin said this because he didn’t know how important it was to train a skill. However, for everyone else on the third floor, the training room was their ultimate goal.

“Is there anything else I can assist you with?”

“No. I’ll be off then.”

After seeing the clone wave goodbye before vanishing, Merlin turned around and went all the way down to the first floor. He wondered if he should speak with Ellen, but when Merlin saw that she was busy, he decided just to leave. Thus, Merlin exited the Exchange Center.

“I need to get a weapon.”

Since he’d damaged his bow during the level-up test, he needed to get another long-ranged weapon. Of course, he still had the crossbow that he obtained in the [Escort] test, but Merlin was more used to a traditional bow.

“… isn’t possible?”

“Yeah. Please purchase them. Our Arc is so sad.”

“How do I know if it’s sad or not? I can’t even see its expression.”

The first thing Merlin saw after entering the weapon shop was a clerk and a user haggling and negotiating a sale. The user was wrapped from head to toe in a black leather outfit, and Merlin couldn’t even make out the user’s eyes.

“What I don’t understand is why you can’t give me the full price. These are all 8th tier items, and there are quite a few 7th tier items as well.”

“Asking me to purchase a hundred items at a time is too much. I’m not a charity that can just accept everything that comes in. The short spear isn’t a bad weapon, but it’s not popular. I can purchase one or two, but not a hundred. They’ll just rot in my storage unit.”

‘I guess this game doesn’t make a store owner just purchase everything a player wants to sell.’

Making a mental note of this, Merlin walked up to the store clerk. There were about ten or so clerks in the weapon shop.

“Excuse me. Can I see your available bows?”

“Go ahead and look.”

“… Uhm, where?”

The walls were covered with displayed weapons, but there weren’t that many. Most of the displayed items were swords, shields, and wands.

“… Inside the weaponry.”

The clerk behind his desk mumbled a few words and summoned a large iron door mid-air. It seemed like a personal storage unit or a house, but the aura it gave off was far firmer and felt more permanent. The door itself was also bigger, and it was large enough for a tank to pass through.

“Ah, I see. They’re in there.”

“Yeah. This store, Steel Heart, isn’t that big. Since we need to have weapons for every player, we store most of our stock in the weapon room. If we displayed everything in public, we’d need a whole army of guards just to keep our goods safe.”

“This separate space is quite useful.”

Merlin complimented the store and went to open the iron door. Yet, it didn’t budge.

“Huh? It’s this heavy?”

“Ah, wait a moment. The door…”

“Ooh-Oh!”

After forcefully exhaling and shouting, Merlin pushed the door open. However, he started sweating, as the door was much heavier than he anticipated. He had to use internal energy on top of his muscular strength to push open the door. As this occurred, the doorkeeper on the other side of the door looked at Merlin with a puzzled look.

‘It wasn’t even locked, but it was that difficult to push open? It must be around one or two tons, right?’

If he didn’t have the Divine Swimmer title and its accompanying 150-stat-point bonus, he wouldn’t have been able to push open the door, no matter if he used internal energy or not.

“What the- aren’t you a mage?”

“I’m a strong mage. Can I go in?”

“S-sure.”

After hearing this dubious reply, Merlin strolled into the weapon room. He had expected rows of weapons to be displayed inside, but what he found instead were several other doors.

“Close combat weapons, mid-range weapons, long-range weapons, support weapons, defensive items….”

Each door had a sign that stated what lay within their respective storage compartment. Then, Merlin saw a sign that he didn’t expect nor quite understand.

“Undefined?”

Curious, Merlin walked up to the door and tried turning the knob, but the door didn’t budge. It seemed that whatever was inside wasn’t available during the beta.

“Whatever. Let’s look at the bows.”

Merlin opened the door with the sign that read [Long-Range Weapons].

[Long-Range 7th Tier Weaponry]

Within a space that was larger than two football fields, an innumerable amount of weapons could be found. There were signs that hung from the ceiling, which read: [Light], [Semi-Heavy], [Heavy], and [Ultra-Heavy]. In the Ultra-Heavy section, Merlin saw something that he wouldn’t have ever expected to be in DIO.

“A-a full-size catapult? A ballista?”

Furthermore, these massive weapons were expertly made. Although Merlin didn’t have any knowledge of these weapons, he was able to tell at first glance that they were made by a master. They were almost like art pieces.