Surviving These Unfair Scenarios [LITRPG - DIMENSION HOPPING]

As the shock and silence settled over the group surrounding a stunned Katya and Drake, the tension in the lobby was thick enough to be cut with a knife. The emotional aftershocks of the psychic torrent still lingered in the air, and a profound psychic residue that left both of them feeling shaken and disoriented.

Yet, in the midst of this chaos, a singular figure remained utterly unperturbed. Li wasted no time, and with his focus like a sharp, cold point of light in the surrounding emotional haze, he got to the store section. He was, in fact, the quickest and most direct of all. The only thing he chose to buy was the [Skill Proficiency Boost Package] over and over again, raising the proficiency of all his spells, one by one. He was not here to indulge in emotional theatrics; he was here to prepare for the inevitable future, a future where they would need every ounce of power they could muster.

Li knew that, unfortunately, his potential rank had dropped to 'E' in the last scenario due to his repeated use of Plot Devices. This alone would greatly weaken the effect of all his skills, so there was no point in trying to buy new ones at the moment. He was not a man who deluded himself with false hope, so he knew that the best and most logical way to compensate for this debuff was simply to raise the level of the skills he already had, so they would become stronger on their own, their raw power compensating for the weakness in their foundation. He was a pragmatist, a survivor, and his logic was as cold and precise as the glint in his cybernetic eye.

Li used his entire 44,000 points on the same thing, the number on the communal bank account dropping with each purchase. He managed to raise each spell by an average of two levels, a significant increase that he felt immediately. The average of all of them was now at a respectable level 5, a number that brought a grim satisfaction to his lips.

It was not bad for a man who had lost so much power. Even his [Dual Casting] skill, a difficult and complex technique, had risen to level 3, and with this, his ability to cast more than one spell at the same time had greatly improved. Li finished his shopping spree in a matter of minutes, a quiet testament to his single-minded focus. He sighed and then looked at the still-shaken Drake and Katya, and his eyes held a cold, hard gaze.

"This is the correct way to do things. Fast, and without drama. We have no time to waste on emotional theatrics."

The next member to use the store was not decided immediately, for everyone was still there, the tension in the air like a palpable, living thing. Adam and Gregor were holding up a still-trembling Drake, his face a mask of profound shock and a single tear rolling down his cheek. Meanwhile, Kazue and Chloe were with a still-stunned Katya, the girl's face had a profound expression of disbelief, and a single, silent tear was rolling down her cheek. In the midst of this, only Sebastian and Emir remained. The old man, like the gentle and patient soul that he was, smiled kindly and nudged the boy forward.

"Go on, Emir."

He said, his voice a low, grandfatherly rumble.

"You must be excited to buy something new in the store. This is a chance to make yourself stronger."

Emir's eyes, wide and filled with a childlike awe, lit up with a great deal of animation.

"I am!"

He said, his voice a happy, high-pitched squeak.

"But... I don't know what to buy. I have some ideas, but I don't really know what I want."

Sebastian's smile softened even more.

"Is it perhaps something related to the book that Adam lent you?"

He asked, his voice gentle. Emir's head bobbed up and down with enthusiasm.

"Yes! That book gave me a big idea about how I could use my 'Void Ki' and 'Darkness Fruit', but I don't know how to put it into words. It's so big!"

Sebastian patted him kindly on the shoulder.

"It is alright, my boy. Sometimes the best way to find something is to simply try to describe the feeling of what you're looking for. Go ahead and give it a try. You might be surprised at what you find."

Emir made his way to the store section with a determined stride, his small hands fumbling with the store interface. But unlike Li, who had been quick and decisive, he stayed there searching for one, two, three, four, five minutes… His small finger was scrolling down the endless list of available skills and items. He was like a child in a vast library, overwhelmed by the sheer number of books, but nothing convinced him. He was looking for a feeling, not a specific skill, and the system, in all its cold, pragmatic logic, was not able to help him find it.

Falk, seeing his indecisiveness, flew down from Sebastian's shoulder and perched himself on top of Emir's head, his metallic eyes whirring with a curious sound.

"What is wrong, kiddo?"

He asked, his voice a high-pitched, mechanical chirp.

"You seem too indecisive."

Emir told him that he really did not know how to put into words what he was looking for, so Falk told him to give it a try.

"Perhaps I can help you translate your feelings into something the system can understand."

It was a solid plan; however, the boy explained what he wanted in the most childlike way possible.

"I want my darkness and void skills to be like a giant mouth that eats up all the energy it is faced with, and then uses that energy to do things. But I don't know how to say that, like swallowing but using it at the same time?"

Falk seemed not to understand what Emir was looking for, asking him if what he wanted was a better way to use his skills, to which Emir said yes, but that it was not so simple, and that he did not know how to explain it.

After a moment, it was Adam who approached Emir, seeing him so lost, and after Drake had calmed down a bit more. He knelt down to the boy's level, his voice a gentle, concerned murmur.

"Emir, are you having trouble finding a skill to buy?"

He said, looking at the book the boy still held in his arms. The kid was a little surprised, his wide eyes blinking up at Adam.

"Yes…"

He said, his voice soft and hesitant.

"I have some ideas from the book you lent me, but I don't know how to put them into words. Falk and I… we tried to figure it out, but it's too hard."

Adam became thoughtful, trying to understand what the boy was referring to.

"Is it about making your 'Void Ki' and 'Darkness Fruit' skills more versatile?"

He asked, a hint of his analytical mind returning to the forefront. Emir shook his head, a subtle motion that belied the seriousness of his thoughts.

"No, not exactly. The book talked about 'dark energy,' and it sounded a lot like what I have. I was thinking about how to do something similar, but… It's hard to put into words."

Adam and Falk both thought about it more, their minds working in tandem, trying to decipher the boy's abstract feelings.

"If it's not about versatility, then is it… a way to make your power grow stronger as you use it?"

Adam said, however Emir denied it again, shaking his head with a frustrated sigh.

"No. It's hard to explain. It's more… like a feeling. After reading the book, it felt like something just… clicked in my head. It's like something I already know but don't remember. It's strange, but I just… I'm sorry."

Falk, perched on Emir's head, let out a confused, mechanical chirp.

"I'm afraid I do not understand what the boy is trying to say."

Adam became thoughtful again, a profound look of concentration on his face. That feeling sounded familiar, specifically if he recalled the moment he had found the [Skill Devourer] skill before the last scenario, a moment of profound, almost spiritual, resonance with the system. But unlike that opportunity, the store did not seem to be interacting strangely with the kid, it was just a normal store interface.

After a little while longer, they decided that the best thing to do was for Emir to simply use the 'Idea Forge' to create something of his own instead of searching blindly. However, that had the exact same problem. Emir did not know how to put into words what he was looking for, and the times he tried to describe it, the only response he would get was the following, a cold, stark refusal from the system.

Emir was quite disappointed and dejected by that. He hung his head, his small shoulders slumping in a dejected posture.

"I don't know what to do."

He whispered, his voice filled with a profound sadness. Adam and Falk tried to help him improve the wording of what he was looking for, but without having a clear idea, it would not be possible. Adam, seeing the boy's dejection, felt a profound sense of helplessness. He was a man of logic, but here, in a situation that was based on pure, unadulterated feeling, his knowledge was useless. He simply didn't know what to do to help the Emir, and the feeling of inadequacy was a sharp sting.

Then, someone approached without warning, it was Kazue. She had been able to leave Katya with Chloe and had realized that Emir, Adam, and Falk seemed to be having problems, so she kindly approached to ask what was happening.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"What's wrong, Emir?"

She asked, her voice filled with a genuine, cheerful concern.

"Why do you look so sad?"

Emir explained to her, and just like the rest, Kazue did not understand, or even understood less than the rest. However, after thinking about it for a bit, she said that the answer was actually very simple, something that made the three of them jump in surprise.

"A simple answer?"

Adam asked, his brow furrowed in disbelief.

"How can there be a simple answer to a problem like this?"

Kazue smiled, a playful, knowing certainty in her eyes.

"If he doesn't know what he wants, then we just have to let the system define what he truly wants. We just have to force the issue!"

Adam raised an eyebrow, asking how they could possibly do that, to which Kazue responded by gently taking Emir's hand and making a couple of system windows appear in front of the two of them.

The final message began to glitch in such a way that the group took a step back, unable to understand what was happening. Adam knew immediately what it was; that was exactly what had happened to him when he got the [Skill Devourer] skill. Between so many error screens and warnings that could barely be read, an additional screen finally appeared in front of Emir, one that did not have many glitched characters, to the boy's surprise, who just stood there staring at it.

Adam gritted his teeth, a profound, chilling dread filling his heart. That did not sound good at all, especially when that artifact seemed to have such a high rank that he could not see any kind of additional information.

"Emir, please wait a minute."

However, even though he immediately said not to touch anything, the kid was already doing it, as if he were guided by a force alien to him; he had seen the screen with a lost look and had selected the confirm purchase button. Adam gritted his teeth even more, seeing that there was nothing he could do.

Immediately, an object began to materialize in front of Emir, a device shaped like a claw with two large, black, wing-like sides and a central red body featuring a purple "Z" emblem. On its left wing, it had four circular recessed slots designed to hold special tokens or coins. Emir extended a hand to touch it and take it… As soon as he held the artifact, one of his [Interdimensional Containment Cube] manifested, floating at his side, specifically the one that contained the essence of Noctharis. It fly slowly and entered the middle of the new artifact, as if it had fit perfectly there from the beginning. As this happened, the claw began to light up, and a dark aura surrounded it completely. Then a system screen appeared.

After that, a robotic, guttural voice emerged from the object, saying some ominous things.

"User, 'King of Monsters' confirmed. Access granted."

Everyone was paralyzed by that. Even the other members of the team, who were behind them, looked up, surprised and confused. Meanwhile, Emir looked at the artifact in his hands, his brow furrowed in a deep, childish confusion.

"For some reason… this… this claw… it feels familiar."

Emir said, his voice a quiet, thoughtful whisper. Adam, however, forced himself to snap back to reality.

"Emir… Listen to me carefully. Before you do anything else with that object, you have to show me your status window. I may not be able to see the hidden information of the object itself, but I can see the information of the skill it uses."

He said, his voice a low, urgent murmur. Emir, with his eyes wide with a mixture of confusion and trust, nodded slowly. He held up his hand, and a screen, glowing with an ethereal blue light, appeared before him. He showed his status window, where all his information was listed, and it was there that Adam found what he was looking for.

That last part was extremely worrying. It was clear that it was a skill that required a great deal of prior preparation, and Emir's body would not be able to withstand something like that. Adam clenched his fists as he spoke to the boy.

"Emir, listen to me."

Adam said, his voice laced with a profound concern.

"Under no circumstances are you to use that skill. We need to run more tests and verify everything possible before you even consider it. Your body is not strong enough to handle it, and it could destroy you."

But Emir was not listening. His eyes were wide and unfocused, fixed on another system screen that had appeared in front of him, a new cascade of information that was far more captivating than Adam's warning.

"Emir!"

He yelled, his voice sharp with frustration, but the boy didn't even flinch. Adam, surprised, stopped his own frantic thoughts and looked at the screen the boy was staring at, and he too began to read.

Adam looked at the description of those objects, but there was nothing more; it was as if all they were was simply what it said, without anything additional.

Without thinking twice, and even though Adam yelled.

"Hey!"

Emir bought each and every one of those new items, spending a total of 40,000 points. These items materialized as small coins, each with a drawing that represented the entity to which the essence belonged, all of them falling into Emir's hands… The moment Adam was about to tell him to immediately let go of those coins because they did not know what they could be, he stopped and looked in dismay at the scene that was happening, as did Kazue and everyone else.

Emir was holding the coins with both hands, and, for some reason, he was crying. Large tears rolled down his face, and he had an expression that seemed of extreme sadness, but at the same time, a trembling smile had been drawn on his face, resulting in a very strange and contradictory expression.

Kazue slowly approached him, her face filled with worry.

"Emir… What happened? Are you alright?"

Emir looked up at her, and even though he was still crying, his smile widened, a trembling, contradictory expression of profound joy and deep sadness.

"I'm... I don't know why I'm crying, but seeing these coins... it makes me so happy, as if I've recovered something extremely important to me."

He looked at the coins in his hand again, and more tears began to fall on them, like warm rain. Finally, with a profound sense of certainty that he couldn't explain, he looked up at the team and spoke, his voice filled with a powerful, undeniable emotion.

"I don't know why, but... I have a great urge to tell them something… Welcome back home, guys."

The kid finally said, with a big grin on his face, Kazue didn't know what was happening, but she was on the brink of crying as well, just for the feels alone.