Surviving These Unfair Scenarios [LITRPG - DIMENSION HOPPING]

Adam watched Emir slowly calm down, with Kazue's gentle voice being a steady anchor in the swirling chaos. He wasn't sure what had just happened, but the feeling of unease lingered, a cold dread settling in his gut, because this was too similar to what had happened before. First, the strange emotions that had taken him before the last scenario when he discovered the [Skill Devourer] skill, then the shift in Drake, followed by Katya's weird item, and now this with Emir... Something was clearly affecting them, a subtle and insidious influence that preyed on their minds.

But why thought? While his gaze remained locked on the coins, Emir clutched them. He ran through a mental checklist of possibilities, wondering if it was the work of the so-called "Patrons", but that didn't feel right. His encounter with 'The_Hunger' had proven that he still had some control over his actions, and the little information Malzaphir had provided painted a picture of beings who sought entertainment through randomness, not direct puppeteering, so he dismissed that idea. However, the nagging certainty that something was orchestrating events remained, since it felt like a recurring glitch in a system that was supposed to be predictable, and it was clearly affecting them every so often.

When Emir finally managed to pull himself together, Kazue and Adam led him over to a nearby space, and Adam's eyes immediately fell on the coins.

"Can I take a look at those again, Emir?"

He asked gently. Emir nodded, with his hands trembling slightly as he held them out.

"Go ahead. I... I don't know what they are, but they feel familiar."

Adam's [Cursed Vision] activated, but it only confirmed what he'd already seen in the shop's menu, as the coins hummed with a strange energy, the "essence" of creatures with bizarre names. They weren't cursed, or at least not in any way he could detect, so he asked.

"They just seem like... well, like they're stamped with figures of what I can only assume are those creatures. And you said you felt like you knew them?"

Emir looked at the coins, with his brow furrowed in concentration.

"It's not that I know them, not like an old memory. It's more... a deep feeling, like a part of me recognizes them somehow."

Adam clenched his jaw in frustration because this was exactly the kind of thing he would have loved to ask Malzaphir about directly, but the lobby severed his connection to the Archdevil. He sighed, handing the coins back.

"I'm sorry, Emir. I'm not getting anything else. It's probably best to just hold on to them for now."

As they sat in thoughtful silence, a new presence approached the shop, and Gregor walked up and opened the menu of the 'Idea Forge'. Due to all the commotion, no one heard what the soldier was searching for, but a moment later, a brilliant blue text box emerged from the screen, which made Adam look up in surprise.

Adam's mouth dropped open, since that was an incredibly powerful and specific skill, yet it meshed well with Gregor's existing abilities. He watched as the man bought it, and the enormous point cost made him flinch. Adam got to his feet, making sure Emir was stable with Kazue, and walked over to the soldier.

"Gregor."

Adam began with ease.

"Does buying that mean you've made progress with your subplot? I mean, with the souls?"

Gregor turned, with his expression being unreadable as ever.

"Some. Not as much as I would like. Five thousand souls are not easily appeased, but I have been able to communicate with some of them. Five hundred have... forgiven me."

Adam repeated immediately what he had just heard, totally stunned.

"Five hundred?! So, effectively, you now have 500 extra lives and the combined stats of 500 people? That's insane!"

Gregor chuckled, a rare sound coming from him, and said.

"It's not like that, Adam. It's a last resort, since it requires the spirits to agree to sacrifice themselves. I'm sure they would accept lending me their strength, but if I received a fatal blow, none of them would be willing to stay and take my place."

The boy nodded, understanding the distinction.

"That makes sense. It's not like my ghosts' summons, because these were real people, with their own minds and fears. Forgiveness isn't the same as a willingness to disappear forever, but even with just the attribute boost... that's huge."

As Adam and Gregor were talking, Chloe stepped up to the shop interface. She had managed to calm Katya down, and now it was her turn. She bought the [Physical Strength Boost Package] for 300 points, the [Great Physical Strength Boost Package] for 1000 points, and the [Extreme Physical Strength Boost Package] for 3000 points, spending 4300 points in total. Her body flashed with light as the skills were consumed.

Chloe let out a delighted squeal, and as if a powerful spring had been released, she leaped straight up into the air.

"Oh my gosh! Did you see that?"

She shouted, a huge grin spreading across her face. Her jump was so incredibly high that it would have been the envy of any professional athlete. After she landed, her body still glowing with newfound strength, she immediately dropped to the floor and began doing one-handed push-ups with ease.

"So this is what it feels like to have a perfect body! I can't wait to test this out!"

But suddenly, Sebastian approached her with a warm smile on his face and placed a calming hand on her shoulder.

"That's wonderful, Chloe."

He said, his voice soft but firm.

"I understand your enthusiasm, but don't you have something else you wanted to get? I'm sure you have another idea."

Chloe's eyes widened.

"Oh, right! I totally forgot!"

She exclaimed, remembering her primary objective. She rushed back to the shop's screen, navigating quickly to find what she was looking for, and purchased the two skills that synergized perfectly with her [Skill Rental].

It was clear that Chloe's idea was to give support to her [Skill Rental] skill, and really, at this point, it was not a bad idea. She thought that until she found something she truly wanted to do or a style she wanted to focus on, trying various things was not a bad idea, or at least that was what the pink-haired girl seemed to think.

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Without wasting any more time, she bought both skills and looked at her profile with great excitement. She then bought a total of ten [Skill Proficiency Boost Package] just like Li had done, to level all her skills to level 3. Beaming with pride, she turned and bounded away, making a show of her new agility.

"That's all for me!"

She yelled over her shoulder, bounding away and making a show of her new agility.

With Chloe gone, Sebastian had his turn, but to everyone's surprise, he didn't approach the shop. Instead, he calmly announced something.

"If that's all, I'll be retiring to my room to work."

Adam's brows shot up.

"Wait, what? Sebastian, that's illogical."

He said, getting to his feet.

"We still have a ton of points, so why wouldn't you buy anything? It's illogical not to at least improve what you already have."

Sebastian smiled and laughed lightly.

"It's not that I don't want to. I simply prefer not to."

"But why? That makes no sense!"

Li chimed in, walking up to the group.

"My apologies, I should have said so sooner."

Sebastian replied, and without hesitation, he summoned his status window in front of him so everyone could see it... It looked exactly the same as it had before the last scenario, which confused everyone. However, after a more thorough inspection, Adam realized that there was something different, because at the very bottom there was a small section that said [Subplot:] and a text [The Trial of the Machine God], which was new. Adam's eyes widened in recognition. After all, it certainly hadn't been a subplot purchased in the shop, so it must have been something Sebastian had earned on his own.

Seeing the confusion on their faces, Sebastian laughed again.

"It's something I got in the last scenario. When my 'Mecha Sung Ja-In' was in combat, this entity called 'Mechanica Deus' sent me a message, a unilateral one. It said it was pleased with my work and wanted to test me, and that's how I got this personal subplot."

He shrugged with a playful expression on his face.

"It's a little intrusive, being adopted into a cult without my permission, but it's not causing any problems for the rest of you. Plus, I must admit it's quite useful for my work."

Li crossed his arms, still looking skeptical.

"That's all well and good, but you still haven't answered the question. Why won't you buy anything?"

Sebastian's smile widened as he snapped his fingers in realization.

"Oh, right, my bad."

He said, and with a flourish, he showed them the contents of the subplot on his status window.

Everyone read the paths in silence, with their expressions being a mix of shock and awe. Sebastian, seeing their faces, chuckled.

"Don't get too excited. At best, I could strive to replicate what I did with 'Mecha Sung Ja-In' to complete the second path, but nothing more."

However, Adam's eyes were wide with genuine impressiveness.

"That's more than enough!"

He said with genuine amazement.

"If you can awaken that 'Personal Skill', it would be a huge help, since it would mean three of our members have one, and we could finally do some research on them, maybe finding a way to make it easier for everyone else to get one too."

A brief conversation ensued, with the other members offering their congratulations and expressing their own shock at the difficulty of the subplots. Just as they were winding down, Kazue's eyes lit up as if she had suddenly remembered something important.

"Wait! Before we forget!"

She exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

"I just remembered how useful the [Friend List] skill was! We should all get it so we can stay in touch if we get separated, and it only costs 500 points!"

The group agreed, spending a total of 4,000 points. With a beaming smile, Kazue took on the role of enthusiastic teacher, patiently walking them through the process of adding each other and explaining how to use the new call and chat functions.

While everyone else seemed to grasp it quickly, Li, to Kazue's endless amusement and his own growing frustration, took the longest to figure it out. He grumbled about the unintuitive interface and the tiny text, while the girl giggled and pointed out the right buttons to press. But eventually, with a final, exasperated sigh from Li, the small, glowing icons appeared on everyone's status screens, confirming that the entire team was finally connected.

Adam gathered them one last time, with his gaze sweeping over the team.

"Alright, everyone. We probably only have a day or at best two before the next scenario, so we have to do what we need to do, but we have to do it fast."

At that moment, Li pointed a finger at him, his expression a mix of confusion and uneasiness.

"Adam, you haven't bought anything yet. Are you planning to just hold on to your points?"

He pointed out, however, Adam shook his head, a thoughtful look on his face.

"No… I have a plan, but it's better to make my purchases in a way that won't cause issues if the Empress possesses me at the start of the scenario."

Everyone nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer, and began to disperse, with the group scattering back towards their individual rooms. As Adam watched them go, however, his eyes caught on a quiet, tense moment between Katya and Drake. He saw her tugging on the blond's sleeve, her expression a mix of apprehension and even fear.

"Can we talk for a minute?"

She asked him in a voice so low Adam could barely hear it. Understanding that it was a private moment, the boy decided not to pry and headed for the shop, leaving them to their conversation.

There was one more thing he needed to buy, and he found it instantly on the shop's menu: [Portable Shop Lv1: 10,000 Pts], the same skill that Lord Varek had, a skill that could let him use the shop from inside a scenario. He bought it and sighed, with the thought of all the intricate planning ahead of him feeling incredibly overwhelming. The weight of their survival, and his role in it, pressed down on him.

However, just as he turned to leave, he froze, since Kazue hadn't left, and on the contrary, she had stayed there behind him, waiting with a big, expectant smile on her face.

"Did you forget to buy something?"

He asked, genuinely confused by her presence and her wide, hopeful smile. But instead of answering with words, she held up a large, rectangular package in her hands. Adam's eyes fell on it, and he realized it was clearly a box set of CDs, the kind you would get for an entire season of a movie or a series. He then saw the playful glint in her eyes as she spoke.

"You didn't forget our promise, did you?"

She said, her voice bubbling with excitement.

"I used a few of my points to buy a TV, a player, and the complete first season of one of my favorite shows! We can watch it together, since everyone else seems busy."

Adam attempted to tell her that they really didn't have time for such things, and with so much planning to do before the next scenario. But upon seeing the pure, unbridled joy on her face and remembering the promise he had actually made to her, he felt his resolve crumble. He sighed, a small smile of resignation forming on his lips.

"Alright, Kazue. A promise is a promise. We'll watch your show."

The girl squealed with delight, a sound so cheerful it was completely out of place in their grim reality. She grabbed his arm, her small hand clutching his sleeve, and began pulling him along joyfully.

"This is going to be so much fun! I can't wait to show you all my favorite parts so we can discuss them together!"

As the two of them disappeared into the room section of the lobby and entered Kazue's room, another figure watched from a different doorway. It was Chloe, who had been peering out of her own room with a concerned look on her face. Her eyes narrowed as she saw them vanish inside, and she muttered to herself, her mind racing with suspicion.

"What on earth are those two doing... alone in her room?"

A spark of determination ignited within her.

"No, I'm going to find out… Even if it's the last thing I do"

It seemed like a long afternoon awaited everyone equally.