Blissfully ignorant of the machinations of his acquaintance's aunt and of how close he was to having a human succubus choose him as her next prey, Mateo returned to the finance tab to see the fruit of his labour.
Lo and behold, this time when he searched for the United States Dollar it was available, though the exchange rate wasn't exactly something to write home about.
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<1 CODEcoin(ĉ) = 1000 United States Dollar ($)>
<1 $ = 0.0001 ĉ>
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"Tsk such a horrible exchange rate. And here I was thinking that I could abuse my wealth on Earth to make life easy."
Despite being displeased by the horrible exchange rate he still decided to try it out just for the experience and the personal bragging rights, when he received an unexpected prompt.
<-> Do You Wish To Link All Personal Financial Accounts To Your CODE WALLET
[YES] TERMS AND CONDITIONS [NO]. <->
Luckily, the terms and conditions weren't anything stringent or absurd, just normal stuff like:
- The CODE WALLET only reflects publicly available financial information of the user.
- The CODE WALLET does not keep any of the user's funds except CODEcoins and hence is not responsible for deductions or additions of funds.
There were a few other conditions but they didn't really have a negative impact on him and so he accepted the proposition.
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<(ĉ) - WALLET>
*****
< 245(ĉ)>
< 1,245,789.50 ($)>
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His <ĉ- History> sub-tab listed the reason for the 5ĉ increment to be the information he sold to the CODE.
5ĉ just for registering a currency.
5000$ gotten in under a minute.
'The easiest5 grand I've ever made all because I registered a currency. The CODE sure is cunning, with sweet offers like these, anyone looking to make a quick buck wouldn't hesitate to sell state secrets even at the cost of possible execution.'
Fighting off the urge to register all the currencies of Earth and to also sell some more sensitive information concerning Earth's military strength, he moved on to the other thing E.C asked him to check out, and mentioned it by name.
"Assessment Page."
Immediately, a new mental menu with the heading [Self Assessment Page] popped up, but before he could read anything else, a huge gacha wheel filled up the mental space.
Obviously not expecting it, he took a moment to analyse it and was pleasantly surprised to discover that on it were the basic STATS used in games, plus some not so common ones.
<->STRENGTH, SPEED, AGILITY, STAMINA, DEXTERITY, ENDURANCE, VITALITY, PERCEPTION, LUCK, CHARISMA, ENERGY, ENERGY CONTROL<->
Unfortunately though, the STATS were not given an equal portion on the gacha wheel. In fact, there was a percentage written below each STAT, which probably showed the chance of winning that stat.
Starting off with the STATS with the highest percentage and space accorded to them, we had: STRENGTH, SPEED, ENDURANCE and STAMINA, which were each characterised by a bronze background and a chance of 15%.
They each occupied a cardinal point on the wheel, STRENGTH was north, SPEED was south, ENDURANCE was east and STAMINA occupying west.
The next four STATS in terms of highest chance win were; DEXTERITY, AGILITY, VITALITY and PERCEPTION.
These were characterised by a silver background with the STATS themselves having a 7.5% chance of being selected.
DEXTERITY and AGILITY rested in between SPEED and STAMINA, in the south-west section while VITALITY and PERCEPTION rested in the north-east part of the wheel.
With both having a 4% chance of being obtained as well as a golden background in common, the next two STATS were CHARISMA and ENERGY CONTROL, both uncommon stats in the game world.
They were situated in the north-west section of the wheel, between STRENGTH and STAMINA.
The final two STATS, each with a 0.99% chance were LUCK and ENERGY.
Their platinum backgrounds contrasted with the wheel's red needle, which happened to be directly in between them in the south-east sector.
Mateo was someone who considered himself a realist, something others mistook for pessimism.
Sure, he believed that there was a higher force or being who created him and has probably written the story of his life out already.
And since he believed his life was already written out, he didn't see the necessity of good luck charms, items or gestures.
Because in his mind, what relevance did a four leaf clover have in changing one's fate.
How could a dead mass flying through space (shooting star) change your destiny.
Despite his reasoning and beliefs, he still found himself crossing his fingers and wishing for the best outcome before pushing the spin button in the dead center of the wheel.
Watching the wheel spin quickly in a clockwise direction, Mateo smiled for a while until he unconsciously held his breath as it began slowing down, though it was not out of hope, but rather, dread.
The slower the wheel became, the clearer theh object responsible for his dread became.
The reason was a thirteenth slot, the space between LUCK and ENERGY, the needle's original resting place.
Normal people might have added up the percentages to see if they reached hundred. They would have probably noticed that 0.02% was missing, the same percentage attributed to the dark, shifting colours of the final slot which had no writings to tell what STAT it was.
Unfortunately, Mateo was built different.
He didn't see the need to stress himself like so, especially when he couldn't do anything about the wheel.
What would others if they were in his shoes?
Complain? Report to the moderators? Refuse to spin?
Yeah right. They would still spin it after all, a 4999 out of 5000 chance of unlocking a stat could still be regarded as some of the best odds in history.
Watching the line slowly trickle past the blank space, he let out the breath he was holding as he watched the needle eventually rest on ENDURANCE as the spining came to an end.
The wheel vanished and the original menu returned, only there were a few details on it.
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Race: Human (Earthling variant)
TIER: 1
Level: 2 (11.75/20)
STRENGTH: 11
SPEED: 10
AGILITY: 12
STAMINA: 9
DEXTERITY: 8
ENDURANCE: 12 (+)
VITALITY: ?
PERCEPTION: ?
LUCK: ?
CHARISMA: ?
ENERGY: ?
ENERGYCONTROL: ?
Available STAT points : 1
Excited, Mateo tapped on the (+) sign by the ENDURANCE, using his only available stat point to increase it.
The change was instantaneous as he could actively feel his bones and muscles becoming tougher.
Before he could revel in the strangeness of the situation any longer, he heard a knock on the door followed by his mother's voice as she began counting down from 10.
Knowing that she would barge into his room at 0, Mateo opened the door slightly enough so that his face was visible and greeted her.
"Erm, good evening mum. How are you doing?"
All he got was a dry stare followed by, "Be down in ten minutes", and with that, she left.
Given 10 minutes, Mateo quickly looked for something to wear since his mum didn't like them walking around the house half dressed, turned everything off and left the room, ready to receive whatever punishment he deserved this time.