"Okay, this clearly won't work," he murmured while inspecting the bed made of leaves and branches. It was crafted in a very rudimentary way, and it was obvious at a glance that it was made by someone with no knowledge in that area.
As soon as he lay down on it, the layer of leaves flattened until it reached the ground. "Maybe I should have bought a bed or something," he murmured, somewhat regretfully.
He had spent quite a lot of time making it, only for it not to work at all in the end. "What a waste of time," he murmured, somewhat annoyed.
Finally, he sighed audibly, as if he couldn't help it.
He sat to one side and checked the store. "A hundred karma for a camping bed? With how little I have left..." A headache immediately appeared. He didn't even have the full hundred points after buying the ration and that cheap ring.
Although he didn't regret spending some karma on them—the ring was necessary to use part of his magic, and the ration was to avoid starving to death—they were necessary purchases.
But even so, it hurt not to be able to buy many things due to his lack of currency.
He continued browsing with a heavy heart when something caught his attention. "It sells glyphs?" he murmured, confused. He hadn't noticed until now, but there was a glyph section.
As soon as he thought about it, a list of glyphs appeared before him. "So many?" he murmured while scanning them. Some he had already seen because he owned and had used them himself.
His eyes widened as he looked at the prices for those glyphs. "The Projectile Glyph is two hundred karma? The Touch Glyph one hundred fifty? But they're some of the most basic ones! Are they really that expensive?" he said, stunned. "The Initiate's Ring was expensive, but at least it was a special magical item... but this? They're just basic glyphs."
He calculated mentally: if he had had to buy all the glyphs he already possessed, he would have needed hundreds of points. And that's without counting the ones he was still missing.
With his remaining eighty-five points, he could barely aspire to buy the cheapest glyph on the list, and not even that if he wanted to eat tomorrow.
"That's why it doesn't surprise me that the Initiate's Ring cost five hundred... but a bed for a hundred? A basic glyph for two hundred? Who could buy anything like this," he murmured angrily as he closed the store, with no intention of continuing to browse.
Then. He jumped up and looked outside.
"Is that?" he whispered, hiding himself.
From the entrance, several figures began to enter and inspect the interior.
They were goblins.
Shit, how did they find this place? he wondered.
Although it wasn't very hard to guess.
The place was moderately hidden, but anyone who looked around a bit would notice the opening leading inside.
Luckily, it wasn't a very large group: just three goblins.
They also seemed to be injured, so it would be easy to eliminate them.
Wait, aren't they bigger than normal? he wondered.
If normal goblins came up to about his waist, these came up to his chest.
It was a difference that was very hard not to notice.
"They have the appearance of a goblin, but they're clearly different," he murmured.
Even so, since they were injured, they didn't seem like a serious threat.
It didn't matter, first of all, whether they were goblins or not; if they were his enemy, he had to eliminate them.
He waited patiently as the goblins approached the water and began to drink.
They checked their wounds and began to rest.
"Huh?!" he exclaimed, surprised, as he saw one of them pull a cheap bandage out of thin air.
The scene was very similar to something he had seen before.
"Do they have access to the shop?" he wondered.
If so, it was problematic.
It would be best to get rid of them immediately, but he waited.
The goblins cleaned their wounds and then bandaged them carefully.
Once they were more relieved, two of them rested on the spot, while another approached the entrance to keep watch.
The two fell asleep immediately, leaving the other one on guard.
Understanding it was the best moment, he slowly came out of his hiding place in silence, approaching without making a sound.
The guard seemed more focused on the outside than the inside, as he didn't notice him.
When he got within a certain distance, he extended his hand.
"Magic Projectile," he whispered, aiming at his head.
A pellet of mana formed in his hand and shot forward with force, piercing his head and granting him death.
His body lost strength and was about to collapse, but he went to him and caught it before it fell, laying it softly on the ground without making a sound.
He looked toward the goblins inside and, noticing they were still asleep, took the goblin's weapon, a simple dagger, and approached them.
He took several deep breaths before lunging at one of them and, without hesitation, plunging the dagger into his throat before he could react.
He woke up suddenly and began to move hysterically, but, holding him back and preventing him from making any sound, he slowly died.
"Gigi?" A voice was heard beside him.
He turned his head and looked at the goblin slowly getting up.
He lunged at him immediately, but this one, as if realizing something, lunged to the side, avoiding his charge.
He got up quickly and looked around.
Noticing his companions dead, he looked at him extremely angry, with red eyes full of murderous fury.
Then, he pulled a sword from the air.
Surprised, he asked, "How many karma points do you have? That costs more than a hundred," he said, incredulous.
The goblin lunged at him and unleashed a vertical slash, which he dodged by throwing himself to the side.
"I'm not letting that touch me," he said while dodging another slash.
The enraged goblin slashed at the air as if trying to hit him.
Although he had the strength to wield it, it was clear he lacked the skill to use it properly.
Finally, during a downward slash, he lunged at him and hit him hard.
The goblin groaned in pain as he fell to the ground.
He stomped on the hand holding the sword with his foot to force him to let go.
He groaned in pain, but kept a firm grip on the sword and tried to get up.
However, using his other leg, he crushed the goblin's chest to keep him on the ground.
"Stay there, bastard," he said with arrogance.
Finally, he lifted the foot crushing his chest to crush his neck.
He tried to break free, but, due to the weight difference between them, he could barely move.
Slowly, he ran out of air, and with a little more force, his neck snapped.
"Shit," he grunted as he sat down to the side.
"That was way too stressful," he murmured, looking at the goblin's corpse.
Then.
[60 Karma Points]
"Huh?"