"Tsk, looks like we were a little too late…Hey, are you alright?"
Andrew asked as he finally put the short girl back on her feet, only for her to immediately lose her balance and also empty out her stomach.
"W-What happened here…I-Is that a human body? W-Why is it…ugh…"
The female's face was turning green as soon as her eyes landed on the body in front of her. It was deformed beyond any measures, and bones were sticking out from all sides.
Among many ways a human could die, this was definitely one of the worst ones. Andrew had gotten used to such things over the years, but the young woman seemed to be a different case.
sigh
"Hey you-! Let's get out of here for now. Since we are the only two people left alive, I need to make sure at least you survive."
Andrew tugged at the female's hand to drag her away from the clearing. It helped the female clear her head a little, and with a trembling voice, she replied to Andrew.
"M-My name is not 'Hey you-!'. It's Lilianna. Can you at least call me by my name?"
The girl asked as she panted. Color began to return to her face, and Andrew also decided to take a look at her current stats.
[Player Name: Lilianna Dawn (level 9)
Title: Lucky Gambler, Eager to help
Skills: Professional Medicine
Profession: None
Strength: 1
Speed: 3
Intellect: 8
Luck: 9]
'Huh-! What the heck is this stat spread? What is that abysmal strength stat? And speed is bad as well. Why is luck so high? Did this girl put all her stats into her luck?'
Andrew could tell that Lilianna initially must have had a high luck and intellect stat, and she decided to invest in it.
She also must have gotten lucky (how ironic) to get this far. But her luck would only take her so far. What she ended was speed and strength in order to survive.
"You are close to level 10 and gaining a profession. I am going to help you out with that. Also, invest a little in strength and speed. Your stats are too unbalanced right now."
Andrew could not help himself and ended up giving Lilianna advice regarding her stats anyway. Her situation was just that pitiful…
"H-How can you tell that? Can you see my skills? N-No way, right?"
Lilianna was freaking out about the wrong thing. But instead of calming her down, Andrew headed a little deeper into the forest before he caught a monster and brought it to Lilianna alive.
"Here, I will hold this monster for you while you kill it. Hurry up."
Andrew told the girl, and she hesitated before she drove her knife through the monster's chest. It died, and Lilianna's hands shook.
"I-I did it…"
She whispered as she looked down at her hands.
"You did well. Now, let's continue. We need you to unlock level 10 as soon as possible."
Andrew told her, and Lilianna let out a groan of complaints but did as Andrew asked her to until she hit level 10 and unlocked a profession.
"Hmm, I woke up as a medical buffer. The system tells me I can choose between buffing and healing. What should I choose?"
Lilianna asked, wanting to see Andrew's expression about her profession. But he did not look surprised when she told him about it.
"Choose healing first. It would be good to save money on potions and such at this stage. Besides, healing can save you if you are in a pinch."
Lilianna pouted but chose as he had told her to do.
"Ugh, why does it sound like you already knew I would awaken as a healing buffer? This is so unfair. It's as if you can see the future…"
She complained, and Andrew chose to remain silent.
The reason he had expected her to awaken as a healing class was simply because she already had a skill before she even awakened. That skewed her chances of awakening as anything else.
But a buffer was a surprise for sure.
'Looks like I have my first slave…I mean, underling. It's a good thing I have money with me right now. I can buy a system contract and bind us together.'
A system contract was a legal and formal way to make sure someone won't betray you once a deal was made. It also made it such that the people bound by it would always end up together in the game.
The only problem? It was ridiculously expensive and would only get more expensive as the rounds go on.
The current one listed in the shop was 500 gold coins. Andrew only had 600…
'But compared to buying potions and other buff items, having a personal buffer and healer by my side would be much more profitable. It will be a good investment.'
Andrew was suddenly beginning to regret turning down the gold in previous rounds.
[System ContractX1 bought. Would you like to use it?]
Andrew pressed accept, and a contract appeared in thin air in front of him.
"Miss Lilianna, since you have awakened in a support role, you are going to suffer a lot in the future. You will need to find someone to help you out in other rounds. That's why I am offering you a contract to become my party member. What do you say?"
Andrew asked, and Lilianna suddenly took a step back. She felt a shiver go down her spine as she looked at the contract, then back to Andrew with narrowed eyes.
"Why…are you acting like this? You sound far too polite…I suddenly have a bad feeling about this situation."
Lilianna had sharp instincts. She recognized Andrew's intentions of using her for all she was worth in return for protecting her.
"I am not trying to scam you. I am just offering you a way to be able to survive in the future. As you already know, I have ranked as no. 1 in the past games, meaning I have the power to keep my promise. Now, the choice is yours."
Lilianna scanned the contract before she bit her lip and signed her life away to him. He quickly pocketed the contract and put it back in his inventory before she could change her mind and realize she was being scammed.
With this, he now had a personal buffer and medic.
[You have formed a party. Your party members' exp gain will increase by 5%]
"Miss Lilianna, welcome to my party. I hope you have a nice time with me. Now, should we head out and kill the boss and end this game?"
Andrew asked, and Lilianna paled.
"A-Already? Are you joking? No wait-! This is not right…!"