"Where are we going? Do you have any idea where Clara is…?"
Lilianna asked as she followed after Andrew carefully. Her legs had started to ache after 6 hours of walking around, but she did not dare stop when Andrew had not done so.
All they had been doing until now was picking up coins and other objects Andrew kept picking out.
"Don't worry. We need to find a merchant to get a map and some markers and we should be fine."
Andrew told her as he kept walking in front of her. His eyes picked up the small glow of objects as well as monster presence.
He squeezed the hand he was holding and he could tell that it helped Lilianna remain stable.
"I-I see."
They continued to walk for a little while more before Andrew noticed a change in the area. There was a new color marker around which gave him hope that he had finally found a merchant.
He tugged Lilianna quickly after him and approached the weird-colored mark.
Once he was close enough, the system glow started to show the area around him a little. The thing that gave off that weird glow was a creature barely taller than Lilianna with a T.V. screen for its head.
It noticed Andrew and the blank screen immediately powered on and text appeared on the screen.
[You have found the shop. You can now use your coins to buy necessities.]
[Current items in stock-
Area Map [50 Coins]
Extra life [999 Coins]
Comfort kit [100 Coins]
Map Markers [5 coins]
For more items, please come back and check later.]
"Oh-! So this is a shop? For some reason, I expected something...different. This reminds me of those old cartoons…"
Lilianna commented as she approached the shop. She hesitantly touched it on the side, only for the T.V. screen to shake.
Andrew immediately pulled Lilianna back by tugging at their connected hands and she crashed into his chest.
"Ouch-! Give me a warning before you do that."
Lilianna complained as she placed a hand on his chest before she shook her head. Her glare did not have much heat but it was still filled with concern.
Andrew was not one to give explanations often, but he felt like he should explain his actions this time.
"It will be better to not interact with items from the games much more than we have to. The system does not always explain the full rules of the game. I don't want any unwanted surprises."
Andrew told her and Lilianna made an understanding expression.
"I see…"
She took a step back and Andrew took his place. He immediately used his skill on the shop.
[An ordinary merchant shop in round six. It sells only essential items…if you can pay for them.]
From the system description, there did not seem to be anything wrong with the machine, so Andrew quickly pushed on the screen and bought the Area Map.
He had around 157 coins, which would get him around 3 pieces of map.
"Lilianna, do you have any coins you picked up?"
Andrew asked her and she shook her head.
"No. I gave all I had to you. Is something wrong?"
She asked and it was Andrew's turn to sigh.
"There is nothing wrong. We are short some coins to get the last 2 pieces. We might have to come back once we find Clara and a few more funds to get the money."
He told Lilianna before he bought the map and the markers to mark important places. He bought three and stepped back.
[Item acquired - Map fragments X3. Would you like to open the map?]
Andrew pressed the yes and the map fragments combined to open up 3 different map options.
"Oh-! I can see the map as well…so, what are the markers for?"
Lilianna asked as she zoomed around the map on the system screen to try and find Clara.
"The markers will help us mark important information. I am going to use one to find Clara."
He told Lilianna before he pushed the marker into the system map.
[Would you like to use the map marker to mark Player Clara's location?]
It was an easy decision to make and the map immediately showed her current position. Luckily, it did not seem like she was too far away from their current position.
"Let's go and find Clara now."
Andrew told Lilianna and she nodded. They hurried toward Clara's marker and it did not take them long to find her either.
"There she is…Clara, watch out-!"
The monster had found Clara and it immediately headed toward her. It was clear that she won't be able to make it to safety in time.
At the same time, a monster appeared behind them, and Andrew cursed their bad luck.
'Ugh, I won't be able to get Clara to safety and also survive this attack. I guess I have no choice but to sacrifice myself this time. I cannot let my farmer die for no reason.'
Especially since he could see that she only had one life left.
Andrew immediately used his mana to buff his stats and threw up a barrier around Clara and Lilianna. He used the barrier to propel them forward and out of the attack's way.
He should have done the same for himself, but he did not have the strength to cast a third barrier.
The mob behind him squished his body and his surroundings went dark.
[You have lost 1 of your lives.]
[Lives remaining 1/2.]
[Reminder, if lives fall to 0, you will permanently die.]
The system message immediately reminded Andrew as he respawned a little distance away from where he had died.
He immediately took off to check on Clara and Lilianna by following Clara's marker. He quickly found them safe and sound and all three of them let out a sigh of relief.
"Alright, we are finally safe…what do we do now? I doubt we can kill these monsters."
Clara shuddered as she asked. She was hungry and exhausted by now since she had not gotten time to eat anything.
"We should eat for now. After that, we need to look for more coins to buy the last remaining pieces of map. But I am sure the real game will start once we locate the 'special item' that will end this round."
Andrew told them as he tried to use one of the markers to try and locate the special item. But just as he expected, the system would not allow him to.
[Special items cannot be marked with an incomplete map. Please find all pieces of the map to open the final area.]
The message told Andrew that they could not even hope to get lucky and accidentally find that item.
"Alright, let's eat first and then decide what we need to do next."
Lilianna confirmed before she took out food from his inventory for everyone to share.