You might have seen sugar art quite often as a child, though it has become increasingly rare in recent years.
Simply put, it involves using melted sugar to trace designs on a clean stone slab. Once the sugar is set with a wooden stick, it becomes an artistic dessert. For today's children, however, its visual appeal far outweighs its value as a snack.
As a certified successor to this intangible cultural heritage, Chris had even passed the official exams. Being a young man of the modern era, his approach was significantly more creative than that of his master.
Instead of sticking to the traditional twelve zodiac signs chosen by a spinning arrow, Chris put immense effort into modernizing his catalog.
He would frequent local schools and ask shopkeepers which trading cards were selling best or which toys were the most popular. He then incorporated these childhood favorites into his sugar art repertoire.
This "New Style Sugar Art" proved to be a much better seller than the traditional designs. Kids today were far more interested in Ultraman, Armored Warriors, My Little Pony, and Barbie, not to mention the beautiful characters from their favorite mobile games. Even adults occasionally couldn't resist buying one of Chris's creations.
Chris also used his profession as a way to sneak in his own hobbies. You wouldn't find the twelve zodiac on his spinning wheel, but you'd certainly see the Fire Flower, Kirby, the Jackal Jeep, Pikachu, and even Frostmourne.
From today onward, however, he planned to add a new image to his collection, Shedinja.
His modernized sugar art was naturally more expensive. Small ones went for fifteen coins, large ones for thirty, and certain complex custom orders could even reach fifty apiece.
That was just for flat designs. If he were to make a 3D sugar sculpture, the price would double. Such elaborate pieces were usually reserved for temple fairs or cultural festivals; for everyday business, he stuck to the traditional flat paintings.
Whether it was a flat painting or a 3D sculpture, customers were essentially paying for the performance and the chance to appreciate a fleeting work of art. Once they'd seen enough, they'd simply crack it apart and eat it. No one ever took a sugar painting home to keep in a freezer.
Chris's master wasn't a stubborn traditionalist either. His question about what Ultraman Tiga looked like only meant he was preparing to paint it himself.
'No one's a fool when there's money to be made.'
While this line of work wouldn't make him wealthy, it provided enough to live comfortably.
As long as he could eat, he was happy. Between his flexible hours and his lack of expensive habits like smoking, drinking, or gambling, Chris's lifestyle was almost anti consumerist. Even if he stopped working today, his savings would easily last him four or five years.
Chris had always viewed his sugar art as both a livelihood and a hobby.
Unfortunately, sugar art was about to take a back seat.
He had found something and somewhere--the Selection Space--where he was far more willing to invest his passion, energy, and potentially his life.
After sending several reference photos of the sugar paintings he'd recorded previously to his master, Chris prepared to have a massive meal and then sleep like a log.
He needed to be at his peak before facing the beautiful city of Gotham.
...
According to normal human biological limits, after seven or eight hours of intermittent, high intensity combat--including solo bouts with Elite Red Arremers and Champion Cyclops--Chris should have been in excruciating pain from the post battle tremors and strain. Instead, he sprang out of bed like it was any other day.
There was no muscle soreness, no heavy limbs. He actually felt better than ever before. He wasn't sure if it was some hidden talent or the result of his 6 points in Strength accelerating his recovery.
The increase in physical capability was undeniable, yet it felt perfectly natural. He wasn't accidentally crushing water glasses or ripping door handles off their hinges, but a glance in the mirror showed that any excess fat he'd once carried had vanished.
Oh, and his appetite had increased significantly. For breakfast, he devoured five baskets of beef xiaolongbao and three large bowls of century egg and pork congee. A massive load of carbs!
'If I keep eating like this, those savings might not last five years after all...'
The thought flickered through his mind before being pushed aside. Not long after, having no other pressing business in the real world, Chris reappeared in the Selection Space.
He wasn't in a hurry to start his mission. Instead, he headed to the South District and sought out a person who looked remarkably familiar.
"Wouldn't it be cool if I could infuse my Nen into bullets?"
Looking at the woman muttering those incredibly familiar words next to an equally familiar reinforcement machine, Chris winced--mostly at the thought of his wallet--and approached. He pulled out his recently acquired Crystal Option and decisively began the enhancement process.
As a Blue/Excellent grade item, the initial enhancement cost 1,000 coins. The cost would scale with each level, and the success rate would plummet. Failure could result in a level drop or even the destruction of the item.
Furthermore, based on the item's traits, high tier enhancements required a specific catalyst material.
Fortunately, most magical equipment had a 100% success rate up to +4. This was also the most cost effective level for any piece of gear, as increments of +4, +7, +10, and +14 usually triggered a minor qualitative change.
This could be anything from a new enchantment to a significant boost to an existing one.
Consequently, most players focused their resources on getting one piece of gear to +4 before moving to the next, rather than leaving themselves in the awkward position of having five items at +2 or +3.
How did Chris know the rules?
He'd asked the helpful Auntie Cas at the Mission Hall, of course!
'Auntie Cas is the best!'
After trading his Knight Armor for Old Van's set and adding what he already had, Chris's options had grown, but he ultimately decided to invest in the Crystal Option first.
After selling his large King Statue to the Space, Chris finally managed to get the Option to +4, leaving him with a balance in the double digits.
With his Knight Armor still unsold, he was effectively "tapped out."
True to his style, he had converted every possible resource into combat power before the mission. He'd even converted his last few coins into the common gold coins accepted in most dungeons to ensure he had a starting fund.
He kept the second set of Knight Armor as a final insurance policy.
However, as the light of the teleportation sequence enveloped him, Chris was unaware that just after he'd stepped out of the Mission Hall yesterday, the remaining three slots for his bounty mission had been snapped up...
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]