Chapter 135 - Special Item: Memory Maze Hourglass
Chapter 135: Special Item: Memory Maze Hourglass
Su Yang held his excitement back and double-checked the system description.
‘Huh? A shop? What shop? What does it sell?’
With that in mind, he returned to the system homepage and found an extra option there: Shop. He tapped on it and was shocked by his discovery.
‘My goodness! What is this? Only three items?! Yes, I know the system labeled this as Elementary level, but the Elementary Abilities are great, so is the Elementary Intellect, yet why does the shop look so plain? Geez, stingy much?’
While he roasted the system for being stingy, he checked the three items that were listed in it.
[Random Point (Remaining: 2) Price per unit: 500 Point Coins.]
[Protection Charm (Remaining: 5) Price per unit: 100 Point Coins.]
The last item was something like a sticky note though it did not have a price tag.
[Must be traded with a prescription.]
Su Yang tapped on it and saw a more detailed description of the item.
[Unknown Sticky Note: Requires 1,000 g of salt, 60 g of yogurt, any item with +1 point, two worn-out shirts, a watch…]
Su Yang roughly calculated that he needed around 20-odd items to get the sticky note.
‘Ugh, how troublesome…’
He decided to put it aside first and returned to the Random Points and Protection Charm.
Random Points, the points that he ran up and down and cleared all kinds of strange missions for but could only earn a limited amount, could now be bought directly from the shop!
‘What is this Point Coin?’
Su Yang looked at the upper left and saw a row of numbers.
[Point Coins: 1003.]
The number was exactly the same as the number of people that he had affected with his Gold Mission.
‘It seems like the coins are equal to how many people I affect with my missions. That’s simple and straightforward.’
After going through the upper left corner, he noticed a timer on the upper right corner.
160:12:38.
The number on the timer was decreasing by the second.
Su Yang tapped on the system description.
[The Elementary Shop refreshes every week.]
‘Wow, it’s really advanced! It even refreshes every week! I think the item will also change when it refreshes. No wonder the Random Points and Protection Charms are numbered.’
After all the basic introductions, Su Yang tapped on the [Protection Charm]. He wanted to know what the charms were protecting.
[Protection Charm: Protects the items from being destroyed during the second point-addition.]
‘What the…? Adding a second point can destroy the item?’
Su Yang took the tiny hourglass out from his drawer. He saw a brand new [+] on top of the hourglass. He tried tapping on it, and a description window popped up.
[Add a second point to the item? The percentage of failure will increase during the second point-addition. If it fails, the item will be completely destroyed.]
‘Exactly like what the system said.’
Su Yang tapped “No”. He then went to the bathroom to wash his hands and bought a [Protection Charm] from the shop. Since the charms were a type of insurance, he should make use of it.
After he tapped [Buy], a thin, sticky paper appeared in his hand.
With a disgusted expression, Su Yang carefully sized up the paper. It was actually a red charm with some words on it: Protect Your Point-Addition.
That was it. There was nothing else was on the charm.
‘Geez, what’s with all the plain designs? This piece of charm looks like a defect…’
Su Yang tried to touch it and it felt like a piece of crumpled paper.
‘Yeap, it’s a defect…but since I’ve bought it, I gotta use it.’
With that in mind, Su Yang stuck the charm on the hourglass. However, after he did that, the charm wrapped around it tightly and slowly infused with the hourglass before it ultimately disappeared.
The hourglass did not look any different except for a layer of red glow. It somehow looked…auspicious?
Since the [Protection Charm] was applied, Su Yang opened the system again and tapped the [+] sign above the hourglass.
[Add a second point to the item? The percentage of failure will increase during the second point-addition. If it fails, the item will be completely destroyed.]
“YES!”
The second point-addition was a lot more different than the first. The hourglass shone brightly in Su Yang’s hand and it started to buzz. A ball of light enveloped it and lifted it up into the air.
The ball of light illuminated for a while before it faded and the hourglass dropped into Su Yang’s hand again.
The hourglass barely looked any different from before. Its body was still made of glass and it was still the size of a thumb, but some black floral patterns enveloped it now.
[Hourglass +2: Acquired special ability. Appraise? Yes/No]
Su Yang tapped on [Yes] without a second thought. After the system was upgraded, its response speed was also a lot faster.
A new window popped up from the hourglass in the next moment.
[Memory Maze Hourglass]
[Ability 1: Turn the hourglass upside down. You will have access to everyone within your sight, and before the sand runs out, you can check the target’s memory at will.]
[Ability 2: Turn the hourglass again when you are checking the memory to create a Memory Maze and force the target into your memory or the target’s own memory. You can create any kind of memory and lock the target in it.]
[Cost: You will need 100 ccs of fresh blood to reactivate the hourglass after each use.]
[Remark 1: Memory is the most mysterious thing there is. Please do not toy with it—from the memory master locked up in the psych ward.]
[Remark 2: Stay healthy with enough blood. Remember to visit Jiu Zhi Tang[1] for medicine.]
‘What the…?’
Other than the forceful product placement in the remark and the heavy cost, this hourglass seemed powerful. It allowed Su Yang to check people’s memories and could even trap people in the memory he created.
‘It’s like some powerful artifact in a game…I finally know why Little Hus said this hourglass smells good. Two points for this powerful item? That’s worth it!’
Just when the thought popped into his head, his door was rammed open and Little Hus barged in unannounced. He screamed, “Su Yang! Su Yang! The smell! Something smell soooo good!”
Su Yang glared at him. “How many times have I told you to knock before coming in? Little Hus, try to be more cultured. You can’t just barge in and say that something smells good. Can you read? Besides, where are your manners? Don’t you know you must knock before you enter someone’s room?”
Little Hus turned a blind eye to Su Yang as he pointed at the hourglass in Su Yang’s hand and the husky on the bolster was astonished. “This smells gooooodd!”
Su Yang said without being concerned, “I know it smells good, but I’ve already added another point to it.”
The husky on the bolster gave him a confused look. “You added another point to it? But…it smells even better. I have a feeling that it will become something even better!”
Su Yang looked at the hourglass in his hand.
‘It smells even stronger? What is this? Some Super Saiyan[2] Hourglass? It can go Super Saiyan 2, 3, and even 4? But…I just got a Gold Point that allows me to add a second point to things. If I want to add a third point, I suppose I must get another Gold Point. That sounds extremely far away…’
He then checked the mission in the system.
[Gold Mission: Road to Zenith (2)]
[Mission Target: Lead your company and change 10,000 people’s lives for the better.]
[Mission Completion: 1,003/10,000]
‘Yeap, it’s as difficult as I thought’
Right after the thought came to him, Little Hus finally noticed something unusual. He gave Su Yang a husky death stare and said, “Wait a minute. You can add another point to things?”
‘Sh*t, it slipped my mouth…’
Little Hus jumped onto Su Yang and hugged him. “Su Yang! Add another point to me! I want to become a handsome young man! I want to ride Janet and surf the Pacific Ocean!”
‘TO HELL WITH YOUR JANET!’
Su Yang tried his best to pull the sticky husky bolster away. “Get off me! You can already ride her and surf in the sea now!”
“No way! Have you ever seen a bolster riding a shark?” Little Hus argued.
‘No! But I’ve never seen a human being riding a shark either, you dumba*s!’
It was then that Su Yang glanced at the hourglass in his hand.
‘Wait a minute…The hourglass can trap Little Hus in the memory I create, can’t it? Why don’t I give it a try now?’
With that in mind, Su Yang looked at Little Hus and turned the hourglass upside down on the table.
As the sand started to fall to the other point, the space around Su Yang started to distort and he was caught within it. The space eventually shrunk into darkness.
When Su Yang opened his eyes, he found himself in a familiar place. This place before his eyes was dark, messy, and slightly humid.
‘Is this my…rented basement?’
Su Yang glanced around the room and landed his gaze on his bed. He saw himself.
That was right. He saw another version of him and the other him was holding a husky bolster, seeming to ponder about something. The husky picture on the bolster was looking around, sizing up the place curiously.
It was then that Little Hus’ voice echoed in the air.
“Is this my future house? It’s strange and messy. Is this guy before me…my father?”
Su Yang was shocked.
‘Little Hus is talking?’
He looked around but did not see Little Hus anywhere around him.
A quick thought later, he realized that the voice that he heard was Little Hus’ thoughts.
‘I can even listen to what the target is talking about when I check the memory?! But I guess it’s normal since people always have thoughts running in their minds. But…this is ridiculously powerful! I’m actually listening to what the target is thinking!’
[1] A real site that sells Chinese herbal medicine in Shanghai http://www.hnjzt.com/
[2] Do I even need to explain what is Super Saiyan? Super Saiyan (超スーパーサイヤ人じん Sūpā Saiya-jin) is an advanced transformation assumed by members and hybrids of the Saiyan race with sufficient amounts of S-Cells in the Dragon Ball franchise. Earthlings (of Saiyan heritage) in Dragon Ball Online can also assume the transformation by wishing to have their dormant Saiyan powers unlocked. Just in case someone is wondering what is Dragonball, here you go: