—I'd bet a bowl of soy milk that two of my teammates were already sitting in the plaza, mentally linked with the Great Light Sphere.
—I'd bet another bowl that they'd been very obedient and hadn't rashly spent their limited reward points on personal upgrades, acting outside the team's interests.
Sure enough, as he stepped through the light portal, Uchiha Xiu spotted two figures staring blankly at the Great Light Sphere.
Kobayashi Yoshito.
Kitagawa Nacai.
A white-collar office worker and a young model.
"Sugoi... There are so many options to exchange for."
Kobayashi Yoshito gave a low whistle. "I was thinking of getting the Naruto Enhancement System after seeing how strong the captain is, but now it looks like it costs too much!"
"Just transforming from a human into a Ninja World Vegetable requires a D-rank side quest and five hundred reward points."
"That's a prerequisite for unlocking all the bloodline enhancements in Naruto."
Nacai had cut her ponytail into a short bob that framed her ears, lending her a more spirited air. She replied nonchalantly, "Naturally. Even an ordinary villager in the ninja world has 130 trillion cells in their body—two to three times as many as a person on Earth. Their physical abilities are leagues beyond those of top athletes."
"But it gets even more ridiculous after that. The Uchiha Bloodline costs one C-rank side quest and fifteen hundred reward points. Whether you can awaken the Sharingan depends on your own ability, unless you pay extra to exchange for One Tomoe."
"Even after spending enough to reach the Mangekyo, things like Susanoo and the two great ocular techniques have to be purchased separately, even though they're supposed to come with the Kekkei Genkai once it breaks through."
"..." Uchiha Xiu.
Well, that was just how the original Main God worked.
Fortunately, he wasn't taking that crippled path.
His eyes were the real thing!
And since he didn't rely on directly exchanging for a half-finished product, he didn't have to worry about that kind of rip-off.
"Ahem."
Hearing the noise, the two, who had been standing around chatting for a while, quickly turned around.
"Captain."
"Captain."
Their attitudes were exceptionally proper.
The question of who was in charge of the East Sea Team had only one answer.
"Sit down and talk."
With that, Uchiha Xiu spent ten reward points to have the Main God set up a soft sofa in the center of the plaza. A coffee table piled with all kinds of snacks sat in front of it. He gestured for everyone to make themselves comfortable.
Then he picked up a box of takoyaki and leisurely speared one with a bamboo pick.
"Didn't you exchange for a person?"
His gaze shifted to Kobayashi, the male office worker.
Everyone knew that getting frisky helped relieve the stress of facing death, releasing a generous supply of dopamine to promote pleasure.
Even Kakashi, who had been battered until his heart was as gloomy as an Anbu's, had kept a copy of Icha Icha Paradise in his hands, hadn't he? Though lately, he'd secretly switched to Young Obito.
"No." Kobayashi shook his head and volunteered, "I punched a sandbag until I was so tired I fell asleep. Now I just want something sweet."
He reached for a pink raspberry macaron.
"Mm."
Uchiha Xiu reclined on the sofa. "In my opinion, the Main God offers us our first person for free so that everyone can get a completely loyal guard and improve their chances of surviving the early stages."
"Of course, having someone to lean on emotionally can also serve as a kind of protection. They can help make up for regrets."
A childhood sweetheart who died young?
Kitagawa Nacai instinctively thought of the melodramatic trope common in old Korean dramas.
"The drawback is that people created this way are meant to take part in battles in the reincarnation worlds. Once the captain is here, they have to join the fights in the instance worlds too." Uchiha Xiu continued, filling in what he hadn't finished explaining earlier.
"Unless you're willing to spend a D-rank side quest to get the Main God to exempt them."
"Then forget it. I'd feel awful if I got intimate with a beautiful woman I liked, built a close relationship with her, then turned around and used her as cannon fodder."
The office worker Kobayashi seemed like a kind soul. He promptly shook his head. "I couldn't do that. I'd rather create my old boss instead."
His face lit up with anticipation.
"Heh heh. Making that ruthless capitalist work for me as a human shield—if he died without even leaving a scrap behind, I wouldn't feel guilty at all. Might even feel pretty good about it~"
"That's fine."
Uchiha Xiu nodded slightly. He wouldn't interfere with his teammates' personal choices in this matter. "If you have resources to spare later, you can strengthen the person you create further and complement each other's abilities."
Compared to the formulaic explanation he'd given when he first awakened in the hibernation pod, he seemed much more friendly now.
Nacai thought to herself.
The Uchiha Bloodline really seemed to boost a person's charm. So handsome.
Without meaning to, the young model crossed her long legs and squeezed them together slightly.
"Next, some information about the next reincarnation world—The Mummy."
"Even if you don't prepare for both magic and physical combat, at least get yourself an effective means of resisting spirits."
"Also, when choosing your individual enhancements, keep team battles in mind. We need to prepare for the upcoming survival-of-the-fittest slaughter."
The Mummy?
Team battles?
Survival-of-the-fittest slaughter?
The relaxed atmosphere vanished at once.
The coldness of the space became even more apparent:
—Gather three people who had unlocked the Gene Lock, and the team battle mechanism would be triggered.
The Central Continent Team, South Flame Continent Team, North Flame Continent Team, South Ice Continent Team, North Ice Continent Team, East America Team, West America Team, East Sea Team, West Sea Team, North Sea Team, India Team, Forest Continent Team, Desert Continent Team... along with two special teams:
the Devil Team and the Celestial Team!
Under the Main God's arrangements, different teams would meet in an instance world and clash violently. Their goals were usually to defeat the opposing team or complete a specific mission.
The outcome directly affected each team's survival and development. A loss could lead to the annihilation of the whole team—or, at best, the loss of resources and a sharp drop in overall strength, leaving them vulnerable to being picked off.
Uchiha Xiu also talked about the Gene Lock, but didn't mention that the T-Virus could be used as a shortcut to unlock the first stage, or that they could stock up on it in the Resident Evil world marked in the team log. He also kept quiet about the shortcut of using dragon blood enhancements to speed through to the second stage of the Gene Lock.
It wasn't time yet...
Let's give the team more time to develop and see how things go for now.
"Captain, I'm thinking of exchanging for the Ghost Hand enhancement. What do you think..." After barely digesting the string of rules, Kobayashi Yoshito decided to ask for his opinion.
A text projection appeared.
[Initial Ghost Hand enhancement, originating from Dungeon & Fighter, rated 71 points. Once the left hand mutates into a black Ghost Hand, both eyes can see the existence of ghosts, making the user a Ghost Swordsman.
The Ghost Hand must be bound with chains to suppress its power and prevent berserk rampages.
A prerequisite for changing class to Berserker, Sword Soul, Soul Bender, Asura, or Ghostblade...]
A man from Neon had chosen an ability from a game world developed by a South Korean company, which had exploded in popularity in China in the late 1990s.
Talk about a cliché.
The next moment, Kobayashi said something shocking. "Once we have more resources, I'll change class to Soul Bender. That'll give me a way to protect myself, and I can also use various magic circles to boost everyone's damage and curse and weaken the enemy."
"..." Uchiha Xiu.
Damn it, had my East Sea Team been infected by some kind of memetic hazard?
Miyata Kuraki, who had already been eliminated, had chosen that path in the original Infinite Terror storyline, combining Soul Bender and Asura into one.
With the second stage of the Gene Lock, he could unleash the combat strength of someone at the initial stage of the fourth.
When he didn't get an immediate reply, Kobayashi grew a little uneasy. "Captain, is there something wrong...?"
"That works. Having a dedicated 25C on the team is a good thing." Uchiha Xiu thought it over briefly and gave his approval.
The term 25C referred to a game role that could increase the whole team's damage by 25 percent while also dealing substantial damage themselves.
Soul Bender was a prime example: they controlled the power of ghosts and released various magic circles, such as Saya's ice-bound barrier and Kazan's strength-enhancing circle.
A versatile class that could use both physical and magic attacks.
After awakening a second time, he'd also be called the King of Ghosts.
Before you continue