Excellent abilities

With a ding, a series of notifications popped up before Luo Shu's eyes.

[Congratulations, host, on obtaining the elite-tier item "Demon Heart." Gained 5,000 points. Fixed monthly points increased by 500.]

[Congratulations, host, on obtaining the hero-tier item "Lucky Wallet." Gained 8,000 points. Fixed monthly points increased by 800.]

[Host's current total points: 27,983. Fixed monthly income: 2,300 points.]

"Nearly twenty-eight thousand saved up, with another twenty-three hundred coming in every month? I guess I did make a little profit."

Although being unable to sell the items was frustrating, after doing the math, the influence income from holding on to Abyssal Artifacts long-term was clearly more profitable than selling them outright.

With that in mind, Luo Shu felt much less regretful.

"Since I've received so much money, I should naturally spend a little, too. But there's no rush right now."

Luo Shu opened the Astronomy Club's internal network through the system.

He had no idea what the system had used as a reference, but this internal network looked just like the QQ he had used in his previous life.

Although the system claimed that the internal network was private and free, with no need to worry about eavesdropping, the familiar interface made Luo Shu worry about his wallet while also leaving him a little nostalgic.

"Let's see whether Eriri and Utaha are online."

Since it was an internal network and every user was a member of Luo Shu's Familia, he could tell whether someone was asleep just by looking at their profile picture.

Color meant online, black and white meant offline, a colored picture with an exclamation mark meant busy, and a skull over either a colored or black-and-white picture meant danger. It was even better than surveillance cameras.

As luck would have it, however, all the profile pictures Luo Shu saw were black and white.

"What the hell? Eriri, a doujin artist who works herself to death in the middle of the night, and Utaha Kasumigaoka, a flop who revises her writing at midnight, both went to bed early?"

"You two aren't usually this eager, are you?"

Remembering how Utaha Kasumigaoka had lain in bed yesterday and stubbornly kept chatting with him until three in the morning, Luo Shu felt thoroughly exasperated.

When I'm there, you won't let me sleep, but once I leave, you turn in early? Nicely done, Kasumigaoka.

"Forget it. I wanted to talk to them about SDS and mention that I planned to invite Miss Mira into the group. Now I'll just have to do it first and tell them afterward."

Indeed, Luo Shu had wanted to contact the "Crouching Dragon and Young Phoenix" under his command to prepare them for a new recruit and bring them up to speed.

Since he had unexpectedly joined an official organization, he naturally needed to give his Familia some understanding of this world.

Besides, Mira Tsubakihara was a female lead with powerful connections who was also friendly toward him, so Luo Shu naturally wanted to win her over.

The reason he wanted to mention it to his existing Familia members was, of course, to preserve harmony and stability within the Familia.

After all, he had to at least look democratic and fair. Even the shameless U.S. government still shouted about democracy and freedom, so Luo Shu naturally couldn't escape the convention either.

Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, those two night owls had actually gone to bed early for once.

Could it be because I told Utaha Kasumigaoka yesterday that going to bed early and getting up early was good for her health? Is she really that obedient?

Luo Shu grumbled inwardly, then sighed and opened the system.

"System, list the upgrade requirements for Intuition and Combat Potential."

[Super Intuition: an advanced skill derived from Intuition. Rating: excellent.]

[Advancement requirements: main material: Spiritual Squid brain (10,000 points). Auxiliary materials: none.]

[Subconscious Control: an advanced skill derived from Combat Potential. Rating: excellent.]

[Advancement requirements: main material: Mind Dragon spinal cord (10,000 points). Auxiliary materials: none.]

Looking at the two skills, Luo Shu sat up straight on the sofa. After a moment of silence, he went to the kitchen and fetched two glasses.

He placed the glasses on the low glass table, sat back down, and took a deep breath.

"If Intuition and Combat Potential hadn't worked together today, I probably would have gone down at the hands of that 'Hound' from the Demon Hunters. That alone shows how useful support skills are... In that case, there's no need to save fifty thousand points for Wind Element Manipulation. I should improve whatever abilities I can first."

Luo Shu talked himself into it, lest the materials turn out to taste as awful as a Devil Fruit and leave him afraid to swallow them.

After pausing for four or five seconds, he redeemed the Spiritual Squid brain and the Mind Dragon spinal cord.

The next second, a brownish, brain-like object and a milky-white, viscous substance resembling ice cream appeared in their respective glasses.

These were the "Spiritual Squid brain" and the "Mind Dragon spinal cord."

Looking at the two advancement materials, Luo Shu mentally asked the system how to use them and received confirmation that consuming both together would be fine.

Luo Shu eyed the two materials, which looked reasonably edible. After a moment's hesitation, he fetched some hot water and poured it in.

"Down the hatch..."

Muttering under his breath, Luo Shu picked up a glass and poured its contents into his mouth. Once he finished, he picked up the other glass and downed that in one go, too.

A sticky, slippery sensation immediately filled his mouth. Unwilling to spit it out, Luo Shu forcibly swallowed it.

"Burp!"

As he let out that undignified belch, Luo Shu's vision blurred. He seemed to see a tree with countless branches stretching and spreading little by little before his eyes, until it reached into the endless void.

A shrill ringing filled his ears, his body temperature shot past forty degrees in a short time, and his skin turned bright red.

Strangely, however, these changes caused Luo Shu little discomfort. Instead, he felt an odd sense of relaxation.

When that relaxed feeling gradually faded, Luo Shu opened his eyes again, only to squint involuntarily at the brightness.

Sunlight from outside was shining straight onto the sofa through the window's missing glass.

"It's morning?"

Luo Shu opened his eyes, looked at the warm sunlight streaming through the window, and rummaged around until he found his phone.

It was seven in the morning.

Luo Shu fell silent for a moment, then thought with a peculiar expression:

Did my abilities actually upgrade or not?

[Answer: Intuition has advanced to "Super Intuition," and Combat Potential has advanced to "Subconscious Control." As the host has obtained three excellent-tier abilities, your rank assessment has automatically increased to "excellent."]

Hearing the system's answer, Luo Shu sighed.

"So I need three abilities that meet the standard before my tier goes up? But aside from feeling really refreshed, I don't seem to notice anything else."

As those words left his mouth, Luo Shu seemed to glimpse Mira Tsubakihara standing outside his door, repeatedly raising her hand toward it, then lowering it again.

Noticing this, Luo Shu returned to his senses and fell silent for a moment. Then he rose, left the living room, and opened the front door.

"Huh?"

Mira Tsubakihara, who had just arrived, had only raised her hand halfway when the door opened on its own, revealing Luo Shu's face.

The sudden turn of events left Mira Tsubakihara momentarily stunned.

Just then, Luo Shu smiled at Mira Tsubakihara, who stood in the doorway with a dazed expression.

"Good morning, Miss Mira."

System, I take back what I said. An ability that practically lets me glimpse the immediate future certainly deserves an "excellent" rating.