Chapter 48: On A Scale Of One To Ten
The scoring system, as it turned out, was incredibly simple.
Common humans were rated on a standard scale of one to ten. Outstanding specimens might get to an eleven, she thought. But the average person would never be able to train themselves to more than a ten, even with chemical enhancements.
At least, the level of chemical enhancements that this world had.
In her past life, there were far more extreme levels of augmentation, right up to fully cybernetic replacement bodies available for those in extreme need.
Assuming they could pay.
Kalli was still in her chair when the Sergeant came to warn her that they were about to close the lunch service.
"Alright, I think I’ve rested enough that I can get up now. Perhaps the ninety minutes of extreme exertion to get the system’s maximum gain was overdoing it."
"Did you get a gain?"
Kalli nodded. "According to the System, I got a point of Stamina and a point of Strength. From what I can tell, it’s a pretty significant bonus for a regular human, but probably not for an Awakened Human."
"Hmm, good point. I was going to go now, but I heard that you were still immobile in the dorms, so I came to see if you needed a hand."
"Actually, I would appreciate that. Give me a hand up, and I will go get something to eat before the kitchen closes. Hopefully, there is still something."
Sanchez laughed. "There should be. It’s soup day, the cook says he’s using up things that might go bad soon. So, there’ll be plenty."
He helped Kalli to her feet, and the first thing that she noticed was that moving was actually easier than expected.
"Hmm, I seem to have recovered pretty well. Perhaps tomorrow I will go early in the morning if it’s reset. Then I can recover over breakfast and head out with a group."
The Sergeant laughed. "Brave of you to think that you’re going anywhere.
In case you had forgotten, you need to be here for the rest of us to turn in the quests. If you go out there and get yourself ambushed or killed, how the hell are the rest of us supposed to keep progressing?"
"Right. I might have forgotten about that for a moment.
But I still need to do something. I can’t sit around here all day just waiting for people to come back and hand in quests."
Sanchez shrugged. "I don’t see that you have a lot of other options at this point. You could set up some sort of organizational system for them, keeping track of what is available to everyone, maybe even compile data for us? I know that we’ve all taken notes in the dungeon, but nobody has compiled them all into one coherent guide."
Kalli sighed. That sounded a lot like office drudgery. However, if they were digital... she could just write a bot to do it for her.
She might have been reborn into an unfamiliar world with unfamiliar computers, but the code from her old life should still work, as long as she set up a proper environment.
"You know what? Have them all submit it to me through the student app. I will compile all the dungeon data and make a map of likely monster locations outside the Academy, based on where the rat demons have been found.
Spread the word, and I will tell everyone in the cafeteria."
"Tell them what?" Reggie asked, just coming in to get a quest completion after dinner.
"To send me all their data and notes on monsters and the dungeon, so I can make a guide and map of the region for everyone to use.
It has been pointed out to me that I’m probably not going on any missions."
"YOU CAN’T."
Sanchez laughed at the panicked expression on Reggie’s face.
"See? That’s the response I was expecting. Nobody will let you go out and risk yourself when you’re basically a living loot dispenser."
"Well, I would have phrased that differently. But you’re the most important person in the base right now. All the good stuff comes from returning to where you are. If you go out, none of us can even gain System Points or rewards for the quests we do.
I got two loot boxes today, and while they weren’t great ones, they were both armour pieces, and we definitely need more of them.
The ones that we got from the first box were almost all light armour pieces, so we need heavy armour for more warriors, and then better armour pieces for everyone, plus pieces to replace damaged gear."
Kalli nodded in understanding. "Everyone wants to get as high level as they can right away, before things get worse. But Uncommon Grade gear drops are basically one piece per dungeon run, which means by the end of the week, every group will only have one or two pieces each.
And the Common Grade boxes don’t always give equipment, so the rat killing missions aren’t done for an upgrade, they’re survival."
"Well, if you can put in a good word for us, maybe we can get a quest that’s got a better reward than killing the rat demons.
They’re still appearing in nearly the same quantities as before, which is troubling, but it might just take a few days to get through their numbers now that the nest is gone. I’m hoping that’s what it is so that we’re not fighting off rat demons for eternity."
Sanchez laughed at Reggie’s words, and the warrior frowned.
"Right, there are only a few days until things get worse again. Do we know how many of our members are still level one?"
Kalli shook her head. "We would have to ask them all. It’s not something that other people can see. I know that Gerry advanced. Apparently, cooking monster meat gives experience. Not a lot, but when you’re cooking full-time, it’s enough.
I don’t know how long it will be enough for, but he’s going to make it past this round of vetting."
Reggie smiled. "Well, that’s a good thing. If we lost our chef, it would be a tragedy for the mighty heroes of Marimgar Academy."
