Maids VS Apocalypse

Author’s note: Extra Chapter for reaching 50 Power Stones! Let’s go for 100 next!

======================================================

Mark wasn’t a big fan of heavy metal at first, but since it was the only thing that could drown out the voices in his head, he grew dependent on it over time.

In the last couple of years, it became impossible for him to focus on anything without blasting something into his ears. It should’ve been obvious that the music gave him some kind of boost yet it never even occurred to him that it might reflect in his stats.

’If it’s like this then...’

With his Focus stat now more than doubled, Mark decided to try something he had meant to do for some time now. He pressed B to exit the status screen then navigated to the Shop at the very bottom of the Player Menu.

A new screen appeared displaying rows of small boxes with various icons. On the side were several tags listing the types of items and at the topmost left corner was a counter displaying the amount of Gold he had.

One of the things that angered Mark was how the System never mentioned anything about the things that can be accessed by focusing on a part of the screen.

One example would be the level-up screen that is only accessible by focusing on the AP section of the Status Screen. Another one is the Gold conversion screen which is accessible via the counter at the corner of the Shop.

A lot of trouble could’ve been avoided if the tutorial had explained all of the System functions, but for some reason, his Level 5 LRGS, which supposedly comes with a custom interface, never bothered to do that.

[

Would you like to convert MP to G?

+1MP = 35G

>YES NO

]

’Alright!’

Mark had already guessed that the amount of Gold his MP can be converted to was dictated by his Focus stat and this only served as a confirmation.

Not only Gold was a crucial resource not only for buying items from the shop, but it was necessary for expanding his base in order to summon new maids. Getting more of it was always going to be a priority of his, but the speed at which it could be done had troubled him greatly until now.

An additional 20Gold for each 1MP accelerated the process significantly. It would still take a while before he had enough for a four-room apartment, but that was one more reason to start saving.

’If I do it for the next few days I should have enough for...’

He focused on the + symbol and gradually increased the amount of MP he wished to convert until it reached 50 then moved to press A on the YES option. A thought flashed in his mind just then and he stopped at the last moment. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

’Oh c’mon!’

He had just remembered Ramsay’s lecture from a few hours ago. The Sergeant had drilled into his head that he should avoid consuming him MP unless it’s unavoidable. According to him, keeping it at 100/100 would be ideal, but if push comes to shove not letting it fall below 50 was a goal to strive for.

Mark understood where the Sergeant was coming from but didn’t know if doing so was feasible. The shop had several items that could enhance his combat capabilities and chances of survival. The faster he obtains them the more secure he would be in going forward, but at the same time converting his MP constantly put him at risk.

’Wait...’ Mark held his chin and stared at the blue screen floating in front of him. ’Don’t tell me...’

He quickly lowered the counter of the MP back to 1, grabbed his phone, and opened the chronometer app. With his finger hovering over the start button on the screen of his phone and the A button of his imaginary controller, Mark slowly breathed in then pressed both at the same time.

The next time he pressed the stop button on his phone, the chronometer showed that three minutes had passed. He paused the music next and tried again. Since his mood has improved compared to earlier, the number beside his Focus stat no longer went into the negative.

’It’s the same...’ A sigh of relief escaped him when he saw the results.

For a moment there Mark was afraid that the time it takes to recover his MP had increased as well. If that turned out to be the case, the buff granted by the heavy metal would have been for nothing.

’Still...’

Three whole minutes to recover 1 MP felt too much. It would mean four whole hours are needed to go from 0 to 100%, with only 3500Gold can be converted in the meantime. One way the recovery can be accelerated is by consuming potions, but since the effects decrease with each one he drinks the speed would return to normal soon enough.

As he looked for ways to go around the restrictions, a light bulb suddenly lit up above Mark’s head.

’I can just convert it while it recovers!’

There was no need for him to convert 100% of his MP in one go. All he had to do was consume a small portion, wait for it to recover, then repeat the process. That way his MP would always remain near full while his Gold reserves increase over time. There was only one problem with his plan, though.

’It sounds a bit tedious...’

Mark could tell at first glance how much of a pain having to do the same thing every few minutes again and again. The whole thing felt like the stamina system in most gacha games where one would be forced to wait for a while until the points needed to play the game are recovered.

’I should automate this...’

The software developer in him quickly worked up a solution. The problem was that he couldn’t implement it right away and would have to wait until he finished the System Upgrade quest. Until that’s done, he had no choice but to do the whole thing manually.