Chapter 22

Hiro’s sleep schedule changed completely due to the time difference between LSO and the real world. If it was day in the real world, it was night in LSO, and vice versa.

Because of this, his body gradually began to get used to living like a nocturnal being, active at night and sleeping in the day.

However, due to this significant change in lifestyle, Hiro failed to realize that he had lost weight. Compared to just several days ago, he was noticeably thinner.

Although he occasionally got lucky and received free food as its expiration date was very near, the food he consumed nowadays was mostly instant noodles.

With the help of a sequence of alarms he set in his android bracelet, Hiro woke up in the evening.

[Alarm: Wake Up! 19:30]

[Alarm: Wake Up! 19:40]

[Alarm: Wake Up! 19:50]

[Alarm: Wake Up! 20:00]

[Alarm: Wake Up! 20:10]

And still, he only managed to fully wake up at the last alarm.

“Oh no, I’m 10 minutes late. Libe is definitely not going to spare me,” Hiro groggily muttered, his brows subconsciously knitted as he thought about Liberty incessantly nagging him.

As expected, just as he put on his VR helmet without even bathing or brushing his teeth, Liberty had sent him a message.

[Liberty: Hiro, where are you???]

[Checking connection…]

[Synchronizing player information, please wait…]

[All set.]

[System linked.]

[Welcome to Last Shelter Online: Closed Beta Test Version.]

[3 day(s) remaining]

Hiro arrived last, so Liberty and Jacob were already waiting for him at the meeting point.

Upon finally meeting, the three continued to gather the ingredients required for the Swish Swish Potion.

They only needed one last ingredient, Fairy Blessings.

Liberty, who claimed that she had played with fairies before, already knew where they could find those little Tinker Bell-like creatures.

And as usual, Liberty had an idea none of them expected. As soon as the three arrived at the fairies’ abode, Liberty greeted a fairy NPC and talked as if they were very close old friends.

Even though it was somewhat strange, the fairy NPC seemed to have memories of Liberty. Without much effort, the fairy gave the item they needed without asking for anything in return.

Ding!

[Your party member: Liberty has obtained 9 Fairy Blessing(s)]

“How did you do it?” Jacob looked at her with astonishment. Having witnessed what just happened, he felt useless for not having a unique ability like her.

Liberty explained it to Jacob, but Hiro could not understand at all.

It was something along the lines of how the fairy considered her a very close friend. The girl even gave the fairy NPC a nickname, Tinker.

Now that they had all the ingredients they needed, the three quickly headed back to meet Nicholas the Alchemist.

However, upon arriving and reporting that they had gathered the required ingredients, the three found out that they had to buy two cauldrons priced at 1,000LSC each in order to make the potion.

With Nicholas’s guidance, the three began to concoct the potion carefully.

Bloop!

Bloop!

The unfinished potion had just started to boil, creating bubbles that burst and emitted hot vapor.

“Hiss…” The clumsy Liberty accidentally touched the extremely hot cauldron.

“Are you okay?”

Hiro saw that the tip of her finger was red and tears were already flowing from the corner of her eyes. The girl tried to hold back her tears from coming out due to the stinging pain, but it only seemed to make the pain feel worse.

At that moment, Hiro put her finger into his mouth to cool the burn and ease the pain.

His action surprised both Liberty and Jacob. They couldn’t even comment.

“You’ll be okay, Libe,” he said after letting go of her finger.

“Th… thanks,” Liberty blushed.

The creation process of the Swish Swish Potion required two full hours until its temperature cooled down to room temperature so the three could bathe in it.

Ding!

[You have learned a new basic life skill: Alchemy (Level 1)]

[You obtained Swish Swish Potion (Rare)]

The notifications popped up just as the potion was ready for use.

Like the potion concoction they just did and the cooking skill Liberty had, several basic life skills in LSO could be learned by doing it first-hand.

However, other life skills required certain scrolls or special quests to learn.

As for the kinds of life skills in LSO, none of them were explicitly mentioned. This was because the system in the game was very flexible, imitating real life. In other words, the life skills available in this game were truly unlimited.

Hiro and Jacob had taken off their clothes before entering the cauldron and bathing in the potion inside. Meanwhile, Liberty deliberately prepared a sexy swimsuit for the moment.

“You’re really lucky, bro,” Jacob whispered to Hiro when he saw Liberty change into the swimsuit.

Hiro didn’t respond.

The three got into the potion they made on the count of three. However, just when their bodies were finally submerged, they immediately reflexively shuddered. Instead of feeling the normal temperature of the room, the liquid suddenly turned as cold as a lake that had just melted after winter ended.

Brrr!

“Back to the ice bucket challenge era, huh,” Jacob commented with lips blue and teeth rattling.

After waiting for five minutes, the potion in the cauldron suddenly reacted strangely. The liquid seemed to be boiling, but it felt even colder until they could no longer feel their bodies in the icy water.

However, the uncomfortable feeling did not last long.

Three seconds passed, and all of a sudden, a notification simultaneously appeared on their HUD screen.

Ding!

[Booster absorption in progress]

The liquid in the cauldron slowly lessened in volume as if their bodies were absorbing it until none was left.

Ding!

[Absorption complete]

[STR +5]

[AGI +5]

[INT +5]

[VIT +5]

[DEX +5]

[LUCK +5]

[System Warning: Unwanted side effects might occur.]

Out of nowhere, Hiro felt extreme nausea fill his entire body. There was so much so suddenly that he could not hold himself back from vomiting the inside of his empty stomach to the edge of the cauldron.

Blargh!

To his surprise, the same liquid as the one in the cauldron came out of his mouth. It was as if his entire body was now filled with it, even his digestive system.

“That was terrible.”

Strangely, only Hiro experienced that side effect. Jacob and Liberty looked completely, no, more than fine.

“That was fun! Let’s do it together again sometime!” Liberty exclaimed full of vigor.

“No way! Why am I the only one who vomited? And how long are you going to wear that, Libe?”

The girl frowned when she heard Hiro’s words.

“Hiro, do you not like women?”

The question instantly made him feel as if he just got slapped by an invisible hand.

“Huh? No no no, it’s not like that. I’m just worried you’ll get sick, Libe.”

“Eh?”

Hearing Hiro’s response, Liberty hurriedly changed back into her non-revealing outfit. It seems that the girl did it so Hiro wouldn’t worry anymore.

“So, do you not like women, Hiro? You haven’t answered my question.”

Hiro was surprised yet again. This girl was really persistent.

He had no other choice.

“Of course I like women. Especially cute girls like you.”

Hiro felt that he had said too much, but he still looked her eye-to-eye.

His ears felt hot.

However, his answer seemed to be working. Upon hearing his words, the scrutinizing look on Liberty’s smile turned into a beautiful wide smile.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your lovey-dovey time, but did we really just do all this for five extra stat points? Isn’t this just a waste of time?” Jacob sighed.

Even so, Hiro smoothly responded to his complaint. From his experience, getting 5 extra points for every basic stat meant that when the system resets and the official version of the game launches, they would get a total of 30 bonus points.

Every level up gives 3 bonus stat points, which means that having 30 bonus points at the start of the game would give them basic stats 10 levels higher than other players.

Even though Jacob didn’t quite understand Hiro’s explanation, Hiro’s confidence as he explained successfully changed his opinion on the 5 extra points.

“So, what adventure are we going on next?”