Chapter 635: Single Player (1/2)
”I'm dying?” Dex felt the pit of his stomach drop, even though he realized it was part of the game. ”Is there anything that can be done?”
Nix had waited until Hyai left to tell him the news. ”Of course. That's why you are here. Saving people is what I do.”
Dex felt the urge to mess with him but refrained; who knew if that would result in a 'bad ending?' ”You've dealt with fatal poisons?”
Nix nodded and walked toward the far end of the shop. ”I saved Del Tali by placing her in a dragon egg. A fair bit of business if I say so myself.”
”You're putting me in an egg?” Dex followed the Inferno Leader, stopping when Nix sat down.
”Sadly, there seems to be a temporary shortage of viable dragon eggs.” Nix tapped his work table, causing a hud to pop up. ”I can do better than an egg.”
”So... Not an egg?” Dex felt like Nix was somewhat of a mad scientist. It made him wonder what Nix the player was like in the VRMMO; surely he didn't have seven wives.
”I'm a puppet master, Dextron! Why place you in an egg when I can put you in a dragon!”
”Just call me, Dex.”
Quest Updated.
Nix stared at him for a long moment; his bright yellow eyes seemed to take in every little detail. Then, finally, he walked around the table and removed a puppet from his inventory. ”What do you think?”
”Is this what it looks like?” Dex touched the smooth scales of the puppet. It was a bit over three meters long with a dull gray coloring. ”Why so small? And what's wrong with the color?”
”So many questions...” Nix placed the puppet in a queue and began to add enhancements. ”It's small because it's a dragonling puppet. The color won't change for a few more years.”
”Can't I get a bigger one?” Dex coughed into his hand.
Nix shook his head. ”Do you think dragon puppets grow on trees? This is already better than anyone else can do.” The Inferno Leader frowned at the queue he had set up. ”Well... In you go.”
[Choose an Option.]
1) Do what Nix asks.
2) Get more details.
Dex noticed that Nix seemed bothered by something. ”Is something wrong with the dragonling?”
Nix scratched his chin. ”It seems that the puppet is a bit damaged. It has a viability rating of 85 percent. More than enough for our purposes, though. In you go, Dex.”
[Choose an Option.]
1) Do what Nix asks.
2) Refuse the puppet.
Dex bit down on a smile that threatened to come out. The truth was that he missed being virtual. If he could use a real virtual interface instead of his homemade crap to access the wave, he would probably have deep-dived as a hacker. ”Seriously? Did I give you an 85 percent effort when we fought Khione?”
Nix blinked once... then twice... The silence in the room went on for several seconds. ”You're right! I... I can repair it!”
[Dragonling Puppet: Common Rating 85 percent Viability]
Nix cleared off a storage crate that had been doubling as additional counter space; he slid the top off and then nearly disappeared from view as he appeared to dive in.
Dex couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of Nix's feet sticking up out of the crate. The sound of rummaging went on for a few minutes before he pulled something out.
[Shadow Strike Puppet: Rating Unknown, 19 percent Viability]
”What is this thing?” Dex shook his head slightly; it had no discernable shape and was cloaked in darkness as if trying to absorb all the light around it.
”Hmm? Well... strictly speaking, it's a failed experiment. I found the remains of an ancient puppet in some Nether ruins. I combined it with the best puppet that I could make, hoping to repair it.”
Dex smiled slightly; Nix looked like a little kid talking about his favorite race car. ”What kind of puppet did you use to repair it.”
”Pure rat puppet,” Nix replied. ”Of course, it didn't work, but the viability rating rose from 15 percent to 19 percent.”
”Couldn't you keep repairing?”
Nix nodded. ”Sure. But by the time it was repaired, it would have changed too much. I don't know what this puppet was to start with, so I didn't want to risk erasing it.”
[Choose an Option.]
1) Ask him to repair the dragonling using the Ancient puppet.
2) Accept the Dragonling as is.
3) Tell Nix to find something else.