Chapter 172: Mysterious Skill Book & Fearful Aurelius

The first thing that attracted TheoryMaster69’s attention was a beautiful, round fruit.

Although she was a person living in modern society and had seen many beautiful things, she had to admit that this object possessed an otherworldly beauty.

In the world of Nova Roma, this could only mean one thing:

This item was extraordinary!

Indeed.

When TheoryMaster69 scanned the item with the Player System, the relevant description emerged.

...

[Base Stat Fruit: The recent invention of the mysterious NPC Aurelius. Consuming it can improve a Player’s Base Stats. The stat and the overall improvement depend on the Player’s Luck.]

...

Base Stat Fruit!

Through the name alone, TheoryMaster69 could already understand its function. Upon reading the description, she also came to understand its value.

This thing was extremely precious!

Especially for Players who had yet to become Awakeners or had only just advanced.

After all, a simple +1 improvement in Strength or Agility for someone like Aurelius would have a minimal effect.

On the other hand, for a Player who had yet to become an Awakener, it could mean an improvement of 10%. The difference was massive.

With her business acumen, TheoryMaster69 instantly realized this fruit’s value. If this item was sold, countless Players would rush to purchase it.

She immediately wanted to ask Aurelius how many he had and whether he would sell them.

However, seeing the rest of the items lying on top of the table, she swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth.

There was always a chance to ask later.

Now, she had to continue "appraising" the items.

With that thought, TheoryMaster69 moved her gaze to the side.

This time, what entered her vision was a very familiar item.

It was a book, unassuming and ordinary.

Yet knowing full well that it came from the Epic NPC Aurelius, TheoryMaster69 knew better than to judge a book by its cover.

Without any hesitation, she focused her eyes on it.

...

[Mysterious Skill Book: As a powerful Awakener, Aurelius has an extensive collection of powerful skills. Using his Alchemy attainments, he decided to create the Mysterious Skill Book.]

[By activating it, a Player will obtain a new skill. The resulting skill will depend on the Player’s Luck.]

...

After the Gacha Potion and the Base Stat Fruit, another "gacha" item had appeared.

Yet compared to the previous ones, this interested TheoryMaster69 far more.

Unlike most Players, she had never purchased a Gacha Potion, knowing it was a waste of Experience.

Similarly, although the Base Stat Fruit seemed powerful, she didn’t want to risk it. At most, she would try to resell them to other Players.

On the other hand, however, the Mysterious Skill Book excited her greatly.

What was she lacking at the moment?

Skills and Talents!

Although the Sun Knight Class had provided her with several of them, no Awakener would say no to having more. Especially when they came from a powerful NPC.

If she were lucky enough to obtain a powerful skill, it could potentially save her a huge amount of time.

Thinking of this, TheoryMaster69 could no longer hold still.

She found it increasingly difficult to maintain her composure.

It was only after she mustered every ounce of strength that she managed to look away from the Mysterious Skill Book.

Her gaze landed on the final item.

Even compared to the Mysterious Skill Book, this looked even more unassuming.

It was a small piece of paper. Yet its name alone betrayed everything.

[Class Discount Coupon: ...]

--

"Sir Aurelius, are you planning to sell these things?"

"I don’t know about Lady Mia, but I’d be willing to buy a few items—considering you have enough of them, of course."

TheoryMaster69 had already made a decision.

After seeing the last, and perhaps most important item at the moment, she immediately looked at Aurelius and asked.

In response, Aurelius seemed to hesitate.

Secretly, seeing the shining stars in TheoryMaster69’s eyes, he couldn’t help but feel happy.

Sure enough, coming here had been the correct decision.

Even so, he didn’t rush to answer.

He fell into thought for a brief moment before finally nodding his head reluctantly.

"It’s indeed possible to sell them. How about it? You can purchase them just like the rest of my items..."

The moment he finished speaking, TheoryMaster69 sensed a change. When she opened Aurelius’ Shop, several new entries had appeared.

A trace of excitement flashed through her eyes.

She knew she had succeeded!

Yet soon, her expression changed.

...

[Base Stat Fruit: ...]

[Price: 250 Experience or 1 Skill Point]

...

[Mysterious Skill Book: ...]

[Price: 1000 Experience or 5 Skill Points]

...

[30% Class Discount Coupon: ...]

[Price: 5 Skill Points]

...

The prices... were too high!

Although the first two items could be bought using different currencies, the prices were more than high enough to make TheoryMaster69 pause.

Aurelius noticed a trace of struggle flashing through her eyes.

He wasn’t surprised by her reaction.

Even the cheapest item, the Base Stat Fruit, required 250 Experience or 1 Skill Point. The other items were several times more expensive.

Even though TheoryMaster69 had become a Sun Knight, she was bound to lack both of these "currencies".

Perhaps because she had several skills and might have used her Skill Points, she was likely even poorer than ordinary Players who had yet to advance.

However, Aurelius’ goal had already been achieved.

Just like with his interaction with World_Builder, the reason he had come here today was merely to spread the news about his new "merchandise".

As long as TheoryMaster69 knew about these items, she would naturally spread the news.

And unlike World_Builder, she was much more capable of attracting other Players.

Looking at the struggling TheoryMaster69, Aurelius opened his mouth and was about to say a few words of comfort.

But before he could speak, TheoryMaster69’s face flashed with determination.

She seemed to have made a decision.

"This..."

"Sir Aurelius, I have several friends who might be interested in these things. How about you wait while I ask them to come to the shop?"

Despite asking for his opinion, TheoryMaster69 had already sprung into action before he could say anything.

"Please wait. I’ll be back soon."

She spoke before hurriedly making her way out of the room.

She entered the employee’s room.

Then, without looking back, she summoned the Player Panel and exited Nova Roma.

The moment she returned to reality, she grabbed her phone and began typing furiously.

"Everyone! There is a big opportunity waiting for you!"

"Come online quickly! This is the chance for our Fan Club to take off!"

"Everyone should rush to my shop!"

She typed several messages in a split second.

For a moment, the group chat stayed silent. Then, it erupted into a barrage of messages.

Line after line of text appeared, pushing TheoryMaster69’s message to the top.

At the same time, several notifications flashed.

"@TheoryMaster69. Don’t worry, President, I’ll be online soon!"

"@TheoryMaster69. What? An opportunity? Please wait, I’ll ask my boss for a day off!"

"Ask for a day off? I’ll resign immediately!"

Seeing these responses, TheoryMaster69 nodded her head in satisfaction. She felt that with such enthusiastic members, their organization was bound to have a bright future.

Even so, she didn’t continue reading these messages.

After making sure that everyone had realized the importance of her summons, she closed the Aurelius Fan Club chat group and hurriedly entered the Nova Roma Game once more.

She had no time to waste.

She was afraid that if she were a step too late, Aurelius and the opportunity would slip away from her hands!

--

What TheoryMaster69 did not know was that Aurelius had no intention of leaving the Alchemy Shop.

Although he had no way of knowing what happened in the chat group, her sudden departure, combined with the speech about her "friends", had already allowed Aurelius to make a guess.

Just like TheoryMaster69, he also believed this was a great opportunity!

Sure enough, it didn’t take long for his guess to be proven correct.

Only minutes after TheoryMaster69 left, Aurelius heard the sound of a door opening, followed by a chorus of excited voices coming from the other room.

"Is Aurelius here? Can we really meet him?"

"Shh! Keep your voice low!" Aurelius heard TheoryMaster69 scold.

"This is your opportunity to become Awakeners!" she spoke in a hushed voice.

"If you’re lucky, you might catch Aurelius’ attention and receive his favor! If you fail, however, I’ll be unable to help you any further."

The voices became even more enthusiastic for a brief moment.

But as they grew closer, they slowly quieted down.

A moment later, the door opened.

TheoryMaster69 walked inside. Unlike when she left, she was not alone this time.

She was accompanied by nearly a dozen female Players.

Yet unlike World_Builder and his clique, who usually stared at him as though he was a treasure box, these Players looked at Aurelius in an entirely different way.

Their eyes were filled with undisguised enthusiasm and fervor.

Faced with their aggressive gazes, Aurelius subconsciously shrank back in his seat.

He suddenly believed he should not have visited TheoryMaster69 today.