Chapter 51: Investment Decisions

A few hours passed with Damon and Kora in the apartment. Kora played on her console, while Damon alternated between short sleeps and rest so he wouldn’t get carried away and miss the return of the other members of his group or the reboot of his skill.

Because of that short moment Damon had spent with Kora outside, they have even gotten much closer with Kora, even occasionally forcing Damon out of his sleep when she does something impressive on her console.

Damon noticed she avoids talking about her family or loved ones, so he never brought that up in any of their conversations. Other members of the team also have those they care about, and thanks to the system, at least they could keep in touch. But not all their family had survived. For instance, Damon learned that Tessa, who was still in Brad’s custody, had lost most of her other family.

The usual refresh of the treasure box drops came and passed, and the group was still unlucky to have anyone appear in their immediate environment. It was evening, and the team wasn’t back yet, which was actually a good thing since the guerrilla tactics Harvey formed required a lot of patience.

It wasn’t only Damon’s team that had gone down there; they might even come across Brad and the building residents’ team. Their plan was simple. Don’t overstimulate a large horde; attract and lead solitary targets into the building from the outside; and, for safety measures, do the kill from the safety of the exclusive elevator, which had been set to only function with Damon’s team member. Doing this, they could always quickly retreat back up should things get out of hand.

That no one was coming up quickly means things were going smoothly; and they was the fact that they were sending a direct message every hours to confirm that everything was fine.

A few minutes before Damon’s skill was set to reboot, the group returned, and none had any serious injuries; just some scrapes. Harvey’s tactic of using the large reception area and drawing solitary targets into the building one by one had proven to be far safer than being jumped at by several mutants while clearing the building’s apartments. Good thing mutants are so predictable, and even though they are becoming stronger, with enough strength and tact, coming out safely from a hunt was guaranteed.

Mildred explained that, as expected, the residents’ team joined in, and after seeing their tactic and use of the elevator, they began doing the same with the building’s general elevator. However, Brad, who was trying to call the elevator back up from penthouse floor; issue a threat to the resident’s group chat and that plan was discarded fast; allowing the elevator to be sent to Brad who took it down with his crew and after seeing for himself what they were using it for; he began to do the same with his crew; leaving the resident’s team who he was at loggerheads with, to fend for themselves.

A new petition was brought forward on the residents’ group chat, which had long since removed Brad and his crew from the group. The petition was on how exactly to deal with Brad, as well as the fact that Damon’s team still monopolizes the exclusive penthouse elevator, citing that they should grant access to it for everyone.

It was a tense conversation, and Damon could certainly see their point. The exclusive elevator had always been set for Damon’s use, but these are changed times, and Mildred had gone so far as to restrict it even from Brad, who previously had access for safety measures and an alternate means of escape.

Still, they decided to hold off on making this decision for the moment.

The total number of crystals gained on today’s hunt greatly surpassed their previous highest count, totaling an impressive twenty-two origin crystals. Ten of them were given to Damon, and the remainder was used to purchase food and water. Purchasing anything else aside from what’s necessary for sustenance was out of the question; a luxury reserved for those with great luck or insanely powerful skills.

Even awakeners, wherever they might be, invest all of their gains into food and improving their stats when convenient. Except for a unique few.

Damon’s skill refreshed, with the usual minute expansion to his bank vault. Now his current balance, including the new addition, stands at—

[Balance 50 oc]

At this moment, Damon had a decision to make. He had fifty origin crystals, which was a decent amount; he was actually holding off on using his one with return skill for something larger, but time was of the essence. He could either continue multiplying the fifty origin crystals for seven days, which would net him six thousand four hundred origin crystals, so long as he doesn’t collect from the crystals the group brings up. If that’s included, the value stands higher than that. Or—

Damon could directly invest these fifty origin crystals into his one-week lock, and he would receive the returns of three thousand five hundred and fifty origin crystals. Though it is indeed lower than what the daily doubling would grant, this could be set to be received at the end of seven days, in addition to the total doubling sum accumulated separately in that period.

After giving it some thought, Damon finally decided not to go with it for the moment. He wasn’t liquid enough to deposit all the crystals in the position and have it locked up for seven days. Then he formulated his plan. At the end of these coming seven days, he would take half of the total sum and set it for a one-week deposit. The quarter for a one-month deposit. For the one-year deposit, Damon would put the biggest amount he could; so when the results came, it would literally break the scale of balance; more than he would soon be doing with the one-week and one-month deposits, which were only at seven thousand and thirty thousand percent return on investment.

With a rough decision made, subject to change and adjustments along the way, Damon locked in his fifty origin crystals for the day; as the team partook in a meager but peaceful dinner—

Like so, A full seven days passed.