A Novel Concept - A death a day, MC will live anyway! Chapter 278: Three Gifts for a Dear Friend

Hyshana, Jasmine, Louis, and Kazuki listened attentively as Priam recounted his story. When he finished, a heavy silence hung in the air. The catastrophic end of the erased tiline was a tough pill to swallow.

Kazuki was the first to break the silence. “You were afraid Ève would tap into your mories to summon a nuke,” he said. “That’s why you let her go so easily.”

“A nuke, or worse,” Priam sighed. “If she reenacted the final ritual of that Bastard, it would wipe out the entire island.”

“She can actually do that?” Louis’s face went pale as chalk. Knowing gods walked these lands was one thing. Learning that several of their rivals had the power to trigger an apocalypse was another.

“No idea. I still don’t fully understand her abilities,” Priam admitted. “But none of our rivals should be underestimated. My instincts were screaming that she was a terrible match-up for —if she had erased my mory after killing Jasmine and the clone, it would’ve been ga over.”

Without his two subsystems, Priam was as vulnerable as anyone to Ève’s abilities. [He Who Eludes Death] restored his soul, not his mory—as his last death during the Tribulations had proven. It was only thanks to his reward that he had regained his mories.

When his draconic instincts whispered that the fae was even more dangerous than Arnold, Priam listened. There were fates worse than death, and he had no desire to experience them firsthand.

“I hate those who ss with people’s mories, minds, or egos,” Louis spat, disgust clear in his voice.

Everyone nodded in agreent.

“Knowing the Concepts, we’re bound to cross paths with her again,” Jasmine said. “She’s one of our rivals, after all.”

“We’ll be ready next ti,” Priam swore. “I’ve already asked my add-on to figure out a trap that could disrupt short-term mory using Concepts Archipelago. It’s going to cost a fortune in Sun Points to buy the fragnts of the Concepts we need, so I’ll need all of you to pitch in. If it works, we’ll unlock [mory Manipulation Resistance] for everyone.”

The cry of a corrupted being crushed by a bio-trap punctuated his statent. With the duel over, the hoplites were busy opening paths through the Oasis barrier to farm undead.

Hyshana frowned. “Is this really necessary? We are already struggling with Sun Points to upgrade our defenses, and the new outpost in Valaryth isn’t exactly going to help our finances.”

“It is necessary,” her husband replied. “Ève chose to flee this ti, but she could have killed us all—and lobotomized Priam—by sacrificing herself.”

“Why would she do that?” Louis asked. “We aren’t her enemies.”

“Because she’s insane,” Jasmine snapped.

“It’s hard to grasp unless you et her, but she’s… pathologically unstable,” Priam confird. “I’m not sure if it’s just her fae nature or the sheer amount of mories and experiences she’s absorbed, but her decisions aren’t always logical.”

“The point isn’t whether she will attack us; the point is that she can,” Kazuki summarized. “And if it’s not her, it’s only a matter of ti before soone else targets our mories. Therefore, I support Priam’s suggestion to build these traps and train ourselves in ntal resistance.”

“At the risk of sounding like a broken record, there are far more imdiate threats,” Hyshana reminded them. “If the Fallen decides to attack or activate his suicide ritual, our current barrier won’t hold. Then there are Dishnu’s Tribulations—I saw the look in your eyes, Priam. You want the best for Log-a-rhythm, but Oasis can’t endure the destruction.”

Priam had the decency to blush. “I’m not saying we shouldn’t reinforce our defenses.”

“We are not rich enough to do both. Why not use Potential or Sun Points to unlock these resistances?”

“Because resistance at level one doesn't do much, whereas with a permanent trap, we can gain levels,” Priam said. “Moreover, it's not available directly in the Sun Shop and is expensive in Potential. I know we’ve all unlocked several Achievents, but the System’s asking for nearly a thousand Potential points just for [mory Manipulation Resistance]—and that’s after several discounts thanks to my build.”

“Four thousand Potential points for . I’m too broke to protect myself,” Louis mocked, shaking his head.

Hyshana read a notification that only she could see, her brow furrowing. “Of all the Oasis residents, only the elite would be able to afford such protection with Potential. That’s not what we want,” the general conceded. “I suppose a permanent installation is the best option. Did your add-on give you a quotation?”

“Around five million Sun Points.”

Hyshana raised an eyebrow. “Around?”

“Give or take two million,” Priam admitted. His system didn’t have enough data on Concepts Archipelago to be more precise.

Jasmine burst into laughter. “What’s a million here or there?”

“It’s expensive,” Kazuki said.

“If it were just for , it’d cost a lot less. But I need to build in fail-safes. The goal is to gain resistance, not lose our mories at the first mistake.”

In truth, Priam knew the first prototypes would be imperfect. It would take at least five traps before they would be safe for the weakest of their crafters to use, hence the near-prohibitive cost.

“I guess safety is important. All in favor of Priam’s idea?” Hyshana asked.

Everyone raised their hand, and Hyshana nodded. “Alright, I’ll organize so expeditions to gather as many Sun Points as possible. Half of everyone’s earnings will go into a pool for the mory trap. Agreed?”

Hands went up once again, though Louis clenched his fist in thought.

“Sothing just occurred to … We’re probably all on board with giving the crafters who’ve been here from the start free resistances. But are we going to charge Bertomne, Lamnas, Trap, and whoever else joins us in the future?”

It was a good question, but to Priam, the answer was obvious.

“Without resistance, Ève could turn them into clones. That’s a security risk we can’t afford. I say we offer a basic resistance set, if only to help them feel like they belong.”

“That’s wise,” Hyshana agreed.

“In the long run, five million Sun Points is a small price to pay. Better not to skimp on security,” Kazuki added.

Just like that, Oasis’s safety net was already better than what so pre-Tutorial nations had in place.

Other issues still needed addressing, and everyone raised important points. Decisions were made by a show of hands, most of them unanimous. In a community as small and tight-knit as Oasis, democracy was easy.

“How are we going to deal with the tribes?” Kazuki asked after an hour of discussion.

“Slowly,” Priam proposed. “Let’s wait a month while they organize their tournant. In the anti, we focus on our Tribulations, purifying our bloodlines, tempering our bodies in Valaryth, and grinding the Colosseum for rewards. If everything goes well, we’ll be strong enough to be taken seriously by the Tier 4s.”

Surpassing the Tier 4s in a month was impossible. Braato had led his clan for centuries and could probably survive swallowing a nuke. However, Arnold had proven that he wasn’t omnipotent. If provoking the Champions of Oasis ca at too high a price, their sanctuary would remain relatively safe.

“You still want to enter this tournant?” Louis asked.

“We don’t have a choice. We’re too wealthy.” Seeing his companions’ skeptical looks, Priam explained, “Log-a-rhythm, the Skull Temple, the Auctions, Valaryth, and soon our defenses—all of that has value. In this world, strength is everything. And until we show them our muscles…”

“They’ll treat us like their bitches,” Jasmine finished, making a crude gesture.

“I would’ve put it more politely, but yeah, that’s the idea.”

“On paper, it sounds great, but in reality… I don’t feel ready to face my Tribulations in less than a month,” Jasmine admitted with a grimace.

Priam gave her a wink. “I can help with that.”

Status:

PHYSICAL:

Strength 807

Constitution 1 187

Agility 948

Vitality 1 130

Perception 828

NTAL:

Vivacity (D) 599

Dexterity 690

mory 859

Willpower 1 172

Charisma 767

TA:

ta-affinity 923

ta-focus 444

ta-endurance 804

ta-perception 443

ta-chance 379

ta-authority 258

Potential: 12 327

Tier 0

Sun point: 523 ( 83)

[He Who Eludes Death] charge: PRID

Concepts:

Breath (T0): 100% / DormantFire (T0): 100% / UnityPyro (T1): 95% / SymphonyMist (T1): 100% / Symphony

Bloodlines:

Phoenix: 1%Dragon:

Rewards standing:

Fusion Token - Epic skillEvolution Token - Legendary skillAffinity Token - Tier 1 (30%)Alien Concept fragnt (7th Terror)Bloodline Purification ( 1%)Talent Token - Seraph Rarity (Upgrade)

[Tribulation]: Five Tribulations pending.

Future Tribulations delayed until:

Ti: 152 days 1 hour 42 minutes 12 seconds.

Next thresholds: 12 attributes > 600 / 6 attributes > 900 / 1 attribute > 1 200