When Ves woke up, he brushed a hand over his brown hair and wondered why he ended up on the floor.
"It was.. the data chip!"
Ves tried to find the data chip that dropped him like a log. After a quick search, he only ca across a fried piece of tals and other lted bits. The chip self-destructed after following its programming. He bewilderingly turned his gaze to his wrist communicator, which was still in pristine condition.
"That’s strange. Anything that could have fried this chip should have lted my comm in the process. How could the chip have lted itself without transferring all that heat to my comm unit?"
Cautiously, Ves activated his comm, expecting it to malfunction. Instead, it turned online without a problem. After browsing the nu, he found that nothing changed except for the addition of one new program.
The ch Designer System.
The na already sounded boastful. The act of designing chs was an intricate discipline that required years of study in the fields of chanics, physics, material science and more. Even after graduating from college, you rely got your foot through the door.
It took more than experience and brilliance for a ch designer to achieve true success. Just the thought of having a single app whip up a simple design in a matter of minutes rankled Ves. The re thought of such a software devalued the five years he spent on becoming a ch designer.
Still... his father left him this ’System’ for a reason. Ves had no idea where Ryncol got his hands on this mysterious app. Since he couldn’t get anymore answers, Ves decided to run the app.
[Welco to the ch Designer System. Please design your new ch.]
The ssage ended there, leaving nothing for Ves to follow up. "That’s it?"
[Deep scan complete. Registering new user Ves Larkinson. Welco package granted.]
"Uh, you got anything more than that?"
[Please inspect your Status. To display this page, say Status.]
"Status."
[Status]
Na: Ves Larkinson
Profession: Novice ch Designer
Specializations: None
Design Points: 0
Attributes
Strength: 0.6
Dexterity: 0.7
Endurance: 0.6
Intelligence: 1.2
Creativity: 0.3
Concentration: 0.9
Neural Aptitude: F
Skills
[Assembly]: Novice
[Business]: Apprentice
[Computer Science]: Incompetent
[Mathematics]: Incompetent
[chanics]: Apprentice
[tallurgy]: Apprentice
[Physics]: Novice
Evaluation: Good-for-nothing loser.
"Hey, who are you calling a loser!?"
[User Ves Larksinson is a qualified loser for having spent half of your life wasting away your life. Your frequent diversions have left you ill-prepared for the future. Your inability to pay off your debt is a direct consequence of your ineptitude.]
Ves had to suppress the urge to raise his middle finger. Instead, he challenged this stupid System. "I admit, I used to be a stupid kid, but I cleaned up my act. I’m a ch designer now!"
[It is your lucky day! The ch Designer System is the ultimate tool in this galaxy to design any machine that falls under the category of chs. Any authorized user is allowed to use this System’s many tools to design any ch imaginable with no conceivable limits.]
Who would believe such shaless boasting. "So can I just whip up sothing that weighs a thousand tons, runs at mach 50 and can even travel faster-than-light?"
[Certainly user, but you must design its components and integrate them into a viable design by yourself. If you then wish to fabricate the design using the System, then you will be required to exchange a corresponding energy value expressed in Design Points.]
It sounded ridiculous that a piece of software can just wish a ch into existence with energy alone. "How many Design Points does it take to fabricate a ch. How easy can I earn these points anyway?"
[An average ch requires 1,445,645,313 Design Points in order to be fabricated accurately. Calculating your current combination of attributes and skills. After estimating your capabilities, you are able to earn an average of 3.89 Design Points per day.]
Ves was literally speechless. The System disparaged him again in a roundabout way.
"You seem pretty useless. How am I suppose to get so use out of you if I can only earn about four DP a day?"
[...]
"Yeah, I thought so." Ves muttered quietly. His finger already hovered over his comm, ready to shut down this useless app.
[User, please do not exit the program yet. You have yet to explore the nu, nor have you opened up your welco package.]
"Okay, so give a nu then."
[ch Designer System nu]
Status
Designer
Missions
Skill Tree
Shop
Lottery
Inventory
"User, as a Novice ch Designer, your privileges are limited. You currently do not have access to the Missions, Shop and Lottery nu."
Ves browsed the Designer option first. The System unfolded into a vast holographic design interface that seed to be ripped off from a popular design suite that Ves had frequently used in his student days. The System’s version ca with a lot of additional features, though Ves wasn’t in the mood to explore them right now.
The Skill Tree unfolded even more elaborately, taking up a panoramic view. The most fundantal skills sat at the top. It started with the most basic fields such as chanics and mathematics. Beneath them nested an unfolding expanse of sub-skills that seemingly went on forever. He could upgrade skills as diverse as artistic judgnt.
This Skill Tree alone appeared way too fantastical and unreal. How could anyone improve themselves with the press of a button? All it took to upgrade his skills was to spend a couple of so-called Design Points.
It was fairly uncanny that the system managed to map his current skills pretty accurately. Ves reserved his judgnt for the mont. His father had to have a compelling reason to pass on this absurd piece of software to him. Ves refused to consider the System to be a work of fantasy.
He opened the inventory last. It appeared to be a typical, ga-like interface except he couldn’t store or take out real-universe items. The inventory mainly dealt with storing designs and other virtual content, though it offered the option of storing real items later on.
Naturally, his inventory contained no designs, but he found the vaunted welco package in the miscellaneous tab. He curiously tapped it with his finger.
The holographic box cheerfully opened up accompanied by the faux-celebratory fanfare prevalent in cheap online gas. Three silhouettes floated in front of him, tempting his anticipation a tiny bit even as he remained skeptical of this System.
[Congratulations, you have received 10 Design Points. Please spend them well.]
"Just ten asly Design Points?" Ves exasperatingly questioned.
From browsing the previous nus, he learned that 10 Design Points was only worth peanuts to the System. With this amount, he could neither afford to increase his attributes or upgrade any skills. The paltry amount only afforded him enough to purchase a soda.
He then clicked the next silhouette which revealed three copper lottery tickets. It allowed him to draw three prizes from the system’s lowest-ranked lottery draw.
When Ves activated a ticket, the Lottery page projected a prize wheel. After staring at the wheel in doubt, he spun the large object by heaving a lever with his arm.
[You have failed to draw a prize from your copper lottery ticket. Please draw again.]
[You have failed to draw a prize from your copper lottery ticket. Please draw again.]
[You have failed to draw a prize from your copper lottery ticket. Please draw again.]
"Really, even the lottery tickets from the convenience store aren’t so stingy."
After using up the lottery tickets, The System’s final present unfolded. The silhouette faded away, revealing a small chanical cat.
The pet displayed on the hologram seed no different from any of the other artificial intelligences available on the galactic net. Popular with little girls around the galaxy, these virtual pets offered companionship and distraction without the hassle of taking care of a real animal.
"So you got a virtual cat. Whoop-die-doo."
[You are mistaken user. This gold-ranked auxiliary companion is an extrely rare random draw from the welco package. Congratulations on acquiring your new gem cat.]
The creature in front of Ves shifted. The holographic interface dimd as the projection of the chanical cat brightened.
The cat thudded on the floor with an audible thump. Just as Ves thought the System was tricking him, the cat owed and physically brushed his leg with its very real body.
"What?"
This couldn’t be happening. The cat felt real. Ves bent down and put his hands around the light tallic shell of the cat and lifted it in front of his face. The cat questioningly purred as it beheld its new owner while Ves processed its appearance.
His communicator was just a basic model. It didn’t possess the fancy micro fabrication options that ca with premium models.
Even if his comm turned into premium model overnight, it was impossible to fabricate a chanical animal larger than a mosquito. His comm simply couldn’t store the required materials. Who knew how the cat ca into existence. The System’s workings already broke the bounds of reality.
[Do not be surprised user. As the ultimate design tool for chs, the ch Designer System is able to utilize [REDACTED] to instantly fabricate any design or item you have exchanged at the shop at the cost of Design Points.]
Only until now did it sink in that Ves’ father had left him an impossibly amazing software. Though he understood very little so far, he was fairly certain that whoever created this System was light-years ahead of even the most advanced human scientists. He guessed that the System might be hiding so massive secrets, so of which may even involve alien technologies.
These questions were so far above Ves’ tiny head that he simply set them aside for the mont. He had more imdiate concerns.
"This cat is kind of cute." Ves remarked as he scratched the chanical creature’s head. "Is it supposed to do sothing more than beg for scratches and hugs?"
[Concentrate on the gem cat in order to call up its Status.]
[Pet Status]
Na: None
Owner: Ves Larkinson
Rank: Gold [Exclusive]
Level: 1
Skills
[Gem Excretion I]
"What kind of a skill is Gem Excretion?"
"Concentrate on the skill to see further details."
[Gem Excretion]
The ability to convert low value materials into rare gemstones of a higher value through manual absorption, digestion and excretion. These gemstones provide random benefits helpful to any ch that incorporates them into their design. Certain raw materials have a higher emphasis on the benefits that the resulting gemstones can express.
It took half a minute for the description to sink in with Ves. From what he could understand, this cat ate minerals digested it into gems. These gems ought to be quite valuable depending on their effects. He might be able to earn so quick cash if he sold these shiny gems.
[Do not overestimate the gem cat. At level 1, the pet can only excrete one gem per week.]
Ves sighed in disappointnt. The cat booped his nose with its soft paw.
"Well I’m better off now than before, so I’ve got no grounds to complain. As for you, let call you Lucky, since I’m counting on you to be my lucky charm."
The ch cat adorably owed in response, indicating that its artificial intelligence possessed at least so form of low sentience.
Ves searched the cabinets of his workshop and scrounged up a pile of loose ore. The random materials were likely left by the previous owner that his father didn’t bother to tidy up when he bought them second-hand.
Ves took a head-sized chunk and the small cat sohow managed to gobble up the entire thing in a clear violation of the laws of physics. There was no way a normal chanical cat could fit so much material in its cat-sized belly.
"Okay, this is clearly another freaky thing in a long list of impossibilities. No use cracking my head over these miracles. I’ve to take care of my money problem first."
Ves dropped the cat and left it to explore the workshop alone. he approached his desk and turned on the computer terminal in order to do so research.
He briefly went over the manuals of the machines in his workshop. He found that they were basic but reliable models, and didn’t differ much from what he used during his studies.
He then checked the prices of chs, parts and raw materials at the public markets. Cloudy Curtain was just a regular boring residential planet, fad for its colorful clouds rather than any industry, so its ch market was anemic.
If Ves wanted to sell his products to a viable market, then he needed access to the bigger trading nodes nestled in the heart of the Bright Republic. Not anyone qualified to do so. Ves lacked both reputation and a track record. Even if he did gain access, he lacked the capital to acquire the raw resources needed to fabricate a ch.
"It takes money to to make money."
That was one of the most important lesson he learned in college. Surprisingly, he did quite well in his business classes. Ves owed this achievent due to his aspirations. It also helped that the classes only involved simple math.
After half a day of research, Ves gained a clearer idea on the viability of his new enterprise.
He gave up on producing a physical product. The areas of ch design, ch customization or ch fabrication all required substantial capital in order to step foot in them. He needed at least several million credits upfront.
The only economically viable market where he could realistically offer his services was in the field of ch repair and maintenance. However, his workshop was limited by its scale, and without a reputation he doubted he could attract any custors.
He needed to make a start in a market with a low barrier of entry, one that didn’t demand any prior investnt. Ves made a resigned look at the section of gas on his terminal.
IRON SPIRIT - The most exclusive galactic ch simulator in the galaxy!
Iron Spirit was not the most played online ga on the market. However, its esports broadcasts attracted a very wide audience, allowing the ga to foster a large and diverse creator’s market.
The reason for the ga’s success could be attributed to its adherence to reality. Iron Spirit emulated reality so well that players had to buy or rent expensive simulation pods to pilot a ch. It turned the player base into an elitist club that served as a decent simulation to actual ch combat.
The BSBH Corporation stuck to the creed of realism so much that its virtual chs had to be fabricated within its simulated ecosystem in a realistic manner. Only the mainstream ch models could be bought off-the-shelf.
The true high performing chs in the ga were all customized or original designs that could be sold for either gold, the virtual currency, or with real credits. Unlike piloting a virtual ch, Iron Spirit didn’t demand its designers to be a potentate, so even an average norm like Ves could engage in its virtual market.
As Ves registered a ch designer’s account in the ga, he ca across a few snags. He had to pony up a registration fee of 800 bright credits. This wiped out more than half of his remaining savings.
When the ga approved his account, he encountered another barrier. Customizing any existing design required the purchase of a so-called virtual license. The licenses for the cheapest parts started at around 10,000 credits, while the licenses for the most outdated 1-star chs were valued at 100,000 credits.
"I’m such an idiot for forgetting the licensing fees."
BSBH apparently didn’t want its virtual ch market to be flooded by a tsunami of awful designs.
With no other way out, Ves turned on his wrist communicator and started up the ch Designer System. "Hey System, I don’t have the money to afford a virtual license. Can you lend a hand?"
The System accessed his terminal through a wireless connection. It took only a dozen seconds to scan the entire ga and absorb additional information from the galactic net.
[Tutorial mission received. Please enter the Missions page to browse the details.]
Ves obediently turned to the Missions page of the System.
[Mission]
Mission: Tutorial Part 1 - Your First Design
Difficulty: F-Rank
Prerequisites: Be an idiot who can’t solve his own problems
Description
As a ch designer, it is shaful that you have not completed a single design that is ready for sale. Use the ch Designer System and the provided ch model to design a customized ch that has a minimum deviance of 10% and a performance improvent of 2% of its base model.
Reward: A random 1-star virtual ch license. A random 1-star virtual component license.
"This sounds doable. Can I ask how you’re able to reward with those virtual licenses?"
[Nothing is impossible to the ch Designer System. With enough Design Points, the user may even be able to achieve immortality. Please increase your ch designer rank for a more detailed answer.]
Yeah right. Ves guessed the System had so way of hacking into Iron Spirit’s servers. In order to preserve his sanity, Ves stopped his inquiry and instead turned his attention to the Designer mode.
It wasn’t until Ves saw what kind of licenses he had to work with that he practically spat out blood.
"This is impossible!"
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