The Caesar is a powerful monster for its level.. but only if you are a normal awakener.

If you're someone who, say, was able to hold his own against Musashi's Third Sword though..

"I'll be a monkey's uncle. That actually hurt.. I'm kidding, I've had vaccination shots that hurt more than that!" Jake said as he grinned at the Caesar that managed to claw three large gashes in his chest, right before he used the Blue as a pair of brass knuckles and blew out the monster's head in one punch.

That was the last of the batch of Caesar monsters Jake summoned with the microphone and amplifier, and thus he sat down and applied what looked like a green healing salve to his wounds.

Once that was done, he trudged off to a nearby tree and sat down, looking at nothing in particular, but Liam and the rest of the party knew that Jake was shopping while he was resting.

Several hours later, when his wounds were fully healed, Jake's party realized something.

'Jake's singing voice is getting better,' they thought as he sang on the microphone and amplifier to draw the monsters' attention to him, and then repeating the process of getting himself beat up and wounded.

Singing voice aside, everyone looked at Jake like he had grown a second head, but Liam was the only one who knew what was up.

'Another shopping event; I guess Jake does the weirdest things for his shopping fanaticism,' Liam thought. 'Still, though, I have to wonder: what is he trying to buy by getting beaten up like this? I know he's got something on his mind, just like the time he bought an honest-to-goodness motorcycle.'

'Either Jake bought it because it was discounted, or he's playing a prank on me.. or both at the same time,' Liam continued, wincing about the time he got an electric scooter after Jake's bike purchase.

Liam wanted to ask, but Jake was working at top efficiency: taking only the minimum amount of time required to heal his wounds completely, then going back into the zone where the Caesars were gathered and started singing to taunt them to attack him.

***

"Cash.. rules everything.. around me.. it's cream, cream, cream.. get in my bank account.. making bank never stops.."

True to his constant use of the microphone, Jake's singing voice had now gotten a lot better.

It helped that he felt wonderful, he couldn't help but sing.

'Status window,' Jake thought, and saw how far he'd come.

[Name: Jake Smithson

Level: 1

Class: Shopping Addict

Basic Stats

Strength: 100

Agility: 100

Intelligence: 20

Mana: 30

Advanced Stats

Physical Defense: 35

Magic Defense: 35

Luck: 50

Skills:

Shopping (Awakening Store (Diamond Label), Superstore (VIP Access))

Great Sword Mastery Lv. 5

Cherry Blossom Sword Art Lv. 5

Even Flow Lv. 5

Haste Lv. 4

Dual-Wield Lv. 4

Omni-Pierce Lv. 4

Cloud Walk Lv. 4

Body Application Lv. 5

Aqua Blade Lv. 4]

'About freaking time! Jake exulted within as he sang. Stats are up to specifications; defense is up to specifications. Grind time is over.'

He finally got to raise both his strength and agility to 100. He was also able to get his physical and magic defense also achieved 35.

Jake's stats were, put simply, overpowered – especially for an awakener who finished the tutorial less than a year ago.

How many people in Nohas are this powerful? A hundred or so? But Jake never really cared about that.

The only thing that matters is that he met the requirements both the Superstore and Awakening Store asked of him.

'Eat, sleep, grind, repeat. If you do it efficiently, you don't waste time. Good job, Jake Smithson. You're finally getting good at this.'

After chewing on lozenges and getting the stuffing kicked out of him by monsters for the past several days, Jake was able to attain the stats that both stores asked him to acquire.

All the points he gained from hunting monsters were used for lozenges from the Awakening Store and healing salves from the Superstore.

Finally, when he stepped into the Superstore, he immediately made a beeline for the Superstore Customs.

[WALK STROOOOOOOONG! Normal it, sir! Great work! How does it feel to be a REAL MAN? Awesome, huh?]

Thanks to Jake being unable to purchase the Legendary Creature egg due to focusing on increasing his stats, he went to the Superstore Custom catalog first, despite the event with it starting later than the Awakening Store Diamond Label access event.

'Don't bore us – get to the chorus! Love your store, but you tend to ramble on.'

[Welcome to Superstore Customs: a real shop for a real man! With real resilience! Ta-da!]

'Wait, did that sound just play when I pressed the text?' Jake thought nervously.

As he entered the shop, at last, the crystallization of his excitement appeared before his eyes.

[Superstore Customs!

Where Real Men Stand Out from the Rest!

First, choose an item from the list, and then choose from a list of customization options available.

Send us the options you want, and we'll give you a quotation of the item price and production period.

Item List

1. Weapons

2. Armor

3. Accessories

4. Other Goods]

Jake was expecting something more than this.. but the catalog was surprisingly.. bland.

The "special feeling" he was anticipating was slowly replaced by disappointment.

"What the.." Jake muttered, "what is that?"

He looked through the "Weapons" category, and soon after he leafed through the first page of the catalog, Jake Smithson found that he had the sudden urge to kick himself.

'My God, Jake, what kind of moron are you? Don't get yourself hyped like that again!'

Jake ended up falling for the Superstore Customs, and thought up a litany of four-letter words after realizing the fact.

***

"Don't you think Mr. Smithson has been acting strange lately?"

"Is that right?" Kelderian asked back, tilting his head as he recalled Jake's purchase log as of the past few days.

The logs were showing something strange, and based on how Jake's shopping pattern went, this wasn't making any sense.

"What is keeping you on the Gold Label, Mr. Smithson?" Kelderian asked; with his purchasing power, Jake should have gained Diamond Label access long ago.

"Indeed. This is strange."

"So far, he's fulfilled all the requirements for Diamond Label save one: the Legendary Creature egg, right?"

Kelderian can't see Jake's stats, but based on the tomes and lozenges Jake purchased, he could make an educated guess as to what Jake's stats are.

"He's probably got to 100 strength and agility some time ago, probably cleared 30 luck as well."

"If that's the case, why hasn't he purchased a Legendary Creature egg yet? Is there something stopping him?"

If the stats and purchasing end has been taken care of, what is keeping Jake Smithson from buying a Legendary Creature egg?

Expense? Sure, the item is expensive, but expense has never been something to stop Jake Smithson, which eliminates the reason of him disliking Legendary Creatures.

"It's strange. Does this mean he doesn't like having a Legendary Creature for a pet or companion?"

"I know, right? It's hard to imagine that – Legendary Creatures are really helpful to awakeners in many ways, improving their hunt for monsters significantly."

"I honestly have no idea, sir.." the employee replied, shaking his head because he couldn't figure out what Jake was after.

"Then try to figure it out! Isn't that what you're paid to do?" Kelderian asked, suddenly angry.

"Yes, sir? How can I do that? I'm not a mind reader," the employee replied. 'Fuck this. I'm sending in my two weeks' notice after this. He just beat me to the company a few weeks and he thinks he can bitch at me like this?'

Unfortunately, to the employees of the Nohas branch, Kelderian is reduced to a nag if he runs into a bad day at work.

'Sigh, but it would cost a lot to look for more work..'

"I'm not asking if you know what Jake Smithson is thinking! The logs are there, the other store is here, it's your job to read between the lines. That's what you get when you say 'I don't know' every single time I ask you a question!"

Kelderian's tone of voice had lowered, but he was still prepared to continue talking, and the employee was about to take everything he heard in one ear and send it out the other.

Except he never got a chance to, due to the notification appearing.

[Mr. Jake Smithson has qualified for the Diamond Label.

Everyone stopped to see the notification, and rushed to check if Jake really did qualify.

"What.. what's going on? Did he really buy the Legendary Creature egg?"

"On it now, checking it!"

Kelderian never heard of Jake buying an egg like that, how did he qualify for the Diamond Label?

"What's going on?" Kelderian asked, anxiety beginning to fill his heart. "Did he buy it or not?"

And sure enough, the staff responded on cue: "He didn't."

His anxiety was perfectly founded: if he didn't buy the egg, then how did he gain access to the Diamond Label?

Kelderian had an epiphany.

"Urean!" he cried out. "You.. magnificent bastard! I bought your book!"

***

The item Jake wanted to buy next was already set: a Legendary Creature egg.

He plans on putting every other purchase into the back burner until after this one.

'Can't just buy any egg,' Jake thought as he was choosing the eggs of Legendary Creatures very carefully. 'This is going to be something like a pet. I mean, if I'm going to pick out a family member, I'm going to have to do my homework, right?'

Lost in thoughts, he thoughtlessly entered the Superstore Customs.

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'Legendary Creature egg?' Jake asked, as he found the item also being sold there unexpectedly. 'Wait, you guys can customize Legendary Creature eggs, too?

How do you do it? Eggs aren't weapons. Very curious.'

He read the description of the Legendary Creature egg customization brochure.

[We at Superstore Customs have our unique, trademarked, and patented method of injecting mana to Legendary Creature eggs to add a wide variety of options.]

'So, that's all they'll say, huh?'

[Believe us when we tell you: IT JUST WORKS.]

'All right, then. If that's the case, I'd like to add some options to it, of course..' Jake thought. 'I need a custom egg, but I can't stop my quest for the Diamond Label.. what to do, what to do..'

'Wait a minute. They said I could obtain a Legendary Creature's egg. They didn't tell me exactly where I could buy it, right?'

He went back to the Awakening Store's event page and read the words carefully, and as soon as he read the relevant passage, a smile was on his face.

'I knew it! The event never specified where I would acquire it. Their condition said that I needed a Legendary Creature egg, not where it was from.

Okay, I can get to the Diamond Label, thanks to a Legendary Creature egg with customization options of my choice from Superstore Customs!

Well, this is how you hunt for bargains. The world of buying and selling is merciless, after all.'

While the Awakening Store may think they are being exploited, it's a lesson they must learn about wording their events carefully. Also, they need to understand that shopping is for the shopper's sake, not for the shopping mall: the mall is the conduit from the manufacturer to the buyer.

This is also why all shoppers must exercise good judgment.

'Now, what shall we buy?'

After Jake got over his pity for the Awakening Store, he turned to the Legendary Creature eggs displayed at the Superstore Customs, under 'Other Items'.

A few minutes of browsing later, one of them caught Jake's attention.

***