Chapter 394: Essence extractor
Chapter 394: Essence extractor
Nothing much happened that night after Kevin got a throat job from Emma. He noticed her looking frustrated and even saw her masturbating as she came to bed, but there was no further interaction. Maria was already fast asleep when he came up, so without much else to do, he crawled into bed, hugging his Mother. He pressed her soft body close to him, feeling the warmth of her breast against his chest, and soon drifted off to sleep.
The morning started off much the same. Riya and Lora were full of questions about his date, teasing him about Key as if she were his new girlfriend.
"So, how was your date with Key?" Riya asked with a grin.
"Yeah, spill the details!" Lora chimed in.
Kevin shrugged, trying to play it cool. "It was alright. Just hung out."
"Just hung out?" Riya laughed. "Come on, we need more than that!"
As they continued to tease, Kevin noticed Maria getting jealous and Emma giving him suspicious looks. Not wanting to fan any flames, he kept his responses short.
"Really, guys, it wasn't a big deal," he said, glancing at Maria, who was pretending to focus on her phone.
Finally, he excused himself. "Anyway, I gotta head to the store. Got something important coming in today."
"What is it?" Lora asked.
"Come over if you want to know," he said, giving Maria a quick peck on the cheek before heading out. "Bye, Mom."
"Bye, love," Maria replied with a beaming smile, happy by his kiss.
Instead, he focused on getting to the store, his excitement building. Today, he was finally going to receive the essence extractor.
It was late morning when Kevin reached the store. All three employees were busy tending to customers. After greeting them, he headed straight to his makeshift office and took a seat. "System, how many Omni token do I have now?" he asked.
[Omni token: 44340]
A system window appeared in front of his eyes, and Kevin's excitement grew as he read the number. "Finally..." he muttered, then continued, "System, I want to acquire the essence extractor."
[Essence Extractor
Price: 44,000 Omni Token
Quest: Store Upgrade Requirement]
[Do you want to buy the Essence Extractor for 44,000 Omni Token?]
[Please confirm with, Yes or No]
The system panel appeared in front of his face. Kevin nodded and said, "Yes, I want to buy." [Congratulations! The Essence Extractor acquired. 44,000 Omni Token have been deducted from your total. Remaining balance: 340 Omni Token.]
Kevin's heart ached seeing the remaining tokens. He had earned every single one through hard work, and now they were nearly gone in an instant. Well, not entirely gone, he reminded himself as he heard the system's voice in his head and saw the panel appear.
[The store is expanding to add the Essence Extractor.]
As he heard this, he watched in surprise as the small storeroom began expanding in real-time. Curious, he looked out at the storefront to see if it was also changing. To his greater surprise, everyone outside was frozen in place, as if time had stopped. But it wasn't expanding like the store room.
"System, did you do this?" Kevin asked, looking around. Sia was frozen in the act of taking a herb from a shelf, Chloe was paused mid-conversation with a burly man while showing him swords, and Amy was bending down to grab items from the bottom shelf, a young man staring at her chest with lecherous eyes.
[Yes, host,] the system confirmed.
Kevin didn't need to ask why. It was obvious the system wanted to prevent anyone from witnessing the store expanding on its own. Such an event would be impossible for anyone to explain. As he observed the frozen scene, the system's voice sounded again.
[Store expansion completed.]
[New equipment added: Essence Extractor.]
The people who had been frozen in time resumed their activities as if nothing had happened. Kevin, ignoring the commotion outside, made his way to the back room. To his amazement, the small storage area had expanded and now featured a dividing wall, creating two distinct rooms. The first room retained its familiar appearance, while the second room was better lit, cleaner, and housed an advanced-looking machine at its center: the Essence Extractor. Kevin's heart raced as he stepped into the newly expanded section of the store. The second room gleamed with pristine cleanliness, illuminated by bright overhead lights that cast a clinical glow over the advanced-looking machine in the center. The Essence Extractor was an imposing device, about the height of a person, made of sleek, polished metal with a digital control panel on one side. It had various compartments and tubes that seemed ready to process whatever was fed into it.
Curious, Kevin approached the machine and reached out to touch it. The system panel materialized in front of him, offering detailed information:
[Essence Extractor
Description: The Essence Extractor is an advanced piece of alchemical equipment designed to extract the purest essence from various materials, including herbs, ores, and other natural resources. This essence can be used for crafting, enhancements, and other purposes. Use Omni token for extraction.
To learn how to use, please refer to the instruction manual.]
Kevin's excitement surged as he read through the system's detailed description. His earlier speculation about the extractor's purpose had been spot on, and seeing its functionality confirmed his hopes. Another one of his guesses had also proven correct-he had anticipated that the system would require omni tokens or something similar for operation, which it indeed did. Making his excitement fall a bit but as long as the usage wasn't excessive, he reasoned, it should be manageable.
To gather more information, he turned his attention to a small book that had appeared alongside the machine, nestled on a table in the newly expanded room. Around it were various items such as empty glass bottles and other equipment, all seeming to be part of the essence extraction process.
With profit in his mind, he began to read through the manual.