Nathan opened the Weapon Tuning menu again.
The familiar interface appeared before him, displaying upgrade paths, descriptions, and… the costs.
Though this time, he wasn't merely skimming.
He was studying them thoroughly — and about to make financially irresponsible decisions with full confidence.
"…Okay," he whispered, eyes narrowing slightly as he read through the options again.
Suppressor upgrades.
Magazine extensions.
Barrel modifications.
And all the other good stuff.
Each one more tempting than the last — except for the grip upgrade. It would improve handling comfort, sure, but he already felt quite good with the gun in its current state, so it was the lowest priority for now.
He leaned back slightly, thinking.
Alright… last priority check before splurging.
Step one: don't die.
Step two: don't alert the flying nuclear war crime in form of a winged-lizard that already hates me.
Step three: everything else.
"…Yeah," he nodded to himself. "Suppressor first."
After a moment of contemplation—
—and a brief internal debate that included "but what if bigger magazine first?" versus "but what if the dragon hears you and deletes you from the gene pool?"—
He made his choice.
Upgrade!
A faint pulse ran through the system.
[Suppressor Upgraded: Lv.1 → Lv.3
• Further reduces firing sound, muzzle flash, and recoil.]
Nathan immediately pulled the weapon out and tested it on a wooden target.
*Bam.*
It was a lot quieter than before, and the recoil felt almost nonexistent — but he was still worried that a dragon capable of noticing missing trees from miles away would hear it.
So he upgraded it once more before testing again.
*Phew…*
He blinked in surprise.
"…Oh."
He fired again.
*Phew…*
His eyes lit up.
"…Oh, that sounds beautiful."
The gun no longer sounded like a real suppressed firearm.
It sounded like… video game logic.
Soft, clean, polite even — like it was asking for permission before killing something.
Nathan stared at it in awe.
This… this is peak technology.
He lowered the pistol slowly, nodding in approval.
"Yeah," he muttered. "We're definitely not getting dragon-sniped because of noise anymore."
That was the plan… at least.
Because if that dragon showed up again?
He doubted the same 'paragraph-long' trick would work twice.
The problem, though?
That single upgrade chain had cost him 2,700 SC in total — dropping his balance to under a thousand in just a few minutes.
"…Alright," Nathan continued, sliding back into focus. "How about we jump into the next problem?"
He opened the menu again.
[Magazine Upgrades]
His eyes immediately locked onto it.
"…Yeah, this one's obvious." He didn't even hesitate this time. "Because reloading sucks."
That was the entire reasoning.
And it was valid one.
"Although reloading has something undeniably satisfying to it," he added. "doing so while hearing zombies' growls come from every angle doesn't feel really good."
He glanced back at the upgrade window.
Since he was already on a spending spree, Nathan decided to fully commit into it and bought another upgrade.
The system chimed softly as he confirmed it.
[Magazine upgraded: Lv.1 → Lv.2 — Ammo Capacity: 15 → 33]
[Sight Upgraded: Lv.1 → Lv.2 — Laser Sight Added]
Nathan stared.
"That's more than double the capacity." He watched the changes with beaming eyes. "…But why can the laser sight only be bought after adding a red dot first?"
"Not gonna lie," he added, "this feels like a cult registration that forces you to buy merch as part of the process."
"Well," he sighed, "the red dot is still useful for long range, while the laser sight is probably better for close encounters — it basically trivializes aiming."
He studied the pistol illustration on the screen.
The magazine was visibly longer now — extended, chunkier. And beneath the barrel, a laser sight was mounted with full confidence.
Oh yeah, that'll be illegal in at least three countries.
[SC: 819 → 19]
"…Absolutely worth it," he instantly concludes.
Eight hundred SC… gone. No regrets.
But then — another notification appeared.
[The standard magazine has been stored.]
Nathan frowned.
"…Wait, what?" he squinted. "Stored? What does that even mean—"
He immediately opened his storage… and there it was.
[The Revenant's Standard Magazine — Ammo: 15/15]
Nathan blinked for several times.
Then slowly — very slowly — his expression shifted.
"…Oh."
A heartbeat.
"…Oh."
Another heartbeat.
"…OHHHH!"
Heartbeat intensifies.
For a brief moment, Natsu could only stare in confusion at his antics — then she quietly returned to tending the campfire, suddenly finding the mundane task far more entertaining than it usually was.
Nathan's grin spread wide and dangerous.
The kind of grin that usually appeared on a speedrunner's face after discovering a game-breaking exploit.
So it's not replacing the magazine… it's giving me a new one.
And to top it off — it's coming fully loaded.
His eyes sparkled instantly.
Which meant—
"…That's basically free ammo," he whispered.
Then paused.
"...That costs six hundred SC…"
A brief silence.
"…But we don't talk about that part!"
Nathan immediately pulled out the pistol, ejected the magazine, and swapped it with the original one.
Then he reopened the Weapon Tuning menu.
The option was still there — upgradeable… again.
Nathan stared at it like a caveman discovering fire for the first time.
"…No way."
He tapped it again.
The option remained — available and repeatable.
His grin returned, stronger.
"…Loophole detected — o-okay, maybe not. Might be an intended feature."
He leaned back slightly, clearly pleased with himself.
Okay… okay… think about this.
I can carry multiple full magazines in storage.
Instant reload — just swap the magz like in video games.
And in desperate situations…
I can literally 'reload' by upgrading mid-fight.
He paused.
…That'll be expensively stupid.
"Yeah… that's the catch — but I love it."
He was still grinning.
Because honestly?
That was a problem for future Nathan.
He leaned back slightly, resting against a nearby log as the firelight flickered across his face.
—————————————
The Revenant
W/ Lv.2 Barrel | Lv.4 Suppressor | Lv.2 Sight (Maxed) | Lv.2 Magazine (Maxed)
Firepower: 1.0
Ammo: 33 + 1 / 33
—————————————
The sky above had turned a deep orange, slowly dimming as evening crept in.
Night was coming, and with it—
Monsters.
He glanced toward Natsu briefly.
She was still focused on the fire, gently adjusting the wood, her movements calm and practiced.
For a moment—
Things felt… quiet.
Quietly normal… peaceful.
Nathan looked back up at the sky.
"…If only I had more money," he muttered softly, then smirked. "Life would be so much easier."
He paused — then muttered to himself:
"…What am I even talking about? That just stating the obvious."