Absolute Shopping Addict 36 Chapter 36

A history whose roots have yet to be truly discovered.

In the pa.s.sing of time, Nohas built its own civilization, with awakeners putting down their roots in Nohas: getting married, having children, starting their own families, basically.

And with this growth, came change: awakeners summoned from the East called their a.s.sociations of awakeners 'divisions'; their colleagues from the West called theirs 'guilds'.

From there, divisions and guilds in Nohas began to grow, both in number and in members.h.i.+p.

"It honestly depends on how you perform during this evaluation," a division handler had said. "Various divisions may send you an invitation: should you receive multiple invitations, you can choose one at your own discretion – what would fit you the best.

This was how novice awakeners – those who had just finished the tutorial area – joined divisions here.

"You'll pick up the important bits about the division you're in at first, and the rest will be made known to you gradually, during the process. There are awakeners who also manage personnel within each division – feel free to ask them for help whenever you can."

Every awakener that is summoned to the main cities have their own chance to join divisions: depending on their skill, a division is usually chosen for them.

"Divisions, huh?"

"Do I have to join them?"

"Is there some sort of a requirement?"

The novice awakeners who heard this explanation began to ask a number of questions; after all, there was too little information about Nohas proper or divisions for them to make an informed decision.

"Do not be confused, as this place is not a completely lawless zone; each division makes its own laws for its members. They also have their own skills and items, products of generations of continuous research, the kind of discoveries individuals would find difficult to accomplish on their own. You may have lucked out in the tutorial, but your items are nothing compared to what you can get when affiliated with a division. Is this a good enough explanation for you?"

The reason behind the existence of divisions implies another fact: the stronger the division, the safer the awakener.

A weak division will, in principle, have trouble keeping its members safe, which is why the evaluation process is very important.

"From this point forward, you will have to meet with each division and get the relevant information before the evaluation begins. From here on out, there are no alarms or notifications – you're on your own. Good luck."

The awakener finished his explanation and finally allowed the novice awakeners to depart the town square, where they were directed to signs from various divisions.

***

"Ten Stars, huh?" Jake Smithson asked as he saw the other novice awakeners guided by division members here and there.

He cut an imposing figure in front of the novice awakeners, and even some of the already-established ones in the town square of Kingsville.

His equipment had something to do with it, but there was also another thing.

The fact that he faced the awakener who tried to stare down the novice awakeners before making his explanation about divisions was also another.

"Are you trying to start something or do you just want the attention of the new blood?" he had asked, and the situation was resolved without any violence as the misunderstanding was cleared up.

Thanks to that, he gained a lot of attention from other novice awakeners.

And unlike other awakeners, he was waiting for his evaluation comfortably, almost as if he was used to that kind of activity.

"That's right," the cloaked man beside him replied. "There are weak divisions, strong divisions, and then there are the Ten Stars: ten divisions who actually control the entirety of Nohas."

While Jake was doing his little p.i.s.sing contest with the awakener, someone else was gathering information.

He was gauging what was going on by deliberately getting attention and using that as a diversion.

In Nohas, the saying 'knowledge is power' is less a truth and more a way of life.

It's the kind of thing that you'd need to do if you want to be shopping.

Jake learned that lesson the hard way during the calamity-level fights, and even if this annoying thing is somehow lessening his time for shopping, he did need information.

While Jake was seeing how established awakeners reacted to him, Liam was gathering information – when the crowd of novice awakeners began to disperse, Liam was now sharing what he found out.

It was during the wake of the Skeleritter fight that the criminology student decided to throw his lot in with this eccentric but powerful awakener.

When he found out that other awakeners from Brino stayed away from them, Liam decided that it was the right decision to make, and despite these circ.u.mstances, ended up making a powerful team with Jake.

"Control over the entirety of Nohas…" Jake mused, "so these guys are the strongest after all, aren't they?"

Ten divisions currently wield the most power over the whole of Nohas. Dubbed the "Ten Stars", these divisions rule over the land through sheer strength of force alone.

It was a stark reminder that in Nohas, power is everything.

"That's right," Liam replied, "Kingsville is controlled by divisions founded by Koreans; two of these are part of the 'Ten Stars'."

"How surprising," Jake said, before closing his eyes for a moment to think.

Two out of the "Ten Stars" are divisions consisting of Korean members, but race or nationality means little within Nohas, what with the many different kinds of people all living together and interacting.

Liam further explained that these "Korean" divisions only meant that someone originally from Korea founded the division – nothing more.

Today, one of these Korean divisions had a lot of members who weren't Korean.

Jake's eyes shot open and turned to Liam.

"Any dirt on how they'll be evaluating the novices?"

"Combat between awakeners. It's a lot like MMA."

'Well now,' Jake thought. 'The evaluation is a lot simpler than I thought. Nothing better to figure out how strong the novice awakeners are.'

Jake voiced the problem that turned up in his head.

"Combat? With so many novice awakeners here?"

The number of novice awakeners here would make the evaluation go for a month, or even longer.

"I heard that the preliminary round will be a group event: fifty novice awakeners go into one room; last five standing moves on; and that's where the fun really begins."

"I see," Jake said. "That's a sensible way of doing it."

Fortunately, a solution to the possible problem already existed.

'That's how you weed the weaklings out.'

Even though only five people from each group would advance, there would still be a sizable amount of awakeners remaining.

The awakeners who don't make the cut will typically end up with the weaker divisions, just to sh.o.r.e up their numbers.

'I haven't figured everything out yet about this place, but I already have a bad feeling -- those who aren't included in those five will have a pretty rough go of it ahead.

Didn't you hear it as soon as you got here? Power is everything here.

Failing here will give a very bad first impression to other awakeners. Your advancement will be impeded by other awakeners labeling you 'weak'.

A world where power isn't different from rank. d.a.m.n it.'

The cruelty of this world was made known when Jake found out how the evaluation would go – but he reacted to this development with annoyance rather than worry.

'All this c.r.a.p is cutting into my shopping time.'

Every new development that came to him was deemed a distant concern over what his real urges were.

He hadn't shopped in a while, and he was quickly starting to feel the symptoms of withdrawal.

Why?

Jake Smithson spent the 45 days in a point-fueled shopping frenzy – if he wasn't cleaning out the Awakening Store, he was cleaning out monster lairs for points.

The extreme indulgence of his addiction bore fruit, as the fingers of both his hands were filled with jeweled rings, his wrists each had gold watches, and several gold necklaces were adorning his neck.

And true to form, he purchased another bed and couch once more, just like the one that Skeleritter b.a.s.t.a.r.d destroyed several weeks ago.

But to Jake, that wasn't enough: in the midst of all this, he was daydreaming about the next item to buy.

'That Divine Blade looked really fancy. I should probably pick it up.'

Despite not needing anything in particular, Jake still wanted to continue shopping: even though he already had two swords for both hands, he still felt like buying another sword from the catalog.
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This is the reason for his annoyance: the time he spent on this evaluation would mean less time for shopping.

"Did anyone tell you where the monsters were, Liam?"

"Not around here."

"What?"

"Do you still think about hunting, I mean, shopping here?"

Jake's relaxed posture changed immediately once the implications of what happened set in.

'No monsters around, no way to collect points… status window.'

[Name: Jake Smithson

Member Cla.s.s: Pa.s.sionate Member

Installment limit: 300,000

Remaining Installment: 31,000.

Payment date: D-29]

'I don't have much time to pay off the remainder of my installment.'

Due to Jake's 45-day shopping and hunting spree, his monthly limit increased by 90,000 points – it was now a gigantic 300,000 points that he had to play around with.

However, the remaining credit fell short, because as soon as he repaid the installment completely, he spent another 270,000 points in just one day.

Soon after that, he was summoned to Kingsville, where there were no monsters to hunt.

Which meant that Jake only had 30,000 points to work with until the evaluations end.

'What is it? That means I'm forced to… budget… until the evaluation is over, right?' Jake thought, his expression now sporting irritation.

"This is how I do things, understand? We need monsters! No monsters, no shopping! Let's go find monsters to hunt, Liam."

"And how are we going to do that?"

"Tell those divisions or whatever they're called to start the evaluation for us as soon as possible. Then, let's withdraw in the middle of the evaluation and go out of town to start hunting monsters!"

***

There is a saying that goes, "If you know your enemy and yourself, you will never fail."

This is not an idiom that exists only on Earth.

It's a bit of wisdom that has appeared in other dimensions in different phases of time.

Also, it is Veilon's favorite quote.

'You need to know who you're dealing with if you want to win in the first place.'

The core of winning a wager is to understand how the other person ticks.

'Our investigation into this guy was insufficient last time.'

The last wager he had with Jake was, admittedly, ill-prepared.

'Now, though, it's a different matter altogether. After 45 days of feverish market research, I'm going to face off against this freak all over again!

I've never felt this much excitement in my life!'

After the Skeleritter was defeated, there were 45 days available before the tutorial period ended across all the areas. During this time, Veilon had his subordinates conduct thorough research on Jake and his consumption patterns.

This wasn't a run-of-the-mill a.n.a.lysis – he went to the office himself and waded in the metaphorical blood and guts with his employees, trying to find a common ground between the items Jake bought; trying to determine what made him buy the things he bought.

'This guy just emptied out the Awakening Store's Black Label – but now, I know how this guy ticks.'

These 45 days were a very painful period for Veilon, as Jake went way too far in collecting points and began to purchase things like crazy.

Everyday Veilon's nerves grew more and more frazzled, and he felt his blood pressure slowly rise.

Even then, he joined his subordinates as they dug even deeper into Jake's shopping habits.

'This guy's just buying things of all kinds. He likes to buy. Does it make sense to buy things every day for 45 days?'

After 45 days of h.e.l.l, Veilon now knows what kind of person Jake is: someone who likes the act of spending itself.

Jake, who has been shopping for 45 days without a break, has just bought anything.

He was also willing to pay points for the items that he seemed to have no reason to purchase.

'No matter how small he buys, he must be focusing on buying things every day, itself.

And he likes luxurious stuff. He never misses gems and jewelry.'

Luxury goods such as diamonds, gold, and rubies are purchased whenever available.

'This is an offer he can't refuse,' Veilon thought as he prepared a wager tailor-made for Jake Smithson.

'I have to win without any conditions. I never want to lose. That sense of defeat… I'd rather die than taste defeat again.'

This wager became something that he must win, but that doesn't mean he can't risk making ridiculous wagers.

He feels like making a wager that is completely stacked in his favor… but he cannot.

It's a gross violation of his company's principles, and that's why he has to maintain the balance.

'Let's get this show on the road.'

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***

The Nohas Union plays a similar role as a government for the awakeners.

Leaving every matter to the divisions would only lead to nonstop conflict, which is why an unbiased organization was set up to prevent it – and ensure that the evaluation of novice awakeners would go without interference from divisions.

"Who's taking part in the evaluation this time?" one of the evaluators asked as the Union was conducting one final inspection ahead of the evaluation.

This wasn't a welcome party.

"According to this, Elliot of 'The Others', Kim of the 'Rezion', and Damian of 'Cheon-Ji-In' are partic.i.p.ants."

"Decent ones."

"Well, we have to tell those novices in the first place, that they are just a small fish in a small pond."

"Yes, we have to demoralize them from the beginning to make them easier to handle."

awakeners from other divisions also partic.i.p.ate in the evaluation, concealing their ident.i.ties.

These 'ringers' crush novice awakeners so they end up in the lower-ranked divisions.

This practice is a long-standing tradition within Nohas called the 'greeting', and it's meant to show that people who start being awakeners shouldn't be so full of themselves just because they've discovered new powers.

They need to be shown how weak they really are, and just how different the real world is from the tutorial area.

"It's amazing, the difference a year of being an awakener makes," the evaluator said. "To be honest, in hindsight, the tutorial is a joke. These novices don't have a clue, though."

Experience in the tutorial area isn't included in one's career as an awakener – they only count their time as awakeners once their time in the tutorial area is over.

The reason is simple: a few months into the real world, they will experience growth incomparable to their time in the tutorial area, as if they had gained nothing from the tutorial.

A lot of these novice awakeners will also end up dead, but that is a risk that comes with starting over in the real world – justbecause they just finished the tutorial doesn't mean they are granted any mercy.

Therefore, there is a gigantic gap between first-year awakeners and those who have just finished the tutorial.

"Yeah," another evaluator said, agreeing with a nod,"so, do you think all of the newbies know about how the divisions work now?"

"Yes, they're running around and gathering information."

"All right, then – let's begin the evaluation."

***