After Noah read all of Chapter 13, he left the library and Sector 2 and headed towards Sector 3. On his way there, he completed his daily mission, so he decided to stop and started walking slowly.
[Push-ups 100/100 (Completed)
Squats 100/100 (Completed)
Curl-ups 100/100 (Completed)
Running 10km/10km (Completed)]
[Does the host wish to claim their reward?]
"Yes," Noah nodded in agreement, and as soon as he did, a green aura enveloped him, restoring his physical condition and rejuvenating him. Although he didn't feel a major change this time, since he had been resting between each exercise.
[Stat point acquired]
[Mystery box acquired]
"I hope it's something useful for dealing with Nocthyrs," Noah muttered to himself, hoping for something helpful. Then a light appeared, but this time it was black, although it illuminated the surroundings, and a strange box appeared, different from any box Noah had received before.
The box was black with red squares scattered across it, resembling the eerie boxes and gifts given during Halloween.
"I don't have a good feeling about this... but the greater the risk, the greater the reward, right?" Noah thought to himself like a novice gambler.
Then he opened the box, and a chilling gray-black aura emerged from it. Inside, there was a voucher.
[Acquired a C-rank item: "Wheel of Fortune Voucher"]
[The C-rank Wheel of Fortune Voucher allows the host to spin a wheel that contains various prizes, rare tools, and items.
Storage: 1]
"A Wheel of Fortune? I didn't know the system had such a feature!... So, how do I open it?" Noah asked the system, murmuring quietly to avoid drawing attention.
A screen then appeared before him showing a Wheel of Fortune with many sections, each with a different item, like healing potions, experience boosters, gacha coins, and more. The most notable prizes were a black coat (Rank A), a featureless yellow mask (Rank A), an elegant golden magnum (Rank B), and, as the grand prize, a short sword resembling a dagger with a blade made of darkness (Rank S).
"There are so many valuable items. Should I try my luck and spin the wheel? Maybe I won't get anything useful," Noah thought to himself, feeling a little hesitant.
"Well, we won't know unless we try," Noah smiled confidently and pressed the spin button, which consumed one voucher.
The wheel began to spin, and Noah watched with tension and hope, longing to get something amazing. As the wheel approached important items, his excitement grew, but in the end, it landed on 1000 gacha coins.
"Just coins?... I expected something better, like a tool or something else. Doesn't this system understand that there's such a thing as beginner's luck? What a cheap system!" Noah cursed under his breath, irritated by such stinginess. Then he noticed something he hadn't tried before.
"By the way, what exactly do the gacha coins do?" Noah asked, quickly forgetting he had been cursing the system.
A screen appeared before him with the gacha store interface, showing Noah's gacha coin balance at the top. The store featured many useful items that could be valuable to Noah, like weapons, armor, and potions ranked C and higher, but they all shared one thing in common—they were all very expensive for Noah.
"I can't buy anything, huh? What a useful system," Noah said in a cold, rusty tone, before his eyes landed on an item he could actually afford: the Wheel of Fortune vouchers, each costing 100 gacha coins, and with his current balance, he could buy plenty.
"What a useful system~," Noah said with a sly smile, rubbing his hands together. Fortunately, there was no one around, or they might have thought he was up to something.
"A-anyway, I'll save this for later," Noah cleared his throat, snapping himself out of his suspicious behavior and continued on to Sector 3.
A few minutes later, Noah boarded the train heading to Sector 3. There, he made his way directly to the Wild Whispers Depot to visit the only vendor he knew. As he walked through the marketplace, he couldn't help but notice how lively it was. Many students came here, whether with lovers, friends, or even alone, either to buy something or just to wander around.
Noah entered the Wild Whispers Depot, and when he arrived, the shop appeared as usual—old-fashioned and empty of students. He pushed open the door and entered.
"Welcome to my little world, I am Ra-... Hmm? Oh, Mr. Grace?" Raikel said, immediately recognizing Noah.
"Hello," Noah greeted, nodding respectfully to Raikel.
"What brings you here alone? Where are Mr. Soren and the others?" Raikel asked curiously, as he hadn't expected Noah, the new student, to wander around the campus and the largest sector without company.
"I came alone to buy some things," Noah answered calmly.
"For Mr. Hale?" Raikel asked, raising an eyebrow as he turned to put on his work coat.
"Kind of," Noah replied, hesitating a bit.
"What do you want then? You can ask for anything—magical creatures, tameable beasts, rare animals, and more..." Raikel eagerly gestured toward the creatures in cages behind Noah.
"I want to buy some insects," Noah interrupted.
"...Magical creatures, tameable beasts, rare animals..." Raikel repeated, going through his usual spiel.
"Don't ignore me, old man!" Noah said, slightly annoyed and flustered.
"Mr. Grace, I must have not made myself clear, I said magical creatures, tameable beasts—any non-sapient creature you want, you'll find it here... but you want..." Raikel said dramatically, unable to finish his sentence.
"I'll pay you double if you stop bothering me," Noah interrupted the old man for the second time.
"...Double?... What kind of insects do you want, Mr. Grace?" Raikel asked, forgetting what he was saying once he heard the word "double."
"Anything's fine, maybe some worms," Noah suggested.
"Got it, and done!" Raikel replied, pulling out a small bag and handing it to Noah. It contained worms, and it seemed to be used as fertilizer after crushing what was inside, as Noah felt the worms moving inside the bag.
"I think this will do for now," Noah thought to himself as he placed the bag in his pocket and pulled out his phone.
"Do you accept remote payments?" Noah asked, holding up his phone.
"Yes!"
Noah paid Raikel before leaving and heading back to the train station. He boarded the train and returned to Sector 11, entering the dorm and heading straight to his room. He noticed that the door was open, as usual, something that had become normal for him now.
He entered his room, closed the door behind him, and noticed that the window was open, but he didn't mind. He sat on his bed and placed the bag of worms beside him.
The system store screen opened, and Noah clicked on the "Wheel of Fortune Voucher" item, purchasing 13 of them using all 1300 of his gacha coins.
"Honestly, if I don't get anything good after spending all of this, I might just kill myself," Noah thought to himself, his gambler's nature taking over.
Noah spun the Wheel of Fortune 13 times consecutively without stopping. Each time, he got more gacha coins and potions, but out of the 13 items Noah received, the only one that stood out was the smooth yellow mask (Rank A).
"What does this mask do?" Noah asked as he turned the mask over in his hand.
---
[[Artifact: The Visor of the Stranger (Rank A-level1)]
[Type: Mask – Mental / Illusion]
[Classification: Active (locked) / Passive]
[Description:
A smooth yellow mask, blank and featureless. Its origin is shrouded in mystery, and no one truly knows who forged it—or why. It is said to be an artifact of ancient, forgotten power, tied to the unknowable and the lost. Silent and ever watchful, it carries an unsettling presence that whispers in the mind, leaving all who gaze upon it with a sense of unspoken dread.]
[Active Effect:]
[Play Their Part] — Sealed
[Passive Effects:]
[Unscripted Presence]:
Your presence warps the perception of others.
Those around you will struggle to remember your actions, appearance, or even the words you speak.
Their minds cannot fully grasp who you are.
[No Role, No Name]:
While wearing the mask, your true identity is hidden.
No one—be it through skill, perception, or intuition—can see through the mask or learn who you are.
Your name and identity are entirely erased from the minds of others while you wear it]
"This is amazing!" Noah said, finally feeling like his money was spent well. He stood up in happiness, unable to stop the smile that had formed on his lips. That's when he noticed something.
"Wait a minute, what does it mean that the active effect is locked?" Noah asked, focusing on the screen in front of him, specifically on the locked effect.
[Due to the host's current power level, the system has decided to lock the active feature.]
"What does this mean?" Noah asked, tilting his head curiously.
[The host's current level is too weak compared to the high level of the active effect. Such an effect could put the host in danger in their current state, so it has been temporarily locked until the host reaches a level where they can safely use the active effect.]
"If this is the case, then the active effect must be extremely powerful, better than the Passive effects... but look at you, who would've thought that the system cares about my safety," Noah thought to himself, trying to annoy the system, forgetting that it had no emotions.
"Anyway..." Noah said before storing the mask in the system's storage. At that moment, Noah grabbed the worm bag and felt the worms squirming, crawling over each other inside the bag. This movement sent a wave of disgust as he felt them through the tips of his fingers.
"This is truly disgusting... System, what should I do now to activate the Pages of Rebellion?" Noah asked, looking at the air as if there was a system screen there.
[To achieve good results, the host may use mana chalk to draw a magic circle and surround the circle with sacrifices.]
"What's this?! Mana chalk? Do you know how much such a thing costs? And why didn't you tell me this from the start?!" Noah said raising one eyebrow, annoyed.
[For less effective results, the host may kill life-energy-filled entities and throw them towards the system.]
"Oh, you should have said that from the beginning! Let's get started then!" Noah said enthusiastically. He was about to crush the bag when another screen appeared in front of him, stopping him.
[This process takes some time and the results will not be of the same quality as the first method. The host will need protection during this time since it can take hours.]
"Less quality, huh? No problem, I don't intend to dive deep and explore the target's full memories. All I want is the memories related to his mana sensitivity. As for safety, after the assassination of the student Elliot, I don't expect the killer to target anyone else soon. As for the time... I don't have much to do, so a journey through memories will make the time pass quickly," Noah thought to himself, getting a bit excited.
"Alright then, let the ritual begin!"