Blaine took off his Hunter outfit, stuffed it into his Hunter space, and returned to the hotel near the Middle Eastern airport that he had rented yesterday.
Then he booked a ticket back to New York for the next day, finally allowing himself to relax completely.
As for why he didn't book a flight for today —
Since he was already here, it would be a waste not to do a little sightseeing. After all, this was his first time in the Middle East.
Carrying out missions was one thing, but Blaine believed in balancing work and rest.
What if he ended up becoming like those cold-blooded killers?
Blaine recalled the assassins he had seen in movies from his previous life.
Those killers often had strange quirks. After too much killing, they would either become emotionally numb or develop weird and twisted behaviors.
Blaine shivered. He definitely didn't want to turn into someone like that.
So, he made a rule for himself:
After every mission, he would calculate the gains and losses.
Then he would take at least a week off to rest — longer if needed — but no matter what, he would rest for a week minimum after each mission.
While wandering around the airport area, Blaine also calculated how much he had gained and lost this time.
First, in terms of losses: he lost 200,000 dollars, two "90% off" coupons, and a system loophole.
Honestly, those two 90% off coupons seemed extremely valuable, but when you considered that they had a one-month expiration limit and the system's restrictions on Hunters, they weren't as priceless as they appeared.
They looked impressive but were actually very limited.
As for the loophole… better not even mention it. That was a massive loss.
And for the gains:
The yet-to-be-received fifty million dollars, 50,000 system funds he could already use, and 1 constitution point.
All in all, this mission was a huge success — if he ignored the fact that the loophole had been patched, it would have been an absolutely massive win.
But after a day of mental adjustment, Blaine came to terms with it.
Loopholes are meant to be patched. Even if he found another later, it would eventually get fixed too. Plus, the system even gave compensation. When you think about it, he was still ahead. In life, it's important to know when to be content.
Calculating his gains and losses like this, Blaine realized just how much he had profited from this mission.
Once the fifty million entered the system space, he couldn't even imagine how much stuff he would be able to buy — just thinking about it made him happy.
He wandered around the Middle East for an entire afternoon.
To be honest, though, there wasn't much to see. After an afternoon, he was already a little bored.
The next morning, Blaine boarded a flight and returned to New York.
He had to admit, America was really different from the Middle East.
The Middle East was covered in deserts, and the air quality was truly worrying. Of course, America wasn't exactly paradise either, but when compared, it was still the better option.
After getting back to New York, Blaine didn't rush to report back to school and end his supposed vacation.
Instead, the first thing he did after getting home was to use the 50,000 system funds and 1 constitution point he had earned from finding the loophole.
He added the constitution point.
His strength immediately increased significantly. Blaine let out a slow, deep breath. His constitution, which had been 5, now rose to 6 — a full six times that of an average person.
Moreover, constitution wasn't just simple multiplication.
In the system's description, constitution was a comprehensive rating including strength, speed, agility, and other factors.
Aside from the constitution point, Blaine also realized something else during his Middle East trip — he had a serious weakness:
Combat skills!
He didn't know any proper fighting techniques.
Really, not even a little bit.
If you had to describe it, the only "martial art" he knew was throwing random punches like a fool.
When facing terrorists, he had only relied on his overwhelming physical strength to beat them down with brute force — it was basically a case of wild punches killing the master by pure luck.
Having great power but no way to use it properly was like holding an arrow without a bow.
It might work against normal people where strength alone could crush them, but if he faced someone like Captain America — someone with similar physical strength but who also mastered deadly military combat skills — Blaine would probably lose within two rounds. Even facing someone like Natasha would be difficult.
After thinking it over, Blaine finally decided to use his remaining 50,000 system funds to buy a skill.
[Combat Techniques]: Price 200,000. Includes all fighting styles from around the world. No levels, all techniques included.
A full 200,000! His 50,000 system funds were only enough to cover a quarter of the cost.
Obviously, the system wasn't going to sell him just a quarter of it.
But Blaine hadn't forgotten —
He still had a 90% off coupon.
It had been almost a month since he became a Hunter. Who knew when that stingy Tony would transfer the bounty?
What if it timed out? Wouldn't that be a massive loss?
Better to use the discount now — perfect timing.
Also, even though the description of [Combat Techniques] was simple, the phrase "includes all fighting styles from around the world" made it clear how powerful it was.
Compared to those ridiculously expensive flashy items, this skill might actually be far more valuable to him.
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