Chapter 84: Reward Service

Logically speaking, if constant repairs alone could lead to breakthroughs, then Su You would only need to make one type of junk item, with no need to create so many different things. But reality wasn’t so simple.

If a repairer spends too long fixing the same kind of item, or if the item’s level is much lower than their own, their skill proficiency might not even increase—let alone level up.

That’s why Su You made so many different types of items: to avoid this problem.

After Su You finished crafting all these things, the familiar system notification sounded, and a semi-transparent window appeared before her.

After reading the contents of the window, Su You massaged her hands, which were a bit sore from making so much junk. She greeted Dory and Doya, saying she was a little tired, and then returned to her room.

All the way back, Su You pretended not to see the window floating in front of her. Only after she was back in her room did she recall the system prompt and then read the window’s contents again.

**System Notification—**

[Congratulations! Sunset Territory has met the requirements for upgrading to an Intermediate Camp. The system has automatically upgraded your territory, and the corresponding rewards have been placed in the quest hall’s treasure chest.]

**Window Text—**

[As the human with the highest potential value among all territory lords, A1-16, the Execution System is authorized to provide you with a one-time reward service within certain limits. The service may include, but is not limited to, requesting items, asking questions, or solving problems.]

Just reading this, Su You knew how important her choice was this time. That’s why she wanted to return to her room and carefully consider what “reward” she truly needed.

First, some unrealistic requests were obviously out of the question—like asking the system to conjure up a whole city for her, or to give her tens of millions or even billions of gold coins.

After all, it clearly stated that the Execution System could only provide a service “within certain limits.”

The same went for asking questions. Su You had a lot she wanted to ask, but after thinking it over, she felt those questions either couldn’t be asked, or even if she did, the system definitely wouldn’t answer.

For example: What exactly are you? Why are you doing this?

Questions like that would either be ignored or answered with word games to brush her off.

Since there was no time limit, Su You pondered for a long time—so long that she even heard doors closing in the neighboring rooms. The sound was close, so it was probably the Lyle brothers returning to their rooms.

Jolted out of her thoughts by the noise, Su You let out a breath, drank a glass of water to calm herself, and then tentatively asked:

“For this reward service, how will I know if my request is within the allowed limits? Or, if I accidentally make a request that exceeds those limits, will I lose this reward opportunity altogether, or will I get another chance to choose?” After saying this, she quickly added, “If answering this question counts as using up the service, then don’t answer.”

[…]

Although Su You didn’t get any response after saying this, she could vaguely sense a strange emotion from the system.

It seemed a bit speechless, as if it thought Su You was being overly cautious… But Su You didn’t feel she was being too careful at all.

If it was just about not exceeding the limits, Su You could easily do that—like asking for a few branches or something. That would definitely be within the system’s power.

But there was no point in that. Branches were everywhere in the forest, and this reward was a rare opportunity. If she wasted it, she’d rather not have it at all.

But if she asked for something a bit more substantial, her worry was just as she’d asked: what if she went too far and lost the chance altogether?

Such a vague reward, with no further explanation, didn’t feel like a reward to Su You—it felt more like a trap.

Just as Su You was considering whether to give up entirely, a new line of text appeared in the previously unchanged dialogue box—

[Note: You have five chances to make a request. If a request exceeds the allowed limits, one chance will be deducted automatically. After five failed attempts, the reward will be canceled. If your request is within the allowed limits, it will be granted immediately.]

Why didn’t they just say so earlier!

Five chances were still a bit few, but much better than losing the reward after a single failed attempt…

Su You didn’t know if this message had been left out by mistake, or if the system had simply never considered the issue until she brought it up and then added it on the fly… Whatever, it didn’t matter. What mattered was deciding what to ask for.

Since she had five tries, Su You decided to start with the highest-value requests and work her way down—at the very least, she’d use up three attempts.

Before making her request, Su You decided that what she needed was an “item.”

She carefully reviewed all the information panels she could access, then compiled a list of items she needed but couldn’t currently obtain.

After much deliberation, Su You finally made her first request—

“I want a beacon.” The beacon was a material used to build a structure called a “Signal Tower.”

The Signal Tower could increase the probability and quality of all actions related to attracting NPCs—such as speeding up the arrival of merchants and travelers, increasing their numbers, and improving the quality of NPCs available for recruitment at the tavern…

In Sunset Continent, the most important resource for a lord was NPCs. Any kind of NPC was valuable—even the most rebellious ones could be put to use by Su You.

It’s no exaggeration to say that with a beacon, the territory’s development speed could easily triple.

But obviously, Su You knew this, and so did the system. As expected, her request was rejected.

[This request exceeds the allowed limits. Request denied. Remaining attempts: 4.]

Since she’d expected this, Su You wasn’t too disappointed. After all, the beacon wasn’t that rare—at least, it was much easier to get than Dragonbone.

Normally, beacons could be obtained by trading with a certain short-statured race.

This race was extremely greedy; as long as you had money, even if Su You beat them up and then paid for the beacon, they’d still do business. They’d never give up a deal for the sake of “dignity”… unless you didn’t pay enough.

(End of chapter)"