I'm a Stingray?

Chapter 245: Knocking boost

"Did you seriously just give me cancer?" Timothy asked, as he sensed his stomach-area feeling weird.

[Technically the green-brick has given you skin cancer, but yes]

Under these new circumstances, the first thing that he wanted to ask was. "Am I going to die?"

[No. Well, at least you won't die directly from skin cancer.] Such a sentence felt quite heavy for sure, but at least the system was trying to be statistically correct.

And she continued to decipher the topic afterwards, [The chances of you dying from this disease are almost impossible. You would have to be very unlucky, or horribly stupid to die from this]

And for the sake of self-praise, she sealed it up by adding. [You have me as an in-built ocean survival system, so that lowers the chances of you dying from this dilemma, to zero-point-five percent]

With those facts considered, the stingray could heave out a sigh of relief. But paranoia was still lurking in a corner of his consciousness. So he swam away from the bricks, laid his back over the tunnel's sandy flooring, and then expanded the third-person-view map.

He managed to notice that his yellow belly, had been suddenly coated with a few snake-shaped lines, that carried a light blue colour.

It didn't hurt, but managed to give a bit of an itch. Such an addition wasn't irritating enough to take his attention hostage, but it was still there.

So it made the boy ask a question, "Is this bad? Will it be painful?"

[Highly unlikely. Apart from that, the cancer cells themselves will disappear over time. You just need to eat health-raising foods]

"That's not so bad." He answered and unleashed another sigh of relief.

Afterwards he rolled over to a normal laying position, and instantly noticed how his skin felt more irritated than ever, by the sand.

Such a result made him jump a little bit, for the sake of avoiding a devastating itch! Now he was floating a foot above the sand, and had the time to think a bit more for this overall situation.

Unsurprisingly, the first emotion he had managed to find was unsainted anger. But at least he was capable to bash rationality through that emotion, which had helped him reach a certain realisation.

Which had made him unleash a roaring demand, "I got cancer because of you, can't I get a reward now?"

[I was getting to that]

[You have aided me to discover new information regarding the holy-tar's methods. So naturally, such rare information is rewarded]

[As a prize for your contribution to such a matter, you just have received three-hundred system points]

[Since you have risked a lot by touching a radioactive brick, for the sake of letting me attain information, you're being rewarded with an additional two-hundred-and-fifty system points]

[And since you have gotten cancer due to the same reasons, you have received another one-hundred system points]

[Naturally, I want you to survive for longer, since you are helping me achieve such valuable information. That was why you have gotten three varieties of rewards]

[Total system points = 844]

Joy was evidently growing in his soul, it almost felt like cancer itself was worth getting, because all he had to do was sit on a brick.

Since such a train of thought was developing, he couldn't help thinking. "Can't believe that I got cancer, just to be smarter."

Of course these couple of things had no direct relation, but this amount of points was large enough to buy the creative intelligence upgrade.

[Speaking of that, would you like to purchase the option?]

"Yes." He assured, but the situation had made him forget what came along with an upgrade, pain.

[Confirmed]

Just a second later, he felt a sharp pain that had struck right in the middle of his brain. And its effects were strong enough to instantly knock him out cold!

It took more than an hour for him to wake up again, but of course the boy had no track of time at this point, neither did he plan to pay attention towards such an aspect. So he didn't have the slightest clue, regarding how long he was asleep.

What he was granting all of his thoughts towards, was the splitting headache that had been wide-spread across his head. It was throbbing to the point of feeling like a heart-beat, and it didn't give a hint of slowing down.

Throughout the pain, he managed to build up a question. "Why did this upgrade hurt so much?"

[Your creative intelligence was high to begin with. And when that was paired with a purchase that upgraded the same portion of the brain, by a third; massive pain was the inevitable]

[By the way, the upgrade is complete]

[Your current creative intelligence = one-hundred-and-ninety points]

[800-system-points have been consumed]

[44-system-points remaining]

After hearing those notifications, he submerged towards a bit of half-efforted contemplation; and managed to find a balance of rational enthusiasm.

That was why he slightly hollered, "I'm poor again, but at least I'm an ultra genius now!"

[Your other types of intelligences are still admittedly low. But right now you should be the smartest marine animal on earth, in terms of creative intelligence at least]

Although a hint of celebration began to grow in his noggin, he still had it difficult to understand where the benefits of this upgrade were. His head continued to throb, and he did not notice any new or smart thoughts.

Through these moments, it didn't feel like the upgrade was worthwhile. But at least the upgrade had been bought, so new ones could be unlocked now. And the system didn't fail to get right towards that point.

[Three purchase options have been unlocked, would you like to hear them out?]

Although the headache did not allow him to think clearly, even he could notice that it might not be the best time to chatter with the system here for too long.

Sure this place was a bit secure since it was a tad hidden from the rest of the cavern, but it was also made certain that this situation had become more chaotic than expected.

Because whatever was going on in this cavern, the holy-tar sect was behind it and that could never be a good thing. That was why he wanted to focus on just how to destroy this foul enemy, rather than chatter with the system.

But curiosity was still there, blooming at a pace that made it feel impossible to reject its thorns.

Likewise, he gave out a swift agreement. "Sure, but make it quick. I probably can't buy anything anyway."