"You are not suggesting we forget what the fuckers who ran away did, are you? Things would have been very different if they hadn't, Johann! We need to punish these cockroaches instead of patting them on the back!" Igor's indignant voice prompted mixed reactions from the group. The people who had ran away grew smaller, without any argument to defend themselves. While a few voices of agreement arose from around us.

"No, I am not saying that. But we can't just kick them out or 'beat the shit out of them' as you suggested, Igor. We need everyone here to work in harmony if we are to pull through this. They screwed up? Yes. But ostracizing them will only make the whole group weaker and vulnerable. Plus, we won't make any decision on this matter until John is back." Johann's decisive tone put an end to Igor's antics.

As much as I sympathized with the overall feeling of resentment, Johann was right. It would hurt everyone in the short and long term if they lost such a significant amount of their numbers. And, considering everything, I think some leeway was warranted. But also some proper incentive to not make the same decision again. I was curious to see which decision the group would take.

"Back on the topic, we need to find a better location to defend and even fortify. We have found plenty of furniture pieces we can maybe disassemble or use as is to make barriers, but this place is too open for just us to defend. We also need more provisions, we only have enough food to last us the day. Since we already looted most of the buildings in the nearby area, we will need to start expanding. Any suggestions on how to solve these issues?" Johann looked up from the map and around the group. This time someone came forward.

Taller than the Italian accent guy from earlier, this dude was built like a professional basketball athlete. Long arms, big hands and a frame that exuded agility. He sported some very cool dreadlocks with his dirty blond hair. He was tanned and tattooed on his arms all the way to his chest. He had the standard loot jacket tied around his waist and wore the thick denims with a branded sleeveless t-shirt, although I didn't recognize the brand's logo.

"I have an idea, dude. Ya see, we could move to the other side of this place and look for a better location. Once we settle there, we will have a new fresh location close to home to keep looting." He said pointing in the general direction of the pyramid. "I can take care of finding a new place for us. I move fast and I have a sense of direction."

Johann seemed pensive for a moment, but nodded in agreement. "Alright, I can work with that. I will tell you the kind of place we are looking for so you can keep it in mind when going around."

"Bet", the tall guy said in agreement.

"Now, we got a lot of messages after the fight earlier. Do any of you spent any time exploring the system and finding what they mean or what these points are for?" Johann's question surprised me. I suddenly perked up to listen if anyone would contribute. This was something I was very curious about. A young boy, probably not older than 16, raised his hand. He had bowl shaped hair and the thin eyes characteristic of some Asian ethnicities. He was skinny, but not short.

"I have been trying a bunch of stuff, Mr Johann. I found some interesting things." The kid said somewhat awkwardly. Somehow I had the impression I was back in my classroom in high school.

"It's alright, Chen. You can speak. No need to raise your hand." Johann spoke in an unusual comforting tone.

"Yes, Mr Johann. Well, I have been trying a bunch of different stuff. A few have worked. If you concentrate really hard on an element of your status sheet it will provide you some extra information. But nothing eye opening. It's just basic common sense. I didn't earn any points during the fight, but…" He paused for a longer breath. I could feel he was a little embarrassed in admitting that. But I am sure no one expected a school kid to have done much. He soon recovered and went on. "But I found out if you concentrate on the word 'points' a sort of menu will show up with many options for you to spend your points on.��� As Chen finished his sentence everyone seemed to have a far away look. I didn't waste my time and also did it.

[Point Shop

Food:

1-day ration - 5 points;

12-day ration - 50 points;

Protection:

Resistant Beanie - 5 points;

Resistant Boots - 10 points;

Resistant Clothes - 20 points;

Riot Gear - 100 points;

Riot Shield - 50 points;

Weapons

Common - 50 points;

Magical - 500 points;

Random artifact - 1000 points;]

...

That was a lot of new information to process. I tried to apply what Chen had said earlier and suddenly an extra message panel showed up on top of the shop menu with details of the item. The kid had found out something super important.

Ration consisted of random edible food and water. It didn't specify the amount of food nor water. Was the system smart enough to determine the amount by personal needs? That would be an interesting experiment. The implications of the result could be serious.

In the protection section the resistant options were some of what I had already found. The jacket and the denim were the resistant clothes reward, but I hadn't seen a beanie and boots yet. I was still wearing my social shoes, so my feet were starting to hurt. They were certainly not made for this intense usage. I am afraid they would tear very soon.

I had found the clothes, did it really make sense for me to invest points in the boots? And if I was going to invest on that, why not gather enough and invest on the riot gear already? It included the full outfit from the riot police. I hadn't seen anyone with anything that remotely resemble riot gear. If I were to assume they could be found, they would definitely be rare by this point. Even if it had only been a day, at least fifty people had spent the good part of yesterday looting these buildings.

The weapons were quite interesting, especially the magical ones. It seems the system allowed you to pick whatever weapon you preferred for the same price. There was even the option of a bow and 12 arrows. How was it fair that a bow and 12 arrows were the same cost of a mace? The magical weapons weren't clear on their difference. It only said they were magical weapons. The options were pretty much the same as the common ones.

Surprisingly, the random artifact option wasn't so straightforward. The detailed description was [The system will determine the best suited artifact for you.] That didn't sound very random. Why such a name? I guess it could be said it was random, depending on the perspective. Since I was already checking the system I decided to check my status sheet. There was nothing new beside my level indication, which was now two, and three free stats points for me to allocate.

'Free stats points?'

Oh! I had gained one by being first on the contributor rank, and the other two must be from a level up. If a level up gave me two, and the reward gave me one, wasn't it the same gaining another half level?

I wondered what was the reward for the lower ranks. Maybe there was none. But then why would the system go through the trouble of announcing those places? Too many questions and too little information to formulate answers.

"Alright, this is a lot to process. Thank you, Chen." Johann clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"I know we are all very intrigued by this system, but we got to move on. You know your roles, so go out and do your gathering and exploring. Remember to pay attention to your surroundings and report to Gabriela when you come back." Johann's authoritative tone got everyone moving.

He was right, we couldn't stay here thinking about the system when there was so much to do. Most of these guys probably didn't have any points to even buy resistant gear. Maybe not even a day's worth of food. But I had another issue, I didn't know what to do. I didn't have a proper role in the group. I guess I could go back to my spot to grab my stash and bring it here. I wouldn't be holding back now that I was in.

When I was about to speak with Johann about my stash, the dreadlocks guy showed up and started talking about his task with Johann. Johann explained what he was looking for; a large enough building with reasonable choke points that they could set up barriers and properly man with their numbers. Dreadlocks guy seemed to understand and was about to leave when Johann brought me into the conversation with a hand gesture.

"Noah, this is Leo. Leo, this is Noah. He will be going with you on the recon mission. I am sure you two will work together just fine." Johann quickly introduced us as he laid out my task.

"Hey, dude. How you doing?" Noah said with a smile and offered me a handshake. I returned the gesture.

"Doing alright, all things considered. When do we leave?" I asked, eager to get my body moving again. Some walking would do me good to clear my head and think about how to better spend my stats points. I couldn't be sure how much of an effect they would have, but I was going to take my decision very seriously.

"Right now, if you are ready." Noah's tone showed how eager he was to get moving as well. I told him I was ready and we immediately set out towards the exit. After a few steps, he commented.

"Sick hammer, bro."