[ID Name: Mark Dawson. Heir to the Dawson group. Assets in possession…]
The first thing Andrew did once he had time to settle down was check out his new identity. The soul inside the body had died seconds before he had occupied it, and it would never come back.
So it was his body to do as he pleased. Once he had a list of assets he owned, he checked on the general state of this world.
From what he recalled, his world had descended into a lawless state right when the system arrived. People who finally had their first taste of power decided to abuse this fact.
But from what he could see, the earth was in much better shape. People in authoritative positions had already started to take control of people.
"It seems that people on this planet are used to having panicking situations. For now, I should focus on my mission."
The countdown showed that there was about a week left until the second game began. If it followed the same course as before, then the most important thing would be resources on his side.
His number one priority was to get to level 10 and unlock a profession. The sooner he got access to it, the sooner he would be able to specifically target his skills.
"I need a weapon for the next round. I will run out of mana pretty soon if I hunt aggressively."
With that decided, Andrew started to plan his next step.
He spent a few hours getting acquainted with earth customs and how things worked here. Once he had a good grasp on the exchange system, he decided to head toward the bank to get cash.
Money was something that would soon become irrelevant once the system started providing people with its own money. So before that, Andrew needed to get as much advantage as he could.
The area around his mansion was untouched, but the same could not be said about the other places. The city had suffered the most—with broken glasses scattered everywhere and other items scattered around.
Andrew ignored the chaos and headed toward the bank, which was still somehow open.
Inside was another type of chaos. People were running toward the counter, demanding money and compensation from their insurance and other places.
However, none of that affected Andrew. A terrified manager at the branch quickly noticed him and came over to him.
"M-Mr. Dawson, welcome. What do I owe the pleasure—?"
"I would like to withdraw money. Give me as much as you can."
Andrew's voice was clean, and the manager flinched at his words. He looked at Andrew and then at the crowd.
"Sir, that would be a little—"
He hesitated, but the no-nonsense look Andrew gave him told him clearly what he thought of the manager. In the end, the manager was a coward and decided to bow his head.
"Of course, sir. Please follow me. I will get you the money."
The manager told Andrew, and Andrew quickly followed him to the back rooms. The place was filled with money and other items.
"Sir, this is your vault. What would you like to withdraw?"
The man asked, and Andrew walked toward the place before he started to put things into his inventory. That space was not infinite, but it was more than enough to store these items and money.
The manager watched this happen with wide eyes before he tried to stop Andrew.
"S-Sir, what are you doing? You can't withdraw so much—"
"Is this not my money?"
Andrew asked, and the manager took a step back in hesitation.
"I-It is… but… there are still rules—"
The manager tried to speak, only to become speechless at Andrew's harsh glance cast his way.
"So, you mean I need someone's permission to take out my own money?"
The manager quickly realized that he was falling into dangerous territory, and he quickly bowed his head to show his submissiveness.
"I… of course not. This is your money, boss. Take as much as you need."
Andrew emptied out the vault before he walked out. Everything was in his inventory, so there was no danger of him getting robbed.
Once his task here was done, he headed toward the weapon store next. He specifically chose a store that was not legal.
The rough man behind the counter noticed him and immediately frowned and immediately put a gun to his head.
"This is not a place for a clean kid like you to come. Head back if you value your life."
Andrew gripped the gun's barrel and used mana to increase his strength.
[Temporarily increased Strength 2→5]
He immediately pushed the gun away, taking the man in front of him by surprise. Before the old man knew it, Andrew had the barrel of the gun pointed his way.
"Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I just need you to sell some weapons to me and I will leave without any hassle. If not, then I won't hesitate to shoot you."
Andrew's words sounded clear, and the old man immediately surrendered.
"Fine, I get it. You are not a clean-cut kid as I thought. I will sell you the good stuff… if you pay for it."
Andrew let the old man go just in time for his buff to expire.
[Buff Expired. Strength 5→2]
This was the problem with magic. It might seem like an all-powerful cheat code, but that could not be further from the truth. The way to go forward would be to slowly max out all stats. Applying buffs took up too much mana for not a lot of profit.
"What kind of gun are you looking for, kid?"
The old man asked as he looked around.
"Anything that is easy to carry and packs a punch… and you have a lot of ammunition available for. And if you have a sharp sword, I will take that as well."
The old man looked around and brought back what Andrew had asked for.
"I do not have a sword right now because of the border regulations, but I do have a short sword and this gun. Will this do? It will be 1 million dollars. If you can't pay, then go back home, kid."
The old man did not expect Andrew to have any money to pay, so he braced himself to get hurt.
But much to his disbelief, Andrew took out a whole bag from his inventory and put it in front of the old man.
"Here, you can count the money. You are free to keep any extra as well."
The old man snapped out of his shock and immediately checked the money, its amount, and its authenticity. Once it all checked out, he handed over the goods to Andrew and pushed him out of his shop.
_________
Can I ask for PS? Just to know if you are there.