Reincarnated as a Castle – Day 60
[Status]
Points: 342
I had to admit it. I was an idiot!
Instead of releasing those goblins, I should have taken them prisoner and slowly tried to domesticate them!
For example, I could have left them hungry for days and then started bribing them with food. It was an extremely evil method, I know, but at least it had the highest chance of success. And even if it didn't work, I would have gained another hundred points for upgrades by selling the corpses!
Yeah. Anything would have been better than this.
No more goblins coming. Meaning: No more easy point farming. My point generation had returned to an abysmal one Point a day.
Fortunately, I already had another plan in mind.
If goblins weren't coming anymore, instead of hoarding Points, I would upgrade my other shops. Since Points seemed to be the blood of this entire system, the most important thing right now was to improve my passive Point generation.
And I could do that by upgrading my Castle Core.
UPGRADE CASTLE CORE TO LEVEL 2
Upgrade Cost: 200 points
Unlocks: Point generation level 2 (10 points/day)
The reason I hadn't done it yet was because I was focusing so hard on obtaining my first citizen. But now, the priority had clearly shifted.
(Alright, System! Upgrade my Castle Core!)
[Ding!]
[Purchasing Castle Core Upgrade… Success!]
[Initiating Castle Core Upgrade Process…]
As the upgrade started, I felt my core heating up again, growing warmer and more energetic.
Soon, I slipped into hibernation. Reality blurred as I lost consciousness.
****
Reincarnated as a Castle – Day 61
As I regained awareness, I saw the sun rising over the forest, signaling the start of a new day. The day counter had already changed to Day 61.
I checked my core status immediately.
[Status]
Castle Core: Level 2
Point Generation: 10 Points/Day
(Nice!)
And not just in the status screen — I actually felt more powerful as well! The size of my core had increased from a tennis ball to a small bowling ball, now pulsating with noticeably stronger, denser energy that flowed more vigorously through every wall and floor.
Honestly, 10 Points a day wasn't too bad! I would literally get my investment back in just 20 days! And most importantly, I wouldn't have to rely on random goblin visits for Points anymore.
Though, I hadn't entirely given up on getting my first citizen yet.
The biggest immediate problem was that skull-marked stick the elder goblin had left in front of my gate. It was outside my territory, which meant I couldn't touch it or interact with it at all.
But after a few minutes of carefully looking through my skills and options, I found the possible solution to fix it.
There was a skill I could obtain if I upgraded one of my other shops:
[Upgrade Construction Shop to Level 2]
Upgrade Cost: 100 Points
Unlocks: Land Expansion, Building Construction
It was Land Expansion!
Oh yeah.
If I could expand my land, I could just yoink that stick!
Currently, I had 143 Points left. This was more than enough to upgrade the Construction Shop!
…
[Ding!]
[Construction Shop Upgrade Successful!]
[-100 Points]
[Construction Shop Level 2 Unlocked!]
[Skill: Land expansion unlocked!]
[Skill: Building Construction unlocked!]
Points remaining: 43
The upgrade went smoothly and without any issues.
Feeling awesome, I quickly checked my newly unlocked skills. First, of course, was Land Expansion!
(Alright, let me see how much bigger I can expand now!)
[Land Expansion — Level 1]
Description: You can spend Points to expand your land, increasing your total territory area! Each purchase expands your land, allowing you to build more structures and granting your citizens more space to live.
Cost: 10 Points per 10 Square Meter
Expansion Limit: 0 / 1000
Note: Upgrade this skill to increase your maximum expansion limit!
…
…
As I read the description… once again, I felt robbed by the system.
(Ten Points for ten freaking tiny square meter?)
(What the heck is this?!)
(Are we buying Hong Kong real estate now?)
(This is just absurd!)
Currently, my total land area was already 500 square meters. So even if I spent all my remaining Points, I would only be able to increase it by another forty square meters. Not even a ten percent increase!
Well… either way, it was still good. At least I could expand my land.
Because right now, the biggest problem wasn't living space.
It was that damn skull stick sitting right in front of me. With this skill, if I expanded my territory outward, I should at least be able to encompass it.
…Right?
Right?
…
…
WRONG!
[Ding!]
[Skill Used: Land Expansion!]
[-10 Points]
[Your Land Has Increased by 10 Square Meters!]
[Ding!]
[Skill Used: Land Expansion!]
[-10 Points]
[Your Land Has Increased by 10 Square Meters!]
[Ding!]
[Your Land Has Increased by 10 Square Meters!]
[Ding!]
[Your Land Has Increased by 10 Square Meters!]
…
(Oi!)
(What is the meaning of this, System?!)
I was absolutely sure I had spent all my Points expanding outward from my gate.
(So why the fuck is that skull stick still there?!)
No matter how much I expanded, the distance between the stick and my gate stayed exactly the same. Nothing changed at all.
Well, something did change, actually. My front yard got noticeably bigger.
But that was not what I wanted! I wanted that damned stick gone!
In the end, it took spending all my remaining Points for me to finally learn the hard truth. Turns out, Land Expansion wasn't territorial expansion at all.
It was internal expansion!
The System wasn't pushing my borders outward into the world. Instead, it was increasing the amount of space contained within my domain, without altering the external geometry at all. Which was just… ridiculous!
It broke every law of physics I knew. Space couldn't just expand inward without affecting the outside world! Right?!
(This is some freaking higher-dimensional bullshit!!!)
And yet, there it was, happening right in front of me.
So in the end, nothing was solved. The stick remained.
Points remaining: 3