Second World

He heard a crack sound. He pulled the pins out and saw that they had broken. He failed.

He heard a notification voice, ”Lockpick fails, receive 20 proficiency points.”

ʼI still got points for failing?ʼ Jack asked in his mind.

”Of course, if not, it will take you ages to reach the next grade,” Peniel answered.

Jack took a look at his Lockpick skill inside his status window. It was written 20/1000 proficiency to reach the intermediate Apprentice grade. So if he used up all twenty of the lockpicks in his possession, even failing, he would be almost halfway there already.

ʼyou are right, I should have bought more lockpicks,ʼ Jack admitted. ʼI could just fast-track by inserting the lockpick and let it fail in quick succession to increase my grade. As long as I have enough coins, my skill will increase in no time!ʼ

”You are one simple-minded buffoon,” Peniel scoffed. ”You think the world will let you cheat like that? If you do it like that, you might not even get any proficiency point at all. The reason you got 20 points was because you have done it perfectly just now.”

ʼWait, perfectly? Then why did it still fail?ʼ Jack asked in bewilderment.

”Because thatʼs just how it works. Your lockpick skill grade is too low, even if you do everything right, you still have a high chance of failing. But you still have to try your best every time, because thatʼs how you get your maximum proficiency points to increase your skill grade and thus increase the chance of successful lockpicking. And the reverse is true also, even if your lockpicking skill is at maximum already, if you do the lockpicking wrong, you will still fail. Thus, it is not just about increasing your skill grade, you have to also get used to using it and refine your technique until you truly become a master locksmith”

ʼthat was such a hassle,ʼ Jack complained.

Peniel scolded him when she heard his complaint, but Jack wasnʼt paying attention as one of the Men of Solidarity asked him, ”you only have that one piece, mate?”

”Call him Boss, you nitwit!” The Man smacked the guy on the head.

”I thought you are the Boss?” The guy asked The Man with wronged expression.

”I am the boss, he is the big boss,” The Man said.

”I am not either of your boss!” Jack said in exasperation as he took out another lockpick.

He went through the same motion as before, done everything correctly, heard a click, and his lockpicks failed with a snap. He received another 20 proficiency points. He then went for a third one.

As he continued to fish out lockpicks and repeated the sequences, everyone started to gather around him and looked at him working. His concentration got lax on his sixth tries, so he was a little late when he twisted the lockpicks after the click sound, he only received 16 proficiency points. The next one, he got tense due to the failure, and twisted the lockpicks too early, he only got 12 proficiency points.

He paused for a while and took a deep breath, loosen himself up, and then went to work on the lock of the treasure chest again.

”Are you hoarding lockpicks? How many do you actually have?” John asked.

”Please donʼt disturb me, Iʼm concentrating,” Jack replied.

”Let me have a try next,” John said.

”I thought you are not interested because you will get nothing?”

”Well, looking at you having such fun. I am tempted for the experience.”

When his current try still failed, Jack then moved aside and let John have a go.

John took out his lockpicks and inserted them as he saw Jack did. Jack wasnʼt a petty person, so he explained the method as Peniel had explained to him. John did everything perfectly but also failed, he heard the notification sound.

”Oh, I still got proficiency after failing?” He asked.

”Yeah, in this way, you didnʼt waste lockpicks for nothing…,” Jack then proceeded to give the same explanation as what Peniel had explained to him.

John looked at Jack intently, ”how do you know so much about this?”

Jack was astounded for a bit, he then quickly said, ”uh, I read it somewhere in the library.”

John looked at him in suspicion, ”you have gone to the library before?”

”Of course,” Jack answered.

”Then you should have met the Keeper of the Books. Whatʼs her name?”

The Man interjected at this point, ”what is this! Interrogation? Go away! Donʼt bother our boss working.” He shooed John away, which was powerless against the Fighterʼs strength.

For once, Jack was glad that The Man treated him as his boss. He then ignored John and gone back to work on the treasure chestʼs locks.

Not long after, he was down to three lockpicks left. He had no confidence that he would be able to open the lock.

”Iʼm sorry, these are my last three lockpicks,” he said to The Man.

”Itʼs okay, boss. We know you have done your best,” The Man said sincerely.

”Canʼt we pick up the box and take it away first?” Bowler asked.

”Cannot, we tried already,” one of The Manʼs subordinates replied.

”You, give him the lockpicks you have,” The Man said to John.

John smiled, ”I will sell him to you guys, 30 copper for one lockpick.”

”Screw you, man. That is three times the market price!” Jack uttered.

”You are such a bully,” Bowler added.

”Thatʼs called business,” John shrugged.

Jack continued to try picking the locks. Due to being anxious as he was about to run out of lockpicks, he again performed badly twice and got low proficiency points. In his last attempt, forcing himself into full concentration, he managed to perform perfectly. However, the result still failed. The treasure chest remained lock.

Men of Solidarity had their shoulders slumped with disappointment. Yet they bore no resentment against Jack as they knew that he had been serious in helping them.

”How many lockpicks do you have?” Jack asked John.

John answered, ”I still have six in my bag.”

”Give them all to me.”

”One silver and fifty copper coins, please.”

”You fiend!” Bowler cursed.

”Friend, no need to be so hostile. We are just making a transaction,” John said. ”During such emergency time, I could even increase the price by five or even ten times. Giving you three times market price had already been considering you as friends.”

”Donʼt bullshit too much, give them to me,” Jack said as he took out his coins.

But The Man held his hand, ”boss, how could we let you pay for it when it is our responsibility. Here, take our coins!”

”Itʼs okay. I got proficiency points anyway, and I got enough coins to spare,” Jack said.

”No, we will pay for it!” The Man was resolute.

Jack didnʼt argue anymore. John received the coins with a smile and then handed six pairs of lockpicks to Jack.

”Nice doing business with you,” John said to The Man, who replied by spitting at his feet.

Jack went back to working on the lock.

He performed imperfectly two out of four attempts, with failed results on all four. He was now left with two lockpicks. If these two were gone, then there was nothing more they could do. They had to return to the city and bought more lockpicks then returned and pray that the treasure chest would still here and untouched.

He focused his attention on the lockpicking, couldnʼt afford to waste the remaining two chances. When he heard the click, he twisted the lockpicks gently. He felt something falling into place and didnʼt feel the lightness that was usually there when the lockpicks snapped.

Could it be? He thought.

Then he heard a sound of notifications, ”congratulations! You are successful in your lockpicking, receiving 50 proficiency points.”

😉