SNAPCRAFT | Ch. 45 - Genetic Alteration

After two weeks of drawing plants, Clara gave Kai a new exercise. He now had to spend an hour hiking alone, looking for plants he had never seen before. It wasn’t difficult. These woods were teeming with life, and Kai had never paid much attention to plants. Biology should have been Alex’s department, after all.

After studying them and committing their features to memory, he was supposed to return to the shack and spend the rest of the day drawing what he had seen. Clara would then critique his drawing and spend the day teaching him about the plants.

“Hey, Clara?” asked Kai as he drew a bed of mushrooms in his book.

“What?”

“I was thinking…”

“That’s never good,” she joked.

Kai ignored the jab. “Although I appreciate all you’re teaching me, how will it help me in the exams?”

“Attention to detail and a good memory are fundamental skills in the exams, Kai.”

“Yes. I know that, but that’s not what I mean. Why biology? Neil used to say that the exams were all about survival.” Kai had to clear a catch in his throat at the mention of his dead friends. “Sunny used to say that it was all about engineering and understanding how Daisy was built.”

“And I suppose you want to know what biology has to do with Daisy.”

Kai nodded. Clara closed the book she’d been reading and turned her chair toward Kai, prompting him to stop drawing and focus his full attention on the old biologist.

“Consider this, Kai. Why do you think the exams' top prizes are bearing children and medicine?”

Kai pondered. The only sound in the room was the wood crackling in the fire. “Well, because these are things we care about.”

“Yes. Not just us humans but every living thing. The drive to survive and reproduce is deeply ingrained in lifeforms.”

“So, you think this means Daisy cares about biology?”

“She certainly seems to have a certain fascination for it. Think about it. How often do the exams test our knowledge of animals and plants?”

“I thought this was her way of teaching us to care more about the planet,” riposted Kai.

“That might very well be the case, but you can’t deny that the exams have a strong biological component.” She reopened her book, signaling she had stated her piece.

As for Kai, he went back to drawing the mushrooms while considering Clara’s viewpoint.

*

With his fingers, Kai searched the upgrade console and recoiled as it turned on. “No way. This shouldn’t be possible!” Was this the effect of the [Risen] upgrade? Raising the console before the end of the round?

He checked the top-right corner of the console and saw upgrade coins equivalent to his current number of points. Did this mean that the corresponding victory points spent wouldn’t be factored in to decide the victor if he purchased an upgrade now?

“The number of points that counts toward winning a round is what I have in my cards,” spoke Kai aloud to try to get his thoughts in order. “Even if I spend the coins corresponding to the points I have, that shouldn’t affect my score because it doesn’t change my cards.”

If his reasoning was sound, maybe this was just what he needed to come out on top this round. He went through each of the upgrades available for purchase.

Compass

Requirements: Reaching the northernmost point in the arena.

Description: A simple compass that points north.

Cost: 10uc

Failed Recipes (Recipe Book Upgrade)

Requirements: To have one failed crafting attempt.

Description: Your recipe book can now maintain a record of all failures in crafting.

Cost: 20uc

Recycle

Requirements: To destroy 100+ cards in one round.

Description: Generate a random scrap card for every ten cards you obliterate or lose at the end of the round.

Cost: 30uc

Log (Recipe Book Upgrade)

Requirements: Destroy 30 cards in one round.

Description: Your recipe book records all the cards you’ve already owned.

Cost: 30uc

Thorough Log (Recipe Book Upgrade)

Requirements: Destroy 50 cards in one round.

Description: Your recipe book records all the cards you’ve already owned, as well as successful and failed recipes.

Cost: 40uc

Flash Bomb

Requirements: [Glass], [Light].

Description: Blind your opponent for 30 seconds.

Cost: 50uc

Stun Bomb

Requirements: [Glass], [Hallucinogen].

Description: Stun your opponent for 30 seconds.

Cost: 50uc

Web Bomb

Requirements: [Glass], [Spider Web]

Description: Trap your opponent for 30 seconds.

Cost: 50uc

Neglect Bomb

Requirements: [Glass], [Neglect]

Description: Drop the hp of 5 of your opponent’s cards randomly.

Cost: 50uc

Flint Mine

Requirements: Craft three flint-based tools.

Description: Grants you a [Flintstone] card each round.

Cost: 50uc

Treasures of Atlantis

Requirements: [Sunken City]

Description: Allows you to get a random listing in the console in exchange for two listings you already have.

Cost: 50uc

Elm Sawmill

Requirements: Lumberjack card, [Elm]

Description: Grants you a [Elm Tree] card each round.

Cost: 50uc

Gaslamp II (Gaslamp Upgrade)

Requirements: [Gaslamp]; [Light]

Description: An even more powerful gas-fueled lamp.

Cost: 90uc

Hunter Eyes II

Requirements: [Jaguar]; [Hunter Eyes]

Description: Shows you where your opponent is on the map at all times.

Cost: 100uc

Populate

Requirements: Legendary human card.

Description: From now on, all of the maps are populated.

Cost: 200uc

Regeneration Chamber

Requirements: To have healed a card.

Description: When inside the chamber, a card can regain one hp between rounds.

Cost: 200uc

Scouting Drone (Android Upgrade)

Requirements: Fully explore a map.

Description: Airborne device that aids in map exploration.

Cost: 200uc

Slow Shutter

Requirement: [Light].

Description: Lets more light into the camera.

Cost: 200uc

Mythological Discount

Requirements: Mythological creature card.

Description: All other upgrades cost 25% less.

Cost: 200uc

Emotion Cookbook (Recipe Book Upgrade)

Requirements: Legendary grade emotion.

Description: Contains recipes for different emotions.

Cost: 200uc

Shield Phase

Requirements: [Infinity].

Description: Lets you move past shields.

Cost: 500uc

Mystery Box Fiesta

Requirements: [Mystery Box].

Description: From now on, every map has a hidden mystery box.

Cost: 500uc

Yellow Star

Requirements: [Red Star].

Description: Upgrades [Red Star] to [Yellow Star]. Not only does [Solar Breeze] destroy cards with 0hp, but it also absorbs the common cards' victory points.

Cost: 500uc

Kai’s eyes lingered on the [Flint] mine. He did need to get tools, and here was a good way of getting his hands on some very needed ingredients to make it happen. The only question was, if he bought this upgrade now, could he immediately benefit from it? Would the flint quarry produce a flint card right away?

He also looked for the two new upgrades that the legendary cards he had received granted him. One was the upgraded version of [Hunter Eyes], an upgrade he regretted purchasing. However, its enhanced version was more respectable. To know where the opponent was on the map at any given time was important information.

For example, he could tell that if his opponent lingered too long in one section of the map, that probably meant there was something precious there. Or, if he saw his opponent exploring one half of the map, he could go to the other one instead and scoop up the resources available in virgin territory. Finally, if the opponent played like him and didn’t rush to the center of the map, Kai could leisurely visit the center first, without any competition, and grab whatever goodies were hidden there.

Kai’s eyes landed on the new upgrade in his console. [Treasures of Atlantis] allowed him to trade two listings in the console for a new one, a very interesting upgrade. There were several things in the console he wasn’t planning on buying. To be able to get a glimpse at other upgrades that better suited his playstyle was incredible.

He had 160 upgrade coins to spend right now. He decided to bite the bullet.

Are you sure you want to purchase [Treasures of Atlantis]? [Y/N]

After buying the upgrade, a little symbol of an open chest appeared on the bottom right corner of the screen. Kai pushed his finger against two upgrades he wasn’t considering buying: [Compass] and [Failed Recipes]. Seeing the two windows change colors, he tried dragging them to the chest. The chest snapped shut, trembled for a moment, and reopened, revealing a new listing in the console.

Film (Camera Upgrade)

Requirements: To completely spend all your shots, five rounds in a row.

Description: You have 22 shots.

Cost: 30vp

Kai’s jaw dropped. What an excellent upgrade! He had been very close to naturally unlocking it, too! Had he not experimented with leaving one shot untaken in the Pine Woodland and had he not been chain-stunned by his opponent in the previous round, he would have been able to get this upgrade.

Even though [Film] was enticing, it didn’t help him right now. Kai grabbed two other upgrades related to the log he wasn’t planning to purchase and made a trade. The little chest erased the two listings he had sacrificed, and a new one appeared.

Uncommon Pool

Requirements: To only take pictures of uncommon cards in a round.

Description: You can take two pictures of uncommon cards regardless of how many have been taken.

Cost: 50vp

Kai frowned. The upgrade was OK, but the requirement to unlock it was strange. How could someone have any control over only capturing uncommon cards? To pull this off, one needed a fantastic amount of luck. And behind such a stringent requirement, there was only an OK upgrade.

He looked at it, and his breath quickened as he realized something. This would also affect shadow cards! Wow! If he could get his hands on this upgrade, that would mean that regardless of whether he or Alex had taken pictures of uncommon shadow puppets, he could take new ones!

Purchasing [Treasures of Atlantis] was a good investment. Kai was learning a lot from these new listings. Even if he didn’t buy them, they opened his eyes to different ways of going through the challenges and gave him some hints on how other trial runners might be going through them. [Uncommon Pool] was an upgrade related to the snapping part of the stage, so he skipped it.

He dragged two bomb upgrades into the chest, seeing what it spat. Again, the chest munched on the two listings and spat a new one.

Bomb Casing II

Requirements: [Glass], [Clay], [Leather]

Description: You now have three of each bomb.

Cost: 200vp

This upgrade not only didn’t suit Kai but terrified him. If someone was fully invested in bombs and had this upgrade, their opponents wouldn’t do anything! They would just remain paralyzed for a good part of the round. His previous opponent had probably gotten a hold of [Bomb Casing I], and that’s why they had two bombs of each.

Gulping at how horrible it would be to face an opponent with this upgrade, Kai tried his luck again. This time, he fed [Neglect Bomb] and [Web Bomb] to the little chest.

Tool Shed

Requirements: Three types of craftsmen

Description: Grants you a random tool card each round

Cost: 50vp

Kai felt like dancing, seeing he got what he needed! He had been close to unlocking it naturally, too. Kai had made [Oryx Foragers] and [Oryx Lumberjacks]. The only question remaining was the same one he had about [Flint Mine]. Would this upgrade come into effect right now, or would he have to wait one round to get its benefits?

After reviewing his current list of upgrades, Kai didn’t feel like sacrificing more listings to get new ones. The more expensive upgrades were important, and he would offer them up to the chest at later rounds, but he wanted to keep some of those options open for now.

He quickly decided which upgrade he would buy as he went through the new listings. He had to find out if these upgrades took effect immediately. Between experimenting with [Flint Mine] and [Tool Shed], he would try the latter since it offered him a finished tool.

Are you sure you want to purchase [Tool Shed]? [Y/N]

“Inventory!” Spending the fifty coins, he hurriedly opened the inventory window to see if something had appeared. Sure enough, there was a new card sitting there.

Swiss Army Knife (Rare)

A tool that can be used for different tasks.

Hp: 5

Vp: 2

Good card. He was missing something like this. Kai returned to the table. This small detour had made him spend precious minutes of the crafting round, but fortunately, he had [Deadline Extension], which gave him a little more leeway.

Even though he had secured a new tool card, he patiently set it aside. He wanted to explore the resources he had collected in the jungle. He grabbed the three cards that had caught his eye.

2x Green Daisy (Rare)

A flower that seems to have been genetically altered.

Hp: 4

Vp: 3

2x Brown Berry (Rare)

A bush berry that seems to have been genetically altered.

Hp: 2

Vp: 5

2x White Fern (Rare)

A fern that seems to have been genetically altered.

Hp: 2

Vp: 5

There was something about the shapes of the leaves and petals of these plants that felt wonky to Kai. After spending so many hours drawing plants, he could see that there was something wonky about them. Their rarity and the shared text description only made them more suspicious.

“Genetical alteration…” Kai mumbled. His problem was that there were three of these cards and not two. How was he supposed to mix them? In what order? Fortunately, he had grabbed two copies of each, and they had enough hp for him to try mixing them multiple times. In what order should he combine them?

Ch. 44 - Botanical Fascination

INDEX

Ch. 46 - Split Activation