"What?"

  Rumor blinked once. Then twice. Nope, the message was still there.

  "What?"

  He repeated to no one, many questions running through his mind.

  First of all, okay, what a name for an achievement. [ Xenophobic ], really? He got that a name wasn't all that important in the grand scheme of things, but really?

  Secondly, what the fuck were hidden achievements!?

  [ Hidden achievements are those that are not displayed when the tester first enters the incursion. They must be discovered on their own, and usually include better rewards. Hidden achievements contribute to world exploration. Tip: be sure to communicate with other testers when you have the time. ]

  Well, the first part of that was blindingly obvious. The tip not so much.

  'So, there is a way to talk with other people. Most likely once I leave this closed type incursion.'

  Hidden achievements apparently also contributed to his world exploration rate. And, indeed, when Rumor checked the system, it said that his world exploration was now at 0,04%.

  Incredible.

  And that was likely the combined sum of everything he had done until now: exploring Mos Espa, meeting Anakin, working towards and completing achievements.

  He started to wonder if it was even possible to get a world exploration rate of 100%.

  But that was something to ponder later. For now, he looked at his newly unlocked... Ugh... [ Xenophobic ] achievement.

  [ Xenophobic (complete): Kill individuals from 3 different sentient humanoid species. Species killed for achievement completion: Trandoshan, Miraluka, Rodian. ]

  [ Completion reward: World-specific 1-Star Skill Selection. ]

  [ Hidden achievement Xenophobic can be further upgraded into: Genocidal or Extreme Xenophobia. ]

  [ Genocidal: Kill significant quantities of one particular sentient humanoid species you have used to complete previous achievement Xenophobic. ]

  [ Extreme Xenophobia: Kill individuals from 15 different sentient humanoid species (3/15) - Trandoshan, Miraluka, Rodian. ]

  That was a lot to unpack. Achievements could be upgraded. Okay. Apparently you could get achievements from doing extremely evil things. Also okay, let's not think about it too much.

  The reward. That was what Rumor was interested on. It was different than the scroll he got before. To start with, it was world-specific.

  He claimed it without hesitation.

  [ World-specific 1-Star Skill Selection ]

  [ Choose 1 of the following skills:

  [ Red Blood lvl 1]

  [ Rarity: 1-Star ]

  [ Effect: Increase your damage by 10% against other sentient humanoid species. Each level in this skill grants a 2% increase to the effect. Current increase: 12%. ]

  [ Cost: 10 HP ]

  [ Cooldown: 45 seconds ]

  [ Description: Active. You are extremely proud of being human. Consume your own vitality to increase your attack power against aliens and those not human. ]

  Well, if that wasn't one fucked up skill, albeit undeniably useful in the Star Wars universe. Rumor looked at his second option.

  [ One Blood lvl 1 ]

  [ Rarity: 1-Star ]

  [ Effect: Increase your strength, vitality, and spirit by 2 points when fighting alongside fellow humans. Each level in this skill increases related attributes by 2 points. Current increase: 2 points. ]

  [ Cost: None ]

  [ Cooldown: None ]

  [ Description: Passive. You are extremely proud of being a human. When fighting alongside fellow humans, increase your strength, vitality, and spirit stats. ]

  Now Rumor was in a dilemma. Both skills, descriptions aside, seemed incredibly useful. [ Red Blood ] would give him an immediate advantage in the incursion he was currently in, and it scaled off percentages, which meant it would only get more useful the stronger he got - as long as he landed in worlds with sentient humanoid species as enemies.

  [ One Blood ] also had potential, although not as immediate as the first skill. The pure attribute increase might be even more useful for him than a percentage based one in rhe first few incursions. But it required fighting alongside other humans, which wasn't likely right now, as he had no allies of any kind.

  In the end, Rumor went with [ Red Blood ]. It had more potential, and, to utilize it, he first needed to survive this incursion. Plus, there were plenty of fictional worlds out there with enemies against which the skill would be applicable.

  "Wait, you smell that?"

  "Tastes like blood."

  "I bet one of those little Jawa thieves got crushed by wreckage again. Greedy little bastards. Let's go!"

  Rumor's pondering about his new skill was interrupted by two voices, which were quickly growing louder as they approached.

  He hesitated only for a moment before bolting. Although killing more members of the Krayt Dragon Gang was tempting, he was dead tired after everything he had done today already. Better not overreach and end up losing everything.

  ...

  He had one last thing to do before turning in for the night - the two suns high in the sky notwithstanding.

  Wait, did he have somewhere to turn in for the night? The place he arrived first was closed and locked. Did he have to find a motel or something? Were there even motels in Star Wars?

  Ah, whatever. It would all work out.

  Still feeling cheerful from his gains today, Rumor approached Watto's shop again. This time, it was the owner himself who was at the counter, while Anakin was somewhere in the back of the shop, quite literally digging through a pile of junk.

  "What ya want?"

  The alien was an ugly little thing, somehow shriveled and fat at the same time, and rude to boot. His four wings looked like they were struggling to keep him in the air, and Rumor had to suppress an eye-roll when he saw the notification that popped up in front of him

  [ Support storyline character Watto dislikes you. Relationship in risk of falling to Hostile. ]

  Was his appeal that low? No, he hadn't gotten that reaction from others. Most likely, Watto was just an unfriendly person.

  At least it was still Neutral, but who knew for how long. Probably one wrong phrase would see it falling to Hostile.

  "I've got a couple ship parts to sell."

  "Oh?"

  That got Watto's interest. The gleam in his beady eyes - all too familiar to someone who had grown in The Quarter - told Rumor the alien was already thinking about how to scam him.

  [ Support storyline character Watto is interested in you. Relationship stabilized. ]

  What a fickle being.

  "Well, bring 'em out, don't waste my time!"

  Rumor also didn't want to spend any more time in Watto's presence than necessary. While there were likely benefits if he could increase the level of their relationship to Liked or even Respected, he didn't think it was worth the time or the effort.

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  With a wave of his hands, the three parts he had managed to scavenge from the Graveyard, the [ EK-05 Navigation Disk (Damaged) ], [ Aviator-class Central Command (Shard) ] and [ Turret Energy Source (Leaking) ]. Neither Watto not Anakin, who was now looking mildly interested, showed any reaction to the stuff appearing out of thin air when Rumor took it out of his storage.

  "Oh."

  Watto's interested dipped when he saw Rumor didn't have anything truly valuable. But then he brightened up again when he realized that just made it even more likely he could fleece Rumor.

  "Well, all you've got there is junk, my friend. Just repairing it's gonna offset most of my earnings."

  Watto sounded dismissive, and Rumor almost believed him, if not for the very subtle way his eyes flickered to the [ EK-05 Navigation Disk (Damaged) ], the only 1-Star item of the lot.

  "Tell you what, 'cause I'm feeling generous today, I'll give you 700 wupiupis for the disk. Then... An even 300 for the other two, maybe I can melt them down for the components. What say you? 1.000 is better than any offer you'll get out there."

  As if Rumor would trust the shrewd businessman for even a second. And that was without Anakin shaking his head from behind Watto.

  "2.000 wupiupis the other two. 3.000 clean for the disk."

  "What!? Are ya insane? They wouldn't be worth half that much if they were intact! 400 hundred for the central control and energy source. 1.000 for the disk."

  "No de-"

  Rumor was about to make a counter offer when he suddenly cut off. It felt like his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth.

  Narrowing his eyes at the victorious grin on Watto's eyes, Rumor had an inkling he should have used [ Observe ] before getting into haggling with an alien the Star Wars movies always depicted as a despicable and sleazy businessman.

  [ Watto ]

  [ Titles: Owner of The Skywalker ]

  [ Species: Toydarian ]

  [ Strength: 3 ]

  [ Dexterity: 2 ]

  [ Vitality: 8 ]

  [ Temperance: ?? ]

  [ Spirit: 23 ]

  [ Appeal: 16 ]

  [ Skills: Bargain lvl 7, Unequal Trade lvl 3, ??, ?? ]

  [ Special Skills: ?? ]

  [ Description: Originally a smuggler, Watto has kept many of the habits from his original trade. Don't underestimate this seemingly inoffensive shop owner, for chaining the fate of the Chosen One is no simple feat. ]

  [ Owner of The Skywalker: In a fortunate turn of events, the holder of this title has managed to acquire the Chosen One of the Star Wars universe, Anakin Skywalker. Your luck is unparalleled, but be warned that Fate is a fickle mistress. ]

  [ Title Effects: +2 levels to all luck-based skills, higher chances of acquiring rare drops. +1 level to all commerce related skills, high chance of taking the upper hand during trades. ]

  [ Bargain lvl 7: A necessary skill for all tradesmen. 3% increase to success rate during monetary transactions for each level in this skill. Current increase: 21%. ]

  [ Unequal Trade lvl 3: You are a master at getting what you want. Higher likelihood of the other party accepting a losing deal. 10% increase to success rate in all transactions for each level in this skill. Current increase: 30%. ]

  'Motherfu--!'

  Putting aside the abnormal disparity between Watto's attributes - really, spirit and temperance he could understand, after all, the alien hadn't been affected by Qui-Gon Jinn's Force tricks in the movie, but what the hell was that appeal!? Watto was literally a bug! And and old and ugly one!

  And then there was that damn title and his skills!

  Rumor had originally thought that he had already gauged the importance of skills, but he just now realized he had been wildly underestimating them. Even a skill like [ Bargain ], which seemed to be a basic skill for traders, could have such fearsome effect once raised to a high enough level.

  And that wasn't even mentioning [ Unequal Trade ], which was even more wildly overpowered, and all the other hidden skills Watto had.

  No wonder Rumor felt like he couldn't haggle with Watto anymore!

  "Uck!"

  Before he agreed to a deal he would regret, Rumor decisively bit down on his tongue, hard enough to drawn blood.

  So this was what it meant to be a storyline character in The Mind.

  Other than Anakin, none of the other people Rumor met before had warranted the description of 'storyline character', be it support or main, nor the opening of a relationship meter.

  At first, Rumor thought it was because he hadn't interacted with them enough. But now he realized it was because storyline characters were on another level entirely, even someone like Watto, who barely got any screen time after the first film.

  Under Watto's greedy gaze, clearly already expecting Rumor to cave, the tester swallowed the blood on his mouth and smiled with stained teeth.

  He was definitely going to take a loss here, but it wasn't going to be so easy for the Toydarian.

  [ Red Blood ]!

  He felt his HP drain and power rush through his body. It was only going to last a couple seconds, but it was enough to break the hold Watto's skills had over him.

  "3.000 wupiupis for all three parts. Final offer."

  He wasn't going to attack Watto, obviously. Putting aside the fact he wasn't sure he could kill the alien even if he tried, Anakin was right there. No doubt his mere presence and connection to Watto would ensure nothing happened to him.

  But even if all Rumor did was smile, Watto felt the subtle change in him. As a long-time resident of Tatooine and having dealt with all kinds of unsavory characters, he knew when someone's bottom line was done being pushed.

  After hesitating for a few seconds, Watto beat his wings and hovered closer to Rumor, spitting on one hand and sticking it out.

  "Deal."

  "Glad to do business with you."

  Rumor took the proffered limb and shook it. The exchange took place, and now he had about 3.500 wupiupis to his name - far from enough to get a ticker out of Tatooine, but a good enough haul for the first day.

  [ Support storyline character Watto admires your mental fortitude. Relationship: Neutral (0/1.000) --> Neutral (35/1.000). ]

  [ Main storyline character Anakin Skywalker was amused by your haggling. Relationship: Neutral (2/1.000) --> Neutral (7/1.000). ]

  Rumor glanced over Watto's shoulder as the alien fiddled with his new purchases and mumbled to himself. Indeed, Anakin was hiding a small smile, and gave Rumor a thumbs-up when he caught the tester looking at him.

  Rumor returned a jaunty wave and walked out of the shop.

  His tongue was already healing, and his HP recovering from the drain of [ Red Blood ], but it was his entire body that was aching, not just the fleshy appendage.

  Rumor had never been a strong person. Although he kept physically fit more out of necessity than anything, he still couldn't compare to those mercenaries who frequented The Quarter. After an entire day of running around and getting into two different fights, plus the added mental strain of being shot, captured, and killed back on Earth, he was exhausted.

  'Something to eat, then sleep. That sounds good.'