Free Web NovelAlex, surrounded by darkness, feels as though he’s floating in space. Unable to see anything, he just exists. A few minutes later, his pupils contract as the black void is replaced by a barely familiar white, sterile-looking room.
“This room... no matter how often I return here, it doesn’t feel like home since I barely spend any time here. Also...” Alex mutters, looking around.
“It got slightly larger again. I guess this isn’t my room after all.”
At the same time, Menchi, Benezia, and Jewel appear in the room as well, Jewel immediately celebrating by climbing on top of Alex’s head and dancing, seemingly overjoyed to be back.
Before anyone can say more, Alex hears his personal system and old-time friend welcome him with a very familiar message.
[Welcome back, Host. Congratulations on surviving an exceedingly exhausting mission! Almost a week has passed since you set off.]
[This System notices that Host has sustained a moderate amount of damage during this mission. Does Host want to spend 10,000 FC for a full recovery?]
“Still only moderate?” Alex wonders. “I have the feeling I got beaten up quite a bit this time...”
[Host may have taken a lot of damage, but his sturdy armor is not only effective at blocking damage, but also at preventing injuries. With such heavy armor, it’s exceedingly difficult to lose fingers or entire limbs.]
“I see,” Alex notes, fully accepting the explanation. “I’ll recover my wounds in a moment, 1337. Thanks for explaining, as usual, you are extremely helpful. I guess it’s just better to wear heavy armor. What kind of moron would walk around in normal clothes, huh?” freewebnσvel.cøm
As if controlled by destiny itself, Alex can’t help but look at Menchi, wearing her extremely skimpy clothes that—even after upgrading them—have not significantly changed in appearance. Next to her, Benezia is not faring much better, wearing a ceremonial-looking black dress.
“Huh?” Menchi protests, following Alex’s gaze. “I rely on agility... also, not everyone wants to wear heavy plate armor along with that insanely gruesome-looking sword. No wonder you’re called the Butcher by everyone. You look like a weirdo!”
“She has a point,” Benezia agrees. “Your gear might be highly protective, but it also instantly reveals you as a barbaric slaughterer, which always leads to you choosing violence to resolve your issues.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Alex says, not listening and quickly changing the topic. “I am sorry. Anyway, I got an S rank.”
Only an S rank? Princess Jewel thinks Soulmate deserves a higher rank! Princess Jewel herself deserves an SSS rank, as she is a Super Special Spider!
Alex sighs, not bothering to reply to his pet.
“No,” Benezia immediately rejects Jewel as well. “Little one, we have barely focused on missions. Instead, we hunted for items and worked only towards our own goals, which is why we profited so much. It’s almost a miracle that Alex still managed to complete this mission with an S rank.”
“So what do we do now?” Alex wonders. “There is so much to do... upgrading skills, taking stock of our items, contacting Glimmerwhisk. We also need to talk to Tereza, maybe also Kira, and see what the hell he is doing. Frankly, I’m getting a little stressed already.”
“I... kinda agree,” Menchi says, looking a little exhausted. “I have such an incredible amount of ingredients. Maybe I can give you something special soon. I can cook for ages with the amount we’ve gathered. I need to seriously think over my plans. I also plan to replenish and organise your stack of consumables, surely you used up a lot, right? Let’s make sure you hand me back anything you don’t need anymore, and I’ll give you only the highest quality dishes and potions I can produce!”
“Great,” Alex says, nodding towards her.
“We have much to discuss, Alex,” Benezia says. “This time we really profited to an absurd degree. I am also wondering if you obtained something from Crocodile?”
“A Gold Quality chest, along with the Blue Quality one you gave me at the end. I have two I need to open. I also have a [Bloody Chest] left. I killed that player called Shinji—he was also on Glimmerwhisk’s bounty list—and I get to collect 75k Belly... no, Credits... I mean FC.”
“These currencies are not that hard to keep track of, Alex. Get serious,” Menchi critiques him, looking a little annoyed.
“I guess so,” Alex admits honestly. “I’ll ask Tereza if she has chests to open as well. Since we were grouped, I should be able to open her chest this once, I think.”
Tereza does not have any chests. Apart from a [Bloody Chest], she only picked up a White Chest from those joke agents that were in charge of the bomb. Princess Jewel is sure.
“Well, that simplifies it then,” Alex says, shrugging.
“So what do we do?” Menchi asks. “We still haven’t talked about it.”
“Not sure...” Alex replies, honestly.
“You children need to calm down,” Benezia says, a hint of amusement in her voice. “We have at least 30 days of time remaining, most likely significantly longer. Rest. Take care of your obligations in your... old world. Even I require a day of rest, which I’ll use to meditate.”
Princess Jewel wants to go fishing!
Alex immediately shakes his head. “Never again... go play a fishing game or something!”
“I think the little one has played enough games,” Benezia comments. “I heard an interesting exchange before we met up at the end of our mission. You are also not setting a good example for the little one, Alex.”
Alex shrugs, not agreeing with this time. “No. This is just culture. Just because you refuse to educate yourselves doesn’t mean that we have to live a hermit’s life. This is normal, trust me. Times have changed—a few memes don’t hurt anyone. Jewel is just having a little too much fun, but hopefully she’ll grow out of that phase soon. She just needs to learn a little bit of moderation. If we’d encounter a bunch of six or seven-year-olds, I’d bet Jewel would get along with them just fine, while you would struggle.”
“Is that the standard we are going by?” Menchi wonders, giggling. “Get real.”
Suddenly, Jewel jumps onto the table and begins to dance, raising two of her left legs before awkwardly lowering them rhythmically, moving up and down.
6 ❤️ 7 ❤️
“Okay, this is where I draw the line... Maybe the others are right after all. You are sentenced to a week in the attic. Act like a normal spider for once!” Alex says, his face now icy-cold.
But Soulmate does not have an attic... he lives in his penthouse apartment, which is at the very top of the building.
“Looks like you lucked out then,” Alex replies, snapping his fingers, like he made a mistake.
❤️
“You are spoiling her,” Benezia chides him, glaring at him.
“I don’t comprehend this discussion...” Menchi mutters, looking outright confused.
“Do not even attempt to,” Benezia replies. “You’ll end up with fewer brain cells and a lesser reputation.”
“Anyway, Benezia is right. We should rest. You can go home,” Alex says towards the others. “I’ll recover through the system and follow along.”
Players have it hard....
“See you soon!” Menchi says, stepping onto the platform to teleport back home to Alex’s apartment. Benezia quickly follows her, along with a reluctant-looking Jewel who jumps onto Benezia’s back to catch a ride with her.
Meanwhile, Alex sits on the ground, readying himself. “1337, you can start. Give me the VIP treatment 10,000 FC can afford.”
[If Host wants additional services, he should pay more FC.]
“I was just kidding... just go along, will you?” Alex replies, a little annoyed.
You have lost 10,000 FC
Closing his eyes, Alex soon feels his body screaming in joy. Every single part of him suddenly feels as though it has been through hell, and can finally rest now.
Enjoying the sensation, Alex finally relaxes, completely safe and secure.
Managing to barely keep track of time this time, Alex feels the process stop.
“Just 90 minutes or so,” he mutters.
[Host can always injure himself and enjoy this treatment again, though this system doesn’t recommend it.]
“I’ll wait until the next mission is over to experience this again... hopefully I won’t lose any limbs, or so, that would be quite uncomfortable. Also, this tier of healing is still a little too pricey to enjoy it for the fun of it. 1337, I’ll see you soon. We are making progress—sooner or later, we’ll get to the end. I promise you that.”
[This system looks forward to that. It would be the ultimate goal of this system’s existence to lead a player through the end of the Realm, however unlikely it is. Though admittedly, this system has never had the pleasure to be in charge of a promising player like Host, who actually has a somewhat realistic, if improbable chance.]
“Improbable?” Alex wonders, now curious. “How would you rate my odds in percentage?” frёewebηovel.cѳm
[According to this system’s analysis, Host has a chance of success that’s between six or seven percent.]
“...”
“Now you are just fucking with me,” Alex says, annoyed. “I forgot you like to do that sometimes. Good old times, huh?”
[This system can’t estimate the chance of success—in all honesty, it’s most likely even lower than that. However, Host is far more capable than the vast majority of players, and there is a chance. That much this System can say.]
Just as he’s about to return home, Alex notices that he has received at least one message.
“Rishi, huh? Must be... let’s look at what he said,” Alex mutters.
Two messages...
[Samir: It looks like you had an interesting encounter with one of my more promising teams. It seems you have a lot of explaining to do. Message me as soon as you have recovered and don’t even dare to trade or sell any of the items looted from my members, or I’ll teach you the meaning of the word regret.]
“What the... Motherfucker!” Alex curses, ignoring the message for now as he looks at the other one.
I’ll deal with this asshole later—I’ll ignore this bastard, like the insignificant fly he is.
I’m immediately getting triggered. This is why I partly hate Cultivation stories. Someone wants to kill the protagonist, then he defends himself, kills them, and thus he is suddenly the responsible party for killing his attackers. This vile motherfucker is pissing me off already. Fuck the Seekers. If this was one of their promising teams, it looks like I don’t have to fear too much. I can also simply do some solo missions. I also still have a few mission items that look like they don’t involve PvP....
Anyway, the second one is from my guild leader, Li Qingfeng.
[Li Qingfeng: It looks like your last mission brought a lot of trouble with you. Though there are no rules in our guild, I think the current situation is important enough that we should discuss it... personally. Once you have recovered, you should visit the Guild House. I’d strongly advise visiting me first before interacting with one of the Seekers or using the Realms facilities.]
Alex opens his system panel and briefly responds.
I guess... that’s nice enough of her to warn me.
[Alex: I’ll visit as soon as I can. Don’t worry, I won’t interact with these scumbags for now. I'll see you soon.]
First... time to go home.
