Free Web NovelChapter 3: First Target?
"Great Nurture what now?"
Lucien leaned forward, gazing at the text as if it didn’t float right in his field of vision.
He closed his eyes, scrubbing them with his folded fingers. Maybe he was just seeing things.
The young man opened his eyes once more.
[Great Nurturing Returns System Has Been Triggered.]
"I don’t understand," he muttered. "Where’s my daily reward system? Intelligence system? Leveling system? The one that’s supposed to mold me into an overpowered being?"
This was disappointing.
But then again, the system had resonated with his will. And his will was not to become an overpowered being. Perhaps this system was well-suited for what he really wanted...
To raise the Five Calamities right.
But the thought didn’t cross Lucien’s mind at that moment.
He kept gazing at the floating system screen.
This was NOT like the cliche he was used to reading.
And quite frankly, he hadn’t even read any webnovel with a system built like this.
There was a possibility that this type of system existed somewhere out there in the sea of thousands of webnovels, but he never really read those types of novels. Slice-of-life or childcare books weren’t really his type.
Maybe he should have given them a chance.
"What does this system even do?"
The moment he asked that question, a soft chime echoed, as if replying to him.
And after a few seconds, a large wall of text surfaced on the system screen.
The block of text made Lucien frown, but he resolved himself and read the contents.
[Great Nurturing Returns System: This system is designed to help the user navigate their life as a guardian/caretaker/parent in this harsh, rigid world.]
Lucien’s frown melted, and he raised his brows.
’Okay.’
This didn’t sound half bad. It, as he had speculated earlier, aligned with his current desire.
He nodded, holding and caressing his chin as he continued reading.
[The system rewards the user for every step taken to cater to and nurture registered targets. The rewards are random and ranked from grade E to SSS grade.
The system grades the user’s nurturing action and assigns a corresponding, sufficient reward.]
Lucien took all the information in with a balanced exhale.
His deep otaku senses tingled.
’So that’s how it works, huh.’
Now that he had read what it was all about, the premise of the system wasn’t bad at all. It had real potential, as judged by his otaku senses.
He perfectly understood the system.
All his rewards depended on how the system graded his nurturing actions.
If the system graded his action as low, then the reward would be low-tier. If the system graded his action to be high, then the reward would be high-tier.
And these rewards were returns of his actions. It was kinda like investing.
The name of the system really made sense.
The Great Nurturing Returns System.
In a way, this made Lucien feel a bit relieved.
The system wasn’t like those types that assigned random quests to the user to aid them in becoming stronger. And it wasn’t like those leveling systems that needed him to kill to grow. That was a plus.
It wasn’t like Lucien was a coward who was afraid of danger. In fact, ever since the very moment he discovered that he’d transmigrated into a novel, he braced himself for any kind of danger at all.
Right now, he just felt relieved that he didn’t have to put his life on the line to grow stronger to prevent a world-ending disaster like those webnovels he read, where the protagonist ended up inside the world of a novel.
This system was perfectly designed for him. freewebnøvel.com
But the system being perfect and specifically tailored to reward his nurturing actions didn’t mean that he was going to raise the Five Calamities for the sole purpose of reaping rewards. No.
He thought of the system and the returns it brought as a cool side benefit.
And now that he had been given this chance and opportunity, his sole purpose would be to raise those children the right way, and show them what it felt like to be loved.
To be... loved?
Lucien blinked, staring at the smooth tiles of the ground in his room.
"But—"
He didn’t mean to be negative, but these things were easier said than done.
Besides...
"—What does it feel like to be loved? And how does one even love?"
Lucien breathed in.
He had no idea.
He’d never known warmth or love all his life. Even back when he was Jacob. frёewebnoѵēl.com
As a baby, his biological parents had abandoned him on the doorstep of a young couple who were struggling to conceive a child.
The struggling couple raised him until he was five years old, and when they finally conceived a child, he was no longer needed, and they–
Lucien massaged his forehead.
’That’s enough. Now’s not the time for this.’
He let out a soft exhale, wearing a somber smile.
Right. The system. The Five Calamities.
Lucien would make sure this new life of his was worthwhile.
And it would be as much of a learning experience for him as it would be a better life for those five.
He wanted to learn what love actually felt like. And how it felt to give and receive love.
He stood up from his bed.
To do all that, he had to find the young calamities.
But first—
He stared at the system screen.
"—How does the system work?"
The moment he asked the question, that soft, pleasant chime rang out again.
And the wall of text melted, a different set of texts hovering on the blue screen.
[Assign Nurturing Target(s)
Slot 1.)_________ {Inactive}]
Lucien’s brows furrowed as he hummed and caressed his chin.
’Nurturing targets, huh?’ he thought, ’So I just need to call their name, right?’
No answer.
He took the absence of an answer as the presence of a solution.
Lucien still perfectly remembered the back stories of all the Five Calamities, and so, knowing that, he had a rough idea of where they currently were at this time, and what they were up to by now.
But that was all in theory. Locating them was the problem.
This world was unfamiliar to him, after all.
He shrugged.
Maybe by daybreak, he’d venture out of this apartment and try to find out more about the geographic layout of this zero zone.
But first of all, he had to pick a name to fill the slot.
He hummed, closing his eyes as he rummaged through his brain, seeking the right target.
After a while of contemplation, he opened his eyes.
If his calculations were correct, then that kid would still be living with his elder brother by now. And so, he would be living a fairly peaceful life. But all the peace would come crumbling down when Eden and the gates arrived, killing his elder brother in the process.
’Aha!’
Now he remembered. Lucien had to find him now, because the event of his brother’s death two months from now was what drove the little kid to drown in the depths of rage and sorrow, and, ironically, was also what fueled him to clear the trials of Eden.
However, it was common knowledge to all fans of the novel that his brother’s death had created a canon event which led to him becoming...
The second calamity. The Calamity of Wrath.
"Michael Johansefort."
[Nurturing Target(s)
Slot 1.) Michael Johansefort (6yo) {Active}
Would you like to track target Y/N?]
Lucien’s eyes widened.
’Oh, that solves the problem of locating them, then.’
’Yes.’
[Loading Map ...1%]
Lucien blinked.
’Seems like it might take a while.’
Immediately, Lucien’s gaze found the mirror in the corner of the room.
He smirked.
’Let me check this face out in the meantime.’
Wasting no time, he strode all the way to the mirror and stared face-to-face with the image of Lucien.
He blew a low whistle as he gazed at the reflection.
"He’s not bad looking," he said, touching his chin. "Look at that jawline."
The young man had striking silver hair. And his long silver bangs flayed all the way to his forehead, fluttering over his piercing emerald eyes.
His emerald eyes were outlined by dark circles. Just like Jacob had been in his past life.
The man was leanly built. And the pajamas he wore were a bit loose on his body.
As he checked his reflection, the soft chime of the system echoed once more.
[Map loaded ...100%.]
Lucien gazed at the map, which had interrupted his ’self-reflection.’
Landscapes were painted on the blue screen, and tiny letters identified the regions, areas, and names of most places.
Lucien saw his signature. A green signal that hovered above a small building in a dark section of the map.
That was where Lucien currently was. Zero zone sector five.
He nodded.
He then gazed at the red signature. The one that signified Michael.
And it was...
Right next to Lucien’s?
’Huh?’
Just then, the white door that Lucien had earlier assumed led to the bathroom spun open.
Lucien was still gazing at the system screen, squinting his eyes as he tried to understand. He paid no mind to the creaking door, as if it were normal.
Was the system’s map bugged?
How was Michael right next to–
"Luci?" A soft, childlike voice called.
Lucien didn’t turn to look at the child. He was preoccupied with this broken system.
He only answered:
"Yes, Mikky? What is it? Why are you awake?"
As soon as Lucien asked that question, he paused.
Wait a damn minute.
As if his neck was stiff, he slowly and rigidly turned his neck toward the direction of the kid.
’Mikky?’
He gulped.
’...Michael?’
Lucien gazed at a young boy who was no taller than the height of his thighs. The kid’s black hair poked out of his cute, white hat as he rubbed his large, glistening blue eyes and yawned.
The boy was dressed in quite oversized pajamas that contrasted cutely with his white hat.
After yawning and rubbing his eyes, Mikky sniffed and then spoke in a low voice:
"I want to pee."
