Free Web NovelChapter 42: Strange
Mateo fell silent.
After writing his phone number into the woman’s phone, he never expected things to turn out like this.
Once he finished, Mia took her phone back and saved the number.
DING!
Mateo heard his own phone chime from inside his pocket.
"Don’t hesitate to call me," Mia said before getting to her feet. freewebnσvel.cøm
As Mateo looked at her face, she suddenly winked with her left eye before walking back to her table.
He scratched his head, convinced that something was off.
"Ahem..." Thomas cleared his throat, giving him a strange look.
"What is it?" Mateo asked in confusion.
"I think Mia has another motive," Thomas replied.
"Another motive?" Mateo only grew more puzzled.
"Come on, keep eating." Thomas chuckled as he pushed another plate toward him.
Only then did Mateo realize he had already finished his meal.
He wasn’t even full yet and was still hungry.
Unable to refuse, he started eating again.
"Do you want to know why Alice and Mia aren’t friends anymore?" Thomas asked.
"Why?"
Mateo wasn’t the type to pry into other people’s secrets, but since the question had been raised, he couldn’t exactly say he wasn’t curious.
Perhaps it had something to do with Mia’s intentions as well.
"Well..." Thomas smiled oddly. "Alice’s father and Mia’s mother are dating. The media has never reported it, but among the upper circles of City Z, it’s no longer a secret. Alice couldn’t accept it. You know, she may seem quiet, but when she’s angry, her words can be incredibly harsh. She and Mia even got into a fight over it."
Mateo, "..."
"Don’t tell me Mia wants to ruin my relationship with Alice?" he asked.
"No, I’m sure that’s not it. Trust me, Mia is a good person. She wouldn’t use underhanded methods against someone else," Thomas answered.
"Does that mean Alice isn’t a good person?" Mateo asked, confused because of the way Thomas had phrased it.
"We can say someone is good, but we can’t necessarily say the opposite." Thomas chuckled.
Mateo frowned.
Naturally, he had long sensed there was something unusual about Alice—for example, how she could ask others to do questionable things in exchange for helping them with their tests. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
"Mateo, I think you’re actually the type of man who can easily attract women," Thomas said.
"That’s impossible. I’m just an ordinary guy from a village. There are plenty of men more attractive than me," Mateo replied shyly.
"You can’t say that when you’re dating Alice."
"No, it’s not like that." Mateo wanted to deny their relationship but then realized he hadn’t denied it up to this point.
"It’s possible that Mia has fallen for you too."
"That’s impossible."
Mateo answered immediately, though he couldn’t help glancing at Mia once more.
Fortunately, she was busy cutting her steak and didn’t notice him.
"I heard you just entered the Magic World," Thomas said.
"You know about that?" Mateo asked, slightly surprised.
"Of course. The students have been talking about it. That’s only natural—everyone wants to get in, but only a few succeed. Anyone who makes it becomes the center of attention."
Mateo nodded.
That meant his name had already become fairly well known.
"What about you?" he asked.
"Yeah. I spent over one million dollars before I finally succeeded."
"Are you serious?"
Mateo froze.
"Some people make it after only a few attempts, while others keep failing. I was the latter. But as long as you keep trying, you’ll eventually succeed. The current record-holder spent as much as seven million dollars. You know, that’s over forty-five hundred attempts. Nobody minds the cost as long as they can enter."
"Do you think it’s actually a real world?" Mateo wondered aloud.
"How does it feel to you over there? Does it seem fake?" Thomas asked with a chuckle.
"It feels real."
"Then it’s a real world."
RING!
Thomas’s phone suddenly rang.
He answered immediately, and his expression turned serious.
"Stay there. Don’t go anywhere," he said before hanging up.
"Mateo, I have to enter the Magic World right now. My companions are in danger. Let’s meet again another time. I genuinely want to learn martial arts from you—it could help my growth in the Magic World."
After saying that, Thomas suddenly fell asleep in his chair.
Mateo scratched his head.
With no one left to talk to, he finished his meal and soon left.
Fortunately, Mia’s table was far enough away that he didn’t have to pass by it on his way to the exit.
Even so, she watched him leave and flashed him a charming smile.
After leaving the three-story building and heading back toward his dormitory, Mateo couldn’t stop scratching his head.
No matter how he looked at everything that had happened, he was convinced something was going on.
It was just a gut feeling, but he couldn’t figure it out.
When he thought it through, everything seemed strangely suspicious.
After all, how had he ended up dating Alice in the first place?
Even after returning to his dorm, he continued pondering the matter.
Jack still hadn’t come back and apparently wouldn’t be returning anytime soon.
Mateo lay down on his bed and returned to the Magic World, where it was already nighttime.
He suddenly felt too distracted to absorb Spiritual Energy the normal way, so he decided to obtain it directly through the power of his soul instead.
The last time, he had only needed to spend 5 Heaven Path Soul Energy Points to obtain 4,000 Spiritual Energy.
"Hm? What’s going on?"
He frowned in confusion.
Strangely, no notification appeared from the System.
With knitted brows, he checked his System interface.
"Huh? How is this possible?"
[System Points: 0]
[Soul:]
Heaven Path Soul > 0 (SSS-Class Soul)
Both values were empty.
Hadn’t he previously possessed 170 System Points and 11 Heaven Path Soul Energy Points?
Where had they gone?
He hadn’t used them at all.
"System, System, where are my points?" Mateo asked aloud.
The System responded to spoken commands. Perhaps it could actually hold conversations as well.
If he asked a question, then it would answer.
(In a place far, far away, another version of your consciousness wished for power beyond that of ordinary humans. It received that power at the cost of 3 Heaven Path Soul Energy Points, and no more because of that world’s limitations. Then, your consciousness there developed an extremely strong desire for a woman to fall in love with you, causing all of your remaining System Points to be automatically converted to cover the required cost of 25 Heaven Path Soul Energy Points.)
Mateo, "..."
