Free Web NovelChapter 448: Chapter 448: Adina 1
The girls immediately scattered. In less than two minutes, everyone was sitting cross-legged on their own beds, eating fruit and chatting. It was incredibly relaxing. Compared to the chaotic hustle and bustle of the other dorm rooms, Tan You’s was an oasis of peace.
At eleven o’clock, the dorm lights went out on schedule. After a few more words, the room gradually fell silent. Just as Tan You was about to fall asleep, the Beauty System, which had been quiet for the past few days, suddenly popped up.
Tan You took one look at the little puppy and knew what it was thinking. "Are you pestering me to do a mission again? My military training has only been going on for four days."
The little puppy seemed a bit embarrassed. "Host, it’s just that Tongtong is a little impatient. I want to upgrade to an intermediate Tongtong."
Tan You was amused. "You’re getting a little too good at using those cutesy repeating words. You used to just call yourself ’Tong’, and now it’s ’Tongtong’ this and ’Tongtong’ that."
But to be honest, Tan You was in a good mood. She glanced at the little puppy. "Alright, let’s go. I’m also curious to see what you’ll look like after you upgrade."
Going out to complete the final beginner mission was, for Tan You, a matter of moments. This time, she once again received an S-level reward, and the client gave her a double-S rating. Tan You’s Energy Points also rose from 43 to 55.
The Beauty System wasn’t drooling over Tan You this time. In fact, it was completely silent. When Tan You called out to it twice, she only received a system prompt indicating an upgrade was in progress.
Unlike the Beauty System, the electronic voice that responded to Tan You was much colder, almost emotionless. Tan You couldn’t help but secretly wonder, ’Could this be the main system the little system was talking about?’
With these thoughts, Tan You rolled over and went to sleep. ’Whatever it is can wait until the little system is done upgrading. I wonder what it’ll look like after it’s done?’
It wasn’t even five in the morning when Tan You heard an electronic voice. "Host, Tongtong is back from upgrading!"
Tan You’s eyes snapped open. The other girls in the dorm were still asleep. She tiptoed out of the room and headed for the sinks.
"You don’t look any different from before." It still had the appearance of a little puppy. In Tan You’s eyes, the little guy hadn’t changed at all. She couldn’t help but doubt if the little thing had truly upgraded.
"The system’s core programming has been reinforced, but that’s stuff a Host wouldn’t understand." The little puppy spun in circles in front of Tan You. "Anyway, Tongtong is super powerful now! The other Beauty Systems are so jealous of Tongtong! Tongtong is the fastest Beauty System to reach the intermediate level!"
As for the jealousy of other systems, the Beauty System didn’t bother to mention it. It had a powerful backer to carry it, so it was just coasting to an easy win.
Tan You really couldn’t see any change in the little system. But since the little thing said it had upgraded, she’d take its word for it. After washing up, it was only 5:10 AM. Seeing that the students in her dorm were still asleep, Tan You decided to go to the cafeteria.
The cafeteria usually served breakfast between 5:50 and 6:20 AM. If you came any later, there would be none left. When Tan You entered the cafeteria, it was empty. She sat down at the table where she usually ate.
"View status panel." Since no one was around, Tan You wanted to take a good look at the little system’s internal changes, especially since its appearance hadn’t changed a bit.
The status panel that popped up looked no different from what Tan You remembered, except maybe the border was a little fancier? It still showed the same stats. Adopting an "out of sight, out of mind" mentality, she scrolled past her Intelligence Value of 61. Tan You was starting to feel rather zen about it.
The lottery subsystem hadn’t changed either, but the mission pool had. The main difference was in the mission selection console next to it. Before, there was only one mission selection button, with no numbers or words on it.
But now, another button had appeared next to it, labeled "Intermediate," while the original button was now labeled "Beginner." Other than that, the mission pool was still the same, filled with a dense cluster of soul orbs.
After staring at the two mission buttons for a long time, Tan You raised her hand and slammed it down on the "Intermediate" button without hesitation. A pitch-black soul orb quickly appeared before her.
"It’s black?" The over-the-top Beauty System shrieked. "Why is it black?"
"What’s wrong with it being black?" Tan You looked at the orb before her, her expression still perfectly calm. She had already completed several beginner missions, and most of the soul orbs had been pale and dim. Now that a black soul orb had appeared, Tan You actually found it refreshing.
’So this is an intermediate mission? It really is something else.’
"Black means it’s extremely dangerous!" The Beauty System’s voice was about to crack. "Tongtong has never heard of a black soul orb appearing for an intermediate mission! Is this a system evaluation error?"
"Can I swap it out?"
"Quiet down," Tan You said softly, seeing the Beauty System getting anxious. "How can you swap a mission you’ve already drawn? I’ve even drawn two missions at once before, so why are you making such a big fuss now?"
"That’s different!" the Beauty System cried, freaking out. "Beginner missions have a set difficulty, but an intermediate mission... This is practically death mode..."
Tan You paused. "Even if it is death mode, I’ll accept it. When two foes meet on a narrow path, the braver one prevails. We’ll just have to see who’s more stubborn."
Perhaps the beginner missions had been too mundane. Now that a real adventure was calling to her, Tan You actually felt her blood pumping with excitement. Deep down, she had a courageous streak. Besides, things had already come to this; the only way was forward.
The Beauty System was helpless. Seeing that Tan You was already reviewing the client’s memories, it vanished from her sight. It had probably gone off to browse the forums again.
Tan You wasn’t the least bit nervous about the situation. But after she finished reviewing the client’s experiences, she couldn’t help but furrow her brow. She had considered the possibility of drawing an Ancient World, or even post-apocalyptic or primitive planes. But Tan You had never, ever expected to draw a Western Fantasy Plane.
’A western fantasy world... This is a complete blind spot in my knowledge.’ That wasn’t the most important part for now. What was important was that, just as the little system had said, this was basically hell mode.
Take the client, Alina, for example. She was only six years old when she died, and her understanding of her own world was hazy. In her memories, she was just a little girl from a noble family whose days were spent eating, drinking, and playing.
Sometimes she would study with her private tutor, though she would slack off during lessons, of course. Then, she attended some kind of ceremony, and her life was turned completely upside down. In the end, she was abandoned in a dense forest, and from there she arrived in the system’s mission pool.
Staring at the client’s painfully sparse memories, Tan You felt a rare sense of confusion. ’So I’m starting out as a little kid this time? A little kid who’s about to get herself killed, at that?’
