Chapter 91 - Would You Rather
Theo quickly glanced through the paper and signed it without hesitation.
As he placed it back down, Alden nodded slowly.
"Good," he said.
He folded it neatly and opened up another cabinet.
For a moment, he searched through it.
Before pulling out a long, silver cloth.
Theo raised an eyebrow.
’What is that?’
He felt a faint layer of mana surrounding the cloth, increasing his curiosity.
Alden shook it in the air, finally revealing its real appearance.
’A robe?’
Theo’s eyes remained on it as it was placed on the desk in front of him.
"This," Alden said calmly, "is a standard for our members."
As he was about to say something, Alden shushed him.
"I wasn’t done speaking yet," he chuckled quietly.
Alden tapped the fabric once.
"This is a platinum-rank protective robe," he continued. "Its ability forms a mana shield around you that can block at least one B-rank attack."
He paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing.
"Though don’t waste it, as recharging it costs quite the sum."
Theo’s mouth fell open.
A protective item like that, just as a sign-up bonus?
"That’s..."
He trailed off, unsure how to finish his sentence.
Alden chuckled quietly.
"Expensive?" he offered.
Theo let out a small breath.
"...Yeah."
His eyes dropped back to the robe.
Even without activating it, he could feel the mana cores woven into it.
’If this is just... standard,’ he thought, ’just how much do they invest into their members?’
The two spoke for a while longer, going over a few basic rules, contact methods, and how assignments would be handled moving forward.
By the time everything was settled, nearly three hours had passed.
Theo found himself inside the bus alongside Owen, who couldn’t stop talking.
"I can’t believe it," he said. "One and a half million dollars for both of us!"
He laughed loudly to himself.
"We’re rich," he kept going. "I’m definitely going shopping tomorrow!"
Theo leaned back slightly in his seat, letting Owen’s voice fade into the background.
The amount of money went through his mind again.
His mind slowly drifted.
Alden had easily made the government, out of all places, pay them more.
As he thought about it, something else shot through his mind.
’Shit,’ he thought, facepalming. ’I completely forgot to ask about the grandmaster-level hunter...’
Theo let out a quiet breath, lowering his hand again.
"Guess that’ll have to wait," he thought.
He leaned back slightly in his seat, glancing out the window.
The city continued to pass by slowly as the sun started to set in the distance.
Beside him, Owen was still going on.
"I’m telling you, the first thing I’m doing is upgrading everything," he said. "New phone, new clothes — maybe even a better place."
Theo glanced at him briefly.
"We already signed a lease," he said.
Owen paused with his mouth open.
"Oh," he said. "Right."
Then he shrugged.
"Still. We’ve got options now."
Theo shook his head lightly, no longer paying the conversation any mind.
It didn’t take long before the two of them were back inside their apartment.
"I’m going to shower real fast," Owen said, tossing his stuff into his room. "And I don’t want any company."
Theo looked at him with a hint of disgust.
"Really?"
Owen shrugged.
"Just saying."
With that, he disappeared into the bathroom.
Theo let out a small sigh, shaking his head as he went into his own room.
’I guess this is for the best.’
A blue screen appeared in front of him as the door clicked shut.
His eyes remained on only a single line of text.
[Would You Rather cooldown: 00:00:09:21.]
’Only a few minutes left,’
he thought, dismissing the screen. He carefully placed his blood-soaked umbrella on a clean blanket, before storing the robe away.
As he continued doing menial tasks, he kept checking the time.
Minutes passed by slowly.
Finally, Theo sat down on his bed.
His gaze drifted to the transparent screen in front of him, his heart pounding slightly faster.
[Cooldown: 00:00:15.]
[Cooldown: 00:00:08.]
[Cooldown: 00:00:01.]
Then—
Another screen popped up in front of him.
Rows of text appeared on it one by one.
But as Theo glanced at them, he froze.
[Would You Rather—]
Option 1: Guarantee Tiamat’s SSS-rank summoning affinity on your next breakthrough.
Option 2: Receive a forbidden manuscript on the creation of the summoning element and one summoning circle.
Theo’s eyes widened, his head going closer to the screen.
"What the hell are these options?"
He sat there, completely flabbergasted.
His gaze remained locked on the screen, his mind racing faster than it had all day.
A guaranteed SSS-rank affinity.
That alone was already absurd.
Although the summoning element wasn’t his first choice for his next affinity... it was something that guaranteed his potential.
Then his gaze fell on the second option.
’A forbidden manuscript... about the creation of the summoning element?’
His mind froze.
Creation.
That single word made his thoughts stall.
’What... is the system talking about?’
Everyone in the world knew one thing very well.
Elements weren’t created.
They were awakened.
And yet—
This option directly contradicted that.
His fingers curled up slightly.
’If this is real... it could change everything. For everyone.’
Theo’s breathing slowed, his gaze shifting between the options.
One gave him a guaranteed future... the other was an insane gamble.
Finally, he made his decision.
"I’ll aim for the affinity I want during my breakthrough," he said. "The second option is just something too valuable."
He paused.
"System, give me option two."
The screen lit up in a golden color immediately.
[Choice made.]
Another line followed.
[Congratulations! Host has successfully chosen both the forbidden manuscript and the summoning circle.]
Theo’s head snapped back for a moment, his eyes narrowing.
"Hold on," he muttered. "Summoning circle?"
That’s when his eyes widened.
"I completely skipped over it."
[Granting rewards in 3...2...—]
He waved his hands rapidly in front of him.
"Hold on!"
[1...]
A thick, old book appeared in his hand.
For a moment, everything went silent.
Theo’s heart pounded heavily in his chest.
Slowly, he lowered his gaze to the book in his hands.
The cover was rough and worn, its title written in unfamiliar symbols that seemed to shift into English the longer he looked at it.
’Did the second reward not... come?’
Then—
His body froze.
A sharp pressure formed in his chest.
He frowned, looking down.
’Something... is moving?’
His hand moved to his chest instinctively.
Suddenly, the pressure spiked.
His eyes widened.
"Wait—"