Chapter 98: Request
"First of all, you definitely got the wrong person," Terrence said flatly as he unlocked and opened the door to his room.
A clean, remarkably spacious room greeted him—featuring crisp white bed sheets spread neatly over a single bed, a basic wooden table paired with a matching chair, and a small standing closet typical of a standard traveling inn.
"Uhm... I’m sorry. I don’t know why you’re denying it, but I know for a fact that you are Terrence Lee," she insisted, stepping inside behind him.
Terrence’s brows furrowed deeply as he aggressively turned around to face her.
Ulyssia was taken aback by his sudden, intense movement, instinctively flinching backward.
Feeling an immediate wave of awkwardness wash over her, she found herself completely unable to look him directly in the eyes. Meanwhile, Terrence was visibly frustrated, his jaw tightening as he stared her down.
He let out a long, heavy sigh.
"I have been trying so hard to permanently remove that cursed family name tied to mine, but somehow, people still manage to know me through that damn lineage..." Terrence muttered under his breath, though Ulyssia caught every single word clearly.
He stepped closer, his gaze growing sharp. "Tell me, do people actually know me because of who I am as Terrence, or is it strictly because I happened to come from the Lee family?"
Ulyssia was caught completely off guard by his sudden question.
How could she possibly answer that with absolute certainty? All she knew was the widespread rumor that Terrence Lee was an extraordinarily gifted rising figure emerging from the Suran City.
Furthermore, Terrence shared a well-known sentiment toward uplifting the impoverished residents of the Barren Slums, which was the primary reason she knew so much about him in the first place.
There was simply no mathematical possibility that she was mistaken about his identity. She had been willing to gamble her very life and spend days tracking his whereabouts just to secure this face-to-face meeting.
Yet, despite inviting her up into his private room, Terrence remained visibly unwelcoming and guarded.
"You are..." Ulyssia hesitated, her voice trembling slightly as she tried to choose her words carefully. "You are Terrence... the rising star tamer from Suran City who commands two ridiculously powerful beasts."
Terrence gave a slow nod, then let out another quiet sigh. Hearing those specific details was enough to make him relax his tense shoulders.
Though his origin didn’t truly matter in the grand scheme of things, he was just genuinely irritated every single time he heard that repulsive family name attached to his first name.
"I didn’t know people were calling me that... But it’s nice to hear, at least."
Terrence walked over and sat down heavily on the edge of his bed, gesturing for Ulyssia to take a seat on the wooden chair beside the small table.
"So, what exactly is this problem you want me to help you with?"
Ulyssia sat on the very edge of the chair, her hands tightly clenching her tactical suit’s harness. "Uhm... most of the people from our section of the Barren Slums have finally decided to leave the Suran City sector for good. We were attempting to relocate and settle down here in the Hanging City, but none of us have enough contribution points to gain proper residency."
Terrence nodded along, his expression unreadable.
That was a systemic issue he was already intimately familiar with.
There was a specific, cruel reason why people born in the barren slums suffered continuously, beyond just being labeled as decent or below-average tamers. The core barrier was the sheer lack of contribution points required by regional authorities.
Despite their overwhelming desire to pack up and escape their miserable environment, they couldn’t just leave impulsively, simply because they lacked the initial capital to jump-start earning contribution points in a foreign city.
Living inside a major hub like the Hanging City was absurdly expensive, and attempting to farm contribution points from scratch was an exhausting, brutal endeavor. Because the slum residents lacked strong, high-rank beasts, they were physically incapable of clearing high-tier dungeons to earn substantial point payouts.
Hence, they were trapped in a vicious cycle where they were forced to suffer. They were born in the bleak barren slums, and they were expected to die there. Even after suffering immensely three years ago from the sudden, terrifying massacre caused by a wild, unidentified beast, they still had no choice but to rebuild their pathetic lives right back inside the same slum.
"Your problem is actually so easy to solve," Terrence said casually.
Ulyssia raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit offended by how dismissively Terrence spoke of her people’s lifelong struggle. However, a major part of her forced her ego aside for the sake of a far greater cause.
She swallowed a mouthful of saliva, her throat feeling dry.
"If it were truly that easy, I wouldn’t have had to risk everything to hunt you down," Ulyssia said, her tone laced with constant worry. "Moreover... if you don’t mind me asking, can I ask you something personal?"
Terrence clicked his tongue softly.
"If I’ve already invited you inside my private room, do you really think a simple question matters to me?" Terrence said flatly, leaving Ulyssia completely bewildered by his blunt attitude.
"Uhm..."
Ulyssia couldn’t understand Terrence’s personality at all. Normally, whenever she approached influential tamers or high-ranking figures for aid, they would immediately shoo her away like a stray pest.
But Terrence was completely different. He didn’t just invite her straight into his room, but he seemed genuinely invested in understanding her situation.
Saving or even extending a helping hand to the wretched residents of the barren slums was never something anyone of high standing would ever be interested in doing.
"I am basically telling you to stop holding back and spill everything on your mind," Terrence clarified, leaning forward slightly.
Ulyssia’s eyes widened a bit, feeling a sudden, strange skip in her heartbeat as her gaze locked directly into Terrence’s calm eyes.
Indeed, Terrence was entirely different from any noble or tamer she had ever met.
"I know this sounds completely absurd, but..." Ulyssia bit her lower lip so hard it almost bled. "As someone who was fortunate enough to be born with a slightly above-average talent and a decent affinity for beast taming, I am currently the singular hope for my family... and all of my neighbors back home."
Terrence bit his own lip in quiet contemplation.
His mind instantly recalled a strikingly similar girl from his past who had carried that exact same suffocating burden. The girl who had first taught him the harsh, unyielding realities of this world had lived a life almost identical to Ulyssia’s.
But that girl was long dead now. There was absolutely nothing he could do to bring her back, except force himself to look forward—and perhaps offer the very opportunity he couldn’t give back then to this girl who so strongly resembled her.
Terrence quickly set aside the brief, sharp pang of sorrow in his heart as Ulyssia continued speaking.
"You sell beasts, right? I heard from local rumors that you sell exceptionally rare beasts."
Terrence’s lips curled into a subtle smirk the moment he heard those words.
"Indeed, I do. I operate as a beast seller. What about it?"
’I don’t have a single beast in my current shop inventory at the moment, but I think I have a reliable way to restock my supply real quick,’ Terrence thought to himself.
"Uhm... Is it possible for me to buy high-tier beasts from you on behalf of my friends?" she asked desperately.
Right there, with that single question leaving Ulyssia’s mouth, Terrence’s eyes sparkled with immense satisfaction.
’Hm... I guess it’s finally time to gamble big with the system’s Gacha Shop again,’ Terrence thought, a golden business opportunity materializing directly before his eyes.