"What is that Kraft thinking?" Jin grumbled to himself as he found his surroundings to be the same as a prison cell. Unlike a normal prison cell, this one had no door, no bars, no windows, just four walls.
However, the biggest difference was that the statuses of his incomplete jobs were being displayed right in front of him. A holographic screen would follow his line of sight everywhere unless he was looking at the control console.
"Is this another kind of psychology test I have to endure?" Jin thought to himself as he closed his eyes and suddenly alarms started to blare after a few moments of rest. That Kraft had purposely created a type of hell for Jin to go through. To make matters even more strict, Jin was not allowed to touch anything that was not related to Earth's problem. From the Farming World to Goblin World, there was no access given to him and the System even gave him slight electrical shock feedback whenever he tried accessing those projects.
"System, what is the meaning of this? Why are you collaborating with Kraft to do this to me?" Jin questioned and the System gave a straightforward answer.
"Original Bellator Kraft, the System, and others have noticed that User tends to deviate from his current objective to focus on other projects whenever you are stressed. So far, this has always resulted in more new problems popping up compared to if you had just stayed focused."
"System has made many simulations in that regard and the results were that if the User had completed everything as per schedule, the entire store would not be in this particular situation!"
"What situation? Didn't I create a new Dungeon Raid for the customers? And sometimes, even impromptu ones which actually serve as a money booster to our monthly reports?" Jin asked and the System acknowledged his efforts.
"User did indeed, however, your diversion from certain projects has led even our most loyal customers to feel somewhat cheated. The System is always listening in on their phones and they have commented that while they are elated to have new items to play with, they're unsure whether to throw certain key items away which you had once deemed valuable. As you might recall, you promised some a few certain types of dungeon instances, most prominently the Gentlebear instance, had been teased since the early stages of the shop, yet for nearly five months nothing came of it. It is imperative to keep your promise or to give compensation to the people affected by it." The System stated.
"Another thing of note would be the National Dungeon Symposium which Mr Shen Si Fang, the owner of the Castle Tower Cafe Instance, had told you about. Given User's future plans, System deems this to be the perfect opportunity to portray User's prowess by introducing the world to his new augmented Virtual Reality System." The System stated.
"So there's indeed a hidden motive for you to perform this act of imprisonment." Jin sighed as he stared at the Dungeon Maker console for a while before another alarm started blaring a minute later. "But you should know that I have zero interest in doing that. Besides, I thought you want to keep it as low as possible?" Jin tried to make an excuse even though he already knew the System wouldn't be convinced so easily to drop the issue.
"Please do not kid yourself, User. You should know perfectly well what situation we are in right now." If the System could have emotions, it would show the very same agitation that Jin was feeling too. "After the proclamation of the Panda Clan during the Royal Zodiac Tiger Clan meet, news has already spread like wildfire. Senior Associate Kong Rong has managed to douse the fire for the moment, but the time we have been granted is limited."
"Even as we engage in the affairs of other worlds, the Royal Zodiac Clans are wary of us, financially and in terms of strength. The System has deduced that we might have sufficient financial capabilities and manpower but the feedback analytics have also suggested that we should chase for clout. Without influence, the Panda Clan's status could be manipulated in the war of information and at worst we could be branded as enemies of the state."
"So you are saying that now that we have enough hands on deck, I should just delegate certain duties like leaving the situation of the Dungeon World to Kraft and his Foxes and concentrate on building up our store proper on Earth?" Jin suddenly felt the responsibilities got even heavier as the System replied with a definite positive.
It was true he owed the Pandarens certain instances and even personally promised a few of his Pandawans the realisation of certain dungeons, such as a mecha-based dungeon to Bu Dong and Deng Long. Jin could not deny he had been procrastinating with all the other world jobs since he had felt a higher potential of growth in those areas which could ultimately give him an upper edge in his store.
Still, there was one particular thing he did not understand and it bothered him quite a lot.
"Say, System, wasn't it you who claimed you needed more processing power and resources? Wasn't a major reason why we started to clear the Farming World of Demon Rats and planned to invade the Mecha World for those increased capability ch.i.p.s? If we do not have any of those, how are we going to switch to Augmented Virtual Reality?" Jin asked and since he was backed to a corner to do stuff, the System finally decided to reveal the dark truth of temporarily using captured lives' to increase its processing capabilities.
"Wait…a minute, so you keep them in 'hibernation' but you are also using them as processing capabilities?" Jin stifled a laugh through his throat and somehow he did not feel as bad as he was supposed to. Was it because of Kraft's constant influence or had he finally accepted that he was actually a modernised necromancer with a System and doing some bad things would pave the way for goodness?
"As the System had stated, it would be a waste not to use their capabilities when they are in stasis. After all, the System has to use its processes for some high maintenance tasks like the case of keeping powerful individuals like Bellator Rex or Maeve, the daughter of Winter Court Queen in check. Freeing Rex has allowed the System to clear up a lot of processing capabilities and this gives the System the capability of controlling the others even further. That, the System will swear upon." The System stated and a digital contractual clause immediately emerged on the Dungeon Maker Console for Jin to read the amendments of the 'contract' he had with the System.
"I do not know whether I should feel relieved or not to know that, but I am assuming you are already doing the same for the current capture of Dungeon World Soldiers?" The System acknowledged it at once when Jin asked and he sighed while staring at the ceiling for a moment.
"No way, even staring into blank space is not allowed?" Jin was agitated by the sudden aggressive behaviour from the System before taking a deep breath to calm himself down. He knew that going against the System right now had no additional benefits, especially if both Kraft and the System had decided to collaborate to go against him, there was only one thing he could do to get out of the current situation he was in.
Work.
