"Master, I hoped I had not worry you too much." Dread Reaver apologised before he turned to another direction and whistled loudly. A familiar rumbling noise came from afar and Jin noticed it was none other than Mr Oink. Despite the change in his appearance, Mr Oink seemed to recognise Dread Reaver and snorted happily at him.
"System, if you do not mind." Dread Reaver was just pretending to be courteous as he did not wait for the System's acknowledgement and placed his hand at the docile Mr Oink. Slightly dark, purplish energy flowed out from Dread Reaver's gauntlet at Mr Oink who started to glow after being hit by the wave of darkness.
"Mr Oink is currently undergoing a variant Step Up Evolution which was not intended by the System." The System calmly informed Jin who remembered that Mr Oink was also due for the evolution process because of the rewards for completing the Goblin War mission. "If User wishes to stop the evolution, User has to answer within the next five seconds." The System stated but Jin trusted in Dread Reaver's judgement.
Mr Oink snorted one last time before an orb of darkness completely enveloped him. At that moment, Dread Reaver was holding onto the very same Enhancement card that the System had given Jin to evolve him, only that it was now titled 'Eight Legged Mountain Boar
Evolution Trigger'. He fiddled with the card in his hands for a while as he stepped forward and threw the card into the orb. Everyone in the vicinity waited anxiously before Mr Oink stomped its feet to break the orb that was surrounding him.
As it shattered, Jin saw the new form of Mr Oink. He was encased with armour from head to tail. The very same bloodied edge black armour that Dread Reaver was wearing. But his hoofs were on fire, burning dark purplish in colour. That was not all, at the sides of Mr Oink was a smaller sized piglet, which largely resembled Mr Oink's second form. The piglet was sitting in a floating sidecar chained onto Mr Oink and it was manning an auto repeating crossbow. Similar to Mr Oink and Dread Reaver's armour style, Little Mister Piggy was fashioning a fancy grey edgy helmet with Dread Reaver's insignia. He had no accompanying suit although his side car was rather well armoured.
"Oinkmobile." The System reflected Mr Oink's name on Jin's Tact Tweak which made Jin burst into laughter.
"You are messing with me, aren't you?" Jin asked and the System stated that it was not joking. Jin could only accept that fact and walked towards the Oinkmobile to admire him for a while. Oinkmobile snorted deeply as Jin ruffled his fur (the armour was partially retractable, same as with Dread Reaver) and congratulated him for evolving. The armoured boar oinked happily after receiving some scratches and later went over to acknowledge Dread Reaver. (And hopefully, get more scratchies.)
"You are still letting us ride him though, right?" Wrystriker tried to ease the atmosphere a bit.
"Only if you let me ride your grand Wyvern." Dread Reaver replied chuckling. He raised his hands up and gave a bro hug to Wyrstriker and then did the same with Flame Ripper.
"Gosh, I was worried your personality might have changed after you evolved," Wyrstriker admitted a bit embarrassed as he gawked at the fearsome armour that Dread Reaver was wearing.
"Do you think your own Step Up Evolution will be as cool as ours?" Flame Ripper teased Wyrstriker a bit, only for the latter to refute him and did the same to Flame Ripper for still wearing nothing but his leather armour and cloak that was given by Jin at the start of the mission. This made his imposing figure look somewhat cheap.
Jin gave them some time to 'argue' amongst themselves before Wyrstriker came forward for his turn. He was a little unsure what was going to happen and for some reason, he felt pressured fearing he could not meet the expectations of Jin after he evolved.
"Do not worry, Wyrstriker. Each one of you possesses their own strengths. Never doubt your powers which you trained so hard to obtain. Remember how you were able to defeat Nubwort, when just some months ago …well that is for me, technically a year for you according to King Sol. Anyways, just two months ago, you never expected that you could fight against the Black Disaster all by yourself. So have faith in yourself!" Jin encouraged him as he took out the Goblin Evolution Trigger enhancement card in front of Wyrstriker.
"But if you feel that you are not ready yet, we can always do this another day." Jin could see there was still some hesitation left in Wyrstriker's eyes and in his body language. The two other goblins also tried to encourage him and told him that they did not expect to be able to evolve into their present forms. But in the end, Wyrstriker decided to postpone the evolution.
"I am not ready Master, I am sorry. I feel that I should learn more about myself and Iwen first before we go for the evolution." Wyrstiker knew that his skills was on par with the other two but there was something in his heart that made him feel that it was not the time yet.
"No worries. You have successfully changed into your side evolution not too long ago. Whenever you feel that you want to go ahead, just tell me. Besides, according to the System's criteria, you are set to evolve with the help of the trigger card so time should not be an issue. Who knows maybe postponing it could help turn you even stronger than the other two." Jin said and decided to leave first and gave them some space to talk about their experiences.
"User could have simply force evolved Wyrstriker, his advanced form will prove formidable in future battles and provide a higher difficulty for your customers too. System had noted an overall increase in grades from the cultivators that frequently patronised the shop. The number of regular customers should only rise, which will become a problem if User does not update his monsters. Wyrstriker might eventually prove too easy for the cultivators in the near future. If System might add, there are no recorded cases of a monster waiting to evolve into an even more powerful form. It is against the rules of Mother Nature's survival of the fittest." The System seemingly complained about Jin's actions as he entered the dungeon maker to overlook the progress of Another Jins.
"No recorded cases does not mean that it's impossible, correct? Even if it turns out to be the case, I feel he needed to be ready emotionally since it is, after all, a triggered evolution which is also against the rules of Mother Nature. " Jin rebutted the System
"And speaking of the instances, I know that I've asked before but I just need one more confirmation now that they have evolved. The Goblin Forest instance, can it still feature the previous goblins form or do we need to change it to the new forms the goblins currently have?" Jin asked with concern.
"The System shall repeat it for the 7th time. The data of the goblins had been analysed thoroughly. The substituted goblin NPCs can emulate their behaviour with 97.8% probability of success. Unless someone has encountered them dozens of times, no one should be able to tell the difference. Additionally just as User has previously suggested, System had implemented the new mode and named it New Game+. After a cultivator has beaten the initial instance, they will be able to choose this mode, which should prove to be more of a challenge." The System replied.
"I see, alright. Then use the same storyline for now, I will make the necessary changes to the plot for the New Game+ levels later. For now, our topmost priority is the completion of the Western Diversion before more cultivators come in." Jin sat down and immediately coordinated with Another Jins to get the Western Diversion Dungeon Instance starting.
——–
Qiu Yue relaxed on the bed in the room Jin had graciously provided. After the battle operation was done, her work wasn't. Far from it. She had to coordinate the resources with the goblins in order to ensure that it everything they needed was being sent off to the Western Coast and Northern Valley on time. Should she fail, the armies would starve or lack medical supplies.
But one thing was for sure. Despite the hectic schedule she created in lieu with Operation Pompeii, she never had had such an opportunity to command whole ministries and it felt very rewarding for her. "So by following Jin, I can expect myself doing more of this in the future, huh?" Qiu Yue stared at the ceiling for some time before there was a knock on the door.
"It's me, Lynn, I brought you some food. Thought you would be hungry around this time." Lynn said from behind the door. With an unexpected quickness, Qiu Yue opened the door to let her in. There had been some touch and go moments with her, but the two young women hadn't had the chance to really interact nor talk to each other either. Qiu Yue guessed Lynn just wanted to know more about the new occupant in the house.
"Wow, piping hot noodles! Thank you, Lynn. That's exactly what I needed at the moment. Do you wish to come in?" Qiu Yue decided to let her in since this was the opportunity to understand why Jin chose her to be part of the System too.
Lynn, on the other hand, was checking out the room that Qiu Yue was in. There was not much stuff yet, most noticeably her luggage bag at the side of the bed. Aside from that, everything which had already been placed was rather neat and tidy. Even the clothes that she washed were all hanged up at the closet.
"I asked the System to inform me when you'd return to your room since I saw how you were rushing around in the terrace house with your eyes half open for the past few days. I figured providing you a bowl of hot food would relieve some of your stress." Lynn had already prepared a good excuse reason to check her out.
Though she did not have time to interact much with Lynn, Qiu Yue's intuition told her that Lynn appeared the kind who would not talk that much. Hence, if Lynn was making such an effort to interact with Qiu Yue… there could only be two possibilities for that. Either she was really that concerned about her… or Jin.
"Heh heh, so you want to get to know your opponent, huh?" Qiu Yue immediately assumed the latter to be case, as she happily indulged herself in the hot noodles.
"What? No no no." Lynn panicked a little upon hearing such a direct statement from Qiu Yue yet her body language was plain obvious. Eyes diverting, cheeks slightly blushed, stiffened shoulders and a slightly high pitch. Qiu Yue guessed she was not the only one enamoured by Jin. She had known about his charm, especially now with how much he changed compared when he was in uni.
"I am just teasing you! Were you the one to cook this? The food's amazing. My stomach feels extremely content from the warmth of the soup and the noodles are absolutely delicious. I want another bowl, but I think I need to take note of my weight." Qiu Yue praised Lynn as she grabbed a rubber band from the side of the table in her room and began to tie her hair up so she could eat without it getting in the way.
"Yes, I did. I'm glad it suits your liking. If you have any request, I'd be more than happy to make you something in the future, too." Lynn replied directly and with shifting eyes, she plucked her courage up and asked. "Erm, you seem to have some history with Jin. How did the two of you meet?"
"We've known each other since our university days. We were classmates back then. But he sure has changed a lot. You know, he was not this responsible the last time I met him." Qiu Yue decided to keep her past relationship with Jin a secret for now.
"But still as awkward as now whenever he asks somebody for favour?" Lynn asked and Qiu Yue nodded her head furiously. Both girls laughed at his behaviour. "Somehow, he always seems to feel guilty about asking somebody for help. I think it might have something with how his grandfather brought him up. You ehh, know that he does not have any parents, right?" Qiu Yue continued the conversation.
"Yeah. Well, I guess there's Yun. Supposedly she's his mother, but she does not have any recollections on Jin or ever giving birth to him, though." Lynn blurted out and Qiu Yue was visibly surprised about that fact. She always thought Yun was just another NPC or Bellator under Jin's command.
"Anyways…I am actually here for another reason." Lynn decided to cut to the chase which Qiu Yue had not considered this girl to be this impatient. In fact usually, Lynn wouldn't be that way but she was very nervous about her interaction with Qiu Yue, mostly because of the reason she wished to speak with her privately.
"Are you very sure that you want to aid Jin in his journey? Supporting him all the way? Because once you gain a Sub System of your own, you can never go back to your ordinary life. Your life will be pretty much be tied to Jin's in the future if you accept." Lynn asked with utmost seriousness. Qiu Yue was a bit baffled as she assumed Lynn was there to ask if Qiu Yue wanted to be with Jin.
"I erm..I guess so." Qiu Yue replied haphazardly after being caught off guard. Out of nowhere, Lynn's facial expression changed drastically.
"DO YOU THINK THIS IS SOME JOKE?!" Lynn who had pledged her eternal loyalty to Jin, who was willing to give her all for Jin got riled up by the weak answer from Qiu Yue that she banged her table. This was something that would change the life of Qiu Yue forever without any chance to revert everything, yet the other party did not seem to care for it and took such a decision so lightly.
The soup from the noodle bowl even spilt around the table a little. Seeing the result of her own outburst, Lynn quickly regretted it. She realised she was in the wrong and returned to her meek expression.
"Sorry. I am truly… I spoke out of place. I erm was not thinking straight. It's jus-" Lynn apologised and took out some tissue from her storage ring and cleaned the area up a little.
"No. You don't need to apologise. Jin is indeed giving his very best and it is obvious that you are highly committed to his cause to the very end. You were just looking out for him and making sure, that I shared your resolve. I do not know what has happened between the both of you for you to act in this way this but rest assured. If I thought of this as a joke, I would not have quit my job and put a single effort for Jin at all. I believe wholeheartedly that he can do great things. No. He will accomplish great things that can change this district, the country and perhaps even the world." Qiu Yue stood up and talked down at Lynn.
"And you can be very damn well sure, I will be by his side when he reaches for the top. Because he is mine." Qiu Yue stated in a calm and yet somewhat threatening tone. That was when Lynn smirked as she curled her hair behind her right ear and stared intently at Qiu Yue.
"I shall welcome the challenge," Lynn replied with just as much confidence. Usually, she was only this confident when in the kitchen, but somehow she had found the courage when it involved Jin. Qiu Yue grinned as she knew from that day onwards, she would be great friends (and rivals) with Lynn.
"Master, I hoped I had not worry you too much." Dread Reaver apologised before he turned to another direction and whistled loudly. A familiar rumbling noise came from afar and Jin noticed it was none other than Mr Oink. Despite the change in his appearance, Mr Oink seemed to recognise Dread Reaver and snorted happily at him.
"System, if you do not mind." Dread Reaver was just pretending to be courteous as he did not wait for the System's acknowledgement and placed his hand at the docile Mr Oink. Slightly dark, purplish energy flowed out from Dread Reaver's gauntlet at Mr Oink who started to glow after being hit by the wave of darkness.
"Mr Oink is currently undergoing a variant Step Up Evolution which was not intended by the System." The System calmly informed Jin who remembered that Mr Oink was also due for the evolution process because of the rewards for completing the Goblin War mission. "If User wishes to stop the evolution, User has to answer within the next five seconds." The System stated but Jin trusted in Dread Reaver's judgement.
Mr Oink snorted one last time before an orb of darkness completely enveloped him. At that moment, Dread Reaver was holding onto the very same Enhancement card that the System had given Jin to evolve him, only that it was now titled 'Eight Legged Mountain Boar
Evolution Trigger'. He fiddled with the card in his hands for a while as he stepped forward and threw the card into the orb. Everyone in the vicinity waited anxiously before Mr Oink stomped its feet to break the orb that was surrounding him.
As it shattered, Jin saw the new form of Mr Oink. He was encased with armour from head to tail. The very same bloodied edge black armour that Dread Reaver was wearing. But his hoofs were on fire, burning dark purplish in colour. That was not all, at the sides of Mr Oink was a smaller sized piglet, which largely resembled Mr Oink's second form. The piglet was sitting in a floating sidecar chained onto Mr Oink and it was manning an auto repeating crossbow. Similar to Mr Oink and Dread Reaver's armour style, Little Mister Piggy was fashioning a fancy grey edgy helmet with Dread Reaver's insignia. He had no accompanying suit although his side car was rather well armoured.
"Oinkmobile." The System reflected Mr Oink's name on Jin's Tact Tweak which made Jin burst into laughter.
"You are messing with me, aren't you?" Jin asked and the System stated that it was not joking. Jin could only accept that fact and walked towards the Oinkmobile to admire him for a while. Oinkmobile snorted deeply as Jin ruffled his fur (the armour was partially retractable, same as with Dread Reaver) and congratulated him for evolving. The armoured boar oinked happily after receiving some scratches and later went over to acknowledge Dread Reaver. (And hopefully, get more scratchies.)
"You are still letting us ride him though, right?" Wrystriker tried to ease the atmosphere a bit.
"Only if you let me ride your grand Wyvern." Dread Reaver replied chuckling. He raised his hands up and gave a bro hug to Wyrstriker and then did the same with Flame Ripper.
"Gosh, I was worried your personality might have changed after you evolved," Wyrstriker admitted a bit embarrassed as he gawked at the fearsome armour that Dread Reaver was wearing.
"Do you think your own Step Up Evolution will be as cool as ours?" Flame Ripper teased Wyrstriker a bit, only for the latter to refute him and did the same to Flame Ripper for still wearing nothing but his leather armour and cloak that was given by Jin at the start of the mission. This made his imposing figure look somewhat cheap.
Jin gave them some time to 'argue' amongst themselves before Wyrstriker came forward for his turn. He was a little unsure what was going to happen and for some reason, he felt pressured fearing he could not meet the expectations of Jin after he evolved.
"Do not worry, Wyrstriker. Each one of you possesses their own strengths. Never doubt your powers which you trained so hard to obtain. Remember how you were able to defeat Nubwort, when just some months ago …well that is for me, technically a year for you according to King Sol. Anyways, just two months ago, you never expected that you could fight against the Black Disaster all by yourself. So have faith in yourself!" Jin encouraged him as he took out the Goblin Evolution Trigger enhancement card in front of Wyrstriker.
"But if you feel that you are not ready yet, we can always do this another day." Jin could see there was still some hesitation left in Wyrstriker's eyes and in his body language. The two other goblins also tried to encourage him and told him that they did not expect to be able to evolve into their present forms. But in the end, Wyrstriker decided to postpone the evolution.
"I am not ready Master, I am sorry. I feel that I should learn more about myself and Iwen first before we go for the evolution." Wyrstiker knew that his skills was on par with the other two but there was something in his heart that made him feel that it was not the time yet.
"No worries. You have successfully changed into your side evolution not too long ago. Whenever you feel that you want to go ahead, just tell me. Besides, according to the System's criteria, you are set to evolve with the help of the trigger card so time should not be an issue. Who knows maybe postponing it could help turn you even stronger than the other two." Jin said and decided to leave first and gave them some space to talk about their experiences.
"User could have simply force evolved Wyrstriker, his advanced form will prove formidable in future battles and provide a higher difficulty for your customers too. System had noted an overall increase in grades from the cultivators that frequently patronised the shop. The number of regular customers should only rise, which will become a problem if User does not update his monsters. Wyrstriker might eventually prove too easy for the cultivators in the near future. If System might add, there are no recorded cases of a monster waiting to evolve into an even more powerful form. It is against the rules of Mother Nature's survival of the fittest." The System seemingly complained about Jin's actions as he entered the dungeon maker to overlook the progress of Another Jins.
"No recorded cases does not mean that it's impossible, correct? Even if it turns out to be the case, I feel he needed to be ready emotionally since it is, after all, a triggered evolution which is also against the rules of Mother Nature. " Jin rebutted the System
"And speaking of the instances, I know that I've asked before but I just need one more confirmation now that they have evolved. The Goblin Forest instance, can it still feature the previous goblins form or do we need to change it to the new forms the goblins currently have?" Jin asked with concern.
"The System shall repeat it for the 7th time. The data of the goblins had been analysed thoroughly. The substituted goblin NPCs can emulate their behaviour with 97.8% probability of success. Unless someone has encountered them dozens of times, no one should be able to tell the difference. Additionally just as User has previously suggested, System had implemented the new mode and named it New Game+. After a cultivator has beaten the initial instance, they will be able to choose this mode, which should prove to be more of a challenge." The System replied.
"I see, alright. Then use the same storyline for now, I will make the necessary changes to the plot for the New Game+ levels later. For now, our topmost priority is the completion of the Western Diversion before more cultivators come in." Jin sat down and immediately coordinated with Another Jins to get the Western Diversion Dungeon Instance starting.
——–
Qiu Yue relaxed on the bed in the room Jin had graciously provided. After the battle operation was done, her work wasn't. Far from it. She had to coordinate the resources with the goblins in order to ensure that it everything they needed was being sent off to the Western Coast and Northern Valley on time. Should she fail, the armies would starve or lack medical supplies.
But one thing was for sure. Despite the hectic schedule she created in lieu with Operation Pompeii, she never had had such an opportunity to command whole ministries and it felt very rewarding for her. "So by following Jin, I can expect myself doing more of this in the future, huh?" Qiu Yue stared at the ceiling for some time before there was a knock on the door.
"It's me, Lynn, I brought you some food. Thought you would be hungry around this time." Lynn said from behind the door. With an unexpected quickness, Qiu Yue opened the door to let her in. There had been some touch and go moments with her, but the two young women hadn't had the chance to really interact nor talk to each other either. Qiu Yue guessed Lynn just wanted to know more about the new occupant in the house.
"Wow, piping hot noodles! Thank you, Lynn. That's exactly what I needed at the moment. Do you wish to come in?" Qiu Yue decided to let her in since this was the opportunity to understand why Jin chose her to be part of the System too.
Lynn, on the other hand, was checking out the room that Qiu Yue was in. There was not much stuff yet, most noticeably her luggage bag at the side of the bed. Aside from that, everything which had already been placed was rather neat and tidy. Even the clothes that she washed were all hanged up at the closet.
"I asked the System to inform me when you'd return to your room since I saw how you were rushing around in the terrace house with your eyes half open for the past few days. I figured providing you a bowl of hot food would relieve some of your stress." Lynn had already prepared a good excuse reason to check her out.
Though she did not have time to interact much with Lynn, Qiu Yue's intuition told her that Lynn appeared the kind who would not talk that much. Hence, if Lynn was making such an effort to interact with Qiu Yue… there could only be two possibilities for that. Either she was really that concerned about her… or Jin.
"Heh heh, so you want to get to know your opponent, huh?" Qiu Yue immediately assumed the latter to be case, as she happily indulged herself in the hot noodles.
"What? No no no." Lynn panicked a little upon hearing such a direct statement from Qiu Yue yet her body language was plain obvious. Eyes diverting, cheeks slightly blushed, stiffened shoulders and a slightly high pitch. Qiu Yue guessed she was not the only one enamoured by Jin. She had known about his charm, especially now with how much he changed compared when he was in uni.
"I am just teasing you! Were you the one to cook this? The food's amazing. My stomach feels extremely content from the warmth of the soup and the noodles are absolutely delicious. I want another bowl, but I think I need to take note of my weight." Qiu Yue praised Lynn as she grabbed a rubber band from the side of the table in her room and began to tie her hair up so she could eat without it getting in the way.
"Yes, I did. I'm glad it suits your liking. If you have any request, I'd be more than happy to make you something in the future, too." Lynn replied directly and with shifting eyes, she plucked her courage up and asked. "Erm, you seem to have some history with Jin. How did the two of you meet?"
"We've known each other since our university days. We were classmates back then. But he sure has changed a lot. You know, he was not this responsible the last time I met him." Qiu Yue decided to keep her past relationship with Jin a secret for now.
"But still as awkward as now whenever he asks somebody for favour?" Lynn asked and Qiu Yue nodded her head furiously. Both girls laughed at his behaviour. "Somehow, he always seems to feel guilty about asking somebody for help. I think it might have something with how his grandfather brought him up. You ehh, know that he does not have any parents, right?" Qiu Yue continued the conversation.
"Yeah. Well, I guess there's Yun. Supposedly she's his mother, but she does not have any recollections on Jin or ever giving birth to him, though." Lynn blurted out and Qiu Yue was visibly surprised about that fact. She always thought Yun was just another NPC or Bellator under Jin's command.
"Anyways…I am actually here for another reason." Lynn decided to cut to the chase which Qiu Yue had not considered this girl to be this impatient. In fact usually, Lynn wouldn't be that way but she was very nervous about her interaction with Qiu Yue, mostly because of the reason she wished to speak with her privately.
"Are you very sure that you want to aid Jin in his journey? Supporting him all the way? Because once you gain a Sub System of your own, you can never go back to your ordinary life. Your life will be pretty much be tied to Jin's in the future if you accept." Lynn asked with utmost seriousness. Qiu Yue was a bit baffled as she assumed Lynn was there to ask if Qiu Yue wanted to be with Jin.
"I erm..I guess so." Qiu Yue replied haphazardly after being caught off guard. Out of nowhere, Lynn's facial expression changed drastically.
"DO YOU THINK THIS IS SOME JOKE?!" Lynn who had pledged her eternal loyalty to Jin, who was willing to give her all for Jin got riled up by the weak answer from Qiu Yue that she banged her table. This was something that would change the life of Qiu Yue forever without any chance to revert everything, yet the other party did not seem to care for it and took such a decision so lightly.
The soup from the noodle bowl even spilt around the table a little. Seeing the result of her own outburst, Lynn quickly regretted it. She realised she was in the wrong and returned to her meek expression.
"Sorry. I am truly… I spoke out of place. I erm was not thinking straight. It's jus-" Lynn apologised and took out some tissue from her storage ring and cleaned the area up a little.
"No. You don't need to apologise. Jin is indeed giving his very best and it is obvious that you are highly committed to his cause to the very end. You were just looking out for him and making sure, that I shared your resolve. I do not know what has happened between the both of you for you to act in this way this but rest assured. If I thought of this as a joke, I would not have quit my job and put a single effort for Jin at all. I believe wholeheartedly that he can do great things. No. He will accomplish great things that can change this district, the country and perhaps even the world." Qiu Yue stood up and talked down at Lynn.
"And you can be very damn well sure, I will be by his side when he reaches for the top. Because he is mine." Qiu Yue stated in a calm and yet somewhat threatening tone. That was when Lynn smirked as she curled her hair behind her right ear and stared intently at Qiu Yue.
"I shall welcome the challenge," Lynn replied with just as much confidence. Usually, she was only this confident when in the kitchen, but somehow she had found the courage when it involved Jin. Qiu Yue grinned as she knew from that day onwards, she would be great friends (and rivals) with Lynn.
