Patty, as usual, was unaware of anything around him. He didn’t notice the piercing glare behind him and continued to fiddle with the system.
[Minion selected for a job!]
[Cultivation]
[Phsyique]
Minion: D-class Tendora 10 Yi per day[Mission Completed]
[Rewards]
10 Minion Growth Crystal[You have started your cultivation journey]
[You will gather 10 Yi per day]
He saw the 8-bit image of the Tendora monster suddenly teleport to the bottom of a willow tree atop a high snowy mountain.
The leaves barely grazed the height of the Tendora, but it didn’t seem to be bothered. Even the snowy area of the hilltop was not a problem for the muscle-covered monster. In fact, it even seemed to be comfortable.
Immediately landing in this unfamiliar territory, the monster started to do push ups with vigor. It didn’t even need to warm up. It pushed itself up and down with force and with perfect form.
Its body was shaped perfectly for this exact purpose. Each fiber of its muscle was being utilized with maximum efficiency.
It seemed that the monster was working out, tiring all its muscles, and tearing all its tendons, with Patty reaping all its rewards. It was the perfect way for lazy people to exercise.
Patty inwardly clapped. This was the perfect minion for him—a gofer that would exercise for him. He didn’t have to do anything; he could laze in bed all day and still grow his muscles like an athlete who worked out for 5 hours.
It was a weird magical system that he didn’t know how it worked. He didn’t care. As long as the results benefit him, he could accept anything that the system threw at him—with the exception, of course, with doing things like chores, or a two minute walk.
The 8-bit depiction of the world where his minion resided was not the world he knew. For starters, the sky has two visible suns, one small orbiting a much bigger one.
When he touched the screen, the scenery moved like he was using a touchscreen. It gave him the idea to pinch it. With this gesture, the sorry image of the Tendora working out got smaller and the scenery got a lot wider. He saw the peak of the snowy mountain where he dropped off his minion.
The bottom of the mountain and the rest of nature surrounding it was covered in a fog that cannot be seen through. He tried to scroll far away from the mountain, but everything was still mystified by the fog. And when he stopped scrolling and let go of his touch, the screen always flashed back to the mountaintop.
He guessed that this fog was not natural at all. It was probably a way for the system to prevent him from exploring things that shouldn’t yet be explored. He needed to unlock it—and to unlock it, he needed to use the system more and more, doing missions and completing objectives.
It was a sly way for Patty to get hooked into being an addict with the system. And his answer to that was;
As long as he can be lazy doing it, what the hell.
[Level Up available for D-class Tendora minion.]
[Spend Minion Crystals?]
[Y/N]
Of course, he picked yes. And immediately, the screen changed to show the 8-bit image of the Tendora standing while heaving up and down.
Under it, the text said;
[Level: 0/30]
[Growth Crystal Required for Level Up: 200/10]
[Ability: 10 Yi/day]
As he pressured the level up button, the Tendora’s aura turned golden yellow.
[Level: 1/30]
[Growth Crystal Required for Level Up: 200/10]
[Ability: 11 Yi/day]
With every level up, the Yi he collected every day will increase. He was now glad that he stone-walled the system until it increased its rewards to include this material. He was even more motivated to ignore the system and he more lazy.
He still had more crystals so he crazily pressed the level up button.
LEVEL UP
LEVEL UP
LEVEL UP
LEVEL UP
LEVEL UP
LEVEL UP
[Level: 7/30]
[Growth Crystal Required for Level Up: 25/50]
[Ability: 17 Yi/day]
From now on, he would only accept missions that included summon scrolls and minion growth crystals becuase these are what he needed the most right now. He loved the idea of getting stronger with no drawbacks and requirements—the complete opposite of what prof Ortez tried to teach him. Who said he can’t achieve anything without doing anything?
Not only that, but there was also the mystery of what other kinds of minions were there? The possibility was endless. I hope there’s a minion out there that can go to school for me, he wished.
Was there a way to exchange rewards, he asked the system. He didn’t know what Ether and Credits were for, but he had no need for them right now. Since their uses were unknown, they were as good as garbage.
The system had no hints nor advices where to use them, and some of the tabs in the menu were still locked. He guessed that the Credits could be used to buy stuff from the Store tab, but it was also locked for some reason.
And then there was the energy counter beside his name? What was up with that?
He couldn’t be bothered to think about what it was. He was already standing still for 3 minutes and that was his limit. It was time to go home.
[Mission]
[Requirement]
Go home[Reward]
5 Yi Power 10 Minion Growth Crystal 10 Ether{Skip: Y/N}
{Cost}
Old price: 10 Energy New all time low price: 0 EnergyPraise be the system! He didn't think about anything and pressed the skip button. He didn’t care about the consequences—whatever they may be.
What could go wrong?
———————-
The nurse stared at her patient walking away from the hospital with a thoughtful look. She tapped her pen on the nurse’s reception office with something nagging on her mind.
“Still thinking about that student?” asked her superior.
“Yes,” she nodded in response. “It’s just a wierd situation.
A warm hand touched her shoulder for reassurance. “It’s fine. Anything can happen, especially with a Supreme Being’s grace.”
She looked back at her superior and felt a little bit better. Even for her age, she still had no wrinkles that most her year level already had plenty of. She was a senior to the very root of the word itself. If experience was a commodity, she would be a billionaire.
So if she said that nothing weird happened, then nothing weird happened. It was just a run-of-the-mill miracle for her.
“I’ve seen normal people heal faster than that. Hahaha, I even remember how a civilian got healed before they even got injured. Oh how prankful the Beings are sometimes!”
The senior’s eyes looked directly at her junior nurse, but here gaze was somewhere far away.
But the nurse was still bugged about Patty.
“That’s not the only weird thing about him. After he finished clothing himself, he took a long time looking at himself in the mirror.”
The senior nurse looked interested.
“It was like it was the very first time he looked at himself. He was pinching his cheeks, blinking both eyes then one at a time—-he was touching his face as if it wasn’t his.”
The senior looked at the nurse first, then to the fading figure of Patty just as he walked out the hospital door.
“That is weird,” she said.
—————-
A serious looking student with glasses and short black hair intensely studied a book almost as thick as his head. An earthquake wouldn’t faze him. He wouldn’t even hear the furious clapping of a thunderstorm outside. He read this book as if his life depended on it.
BRRING BRRING
A small alam clock reminded him that it was time to stop studying. He closed the book after putting a bookmark and quickly went out the door.
Just beside his room was his own private gym. It was complete with dumbbells, weight equipment, and most of all, treadmills. He took out a yoga mat and started stretching and warming up for an intense and vigorous work out session.
If you had looked at this student only from his face, you would immediately label him as a bookworm, a teacher’s pet, and a geek. But if you only looked at his body, you would see an athlete, a bodybuilder, and a jock.
He took out his phone just as he started to jog from his treadmill. This was his only 10 minutes of free time that he could use for activities that wouldn’t advance his personal growth.
“How you doing?” he asked someone on the phone.
“…” the person on the other line didn’t answer.
“You there?” he asked again. This time, there was a response.
“Who is this?”
The student looked at his phone as if the friend he was calling turned crazy. His friend might be oblivious at times, but he wouldn’t forget a voice.
“It’s me, Sam. Samuel? Your best friend?”
“…ah. Yes.”
His response was weird, but nothing out of the ordinary. If there was anything he was known for, it was for being an eccentric sheep.
“Anyway, have you taken my advice about taking care of your body? The physicality exams can make or break your career.”
“Yes. Exercising is essential in keeping a healthy body.”
“Listen, before you say no…—what? Did you just say yes?”
“That is correct. This body needs more training and acclimatization to gather its true potential. Your so-called Physicality Test is a good stepping stone for further strenuous activities.”
“…” Sam was speechless. He couldn’t believe what he heard. Was he even talking to the right person? Patty would never say yes to exercise. Was he still ill from the accident?
“Is everything okay? Are you good?” Sam was genuinely concerned. He always wanted Patty to be more proactive and interested in his well-being, but this behavior was completely out of pocket. It gave him chills.
It was the same number. It was the same voice. But it was a different Patty. It was as if something else was speaking for him.
Finally, the other side responded.
“Yes. Everything’s fine. I have everything under control…”
—————-
The shadow people walked through the hospital with their steps a pace faster than others. Though, the people they passed didn’t seem to notice a thing. They were invisible.
They opened each door, looking through the patients regardless of their injury. They did not care even if the patient was in a sanitized and air-clean surgery room. No one was safe. No alarms blared when their supposed vacuum-clean room just released a gust of air inside.
Their motive or their target of find was unknown. Sometimes, they lingered on patients with just a simple cough. Some they just passed through like when a construction worker was in a life or death accident after a concrete block fell on his head.
They searched every nook and cranny of this hospital. Yet they still couldn’t find what they were looking for. Finally, one of them spoke up.
“Report. I witnessed an unexplainable red blur a while a ago.”
It was the same person who stared at Patty.
“Location?” the person, presumably their leader, who stood out amongst them with his tall stature and athletic build asked.
“North side of the shackled heart, 10 meters.”
The leader thought for a second and looked in the general direction of the Supremenatural statue. They were nowhere near the heart and were separated by four thick walls of the hospital rooms, but the leader’s eyes seemed to pierce through even the thickest of steels.
“It may just be the Supreme Being’s leftover aura. It happens sometimes,” he concluded.
The person who witnessed the whole phenomenon was unconvinced, but knew better than to question their superior. After all, she was just a young newbie in the organization.
The leader looked disappointed. He was determined to find whatever they were looking for.
“She’s got to be here somewhere…” he whispered to himself.
“She, sir?”
The leader looked surprised and pursed his lips. He shouldn’t have said that out loud.
“Ahem…it’s got to be here somewhere,” he corrected.
With no leads left, the leader and the shadow people must turn to others who might have a clue to what and where to look for.
This went against their rules, but the rules went out the window the moment this phenomenon occured—this calamity that landed here.
They, the shadow people, were a group of secretive members and secretive missions, who were about to interrogate and ask the civilians for help. This was dangerous. Any leak in information could danger innocents or endanger the mission itself.
But this was a desperate situation.
The leader happened upon a reception and asked the first person he saw.
“Have you seen anything wierd?”
He asked the nurse and her senior.
Patty, as usual, was unaware of anything around him. He didn’t notice the piercing glare behind him and continued to fiddle with the system.
[Minion selected for a job!]
[Cultivation]
[Phsyique]
Minion: D-class Tendora 10 Yi per day[Mission Completed]
[Rewards]
10 Minion Growth Crystal[You have started your cultivation journey]
[You will gather 10 Yi per day]
He saw the 8-bit image of the Tendora monster suddenly teleport to the bottom of a willow tree atop a high snowy mountain.
The leaves barely grazed the height of the Tendora, but it didn’t seem to be bothered. Even the snowy area of the hilltop was not a problem for the muscle-covered monster. In fact, it even seemed to be comfortable.
Immediately landing in this unfamiliar territory, the monster started to do push ups with vigor. It didn’t even need to warm up. It pushed itself up and down with force and with perfect form.
Its body was shaped perfectly for this exact purpose. Each fiber of its muscle was being utilized with maximum efficiency.
It seemed that the monster was working out, tiring all its muscles, and tearing all its tendons, with Patty reaping all its rewards. It was the perfect way for lazy people to exercise.
Patty inwardly clapped. This was the perfect minion for him—a gofer that would exercise for him. He didn’t have to do anything; he could laze in bed all day and still grow his muscles like an athlete who worked out for 5 hours.
It was a weird magical system that he didn’t know how it worked. He didn’t care. As long as the results benefit him, he could accept anything that the system threw at him—with the exception, of course, with doing things like chores, or a two minute walk.
The 8-bit depiction of the world where his minion resided was not the world he knew. For starters, the sky has two visible suns, one small orbiting a much bigger one.
When he touched the screen, the scenery moved like he was using a touchscreen. It gave him the idea to pinch it. With this gesture, the sorry image of the Tendora working out got smaller and the scenery got a lot wider. He saw the peak of the snowy mountain where he dropped off his minion.
The bottom of the mountain and the rest of nature surrounding it was covered in a fog that cannot be seen through. He tried to scroll far away from the mountain, but everything was still mystified by the fog. And when he stopped scrolling and let go of his touch, the screen always flashed back to the mountaintop.
He guessed that this fog was not natural at all. It was probably a way for the system to prevent him from exploring things that shouldn’t yet be explored. He needed to unlock it—and to unlock it, he needed to use the system more and more, doing missions and completing objectives.
It was a sly way for Patty to get hooked into being an addict with the system. And his answer to that was;
As long as he can be lazy doing it, what the hell.
[Level Up available for D-class Tendora minion.]
[Spend Minion Crystals?]
[Y/N]
Of course, he picked yes. And immediately, the screen changed to show the 8-bit image of the Tendora standing while heaving up and down.
Under it, the text said;
[Level: 0/30]
[Growth Crystal Required for Level Up: 200/10]
[Ability: 10 Yi/day]
As he pressured the level up button, the Tendora’s aura turned golden yellow.
[Level: 1/30]
[Growth Crystal Required for Level Up: 200/10]
[Ability: 11 Yi/day]
With every level up, the Yi he collected every day will increase. He was now glad that he stone-walled the system until it increased its rewards to include this material. He was even more motivated to ignore the system and he more lazy.
He still had more crystals so he crazily pressed the level up button.
LEVEL UP
LEVEL UP
LEVEL UP
LEVEL UP
LEVEL UP
LEVEL UP
[Level: 7/30]
[Growth Crystal Required for Level Up: 25/50]
[Ability: 17 Yi/day]
From now on, he would only accept missions that included summon scrolls and minion growth crystals becuase these are what he needed the most right now. He loved the idea of getting stronger with no drawbacks and requirements—the complete opposite of what prof Ortez tried to teach him. Who said he can’t achieve anything without doing anything?
Not only that, but there was also the mystery of what other kinds of minions were there? The possibility was endless. I hope there’s a minion out there that can go to school for me, he wished.
Was there a way to exchange rewards, he asked the system. He didn’t know what Ether and Credits were for, but he had no need for them right now. Since their uses were unknown, they were as good as garbage.
The system had no hints nor advices where to use them, and some of the tabs in the menu were still locked. He guessed that the Credits could be used to buy stuff from the Store tab, but it was also locked for some reason.
And then there was the energy counter beside his name? What was up with that?
He couldn’t be bothered to think about what it was. He was already standing still for 3 minutes and that was his limit. It was time to go home.
[Mission]
[Requirement]
Go home[Reward]
5 Yi Power 10 Minion Growth Crystal 10 Ether{Skip: Y/N}
{Cost}
Old price: 10 Energy New all time low price: 0 EnergyPraise be the system! He didn't think about anything and pressed the skip button. He didn’t care about the consequences—whatever they may be.
What could go wrong?
———————-
The nurse stared at her patient walking away from the hospital with a thoughtful look. She tapped her pen on the nurse’s reception office with something nagging on her mind.
“Still thinking about that student?” asked her superior.
“Yes,” she nodded in response. “It’s just a wierd situation.
A warm hand touched her shoulder for reassurance. “It’s fine. Anything can happen, especially with a Supreme Being’s grace.”
She looked back at her superior and felt a little bit better. Even for her age, she still had no wrinkles that most her year level already had plenty of. She was a senior to the very root of the word itself. If experience was a commodity, she would be a billionaire.
So if she said that nothing weird happened, then nothing weird happened. It was just a run-of-the-mill miracle for her.
“I’ve seen normal people heal faster than that. Hahaha, I even remember how a civilian got healed before they even got injured. Oh how prankful the Beings are sometimes!”
The senior’s eyes looked directly at her junior nurse, but here gaze was somewhere far away.
But the nurse was still bugged about Patty.
“That’s not the only weird thing about him. After he finished clothing himself, he took a long time looking at himself in the mirror.”
The senior nurse looked interested.
“It was like it was the very first time he looked at himself. He was pinching his cheeks, blinking both eyes then one at a time—-he was touching his face as if it wasn’t his.”
The senior looked at the nurse first, then to the fading figure of Patty just as he walked out the hospital door.
“That is weird,” she said.
—————-
A serious looking student with glasses and short black hair intensely studied a book almost as thick as his head. An earthquake wouldn’t faze him. He wouldn’t even hear the furious clapping of a thunderstorm outside. He read this book as if his life depended on it.
BRRING BRRING
A small alam clock reminded him that it was time to stop studying. He closed the book after putting a bookmark and quickly went out the door.
Just beside his room was his own private gym. It was complete with dumbbells, weight equipment, and most of all, treadmills. He took out a yoga mat and started stretching and warming up for an intense and vigorous work out session.
If you had looked at this student only from his face, you would immediately label him as a bookworm, a teacher’s pet, and a geek. But if you only looked at his body, you would see an athlete, a bodybuilder, and a jock.
He took out his phone just as he started to jog from his treadmill. This was his only 10 minutes of free time that he could use for activities that wouldn’t advance his personal growth.
“How you doing?” he asked someone on the phone.
“…” the person on the other line didn’t answer.
“You there?” he asked again. This time, there was a response.
“Who is this?”
The student looked at his phone as if the friend he was calling turned crazy. His friend might be oblivious at times, but he wouldn’t forget a voice.
“It’s me, Sam. Samuel? Your best friend?”
“…ah. Yes.”
His response was weird, but nothing out of the ordinary. If there was anything he was known for, it was for being an eccentric sheep.
“Anyway, have you taken my advice about taking care of your body? The physicality exams can make or break your career.”
“Yes. Exercising is essential in keeping a healthy body.”
“Listen, before you say no…—what? Did you just say yes?”
“That is correct. This body needs more training and acclimatization to gather its true potential. Your so-called Physicality Test is a good stepping stone for further strenuous activities.”
“…” Sam was speechless. He couldn’t believe what he heard. Was he even talking to the right person? Patty would never say yes to exercise. Was he still ill from the accident?
“Is everything okay? Are you good?” Sam was genuinely concerned. He always wanted Patty to be more proactive and interested in his well-being, but this behavior was completely out of pocket. It gave him chills.
It was the same number. It was the same voice. But it was a different Patty. It was as if something else was speaking for him.
Finally, the other side responded.
“Yes. Everything’s fine. I have everything under control…”
—————-
The shadow people walked through the hospital with their steps a pace faster than others. Though, the people they passed didn’t seem to notice a thing. They were invisible.
They opened each door, looking through the patients regardless of their injury. They did not care even if the patient was in a sanitized and air-clean surgery room. No one was safe. No alarms blared when their supposed vacuum-clean room just released a gust of air inside.
Their motive or their target of find was unknown. Sometimes, they lingered on patients with just a simple cough. Some they just passed through like when a construction worker was in a life or death accident after a concrete block fell on his head.
They searched every nook and cranny of this hospital. Yet they still couldn’t find what they were looking for. Finally, one of them spoke up.
“Report. I witnessed an unexplainable red blur a while a ago.”
It was the same person who stared at Patty.
“Location?” the person, presumably their leader, who stood out amongst them with his tall stature and athletic build asked.
“North side of the shackled heart, 10 meters.”
The leader thought for a second and looked in the general direction of the Supremenatural statue. They were nowhere near the heart and were separated by four thick walls of the hospital rooms, but the leader’s eyes seemed to pierce through even the thickest of steels.
“It may just be the Supreme Being’s leftover aura. It happens sometimes,” he concluded.
The person who witnessed the whole phenomenon was unconvinced, but knew better than to question their superior. After all, she was just a young newbie in the organization.
The leader looked disappointed. He was determined to find whatever they were looking for.
“She’s got to be here somewhere…” he whispered to himself.
“She, sir?”
The leader looked surprised and pursed his lips. He shouldn’t have said that out loud.
“Ahem…it’s got to be here somewhere,” he corrected.
With no leads left, the leader and the shadow people must turn to others who might have a clue to what and where to look for.
This went against their rules, but the rules went out the window the moment this phenomenon occured—this calamity that landed here.
They, the shadow people, were a group of secretive members and secretive missions, who were about to interrogate and ask the civilians for help. This was dangerous. Any leak in information could danger innocents or endanger the mission itself.
But this was a desperate situation.
The leader happened upon a reception and asked the first person he saw.
“Have you seen anything wierd?”
He asked the nurse and her senior.
