Chapter 678 - Pay up

"Can I get some proper clothes?" I ask very politely, hoping my suspicion about how she will answer is wrong.

"It was all set so simply that even your little brain should understand. You go there, gather all the information you love so much but cannot seem to get in the tutorial, steal everything not bolted to the floor or carve it out along with the floor itself, maybe even learn something from the pointy-eared fuck, kill him, then leave. Congratulations. You have become stronger, your Beyond rank has increased, and I can finally send you on the Beyond quests I want, plus have you take part in events you could not before. All while there are millions of ways for you to die during this quest, since otherwise you would just sit in the corner sulking like the petty little bitch you are."

"So, no pants?"

"No pants," she confirms, her face returning to a calm expression as she lets out one long sigh.

Her chair gives a faint creak as she leans back, eyes drifting past me toward the nebula horizon. I follow her gaze, half expecting some new spectacle, but it’s the same endless swirl of colors, slow and heavy like thick smoke rolling through water.

The wood of her table is darkened with grooves that cut deep into the grain. There’s a box on the far side, crammed with mana stones. The light inside them isn’t still, it moves in slow spirals.

"Don’t touch those," she says without looking at me.

"Wouldn’t dream of it."

"You would, and it would end badly."

"Define badly."

"You’d die."

"Quickly?"

"Not quickly enough."

I glance back at the stone. The light inside swirls faster when I stare at it. My hand twitches, but I hold myself back. I'm almost proud of myself.

“Who made it out? And what rank did I get?” I ask.

My handler tears her eyes away from the partially melted cage, the fragment inside it, and looks at me. “If I didn’t stop it, the fragment would have melted through and killed you.”

“I know.”

“If I hadn’t brought you here before returning you to the 3rd floor, it would have exploded and killed tens of thousands of attendees and locals before stronger ones stopped it.”

“Possibly. But it happened before, when you stole…”

“I sold it and gave you a big cut.”

“… when you stole that white sand from me. So I expected the same thing now. Honestly, I hoped to unawaken the fragment like the elf planned and store it, but the guy is super petty and ruined my plan. The cage got damaged because of that, but I think that much is fine. The fragment is worth more than some low pristine item.”

“Much more. I have seen bigger ones, but this is unusually large. But it will need some recharging after burning for so long.”

“What the hell is the 13th floor for that velnar to have been able to get it?”

“Can’t tell.”

“Of course you can’t. So who made it out?”

“Surprisingly, Io, your skittish friend, and the demon. Only Rendy died. Also, congratulations on becoming an A rank, one of the youngest ever, with the rare jump from C straight to A. Don’t ask me how. The system decides that on its own, using its weird metrics. I still have no idea how you didn't become B rank after killing the Harvester. But do not get your nose up, you are still at the bottom tier of A rank.” She waves her hand, and on the back of mine a new letter glows for a moment before fading away, a shimmering silver A.

“Rendy who?”

She sighs. “The gray one.”

“Ohhh. How did he die?”

“It was kind of… brutal, but also pathetic. His handler is a decent guy, so I’ll keep that to myself.”

That only makes me more curious. Maybe I could use my information allowance to ask about it?

I push the thought away. “I want to kill Io.”

“You will get a chance when you reach the 5th floor.”

“Okay, I’m surprised you guys are so chill about him cooperating with the elf.”

“In the eyes of the Rulers, it is not much different from what you have done. There were times when everyone who even came into contact with the elf without immediately killing him was… removed.”

“Ehm, how about we change the subject?”

“Sure.” She leans back, arms crossed over her chest. Her posture tells me she is leaving the choice to me. She does not bring up the information I learned from the elf, and I feel no need to mention it.

“So, about this,” I point at the trapped fragment floating there.

There is no visible barrier, but all of its heat is perfectly contained. It does not damage the cage any further.

“Want me to hold on to it and give it back when you return to Earth?” She asks.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Are you sure? Where is your pride? I bet you could channel all of it.”

“Would you unawaken it for me?”

“No.”

“Yeah, I don’t feel like burning down my planet.”

“Why burning? I bet you would improve enough by then to channel it all.” She repeats.

“No fucking way. That thing, as it is now, could kill weaker Champions. Not instantly, but it would overwhelm them until they couldn’t contain it.”

“It would. But you endured it for a few moments. Come on, accept my offer, you worked so hard for the fragment.”

“All my healing marks are gone, and I used everything I had to endure a few seconds near it. No, thank you. As much as I would fucking love it, and even though I will get much stronger and could have help with preparations and… hmm… maybe I should.”

“You should not. You would fucking die.”

“I guess,” I sigh.

Even now, I feel severely disappointed. Terribly disappointed. Very strongly disappointed. I want this fragment. But I also feel it in my bones—I would die. If it were unawakened, like for that velnar who got it, I would take it without hesitation and learn from his mistakes. But awakened? I would burn, and Earth with me.

Thankfully, I can look for it on the 13th floor. If that thing is there, I can imagine there is even better stuff.

“I will be taking it then,” my handler says.

“What do I get?”

“Nothing.”

“I refuse then,” I answer, and she halts. “You either pay up or I will take it with me to the Beyond.”

“Just give up on the Fragment, it will make things easier.”

“For you, maybe. Pay up.”

“I won’t.”

“Then I will keep it.”

“Listen here…”

“You can’t just take it away from me without me agreeing. So either pay up or I take it to Beyond.”

“Do you really think you can blackmail me?”

“A bit.”

“I can let you reach the Beyond, wait for it to kill you, stop it before it hurts anyone else, and take it from there. The longer I talk to you, the bigger a fan I am of that option.”

“You can’t do that,” I answer, but not as confidently as before. I strongly rely on there being rules for that kind of interference.

There is a long pause. Just as I start to get nervous, I remind myself—she can’t do that, right?

"Two million shards, and I know Diligence will already be complaining. You could have gotten much more for the item, but nooo, you had to be smart, and damage it," she says through her teeth at last.

“HA! No fucking way.” My confidence returns instantly as I feel weakness.

“That cage is already too damaged, so don’t expect anything close to ten million…” she starts, but I cut her off.

“Wow, low pristine items are worth ten million shards?”

"They start around that price, but you should not expect anything close. If you are lucky, you might be able to sell it for about five million shards to a top-ten guild, one of the top three merchants, or a powerful local on the fifth floor."

“Sounds terrible, but I could live with that.”

“If it were not damaged. Now it’s worth one to three million at most, mostly for the materials.”

“The real prize is the fragment. That beautiful little thing is worth much, much more.”

“That thing melted your face off.”

“I love it like my child.”

“You damn, stubborn dumbass.” She groans and waves her hand, summoning a bottle and two wineglasses. The bottle is beautiful, like a brilliant diamond cut into a stunning shape, with a small amount of red-colored alcohol inside.

She pours it into both glasses and slides one toward me. This time, she does not seem in a hurry, nor concerned about my time limit here.

I take the glass and sip. As expected, it tastes just like the alchemical wine Ruby poured me on the 2nd floor.

For the next few minutes, we continue to take small sips out of it, as I allow memories to swirl inside my mind.

To me, it looks like she is only pretending to try to scam me out of my rewards. I suspect she only acts annoyed, and deep down, she is pleased with how things turned out.

“What are you plotting?” I ask her.

“Nothing,” she answers shamelessly while taking another sip. “According to the rules, the simplest way to deal with this Fragment gained out of the tutorial is to give it to you after your tutorial ends. You would get both the damaged cage and the fragment, then it would burn your planet and everyone on it.”

“I’m not a fan of that option.”

“Me neither. The second option is to give it to you now. You return with it to the Beyond floor, where it kills you and thousands of attendees and locals before someone powerful stops it. Before the handlers or Rulers are allowed to act and stop it.”

“Is there some percentage of attendees that have to die before you can act?”

“Something like that.”

“I think you also like to bullshit a lot and follow rules that fit you while twisting the ones you don’t like.”

“That is true. The third option is that I buy it from you, but there is no set price for it. With White Sand, it was simpler since there is a way to make it keep its properties but be less dangerous. Fragments are different, especially the truly old ones like the Fragment of the First Star.”

“Twenty million shards?”

“More,” she sighs, “before you ask, I can’t give you that much. But why the fuck am I dealing with this crap alone? Diligence, get your ass over here.” Her head tilts toward the sky as she shouts toward it.

It takes only a few seconds, and while I do not see anyone else, a voice comes, almost like a whisper to my right ear. “This is all your problem. You know that. This quest was fully under your jurisdiction. I also truly do not appreciate you revealing your identity.”

“Oh come on, everyone who is messing around does it at some point. Don’t be so uptight, and at least don’t be rude—send your projection or something.”

"You want me to use my projection to reveal my identity to that attendee of yours. I can see that."

“What are you talking about? I’m just saying you’re rude,” she replies without hesitation, then smirks. “Besides, if I really wanted to, I’d come up with a better excuse than this.”

A faint pause, like the voice on the other end is weighing whether to keep arguing or hang up on the whole conversation.

“You’re irritating,” the voice says.

“Thanks, I try.”

She winks at me and whispers, "This one is for free."

A sharp clack of the mandibles sounds, and this time, when I turn to the right, a figure stands there.

An ant, its head level with mine if I were standing, stares back at me. Its compound eyes hold thousands of tiny reflections of me, and its black carapace seems to swallow the surrounding light.

***

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