Chapter 799: Overwhelmed [4]

[Main Quest Activated]

Difficulty: N/A

Reward: 1,000,000 SP

Objective: Develop your first gate!

Location: N/A

Description: You’ve finally met the requirements to create your own Gate. With the experience you’ve gained, you are now capable of completing one on your own! Use everything you have learned to create a Gate. The minimum acceptable result is a 3-star grade. Anything below that will not be accepted.

Time Limit: 1 month!

I sat on the hospital bed, staring blankly at the window in front of me.

The quest was already complete. I just hadn’t collected the reward yet.

Looking at it now, the thought of how much had happened since I first received it made me feel a little tired.

Eventually, I reached forward and tapped the screen.

[Reward Collected: 1,000,000 SP]

[Current SP: 1,218,640]

I watched the number increase before lowering my hand.

A little over a million SP. That was about 10,000,000$.

Not bad.

It was a good amount, but nothing particularly impressive. At least, in comparison to the things I could buy.

Still, it was better than nothing.

My attention shifted towards another window.

[The School — ★★★]

“…I guess this isn’t too bad for the first try.”

Three stars.

Just enough to meet the requirements.

I looked at the grade for a little longer, thinking back to the Gate. There were quite a few things I could’ve done differently. At the time, I had been satisfied with simply making everything work, but looking back, that was hardly at a level that I wanted it to be.

‘I will have to study it properly.’

Preferably somewhere else.

Closing the windows, I looked around the room.

There was a glass partition between the bed and the entrance, with two chairs placed on the other side. The agent who had brought me here had made sure I understood that I wasn’t to open the door connecting the two sections.

He had repeated it twice.

Stuck…

“I am once again stuck.”

I leaned back against the pillow.

‘I doubt I’ll be getting out of here anytime soon.’

Well, unless I forced my way out.

That was possible.

But with the BUA watching me and the Hand already threatening to expose what had happened in Malovia, it didn’t seem like a particularly good idea.

Escaping the hospital also wouldn’t solve the other problem.

‘It’ll keep looking for you. Keep hunting you.’

The words regarding VILE – 1048 came back to me.

I had essentially become its prey.

‘Why me, though?’

Was it because I had been meddling too much?

Geneva had been investigating it for considerably longer than I had. If that was enough to get its attention, then she should’ve been targeted before me.

Then again, she didn’t try to hypnotise her brother.

“Hmm… Well, I don’t know.”

My head sank a little farther into the pillow.

I was tired.

“Achoo.”

I turned my head and rubbed beneath my nose, a bitter smile slowly forming on my face.

“…There’s not much time, I guess.”

Not that I knew how much time I had in the first place.

That was part of what made this so troublesome.

I couldn’t find the anomaly. I couldn’t leave the hospital without alerting the BUA, and conspiracy theories about my past were starting to surface.

Even if I managed to deal with one problem, the others would still be waiting.

My gaze moved towards the glass.

For a little while, I simply watched the empty chairs on the other side, finding it increasingly difficult to get comfortable. I adjusted my position, but the pressure against my chest remained.

Then I pushed myself upright.

“There’s no use crying about it.”

I brought my hands towards my face and lightly slapped my cheeks.

My injured wrist immediately throbbed.

“…Right.”

I lowered that hand.

“It’s not like I haven’t been in worse situations.”

My head was clear too. There wasn’t anything stopping me from thinking properly, and sitting here feeling sorry for myself wasn’t going to help.

I needed to start somewhere.

It was just as I was about to bring the System window back up that someone knocked.

To Tok!

I looked towards the entrance.

An agent stepped inside, stopping on the other side of the partition. His voice came through the small speaker beside it.

“You have visitors.”

“…Visitors?”

He nodded before looking back towards the door.

A moment later, Kyle came in.

Zoey followed, and my brows rose as I watched the two of them stop beside the chairs. Both wore masks, although that did little to hide the expression on Zoey’s face.

“You’ll need to remain on this side.”

The agent told the two of them.

“Use the intercom. Don’t open the partition.”

Kyle nodded.

The agent stepped back outside, leaving them near the entrance.

I opened my mouth.

But before I could say anything, Zoey spoke.

“Let me make things clear.”

I straightened a little.

For some reason she sounded rather serious. It was rare for her to sound like this, and I started to worry a little.

What?

What’s going on?

Did she figure something out?

“…I’ve never flirted with you.”

“….?”

“That has never happened. I don’t know what you’ve done, but everyone thinks that I have. I’ve never done that.”

“…..”

I looked at her.

Then I looked at Kyle.

Eventually, I sighed.

“Sorry about that.”

Zoey stopped.

“She tends to be like that.”

Kyle glanced towards her before looking back at me.

I nodded back at him.

“We’re dating.”

“Stop it!”

“She’s shy.”

“No!”

“Anyways, it’s good that you’re here.”

I looked at the two of them more seriously.

Zoey seemed ready to continue, but her gaze briefly moved towards the bed before settling on my face. After a moment, she pulled out one of the chairs.

Kyle sat beside her.

Neither chair was particularly close to the glass.

“How are you?” he asked.

“Comfortable. They’ve given me a bed.”

“Seth.”

“…I’ve been better.”

He nodded, his attention briefly moving towards the door.

“We spoke with the agents before coming in. We understand the situation more or less.”

“Then you know when they’re letting me out?”

“No.”

“How unfortunate.”

“They haven’t decided anything yet, but we were told to prepare for at least a month or two.”

My smile faded a little.

“A month or two?”

“Possibly longer.”

I looked around the room again.

The bed suddenly seemed a lot less comfortable.

“The Section Chief is trying to find out more, but he wasn’t able to get much. For now, he wants us to check on you.”

“And make sure you’re actually answering questions.”

My girlfriend added, sounding irritated.

“I’ve been answering.”

“Properly.”

“Ah.”

“I guess we’re at the nagging stage, huh?”

Clank!

The chair behind Zoey fell back.

“You…! I want to break up!”

“See? We were dating.”

“Akgh!!!”

Ignoring the rampaging Zoey, Kyle leaned forward, resting his arms against his knees.

“If you need anything, tell us. We’ll see what we can arrange.”

I looked at him.

Then I slowly scratched the back of my head.

“I might need something.”

His eyes narrowed.

Before I could continue, he shook his head.

“No.”

“I haven’t said what it is!”

“You want money.”

“…!?”

I stared at him.

How did he know?

I hadn’t even looked particularly poor.

“Wait.”

Zoey turned towards me.

“You still owe me money.”

“…..”

Kyle leaned back in his chair.

Neither of them seemed inclined to say anything else.

I looked between the two of them before slowly lowering my hand.

“Shit.”

“When are you going to pay us back?”

Zoey’s voice came clearly through the speaker.

Perhaps a little too clearly.

I glanced towards the small device before looking back at her.

Then I whistled.

Her brows furrowed even more.

“Seth.”

“Well, isn’t it as they say between couples?”

Kyle closed his eyes.

I smiled at Zoey through the glass.

“What’s mine is yours, and what’s yours is mine.”

“Seth!”