The next morning, Theo woke up to the buzzing of his phone.
’’Huh,’’ he muttered, rubbing his eyes.
Just as he was about to reach out for his phone, a deep red transparent screen popped up in front of him.
[Host has exceeded total number of allowed punishnt days.]
[Forcefully executing Daily Descent now...]
Theo’s eyes went wide, his hands still tightly wrapped around his blanket.
’’Wai—’’
It was already too late.
He appeared in the middle of the sky several thousand yards above the ground, his blanket still in one hand.
’’Fuckkkk—’’ Theo shouted as he started plumting towards the ground.
The air slamd into him instantly, violently ripping his blanket away within a second.
His stomach dropped as he saw the city grow larger under him.
’I’m an idiot,’ he thought, closing his eyes. ’I should’ve done this yesterday—’
It had completely slipped past him as he’d been so tired and busy the entire ti.
And now... he was paying the consequences for it.
A wave of nausea hit him mid-fall, his face turning faintly green.
’Falling on an empty stomach is the worst...’
After a few seconds, the apartnt building below entered his sight.
As the ground rushed towards him, Theo forced himself to calm down.
Finally, being just an inch away from the ground, the system teleported him back to his bed.
For a second, he didn’t move.
Then—
He shot upright, clutching his stomach as the nausea hit him all over again.
’’Shit...’’ he muttered, raising his hand in front of his mouth.
His heart was still racing, full of adrenaline from the rude awakening.
Even though he was back now, his body didn’t seem to have fully realized that yet.
Letting out a deep breath, Theo’s gaze fell on the red transparent screen beside him.
’I must’ve racked up a lot of punishnt days too,’ he thought, wincing. ’Ahhh, why did I have to forget?’
[Would You Rather cooldown: 02:11:55:30.]
[Daily Descent cooldown: 01:15:55:30]
[Punishnt Descents: 14]
Theo blinked, his mouth wide open.
’Four...teen?’
An additional fourteen unpaid descents were going to be added.
That wasn’t a small number, being exactly half as long as the original length of the challenge.
’And I still have eleven to go from the regular one...’
It was almost like he needed to redo the challenge, but this ti without even getting paid for it.
’’Ah, whatever,’’ Theo muttered, swiping the screen away.
He shook his head in irritation as he reached for his phone.
Unlocking it, his brows lifted slightly.
’The Hunter’s Association... and Owen as well?’
Pressing on the Hunter’s Association’s ssage first, Theo fell silent as he read through it carefully.
’’Congratulations. You have successfully completed the following objectives: Provide intel on Calamity Covenant mber(s), catch or kill Calamity Covenant mber(s), and determine the underlying cause of the disease inducing mindless aggressiveness.’’
’’Please visit your local Hunter Association branch to receive your rits and designated rewards.’’
His lips pressed together, nodding slowly.
’’So they’ve confird it,’’ he mumbled under his breath.
It had indeed been a mber of the Calamity Covenant.
Though it worried him slightly, a large smile couldn’t help but grow on his face.
’I wonder what the rewards are going to be,’ he thought, getting off his bed. ’I’m sure it’ll be much, considering what we’ve done.’
Before he got too excited, he clicked on the ssage Owen had sent him.
’’Hey man,’’ it started. ’’Can you call when you’re up?’’
’’I just received the ssage from the Hunter’s Association, but I’ll wait to go together with you.’’
A faint smile ford on Theo’s face as he stared at the ssages.
He pressed on the call button without wasting much more ti.
The line barely rang once before a soft click echoed from the phone.
’’BRO—’’
Theo imdiately pulled the phone away from his ear, tilting his head slightly out of annoyance.
’’Are you ready to pick up that sweet reward money?’’ Owen continued, his voice filled with excitent.
’’Of course,’’ Theo replied, nodding. ’’We et at the sa bus stop again?’’
’’Naturally,’’ Owen said.
Before Theo could even utter another word, the line went dead.
He quietly shook his head, picking up a set of spare clothes.
’As always,’ he thought.
Theo quickly got dressed and slipped out the door, locking it behind him.
By now, even he felt the anticipation build up inside him.
’If it’s enough... I can actually push to silver core stage within a month or so,’ he thought, grinning. ’Which ans a third type of affinity.’
He paused for a mont, contemplating.
’Would I be able to get advanced elents already?’
There were a total of twenty elents in the world, which were divided into two classes: basic and advanced.
The main difference was simple. Advanced elents were only ever awakened as the third elent, which required one to be at the platinum core stage — except for so very rare individuals.
’But since I’ll be getting my third elent at the silver core stage,’ he thought, smiling, ’it might be possible to get one.’
Theo’s smile only grew wider as he thought about it.
Out of twenty elents, only seven were advanced ones. Each of these seven were incredibly strong and unique in their own right.
’I don’t really like the curse or blood elent,’ he thought, shaking his head. ’They just aren’t my type and don’t suit the way I fight.’
’Even the undead elent kind of sits on the border in that aspect.’
He paused for a few seconds, focusing on the remaining options.
’That leaves the Space, Chaos, Summoning, and Psychic elent.’
All of them would cover sothing he lacked or improve his current skill set.
’I wouldn’t mind any of those,’ he thought, grinning faintly.
By the ti the thought settled, the bus stop had already co into view in front of him.
And as expected—
Owen was already there, waiting for him.
’’Yo,’’ he said, waving. ’’You ready to get so money?’’
Theo smiled.
’’Absolutely.’’
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