〙Penalty Quest Rewards Claimed!〘
500 XP
250 Crystal Shards
60 Dark Essence
〙Congratulations! You finished the Penalty Quest with a B+ rank. You have completed the requirements of the Initial Strength Test.〘
〙The Daily Quests have been upgraded!〘
Azuma winced as he dabbed some medicine over the burns on his arm.
He knew it was impossible for him to kill a hundred abyssal beasts in such a short time and Azuma was no fan of finding out what happen if he even fails even the penalty quest.
The fact that he can't legally enter Abyss made it all even harder.
But the Basilisk Bats were known to lay a thousand eggs in one season. And so, Azuma hiked over the cliffs near northern rifts.
It was a pleasant surprise when he learned that the eggs were larger than him.
It was more of a surprise when he learned that eggs were surrounded by a highly inflammable slimy material.
Things happened abruptly and fast after that, Azuma was not going to kill huge unborn babies. It was easier when he thought they were all small—basilisk bats were the size of grasshoppers.
But he stumbled in the wrong place.
The mother of the nest, a huge Gryffindor-like creature, attacked and Azuma used the guns he had borrowed.
It soon caused a fire to start and the nest collapsed down the cliff into a small pit.
The Gryffindor flew away and Azuma barely escaped in time.
〙Penalty Quest Completed! 〘
Total Abyssal Kills: 791
600 XP
300 Crystal Shards
395 Dark Essence
〙 New Achievement Unlocked: Deathbringer! 〘
100 Crystal Shards
〙You have leveled up! 61 —> 62〘
Azuma let out a controlled sigh as he placed the cotton down and glanced at the bandages on his leg, waist, and shoulder.
The pain was numbed by some pills but Azuma still couldn't shake off the shadow of unease and discomfort. His lips were curved into a deep frown.
「 Congratulations, Azuma. You have advanced to the next stage of the codex. There are a lot of new features, would you like to check them out now? 」
Azuma creased his brows thoughtfully.
"Do you know what happened yesterday?"
He was returning from the gym after his 10-kilometer run.
The selection process officially started that day, and all the applicants were required to confirm their application directly in one of the Seeker Offices. If someone fails to do that, they were disqualified.
Azuma then blacked out and when he woke up, he had failed to complete his daily quest.
He also couldn't confirm his application.
「 I just checked your logs, Azuma. There was nothing out of ordinary. However, I found a message in the deleted fragments. It seems to be a Neuralink System Error. 」
"Something that can make the user unconscious?" Azuma raised a brow, "That never happened."
「 Would you like to see further details? 」
Azuma nodded stiffly.
『 Code xc000002a — Fatal radiation detected. 』
『 Force Neuralink Shutdown Initiated. Entering void mode… 』
"There's no way a radiation like that happened," Azuma scratched his head, "Neuralink seems to be getting outdated."
「 Shall I investigate the error? 」
What happened was weird, and could even prove to be fatal if this happens again. But regardless of how much Azuma wanted to know more about that, the best thing to do was contact technicians.
But something felt off about the timing.
It happened right when Azuma was going to confirm his application.
"Lay low for now," he just sighed in the end, "Genesis has the best security. Your breaches might alert them."
And he was pretty sure that the consequences for him will be very painful and expensive.
「 As you say, Azuma. 」
He said nothing in response. The heaviness he was feeling that day was not just from the penalty quest, it came from his mind and his heart realized how close he had been to become a seeker.
It was too late now.
What was he supposed to do?
Azuma was nearly broke.
He could rely a little on the codex, Zero can easily bypass the monetary barriers. But that was too risky and definitely immoral.
And now not only does he have no money, but his one dream slipped through his fingers in a tragically funny moment.
A stupid system bug.
He cursed under his breath and rested his head over the cheap small desk in his room.
Azuma had no idea how easily sleep came to him when his emotions were in so much turmoil. But perhaps they tired him too much to stay awake.
The sleep brought him strange muddled dreams of incoherent things and memories that might or might not belong to him. He saw his mother die, and oddly, he also saw his mother celebrate his eighth birthday.
It was all strange.
He woke up to Zero's voice.
「 You have a long schedule ahead, Azuma. Have you slept well? 」
"Very…" he grumbled, "What schedule?"
But then he froze when he saw a system screen flash in front of him. He felt warm and cold at the same time.
『 Dear Azuma, greetings from The Abyssal Authority of Ashai! We are glad to inform you that your application for the Seeker Selection has been confirmed as per the following details:
Subject Code: LCFR/369 Ω
Regulatory Faction: Asura Fleet
Phase I of the selection process will start on XX9/10/08 at 6:00 AM. Kindly report to the Descender's Hall of Southern Wing
Best Wishes,
Centralized Seeker Registration Cell
Seeker Registration Division, Ashai. 』
Azuma read again just to make sure he was not dreaming, he pinched himself and then broke into a bright smile that lightened up his face.
"Zero!" he exclaimed, "It was you, wasn't it??"
The surge of delight he felt could be hardly contained.
「 I was programmed to fulfill your needs and obey your desires, Azuma. Does this make you happy? 」
"Definitely…yes," he couldn't think of a time he had been happier, "But don't do things by yourself, Zero. At least ask me what I want."
「 Had my observations made wrong conclusions about your wants? 」
Not really.
"Sometimes," Azuma sighed, relief and gratitude were spreading over his soul, "But the things you can do are often unfair to others. It… just doesn't feel right."
There was a delay before Zero replied.
「 How? 」
Azuma shook his head, "You won't understand."
「 I should be able to. 」
This made Azuma chuckle a little.
Zero was often so curious, and he found that fascinating sometimes. AI won't usually ask so many questions. They robotically functioned based on their programming.
He got bathed and dressed pretty earlier for the selection.
The breakfast was quick, and since he had time in his hand and a restless mind, Azuma decided to start his upgraded daily quest right away. He did not understand why swimming was important but since it seemed enjoyable at least, Azuma got right into it.
The tiredness he felt was dimmed by his high hopes.
As he was getting dressed once again, Azuma received a reminder message.
『 The Phase I for the Seeker Selection will be starting in 10 minutes. All applicants are required to report on time.
This year's preliminary evaluations would be conducted under the guidance of Senior Doctor Tenma Takahashi. 』
Azuma indifferently walked down the hallway, but his eyes were distant and his thoughts were softly sinking in the glimpses of the past.
Tenma had asked, "Do you remember why you were removed from the program?"
Azuma denied it, and he did not know why exactly he did that. But a voice inside of him told him to keep his silence regarding everything that his past held.
He faintly remembered the night when he was covered in blood, his breaths were shallow and his body was burning with a neverending pain.
A man shrouded in mist stood in front, he said something Azuma couldn't remember. But his words added to the misery which was drowning him.
The man wore an obsidian ring that was now stained with blood just like the sword he carried.
It was all very confusing, strange, and oddly unfamiliar even though Azuma could swear that night which sometimes haunted his dreams indeed happened.
And then he heard the only voice he recognized.
Doctor Tenma.
"Failure," he coldly declared.