Dai got out of the shower and sat on the bed. She felt much better. She looked at her hands, which she clenched and unclenched into fists, feeling relatively normal. Except for mental fatigue. Probably, looking at what happened with Leonid, she expected something more. However, she should have realized that Leonid advanced two realms straight away, while she actually became just a tiny bit more than just an ordinary person.
She took a breath and opened the System window in front of her. She looked at the two new features she had unlocked. Dai had to admit that she was curious about Status, but she had more important things to deal with right now.
She opened the Connection.
The window split into three smaller windows. One of them was called "Connected" the second "Waiting to connect" and the last "Disconnected"
Did she look at the first column where the name Shelter 22 was and next to it was a picture of an open door with an arrow out?
System: "Boss, please don't click this. This will disconnect your store from Shelter 22." Alert her System when she was thinking of trying to press it. She immediately stopped and was glad she hadn't.
She thought about it. "So if I disconnect the store, will I be able to optionally reconnect it?" she asked.
System: "Yes" answered simply.
Dai sighed. The system seemed not in a very good mood, maybe because of her? Indeed, she has not been on her best behavior lately.
There was nothing in the Disconnect column. So she looked at the last one, called Waiting to Connect. There were surprisingly two options.
"Shelter 1 and... Trian - Trianidum?" she read aloud. "It costs 100 SC to connect to Shelter 1 and 1000 to Trianidum!?"
She had never heard of Shelter 1 or Trian - Trianidum. Well, Shelter 1 probably just wouldn't be on her continent, but Trianidum didn't tell her anything.
"What is Trian - Trianidum?" she wondered.
System: "Trianidum is the nearest inhabited planet to your planet. Trian is its capital, and thus the center of trade."
Dai was silent for a moment as she tried to process the news.
"Hahaha….another planet? Okay, okay. That's not going to happen." Dai was trying to get into the inner circle to avoid the danger! She became a cultivator for basically the same reason. To protect herself from danger. And now should she go to another planet? No...she definitely didn't plan this. She aimed for something more believable.
"Alright. What about Shelter 1? If I unlock it will I be able to go there?" She was interested and wondered if the System would just transport her there.
System: "Yes. After you buy a connection, you get a map and compass in your interface and you can go there, boss."
".... Go?" Dai repeated. "I thought you were just going to send me there. Do I have to walk there?"
System: "Yes. Just like when you connected the shop in Shelter 22. You must show up at the location in person."
Dai was silent again for a while. "So you're telling me that you can send me to another planet, but not to another Shelter on the planet we're on?"
System: "Exactly as you say, boss."
Dai shuddered as she held back the curses. "Fu-good. And can you explain the logic behind that? And if you send me to another planet, does that mean I also have to walk to the capital by myself?"
System: "It's as you say, boss. Your thinking is excellent." it praised her. Did she hear the sarcasm in the voice?
System: "As I said before. The system is set up to support your best interests. It supports the growth of the business, but also your personal growth, boss. Direct teleportation will only be accessible when you put in a certain amount of effort. The journey itself is beneficial to your self-improvement. As a cultivator, one needs to go through various trials. You will not get stronger just by training. In case of visiting a foreign planet, it is also good for your business. This way you will find out what the locals need and what will sell well. As you say yourself, "It's market research." No pain no grain, boss."
As it spoke, Dai began massaging her temples, and her headache returned. "So you're just telling me… that you can teleport me, but you won't. And you're leaving me to enjoy a horrible and dangerous journey across a wilderness or alien planet."
System: "..... fighting, boss."
Dai opened her mouth and all that came out were curse words. "You bastard, I really hate you..." The System's reasoning was beyond her. And what if she decides not to do it? What will it do then? With the power it has, she wasn't sure she wanted to know.
System: "Your hate is acceptable."
Dai was silent and her eye twitched. She also just realized a terrible thing. She found herself in a toxic relationship from which she could not escape. Shit. She is screwed.
The only thing that gave her hope was that it hadn't really forced her into anything yet. She struggled for a moment before admitting that there was nothing she could do about it. She will simply solve things when it is relevant. Probably.
"What are the conditions for the connection?" she asked.
System: "Touch the surface where you want to create a door. The surface must not be the private property of anyone. You can disconnect it from any place and distance."
Dai nodded, a plan forming in her head. She will have to go to her house. And it belongs to her so it won't be a problem. It would only take her a moment to create a new connection and pull Teru in there. The mutant woman will surely try to hold her back or kill her outright.
If she uses the Midnight Spider Cracker, she can take one hit. And then all that was left was to blacklist the mutant so she couldn't follow them. It sounded like a pretty good plan. But she should come up with a backup plan, because as naturally as the world is spinning, all plans can go to hell.
...
....
She couldn't think of anything. Nevertheless, in the end, she had to consider that if everything went wrong, she would at least have to save herself.
Filn wouldn't blame her. She did her best to save Teru, didn't she? No? No?
Dai now clicked on the Status folder. It didn't appear right away. Instead, three dots slowly flashed in the window. What was that supposed to mean? She had never seen such a thing in a window.
System: "Owner store. So that your data is always up to date, a complete scan of your body is performed every time you turn on the Status. Please wait."
Dai waited and watched the dots load. Then finally the screen flashed and the result appeared.
However, Dai remained staring at the very first line.
"What… what is this?!"
*****
Teru mentally sighed unhappily. She didn't allow herself to do it out loud. She was squished in the corner of the ruined single room of the Dai house. The mutant woman was standing by the hole in the wall that she broke through with her own power and did not pay her a single glance. The fact that the mutant wasn't interested in her was probably her only luck.
There was only a bruise and a scratch, but no serious injury. But every time she moved, she felt the mutant's attention focused on her, even if she didn't look at her. It was terrifying. So she tried her best not to move.
She thought of her poor husband and also of that bastard Dai who had caused this to them. She also mentally cursed their friendship. She should have destroyed it somehow and not backed down. Now they were in this situation. Filn was worried, they had to go check on her. Isn't she a grown woman? Why do you need to check her?!
"Human female." she flinched at the sound of the mutant woman's cold voice.
She swallowed hard. "Y-yes ma'am?"
"Tell me about the thing that lives here." it wasn't a question.
Teru didn't know what to say. Dai was just Dai. She was hardworking, generous to those she liked, and relatively honest. These were great qualities, but she was just plain boring. The only thing she did that was interesting was that she went outside the Shelter. But otherwise? You couldn't talk to her about anything but work. And then anyway, they mostly only talk about Teru's work or what's going on in their lives. Dai has nothing to tell.
Teru opened her mouth to answer, but the words that came out were completely different from what she had in her head.
"Dai is horrible. A liar and an impostor. She robs the weak, uses children, and steals husbands from other women. She is despised by many people. No wonder you are angry with her. Such a nasty person should not even be alive! But, other than that, she's ordinary." She released all the poison she had accumulated. Because of her, she found herself in this situation! Just let her get what she deserves!
The mutant woman slowly turned her head towards her and Teru crouched down even more.
"You human beings are disgusting on your own. But a human who are dishonest is even more disgusting." She frowned. "But she's far from 'ordinary'. She's someone who rejected the gift of Fortune. No one can refuse my lady's goodwill."
Teru didn't understand, but she knew one thing. Things weren't good for Dai.
*****
Dai stared at her Status.
Name: Keeper4
Alias: Dai
Profession: Shop Owner
Cultivation: Low Realm
Life Providence: None
Power: 10/ -1
Vitality: 10/ -1
Intelligence: 12
Speed: 14/ -1
Endurance: 10/ -1
Luck: 3
Abilities:
Appraisal: E->E+
System Management: A+
Dai didn't understand. What was up with her name?
"Keeper4? What's that name? That's not my name!" She looked it over again, but it didn't make any sense to her.
Why was her name listed as an alias? She stood up and started pacing nervously.
"And what about the numbers? What about the minuses?" She asked the system.
System: "These are your stats, boss. Remember that they are only tentative. The minuses to your stats are the minor injuries you sustained when you broke through cultivation. Your body was still not ready enough, so you suffered a minor setback. Over time, your body will repair itself and now you will feel nothing worse than sore muscles." It answered.
"And the name?" she wanted to know
System: "I cannot answer. This is the name that belongs to you. This is how you are recorded in the Order of the Universe. No further information is available."
Dai swallowed because she just felt like she had just learned something a little too hard. "Order of the Universe?" she repeated carefully.
System: "The Order of the Universe is in everything and everywhere. Once something is created, it is recorded. Everyone born gets a record and the traces of their existence are forever recorded...Understood. I'll make it simple for you boss. Just you they took a photo with your name on it when you were born and put it in a file cabinet." The system suddenly stopped talking dramatically about the power of the universe when it noticed that Dai was having a bit of a hard time processing it and simplified the whole thing.
Dai was silent and sat on the bed. She rubbed her temples again. She had the impression that the headache had turned into a migraine.
"So my name is Keeper4? What the hell is that name? Who were my parents? Was it Keeper1 and Keeper2 and do I have a brother Keeper3?!" it sounded crazy!
She had parents! They were no longer here with her, but they were completely normal and ordinary. With perfectly ordinary names Allen and Drint. And no siblings!
System: "Feel free to keep calling yourself Dai, boss."
Dai was sure the System was mocking her!