A smug emoji appeared on the screen in front of Dravin.
"Fuck! Where have you been?"
Dravin's loud voice made Freya turn in surprise. She raised an eyebrow, with a look asking if the words were meant for her.
"Ah, no. I was talking to my system. It just came back," Dravin explained quickly.
Then Freya got up from her seat. "I need to go. Since you're the captain of this journey, just call me when you're on a mission to catch a demon." She walked casually towards the door.
"Call you? How?" Dravin shouted.
Freya looked back and sighed. "Just ask your system to call me, and I'll be here in a maximum of ten minutes."
She continued to open the door and left, leaving Dravin dumbfounded in his apartment. Ten minutes? Was she a firefighter on call?
The slam of the door sent a jolt of disbelief through Dravin's mind, because he knew it was still a long way to get her to soften up.
[How was it, Host? Was it fun to hang out with an angel?]
"An angel?" He frowned.
[Oops… Didn't she tell you about her background?]
"No."
[I crossed the line then.]
"So she's not human?"
[Let's just discuss your progress, Host. You can ask her later. I don't want to cross the line.]
Dravin scoffed. His energy felt drained, he didn't want to argue any further.
[You went through a lot today, Host. Good job.]
"You did that on purpose, didn't you? Not telling me those details just to make me look stupid," Dravin retorted.
The emoji on the screen showed a thinking expression, then smirked.
[Isn't it better for you to learn how the system works through practice? I have no ill intentions, Host. I was doing maintenance myself, but yes, I also wanted you to learn as you go. And you did better than I hoped. So… don't be so sulky. You're rich now, Host.]
Rubby's emoji disappeared, and the screen in front of him showed his current status. His gaze was fixed on the wealth indicator.
A giggle of disbelief escaped his thin lips. His wealth had increased a hundredfold in a single day, something he might not have earned in an entire year.
For some reason, his chest felt tight seeing that much money.
Just a few days ago, he had been at a loss after losing a client and having only enough money for a week's living expenses.
His hand stroked his chest, patting it gently. Even though his soul was Dravin from Earth, the memories of Dravin in this world were so real and suffocating.
He smiled again at how rich he was right now. Wait…
"Will I get this much income daily?" Dravin's grin widened as he asked Rubby, eyes twinkling, imagining that if it were true.
He could soon become one of The Elite, who had a minimum income of two million Goldin per month.
[It depends. Your income isn't just defined by the system's rewards. You can have other income from this world. But no matter how much you spend or lose in the process of completing this system, they won't let you be in poverty.]
His lazy, unbothered gaze fixed on Rubby. "Of course. I am their pawn."
[Ah, instead of that, isn't it more comfortable to think of us as teammates? They design the ship, and you are the captain.]
Dravin smirked as Rubby's words reminded him of his manager.
He was just as much of a smooth talker at persuading brands. And that memory made something click in his mind, causing him to gasp.
"Rubby, if this is a parallel world of Earth, and there are two Dravins with the same appearance, does that mean I can meet people I know from Earth here?"
The smiling emoji grinned.
[Yes, you could meet people with the same name and appearance as the ones you know on Earth. But no, they are not the same person, Host. Their souls are different.]
Of course, Dravin knew that, but the thought of seeing his sister's physical form again made him excited.
He had left enough inheritance for Elena to live comfortably for generations.
He had also made sure Elena's fiancé would take good care of her after doing a year-long background check.
So he wasn't worried about her falling into grief over his death, she could bounce back stronger—he had raised her that way.
It was just the fact that Dravin on Earth had died a week before Elena's wedding that made him look up, fighting off the watery sting in the corner of his eyes.
[Are you crying, Host?]
Dravin was still looking up. He missed Elena. Even though he couldn't meet his sister, he thought that just seeing a smile on a familiar face would be enough to ease his longing.
"Call me Chef. Don't make me feel like an alien with that 'Host' title."
[Alright, Chef! Anyway, do you have any questions about what you've been through today?]
Dravin looked unpleasantly at Rubby's smiling emoji. He then lay down on the bed to relax his stiff muscles.
"How many people are already possessed by demons that I have to save?"
The translucent screen moved, hovering above him.
[I can say, half of this District 6 is already possessed.]
"That means… more than a thousand!?" Dravin's eyes bulged as he yelped.
Suddenly, his heart started to beat erratically. "How… how am I supposed to—"
[If you're going about this by manually inputting your blueprint targets and cooking for them one by one like you did with Freya, you would take forever, Chef.]
"Then you should have told me the way. Why did you leave me in the dark and make me decide what I thought was right?"
[Because the system's progression is triggered by what you do and what you think. The Higher-Ups witnessed how you handled your first mission and activated your Hunter's Eyes on your own.]
"So, everything I did today was a test?"
[Not really… That's just how the system behaves. Your next mission will be created based on what you did before, so it can align and relate to your personality, decisions, and deepest desires. The system evolves based on you. Isn't that fun?]
Rubby winked from its creepy smiling emoji. Dravin could only frown.
"And the blueprint? Can I still go through with my plan?"
[Of course, Chef! You have to keep moving and do what you planned, and the next missions will come in between.]
Dravin clicked his tongue in frustration. His initial plan to make the targets feel special by cooking for them one by one was sweet, but interviewing them individually would drain his energy. He needed a far more efficient express route to know them better.
"Don't you have the power to read minds?"
Rubby's creepy grin deepened. [Why don't you check the shop system? You just unlocked the feature.]
Dravin's fingers immediately slid the blue screen toward the shop tab.
When he clicked it, his furrowed brow knitted together in disbelief. The shop was an utterly empty, white space, with nothing on display.
All that was there was a single search bar.