The morning began with an explosion.
Zeke's eyes shot open, his entire room trembling. A muffled boom echoed across the plains, shaking dust from the ceiling.
He blinked blearily. "That… wasn't thunder."
[Ding! Explosion detected two kilometers north. Estimated probability of Host involvement: 99%.]
Zeke groaned and buried his face in the pillow. "Not everything is my fault."
The window shattered open with a gust of wind as Alora landed inside, sword already drawn.
"Explosion," she said curtly.
"Yeah, I heard," Zeke muttered, rolling off the bed. "Can we pretend it's not our problem for once?"
"Foundation realm Qi detected," she added coldly.
Zeke froze mid-yawn. "…Never mind. Let's go."
Moments later, they were darting across the rooftops, heading north of the city. The air smelled faintly of smoke. From the forest beyond the fields, dark plumes curled into the sky.
When they arrived, the scene was chaos.
Six figures in black cloaks surrounded a lone woman in blue robes, her stance unsteady but her eyes sharp with defiance. Golden Qi flared around her in desperate waves, pushing back the encroaching assassins.
Zeke frowned. "They're all Foundation Establishment… and she's peak Foundation."
[Correction: six mid to late Foundation enemies, one peak Foundation target. Odds of survival: abysmal.]
"Then let's change the math."
Alora's masked gaze shifted toward him. "Orders?"
"Kill them all," Zeke said, expression flat.
"Understood."
She vanished.
Blood painted the air before the first assassin even turned his head.
A whisper of steel, a step in shadow—one fell, then another. The fourth barely managed a choked gasp before his head separated from his shoulders.
"She's—A Golden Core—!" one of them screamed.
The sentence ended halfway through as Alora's sword sliced cleanly across his chest. The last assassin turned to flee, but his legs buckled. His throat opened silently, the blade already sheathed by the time he hit the ground.
"Done," Alora said, wiping her sword.
Zeke stared at the six corpses. "You scare me more every day."
"Good."
The woman in blue collapsed to her knees, clutching her side. Zeke approached cautiously. "You alright there, Miss Almost-Dead?"
Her breathing was ragged, but she managed to lift her head. "…Who are you?"
"City Lord of this scenic dump," he said. "You?"
She hesitated, then straightened, even through the pain. Her robe bore the symbol of a flaming cauldron.
"My name is Lira Vale," she said weakly. "Daughter of Sect Master Vale of the Pill Tower."
Zeke blinked. "Of course you are."
[Host has successfully found trouble disguised as a beauty.]
"Yeah, I noticed," Zeke muttered under his breath.
Her golden eyes flicked toward him with faint amusement. "You helped me. Thank you."
"Don't thank me, thank her." Zeke pointed to Alora, who stood quietly behind him. "I mostly supervised."
[Host downplays heroism. A rare moment of humility.]
"Shut up," Zeke hissed.
Alora returned after checking the perimeter. "No traces. No witnesses."
"Good," Zeke said. He turned back to the girl, whose strength was fading by the second.
"You'll stay in my city until your people come for you."
Lira's eyes widened slightly. "You'll take me in? Even knowing who I am?"
"Yeah. You look expensive. I can't just leave you here."
A small laugh escaped her lips despite her exhaustion. "You're strange."
"I get that a lot."
"It's not a compliment," Alora muttered.
"It was in my head," Zeke replied casually.
By the time they returned to the city, the sun was already high.
The guards stiffened as the gate opened. Behind Zeke walked two striking women—one masked in black, one beautiful but battered, her blue robe dirtied and torn. Whispers rippled through the streets instantly.
"Prepare a guest room," Zeke ordered. "And get the healer."
The guards nodded quickly and dispersed.
Lira looked around, worry in her eyes. "You risk trouble housing me. Those men won't stop."
Zeke shrugged. "They can try."
[Host forgets he's technically still weak.]
"I said they can try, not that I'll win," Zeke whispered under his breath.
Later that day, Zeke sat in his study, resting his chin in one hand and swirling tea with the other.
[You have not signed in today. Would you like to continue existing as an ignorant fool?]
"Ah, right. Go ahead, system."
[Ding! Daily Sign-In complete. Reward: Perfect Knowledge of Alchemy.]
Zeke's eyes widened as his mind flooded with information. Thousands of formulas, herbs, and pill diagrams carved themselves into his thoughts in an instant.
His head snapped back. "GHH—It feels like my brain's on fire!"
[Congratulations, Host. You can now ruin people's stomachs with precision.]
"Thanks," Zeke wheezed. "That's… comforting."
[Side effects include dizziness, inflated ego, and the illusion of competence.]
"Noted."
That evening, the city quieted. Zeke stood by the window, staring at the courtyard where Lira rested under Alora's watch.
"The Pill Tower, huh…" he muttered. "And now their princess is under my roof."
Alora stood near the wall, arms crossed. "Her pursuers will come again."
"Good," Zeke said with a grin. "I was getting bored."
[Host's confidence rising. So is his death probability.]
"You really need to stop ruining the moment," he muttered.
Outside, the wind carried the faint scent of smoke again—another distant explosion, somewhere far beyond the hills.
Zeke exhaled slowly. "Yeah," he murmured. "It's gonna be one of those weeks."