"T-This is impossible. Why are the services so costly? It's like no one wants to work anymore…"
Lilianna complained as she tried to catch her breath. She had just run through the whole city twice, but had not been able to find anyone to take her request.
People either asked her to go away as they drank in sorrow, or demanded an arm and a leg from her.
"The same happened to me. I know that people want to make the best use of their time and skills. But isn't this daytime robbery? How do they expect us to agree to their ridiculous prices?"
Clara agreed as she panted as well.
Andrew was the only one who looked fine. But even he sighed as he shook his head.
"I did not have any luck either. People are either not interested or have way too much pride to work under someone else. It might be better for us to try and learn on our own."
He told the other two, and they started to head back home.
"Ugh, I hope we have a nice lunch prepared today. I really want to eat something heavy and collapse…"
Clara confessed as she picked up pace. The thought of good food made her go faster. But she suddenly slowed down once she reached the gate.
Andrew also slowed down, seeing what had made Clara pause.
"There is…someone at our door? Did someone come here by accident? I don't recall inviting anyone…"
Clara spoke softly, but she was ready to use her powers if necessary. Lilianna was also ready to support her if it seemed like it was needed.
But Andrew stopped them both as he looked at the person who was standing in front of the main door. Something about him looked familiar…
So he quickly checked the identity using the system.
[Player Name: Emperor (level 14)]
"Andrew, Lilianna, take a step back. I will take care of the intruder…"
Clara took her stance, only for Andrew to stop her.
"There is no need for that. I want to hear what Emperor has to say and why he came looking for me specifically."
Clara suddenly stood straight, and her eyes widened in shock.
"Wait-! That person is…Emperor? What is he doing here? I mean, he can come here, but why is he actually here? I thought he wanted nothing to do with us…"
She tried to make sense of what was going on. While she did that, Andrew decided to step forward and greet Emperor.
"What a surprise to see you here, Emperor. I did not expect you to show up in front of me. What can I help you with?"
Andrew asked him, and Emperor sighed before he turned toward him.
"So you really were the Mark Dawson that I knew? I came here because I wanted to confirm a few things with you."
Emperor looked just a tiny bit surprised to see Andrew, but he quickly reeled in his shock and coughed to hide his embarrassment.
His eyes were honest, so Andrew decided to invite him inside for now.
"I see. If you want to talk, then I will welcome you inside. Come with us."
Andrew opened the door and they all entered. He knew fully well that someone like Emperor could have broken into his house easily. But the politeness was appreciated.
The food was already laid out on the table, and the fairy worker quickly came around, saw the extra person, and added another plate.
"You have a fairy worker already? That was…rather fast…"
Emperor looked impressed as he took a seat around the table first, and the rest followed. There was an awkward silence around the table where no one spoke anything. And then, the Emperor spoke up first.
"I came here to ask you a few questions. You won't mind answering a few for me, right?"
Emperor asked, and Andrew quickly nodded.
"Sure, I will answer any question you want me to…as long as I am allowed to."
He confirmed, and Emperor took a deep breath, considering what his first question should be. Finally, he settled on the question.
"I am a returner. In other words, I have already gone through this 'system's game' a few times, but I have never seen Mark Dawson make it past the first few rounds. So I want to ask you—are you really Mark Dawson? And if so, are you someone in a situation similar to me?"
That was a loaded question, but Andrew decided not to complicate it.
"I go by Andrew, so call me that. Biologically, I am Mark Dawson, and you could say that I am in a…similar situation to you. But I would rather not go into too much detail."
Andrew did not want to complicate things by telling everyone about other worlds and what the system did.
"I see. I already guessed."
Emperor confessed, and it was Andrew's turn to ask him questions.
"Since we are on the topic, would you mind answering some of my questions as well?"
Emperor nodded, and Andrew continued.
"Did you ever make it to the end of these games?"
"End…I was never able to. Is there even an end to these games? How can we even get to it? Will it all end when there is only one person left?"
Emperor asked, and silence fell around the table.
Andrew chose not to answer. After all, he had seen the end only after everyone else in his world was dead as well. He had even lost count of how many games he had played to get that far.
Was it a fixed number? Or number of players? Or was time the factor in all this? Andrew had no idea, nor did he want to find out.
'This time, I will end the games before the situation gets too dire. There must be some way to end this. I just need to drag the truth out of the system lackeys' mouths.'
After all, the creatures that acted as the system's arms and legs were worlds it had consumed as well. And yet, those worlds had managed to survive somehow. That meant that anything was possible.
"I see. So, what do you plan to do next? If you have nowhere to go, you can join us."
Andrew offered his hand to Emperor, but Emperor looked hesitant.
"I…will stick around for now. Let me know if there is anything you need my help with. I have a lot of experience working odd jobs."
The man offered, and Clara immediately jumped in.
"Hey, do you have any skills with handiwork? If so, then can you help us install something?"
And that was how Emperor was dragged to work for Andrew as well.