When those words accidentally slipped out of his lips, he should have known that no sane person hearing them would remain calm or indifferent, especially if faced with a foolish and crazy suicidal. However, when Chris realized his blunder, a fair but strong hand had already grabbed and pulled him up by his hair, making him groan sharply due to the pain which added on top of what he was already enduring. A second later, he got deafened by the booming smacking that fell squarely on his left cheek, which unfortunately also found its way to his right, then back to the left, then right... The switch between the two was quite quick, rendering him to lose count of the number of slaps his poor face received.
When he felt like the world had spun a few dozen times around, that was only when the woman stayed her hand, deeming it enough for his muddled head to forget whatever suicidal intention he was having earlier.
Who wouldn"t though? Reasons and clarity were literally slapped back to his brain! Not only once, but probably more than 20 times! To the point that his cheeks hurt more than the long wound on his forehead!
When his upper body fell back to the mattress, his whole back and head also ached so much. Even the softest of impact brought him unimaginable pain since the wounds there were not yet healed.
"d.a.m.n, b*tch!" he cursed out without forgetting to give her a glare, his furious eyes obviously wis.h.i.+ng they could bore holes into the fair and glowing skin of the loathful woman.
How he wished he could stand up there and at least return some of the slaps he got!
Standing beside the bed, Sofony disregarded his angry stares. Anyway, they didn"t contain killing intent, so she easily dismissed them as a loser"s reactions.
With her right hand withdrawing back to her side, she snorted, "Repeat again what you said and I"ll gladly do the favor for you. Don"t test me, Chris. It will be as easy as pie for me to hypnotize this lady here to stab you to death. And actually, she won"t even have to stab you, strangling you using a pillow will be just as easy given your current condition!"
When both of them finally calm down, Sofony continued sharing what she knew and observed about the system. Chris only listened. If questions arose in his mind, he asked them to the system instead of the girl. Time pa.s.sed quickly. After she covered the topics about levels and skills and her theories about the rewards for every level up, she paused for a while, her head lowered.
A sigh escaped her lips as she said, "I hope you won"t follow after my bad examples. It took me three months to realize how vulnerable I and my loved ones are in front of a higher-leveled host. Stop acting as though you don"t have anything anymore. I envy you, because unlike me, your parents are still with you. When you"re being so whimsical to leave a city where their roots lay, they did not hesitate to do so. You should know, all hosts are crazy, even I, perhaps. Who knows when they"ll suddenly pop up here to blast them to death, accidentally. Think about how you"ll feel then."
Chris remained silent to her reminder. However, deep inside him, his heart stirred, fearful of the cold which suddenly enveloped it. In his mind, the worried faces of his parents surfaced. They were slowly aging. However, what never aged or changed was their love and care for him. He loved them too, so much that he couldn"t accept the possibility Sofony had said. He remembered that sometimes those two would joke about them pa.s.sing away one day and every time that they did, they would earn his ire. Because he doesn"t want to even entertain the idea. No child who loved the people that brought them to the world would ever want to see them die, or even hear them talking about dying, no matter how inevitable it was.
But like what the woman wanted to instill in him, in this world where immoral people, hosts and non-hosts alike, roamed freely, it would be hard to truly guarantee one"s safety, unless he"s powerful and has ample amount of strength and protection.
Figuratively speaking, he had none of the first. As a student, and an average one at that, what influence could he speak of? None. No rich background. No say in the government. His connection with the police was just a joke. As for the latter, what he had always been deeming as his family"s protection was their normality...
Suddenly, the woman in forest green s.h.i.+rt stood up and said, knocking him out of his stupor."You decide what you want to do. I"m done here."
She added, "I won"t heal you since many people already know that you"re like this. You think for yourself how to get yourself out of your current predicaments. As for me, I have my own life to live. You have yours. Chris Meyer, your life, treasure it. No matter how painful living is for you at the moment, your life still has value, at least, for those around you who care for you. I"m sure they would love to see you moving on and "living", up to you how to define the word."
He didn"t know whether the day had just been too dramatic and eventful for him, but before the woman completely left and disappeared from his sight, she taunted him to take revenge against Leo Jones if the reason she gave earlier was still not enough.
Chris closed his eyes tiredly. He just woke up from a nightmare and was in dire need of rest, yet all of the scant energy he had recovered only went to listening to Sofony Mendez" annoying but well-meant advises. His mind was also worked up so much for solutions to his problems.
In the end, his mind could only compromise that the system was indeed one of the answers. In fact, for all of his current problems, after Sofony"s litany, he knew that the system could very well be the only solution.
Exhausted and with little to no energy left within his badly injured body, he sighed and murmured to himself,
"I"m so tired. And my body still hurts like h.e.l.l... The next time I wake up, I"ll take up this woman"s offer as thanks for saving me. After that, I"ll slowly figure out how to exploit my system. I don"t believe I have to do crazy but meaningless tasks to become stronger."
Before his drowsiness pulled him into a world that would temporarily allow him to forget all the pain, he mused whether the Entertainment World would be the most convenient place for most of the solutions he had come up.
Perhaps it would be, he told himself not long after. As an industry highly interconnected with the other sectors of society, it would be the easiest breakthrough point for a n.o.body like him. Anyway, it was the annoying woman"s that pestered him and gave him the idea, and he would just be taking it up to get close to the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds and sc.u.ms of society that he would use to farm points. One stone. Many birds which his tired brain chose to count later.
"But seriously, Dumb*ss Chris, sleep. Think of it once you"re completely healed. Otherwise, the woman who almost slapped you to death will laugh at you once she finds out all your lofty ideals."
With this in mind, the edges of his lips curled downwards.
Shortly after, he finally fell asleep.
...
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