Chapter 377

Is there something wrong with this?

No!

"Should we list out our conditions?" the little girl said, sounding somewhat resigned.

"No! No way!" the mature woman said without hesitation, "How is he now? Does he seem anxious?"

"Not at all," the little girl said dejectedly. "That guy seemed so relaxed. He didn't seem worried at all."

"Hmm..." The mature woman calmed down upon hearing this and said, "It seems we underestimated that guy. Honestly, you actually let him draw MEI, and even the Goddess! Does he already know how to break the seal on his own?"

MEI has extremely high intelligence, while the Goddess has super strong fighting power.

With high intelligence and super combat power, the rest is basically an invincible storyline.

However, there's a problem: MEI's intelligence only works perfectly when she's in the role of MEI, while she herself has been assimilated into Goddess. Although she possesses extraordinary fighting power, she doesn't know how to break the Goddess's seal.

Therefore, it's all in vain, so when she encounters danger, all she needs to do is break the seal.

Then, by neutralizing a certain amount of MEI's characteristics, the problem can be perfectly solved.

As for the price, it was that the transmigrator's original body was stripped away and completely transformed into the character.

Once this step is achieved, the original body becomes the character, and the character becomes the original body? Yes, but not entirely! Although the character becomes the original body, it will still retain the character's characteristics, thus giving the system complete control.

If this time traveler goes too far, then we'll just separate the original character from the main body.

The next step is to format and rebuild, perform personality adjustments, and then put it back.

Because the original body is the character, even if the original body is removed, the transmigrator will still exist. However, since the removed character is the original body, all modifications made to that character will be inherited by the original body.

When the time comes, won't they just say whatever they want?

This is like killing someone by destroying their spirit! It's like killing someone by destroying their spirit!

But now that we've completed more than half of the steps, this is the last thing we're doing, and yet things have changed like this.

This really caught her off guard.

"Give it to him? That's too easy on him. If we don't give it to him, he might find out something." The mature woman thought for a moment and said, "Give it to him! We can't not give it to him! Let's keep this guy calm first."

"Are you just going to give it away for free like this?" The little girl cried, "If you're just going to give it away for free like this, what's the point of having you?!"

"It's not impossible for him to want it," the mature woman said after a moment's thought. "I'll revise the terms later. You can say it's a complete system upgrade, requiring his signature as the transmigrator. Then say, 'This DIY ability is a benefit of this upgrade.'"

"Of course, you should tell him that he can also choose better benefits, and if he chooses this one, he shouldn't regret it."

"Make sure to say things like 'this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,' and deliberately make sure the benefits this time are huge!"

"I think he'll definitely have other options, which will give me enough time to amend this clause!"

I refuse to believe I can't beat you, you little punk!

Chapter Forty-Seven Agreement

"System upgrade?"

Before I even got what I wanted, I received this sentence.

Li Pu was puzzled. Would the system be upgraded?

Meeting.

This plot point isn't entirely absent from novels, but it doesn't appear very often. Most people's systems remain unchanged throughout. However, some people's systems will upgrade for various reasons.

Of course, sometimes this upgrade doesn't necessarily mean a higher level or better usability. Sometimes, some systems become worse and harder to use after an upgrade.

The reverse upgrade is correct.

But let's get back to our own system.

Upgrade? What are you upgrading?! Do you really think I'm not smart enough, or that I'm out of my mind?

Li Pu wasn't angry, or rather, he didn't show it. It was as if the matter was perfectly normal, nothing to be concerned about. He simply said casually, "Really? Well, if you want to upgrade, then upgrade. How long will it take?"

"Huh?" The system seemed taken aback by Li Pu's composure and said, "Aren't you surprised?"

"Surprised?" Li Pu shrugged and said, "There's nothing surprising about it. Microsoft's Windows system has been around from XP to the 11th generation. Systems are always being upgraded as times change. For a generation like mine that has been exposed to all kinds of electronic products since childhood, upgrades are perfectly normal."

"On the contrary, your system interface, which is even worse than DOS, really needs an upgrade."

'I actually... got rejected!'

The system suddenly felt like crying. Aesthetically pleasing design? It wasn't that it didn't want it to be aesthetically pleasing, but aesthetics cost money! If it couldn't find someone to help with the design, it would have to design it itself.

However, her artistic skills are truly indescribable.

"Keep a calm mind~ Keep a calm mind~ Keep a calm mind..." The system tried its best to comfort itself, maintaining an indifferent attitude, and said, "Aren't you curious about the benefits of leveling up?"

"There are actually benefits to this?" Li Pu was genuinely curious.

The perks of server maintenance are something that usually only happen in games. I never expected the system to do this. But the way the system does this always makes Li Pu feel like there's something fishy about this unexpected favor; it's either a trap or something else entirely.

"What kind of benefits?" Li Pu asked.

"You can upgrade or acquire an ability," the system said. "For example, if you want to improve your DIY skills, you can get it after upgrading. Or, if you want to acquire some other abilities, as long as they're not too outrageous, we can give them to you here."

"After all, this is a benefit, and there is a cap on it. Basically, you can think of it as limited to your own combat, life, and skill learning."

"Is that so?" Li Pu pondered the system's words. From this perspective, it did indeed make sense. Generally speaking, the benefits of maintenance and upgrades weren't particularly good. It was more like a cold dish on New Year's Eve—it might be there, but it certainly wouldn't be as plentiful as the hot dishes that followed, with their abundance of meat and fish.

However, such maintenance and upgrades are usually accompanied by another matter.

Service suspended!

"Do you need to suspend system services?" Li Pu asked immediately.

"Yes," the system replied without hesitation. "This is an offline maintenance. The system will then have a new upper limit and unlock new system functions. It will take about three days. Theoretically, you cannot switch characters during system maintenance. However, to deal with any unforeseen circumstances, the system will give you an extra chance to switch characters. But you cannot switch characters again until the system maintenance is complete."

"Of course, you can use the character freely after the maintenance is complete, and the ability upgrades or abilities you need will be delivered at the same time."

"If you agree, we'll upgrade it as well."

As expected! The fox's tail has been revealed! The inability to switch characters. While I don't know what you're trying to do, the real crux of the matter is probably the inability to switch characters, right?

Although Li Pu had no evidence, he sensed that the system seemed to have become more cunning. It would throw out a bait, make a seemingly reasonable request, then state a seemingly reasonable restriction, and finally reveal its true purpose.

Restrict character switching.

Everything seemed perfectly reasonable. The system needed an upgrade, and since it was an offline upgrade, the system would be temporarily unavailable for the next three days. If the service was down, switching characters would be out of the question. However, because he was currently in the Holy Grail War and the danger hadn't yet subsided, a provision that seemed to be for his own benefit had been included.

You are allowed to switch roles once.

Finally, there's the perk. It's reasonable to offer ordinary combat or life skills that aren't too outrageous as perks.

It makes perfect sense, everything makes perfect sense.

That made perfect sense, and Li Pu began to smell a conspiracy.

On the system side.

"So?" the mature woman asked, "Did he sign the agreement?"

"Not yet." The little girl said with a long face, "He left, and it seems like he has no intention of agreeing at all."

"No?" The mature woman frowned slightly. He actually disagreed? No! She thought of another possibility and said, "No, he probably doesn't disagree; he's considering the issue! I think he's probably thinking about what kind of ability would suit him best. He's a shrewd person and wouldn't easily give up this opportunity, so he's definitely thinking of changing the terms."

"I'll be back soon."

"Definitely," the mature woman said with absolute certainty.

"What if the conditions are too outrageous?" the little girl said weakly...

"Reject it directly, no need to hesitate." The mature woman said directly, "Don't forget that you are the system! You are the master! The final interpretation of all rules is in your hands! Don't let him lead you by the nose."

Even the mature woman felt a bit of a headache. No wonder this girl was being played like a fool by a time traveler and had to beg her for help.

Looking at it now, it's clear that while the time traveler drawing the trump cards MEI and Belldandy was one factor, the girl herself also played a significant role. If it were her, which time traveler would dare to act rashly?

If you jump around, I'll crush you!

"Oh..." The little girl nodded weakly, but quickly added, "But if we're going to do this, isn't three days a bit too short?"

"His situation doesn't seem too critical right now. No one should bother him for the next three days."

"This is a gamble," the mature woman said. "If it takes too long, he'll get suspicious, but if it's too short, it'll be disadvantageous for us. Three days is just right, and this is the first maintenance. You don't need to rush and drag it out so much right away. Besides, once we get started, things will be much easier, won't they?"

"Just give him a maintenance at a crucial moment, forcing him to switch characters and free up his main character."

No rush, no rush.

The mature woman now understands that dealing with this kind of person is all about who has more patience and who can outlast them. As long as they are patient, there will always be one or two opportunities to succeed.

"Will you still need it in the future?" the little girl asked. "Will you need to maintain it frequently in the future?"

"Of course, the conditions remain the same." The mature woman said without hesitation, "Keep the maintenance time to two or three days. This time you can give a higher amount of benefits, but you can lower them a lot in the future. You can even do maintenance once or twice a month, or even set aside a fixed time each week for maintenance. Or occasionally do a big maintenance, saying it's to upgrade and launch new things. This time you only open one store, only one option in the store, and put some junk on it."

"Don't put everything in at once, take it slow."

"This..." The little girl seemed a bit unhappy upon hearing this, saying, "I wanted him to work for me for free..."

"What are you thinking?" the mature woman said angrily. "It's all because of your mindset! If you keep working for free, you'll just be wasting your time. Change your thinking! Stop being so stingy! Stop being so miserly."

"You need to give him something, some benefits, that's how you do it!"

The more the mature woman talked, the more she felt that for her plan to succeed, it wouldn't just depend on the transmigrator's abilities, but also on this big loli. As the saying goes, you can't carry a bad teammate, and this big loli was clearly a bit of a bad teammate.

This guy really shouldn't sell himself! Otherwise, we really won't be able to carry him!

"I understand," the little girl said, still seeming to feel sorry for her. "I understand..."

"Don't just say it." The older woman felt something was off, so she quickly warned, "You set up this system because you wanted him to work for you for free. You thought you could throw in some junk, then a little bit of good stuff, and then change the drop rate. Like those gacha games, but did you succeed? No! Not only did you fail, look at what you've become."

"Oh..." the big loli pouted and said, "I know, who knew that guy was such a lucky guy."

If you weren't incredibly lucky, this wouldn't have happened.

"Even if they're incredibly lucky, it's not right for you to do this," the mature woman said. "You need to give transmigrators a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. It's not just about giving them a title or something. That's optional. What's more important is to give them some tangible benefits."

"If you're not even willing to offer him a little something, he'll turn against you sooner or later, even if he's not incredibly lucky!"

"Enough with the chit-chat!" the mature woman said impatiently. "Go check if Li Pu is back yet."

"Pay attention to his demands. As long as they're not too unreasonable, you can agree to them. If they are unreasonable, just say no! The final interpretation is up to you! Remember, the final interpretation is up to you."

"Say whatever you want."

"But don't go too far yourself!"

Chapter Forty-Eight: I Want to Become Stronger

Li Pu logged out of the system and went to discuss this matter with MEI.

Within the Inherent Domain.

"I see..." MEI pondered this question, rubbing her chin.

"What? This actually happened?" Kallen said, sounding quite disappointed. "We have to stop using it for a few days?"

"You look disappointed," Li Pu asked, noticing Kallen's disappointed expression. "What's there to be disappointed about? It's only three days."

"Ah~ no, I just thought I could move around a bit more," Kallen said. "But I didn't expect it to still be like this."

"The issue isn't the event itself," MEI interrupted Kallen. "I think someone is behind the system this time, though I don't know what they're planning. But if we switch characters during this period, things might get a little complicated."

Li Pu nodded in agreement, noting that while the restriction seemed reasonable, it contained underlying problems.

He wasn't quite sure what the problem was, but his intuition told him that this must be the key to the problem.

"What are your plans?" MEI asked first.

"We've temporarily withdrawn from the Holy Grail War, but that doesn't mean we're safe," Li Pu said. "The Holy Grail War is basically in its mid-to-late stages now. We don't need to worry about Rider, Iskandar. His mind isn't entirely on our side; his priority is to seize the Holy Grail and reappear in a physical body."

"Secondly, there's what he said about wanting to marry the Goddess." Li Pu thought for a moment and then said, "But Golden Flash is a big problem. He can be considered the final winner of this Holy Grail War, and this guy's possessiveness is extremely strong. He may not care much about the Holy Grail. In his view, he will definitely be the final winner of the Holy Grail War, so his attention will probably be more focused on us."

"Moreover, from the current perspective, he has already formed a substantial alliance with Kirei Kotomine, and the only obstacle to this alliance is Tokiomi."

"So, does that mean Tokiomi will die?" Saber suddenly interjected.

"It's hard to say, but I think it's highly likely," Li Pu said. "After he dies, Golden Flash can openly form an alliance with Kirei Kotomine. However, our problem lies in the 'scapegoat.' In the original work, Matou Kariya took the blame for killing Tokiomi and ultimately met a tragic end."

"Our problem now is that Matou Kariya has already formed a de facto alliance with us."