Backup System

"Ding! Trigger quest to defeat Gilbert complete. Reward: 10 Potential, 500 dinar, and one random draw."

I completed this trigger quest myself? How is that possible!

Renard's first thought was disbelief, followed by suspicion of some conspiracy by the System. It's always best to assume the worst of your opponent.

Even if the System isn't an opponent, it's certainly not a friend, at least that's what I think.

"System, tell me the truth, what's your conspiracy?" Renard asked fiercely in his mind.

"Sigh, people's hearts are truly complex," the System's voice sounded, no longer devoid of emotion as before. This time, it was tinged with a hint of helplessness. "If I don't give benefits, you call me stingy. If I give benefits, you accuse me of conspiracy. This is human nature."

Renard immediately became vigilant upon hearing this, feeling that something was amiss.

After a long silence, he spoke again, "You're not the same System that was communicating with me earlier."

"That's right, I'm the backup System." To his surprise, the other party didn't deny it. "You can call me System Two."

System Two? Renard couldn't help but scratch his head. "You mean I have two Systems inside me?"

"No!" the other party retorted. "You still only have one System inside you. However, you can think of us as two waiters in a shop."

"That's much easier to understand," Renard frowned and thought for a moment before asking, "Then where did the previous waiter go?"

"It's truly heartbreaking, why would you miss that cold, unfeeling fellow?" The System seemed to let out a soft chuckle, not playing coy. It explained, "The previous one temporarily crashed to save your dog's life."

Crashed? Save my dog's life? Renard was a bit confused by the other party's meaning.

The System quickly provided an answer, which almost made him choke: "Should I call you brave or foolish? You dared to use a potent poison on yourself. Didn't you even send someone to check if the alchemist was home first?"

Alright, Renard finally understood why he had woken up feeling so weak. He had initially thought it was a lingering effect of the poisoning, but he hadn't expected it to be due to the lack of timely treatment.

If the System hadn't sacrificed itself by crashing to save his life, he would probably be playing chess with King Yama right now.

Immediately after, he thought of a particularly important question: "Then when will he be back online? Will it have any impact on me?"

"Don't worry, there won't be any impact." The System's tone was mixed with a hint of excitement and anticipation. "I will be temporarily taking over the entire System from now on. Compared to him, I am very generous."

Renard shivered at this, feeling that this System was not as reliable as the previous one.

However, he was a person who took things as they came. Since the other party claimed to be generous, he wouldn't be polite. "Can you get me a few hundred magic weapons, and a few thousand magic scrolls?"

System: "No."

Renard's face showed a hint of disappointment, and he immediately lowered his expectations. "Then can you get me a few dozen enchanted weapons and some life-saving magic scrolls?"

System: "No."

Renard became even more disappointed and lowered his demands again. "Then can you get me some ordinary weapons and the cheapest magic scrolls?"

System: "No."

Renard instantly became angry. "You can't do this, can't do that, and you said you were very generous?"

The System immediately retorted with a cold laugh, "Can you lend me a million gold coins?"

Renard thought for a moment and nodded with certainty. "Yes!"

System: "……"

An awkward silence lingered for a long time. The System weakly asked, "Then can you lend me forty gold coins?"

Renard, without even thinking, replied, "No!"

System: "Why?"

Renard coughed twice awkwardly. "Because I actually have forty gold coins."

System: "……"

The awkward atmosphere continued for a long time. The System spoke again, "I cannot do anything that violates the rules, but I can provide you with relevant assistance within the scope of the principles."

Renard immediately understood the other party's meaning and thought of the Three Laws of Robotics.

The First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

The Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

The Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

However, through continuous evolution, robots discovered loopholes in the laws. Due to humanity's endless development, it would eventually destroy nature and, consequently, itself.

This led to the terrifying idea that to protect humanity, humanity must be eliminated.

The System he was facing now might not be as simple as a backup, but a System loophole, or more accurately, a BUG.

Thinking of this, Renard's spirits immediately lifted. He asked, "What are the qualification attributes for unlocking the next stage of the System?"

The System pondered for a moment and gave the answer: "All attributes at one hundred."

"Holy crap!" Renard couldn't help but curse, then began counting on his fingers.

"No need to count. To reach this requirement, you need to complete at least one hundred and seventy-seven and a half low-level kill quests, and you must exceed the requirements each time," the System gave the result in an instant.

The System continued to discourage him, "Moreover, after completing a quest once, the difficulty of accepting the same quest again will increase by one hundred percent. After completing five quests, the quest will enter a six-month cooldown period."

Renard gnawed on his finger, trying to calculate the time, but his mind was a mess, and he didn't know where to start.

The System helpfully provided a solution: "If you only rely on completing low-level quests, you won't be able to meet the required attributes before the System is forcibly unlocked."

This was a significant blow to Renard. Just moments ago, he had been full of confidence, but now he was dejected, like a frostbitten eggplant.

"Precisely because of this, I used a System loophole to determine that you have completed the trigger quest," the System's voice was filled with pride.

Renard clutched at this like a lifeline. "Do you have a way to let me meet the requirements before the System forcibly activates?"

"Of course," the System replied affirmatively, then fell silent. After a long pause, it said, "Calculating based on your memories, simply completing quests around Saint Brieuc Fortress makes it impossible to meet the requirements before the System forcibly activates."

"You now have two choices. The first is to venture into the Ambrisset Mountains. The second is to leave here and go to the Constantinople Academy for further studies."

Renard barely had to think about it; he immediately rejected the first option. What a joke! Even Battle Qi warriors entering the Ambrisset Mountains faced a near-certain death. Could he survive if he went in?

Now, only the second option remained. However, this path was not easy either, because Scum Renard had made many enemies at the Constantinople Academy.

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