Was this system this cheeky?
Though, upon second thought, it made sense. If characters in a game could actually log out, that would exceed the scope of a game; it was unrealistic just to think about it.
Ereshkigal raised her gaze, glanced at Lan Ze, and asked, "Since you can't log out of the game, why did that button pop up?"
"Lan Ze?"
"Did you hear what I said? Hey--"
Ereshkigal waved her hand in front of Lan Ze's eyes, and when he finally snapped out of it and raised his head, he saw the Goddess of the Underworld glaring at him angrily.
"Why are you ignoring me? As expected, it's because I'm the Goddess of the Underworld that you're so scared of me..."
Clearly she had just looked furious, but by the end of her sentence, Ereshkigal lowered her head despondently once more, her pretty face dimming.
She called herself the Goddess of the Underworld, but in reality, she had nothing in common with one. Or rather, she bore no resemblance to the cold and merciless Goddess of the Underworld from stereotypes.
This goddess was actually terribly afraid of loneliness.
Something stirred in Lan Ze's heart, and he naturally reached out to gently stroke Ereshkigal's head. "How could that be? I have no reason to be afraid of you."
...Why? Ereshkigal's eyes widened slightly, and she said in disbelief:
"I'm the Goddess of the Underworld, you know? The Death Goddess representing the deceased, you know? Why aren't you terrified of me?"
"Because you're cute," Lan Ze said.
"Eh?" Ereshkigal blinked.
Lan Ze said in puzzlement, "Did you not understand what I meant? Because you're cute, I don't feel scared at all."
"If you were that super-huge skeleton monster from the beginning, maybe I would be scared."
Ereshkigal finally reacted, hastily raising her hands to wave them frantically. "Wait, hold on a second! Why are you suddenly saying that?! Even though it's pretty nice that someone is calling me cute for the first time, this isn't right! Even if I'm cu... cute... I mean, even if you think I'm cute, my identity won't change because of that, you know? I'm the goddess who rules over the Underworld, you know? The goddess who symbolizes death and reaps souls!"
"So?" Lan Ze pondered for a moment, thought about it, and suddenly took two steps back.
"Ah, ah... You're a super majestic Goddess of the Underworld, I'm... I'm so scared!" Lan Ze said in a completely emotionless tone.
Ereshkigal let out a snort of laughter, pointed at Lan Ze, and laughed. "Hahaha, what are you doing? Are you an idiot?"
With much effort, she managed to hold back her laughter, rubbed the tears of mirth from the corners of her eyes, and raised her gaze to look at Lan Ze.
This guy really said the most interesting things.
She hadn't spoken to a human in a very, very long time.
The Goddess of the Underworld could not normally leave the Underworld; she could only stay within that frigid realm. Aside from weaving cages every day, she occasionally indulged in pink, girlish romance fantasies, wondering if someone would suddenly appear in the Underworld one day to keep her company and understand everything she did...
Feeling Lan Ze's gaze sweeping over her, Ereshkigal instinctively covered her skirt, brought her legs slightly together, and said with annoyed embarrassment, "What are you looking at?"
"I thought there'd be a favorability meter or something." As he spoke, Lan Ze raised a finger and tried to find a favorability column in the menu bar, but he couldn't find such a thing.
"What are you looking for a thing like that for?" Ereshkigal pursed her lips, looking as though she had grown unhappy.
"I wanted to check your favorability."
"My favorability can't be determined by a bunch of numbers. It's better without that kind of thing." Hearing this, Ereshkigal seemed to suddenly think of something, and continued to ask:
"You were buttering me up just now--was it because of a quest, as you called it?"
By the end of her sentence, a few traces of dejection suddenly crept into her gaze.
Which was hardly surprising; after all, having just learned from Lan Ze that she was actually a character in a game and Lan Ze was a player, it was no wonder Ereshkigal would think that.
"It's not a quest. I was just really curious, so I asked," Lan Ze shook his head. "How do you view me?"
Ereshkigal's voice hitched. Then she gave a soft cough, her cheeks slightly flushed. "Just ordinary..."
Sensing Lan Ze's gaze, she seemed to have a change of heart and corrected herself, "I suppose you could also be considered a friend... Yes, a friend!"
She raised a single finger, her slightly red cheeks looking extraordinarily cute, and continued, "Just an ordinary friend, oh... Though maybe a little bit better than an ordinary friend, so you don't need to be too sad about it."
"Thank you," Lan Ze said with a smile.
Ereshkigal gave a slight shake of her head, not quite accustomed to being stared at like that. Lowering her head a little, she softly asked, "Are you going back to Uruk... According to you, that means entering the game, right?"
Lan Ze nodded. "Of course I'm entering the game. But there's a problem now: if I enter the game, can you come along into the game too?"
"About that, actually I tested it while you were eating. I can go back to the interface, and I can also press that 'enter game' button to return to the Underworld," Ereshkigal said.
"Can't you appear on the ground in Uruk?" Lan Ze asked.
"Of course not. No matter what, my duties won't change," Ereshkigal puffed out her cheeks.
Ereshkigal was a god created by the Underworld. She had been offered to the Underworld as its foundation, and because the Underworld required a god to assume office, the post had been forcefully thrust upon her.
She possessed supreme power within the Underworld, but as a price, throughout these thousands or even tens of thousands of years, she had never truly spent time on the ground or in the sky; she had always spent it within the Underworld.
This was also the reason why Ereshkigal had been so happy upon meeting Lan Ze. After all, she had finally encountered someone she could actually talk to, even though in her view this fellow was a bit strange and made no effort to conceal the desires in his heart.
Still, she didn't dislike it. She liked honest children.
"Anyway, let's enter the game and take a look." Lan Ze raised a finger and pressed the enter-game box.
Ereshkigal glanced at him, and mimicking his action, she pressed the enter-game button.
Lan Ze slowly opened his eyes.
A barren wasteland presented itself within his field of view. In the distance were ruins destroyed by magical beasts, and looking further ahead, towering city walls came into view.
That was the Absolute Demonic Front. Lofty city walls soared beneath the sky, looking magnificent and ancient, as if piercing through heaven and earth.
Lan Ze raised his hand to swipe open the menu, and only upon seeing the menu bar did he finally heave a sigh of relief.
It seemed this time it was a normal game start.
But where did Ereshkigal go?
She should have followed him into the game just now.
Was she in the Underworld right now?
How was he supposed to contact her now?
After pondering for a moment, Lan Ze shouted:
"System?"
"System Daddy?!"
"System Mommy?!"
[Host, everything relies on your own efforts.]
Holy crap, so it really was alive...
And it turned out to be a female, after all... Lan Ze muttered inwardly, and spoke out loud:
"I want to rely on my own efforts too, but you at least have to give me a goal! You can't just dump someone in a game and not issue any quests!"
"..."
"Don't play dead?! Or at the very least, let me meet the Queen of the Land of the Dead first?"
"Ding-dong!"
[First arrival in Uruk. Reward: one Chat Orb. Please check your inventory.]
Accompanied by the pleasant chiming sound echoing in his ears, Lan Ze's spirits lifted. He hurriedly opened his inventory, and sure enough, rummaging through the empty storage space, he found a translucent crystal ball.
He gently tapped the crystal ball, noticing its surface ripple gently like water.
Immediately afterward, what appeared before his eyes was no longer Uruk, but a rather bizarre space.
There was nothing in the space except for ten seats.
And seated upon one of those many chairs was a woman. Her entire figure appeared hazy and indistinct, completely blurred, somewhat resembling 160P resolution, yet the surrounding scenery was clearly in Blu-ray quality, which defied all logic.
"Oh? Another little fellow has managed to get in? Quite unexpected." The woman spoke suddenly. Her voice was filled with a bewitching cadence, and although her figure was somewhat hazy, the moment Lan Ze looked at that blurred silhouette, he automatically envisioned a sexy older sister crossing her legs in a chair.
"Who are you...?" Lan Ze asked tentatively.
"The Queen of the Land of the Dead." The woman snapped her fingers, and in an instant, the 160P resolution was upgraded to Blu-ray quality.
"You can call me Master,"
She looked at Lan Ze with a faint smile playing on her lips, paused, and then continued:
"Or Sister Scathach."
Master.jpg
Lan Ze was utterly stunned.
Scathach's sexy, voluptuous figure came entirely into his view. A tight-fitting suit outlined a curvaceous and alluring silhouette, perfectly showcasing her proud chest as well. High-heeled military boots tapped against the ground at irregular intervals. That posture was simply like a queen reigning over all creation, inspiring a desire to submit.
So this was Master...
As expected, VR games really looked lifelike.
Look at this face, these legs, and this chest... She practically looked like a real person.
"Excuse me, what is this place?" Lan Ze asked curiously.
"A place similar to a chat room."
Scathach paused, then continued:
"As for the specific details, I don't know either."
Hearing this, Lan Ze's mind stirred slightly.
Could the system be behind this?
"I've answered your question. Shouldn't you satisfy me in return, boy?"
Scathach stood up and slowly walked over to Lan Ze, her high-heeled military boots striking the ground and producing a series of pleasant sounds.
She walked slowly up to Lan Ze, squatted down halfway, and smiled slightly: "How did you appear here?"
Her smile was extremely amiable, as gentle as the girl-next-door, but anyone who truly knew Scathach probably wouldn't lower their guard because of it.
Because this woman, who looked like a friendly neighbor, harbored a burning heart within. She was a battle fanatic, spending her entire life searching for someone capable of defeating her.
"Was it because of this thing?" Scathach produced a translucent glass ball and asked.
Lan Ze's gaze flickered.
She had this thing too?
"It would seem, then, that anyone able to enter this lobby possesses this crystal ball?"
"Of course. And I imagine the owners aren't just the two of us." Scathach glanced around the vast lobby and the ten seats within it.
Lan Ze nodded inwardly.
Indeed, there were a full ten seats in this hall, which meant that counting himself and Scathach, there ought to be at least eight other people.
What on earth was going on with this game? How could that crystal ball bring him to a place like this?
Lan Ze's heart was filled with puzzlement.
"Come to think of it, your body looks rather weak," Scathach observed him for a few moments and suddenly said. "I originally thought this was the arrangement of some Counter Force, but now it seems unrelated to it."
When the woman reached this point, she squatted in front of Lan Ze, leaned forward slightly, and stared into his eyes with keen interest: "Boy, what's your name?"
"Lan Ze."
Scathach nodded slightly: "You're far too weak right now."
"Perhaps more and more entities will enter this space in the future. If you remain this weak all the time, someone might want to usurp your seat the next time around."
"It's fine, I can level up," Lan Ze said.
"Level up...?"
"Sorry, it just slipped out... Please forget it."
Scathach tilted her head and studied Lan Ze for a few more moments.
What a strange fellow.
"Your complexion isn't very good. You must rarely exercise in your daily life, right?" Scathach asked.
Lan Ze nodded gently.
Rather than saying he rarely exercised, it was more accurate to say he didn't exercise at all.
Before you continue