"Strongest Wage Earner System" (gleaming gold) "Host: Cheng Yu (Black Iron Three-Star) Ability: Heart-Bewitching Spell (Black Iron Three-Star) Equipped title: "The Kid Watched by the Big Shot" (Epic) Title: "The Kid Watched by the Big Shot" (Epic) effects: ... (click to expand) Equipment: None Achievements: None Currency: 4050 Items held: Carbon-Based Virus (Black Iron Two-Star), Big Shot's Aura (Epic) ×2 Evaluation: You barely qualify as a scrub now. You may have relied on outside help, but Black Iron is still Black Iron (lol). Keep at it."
(Hmm, sure enough, another month has passed. System, what goodies are on sale this month?) _(:3 "∠)_
Cheng Yu lay on his bed and asked lazily.
"Are you sure you want to know?"
(What, am I not allowed to know?)
"No, I just honestly think you can't afford it. And I feel a little sorry for you." ┐(─__─)┌
(Cut the crap. Let me see.)
A product listing popped up on the system's glowing screen.
"Infinite Technique (Gold Five-Star): A technique created by a brilliantly gifted master sorcerer, powered by the user's life force. The user constructs the technique's effects within their consciousness and can cast it as long as they can form a closed logical loop in their mind. The more perfect the logical loop, the less life force it consumes. This technique has an extremely low floor but an extraordinarily high ceiling. According to available records, of the 46,829,413 practitioners of the Infinite Technique, 219 achieved the feat of slaying a Legendary opponent from a lower rank using this technique. Three achieved the feat of slaying an Epic opponent from a lower rank. This technique was also recorded by the God of a Thousand Faces, N̷y̷a̷r̷l̷a̷t̷h̷o̷t̷e̷p̷, during the previous era. Warning (blood red): This technique must not be used by short-lived species. Thoughts ever-changing, techniques without limit. -Kelorance" "Price: 27,500,000 currency. (Title effect triggered. Price after a 90% discount: 2,750,000 currency.)
Cheng Yu's mouth twitched. You absolutely fucking did that on purpose, didn't you? You knew I couldn't afford it, yet you dangled it in front of me! (╬￣皿￣)
Fine, I did ask you to show me. o(一︿一+)o
Then he asked inwardly.
(That last line in the description-Nyarlathotep recorded this technique?)
"Yes."
(Then why did you display the name like some garbled internet gibberish?)
"Oh, my foolish host, do you know where this system's descriptions come from?"
Cheng Yu pursed his lips. →_→
(The big shot, obviously. Where else? But speaking of which, weren't you formed from a fragment of his authority?)
"Correct, except for one thing. I wasn't formed from a fragment of the big shot's authority. ε(┬┬﹏┬┬)3"
Huh? Cheng Yu frowned.
(What do you mean?)
"You can think of me as an intelligent program the big shot attached to the authority fragment. He also granted me access to a small portion of his spacetime authority. ＜(￣︶￣)＞"
"Otherwise, with your abilities and that jackass Lin Mo's, how could you possibly unlock the powers of the big shot's authority fragment?"
"I can tell you this: aside from items and equipment, every function of this system is built on the foundation of the system you started with."
Cheng Yu's mouth twitched.
(In other words...)
"Exactly. All the skills, achievements, and knowledge were already in the original system. The small portion of spacetime authority the big shot granted me is used to transport equipment and items here. (๑¯◡¯๑)"
Cheng Yu pressed a hand to his forehead.
(Knowledge is power. Fuck, the big shot hinted at it! And I didn't give it a second thought! My achievements, my skills, my knowledge... boohoo... ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅)
"We've gotten off topic. Unfortunately, this system isn't capable of displaying Nyarlathotep's true name in full, so I had to use this compromise." ~( ´•︵•` )~
(So you're useless, then.) →_→
"Getting a little full of yourself, aren't you? What level of existence do you think Nyarlathotep is? Although Nyarlathotep isn't as powerful as the big shot, in terms of generations as you understand them, Nyarlathotep is actually one generation above him."
(Really? Aren't Nyarlathotep, the big shot, and Sheep Mother called the Three Pillars of the Mythos?)
"Yes, but Nyarlathotep was created by Her Ladyship Azathoth-oh, forget it! Consider this my disrespect. Big shot, please forgive me! Nyarlathotep came directly from A Total. The big shot and Sheep Mother came from two other beings, and those two were created by A Total alongside Nyarlathotep."
(Oh, I see.)
"If the old era weren't already in the past, I wouldn't even be able to express it in this roundabout way. If this were still the old era, even this workaround might attract the attention of that God of a Thousand Faces. If that really happened and the big shot didn't protect you... heh."
Cheng Yu laughed sheepishly. He did seem to have gotten a little full of himself. Perhaps, just perhaps, hearing so many secrets from the big shot had gone to his head without him noticing.
(Hehe, don't be mad, System. Here, Brother Yu will treat you to a lollipop. ( ・・)つ-●)
"Get lost. (ノ｀Д)ノ"
Cheng Yu frowned. This bootlicking system said he was getting full of himself, but the system wasn't much better. He immediately replied inwardly.
(Fine, I'll get lost!)
Well, he was in the wrong, so he wouldn't argue with the system.
Then Cheng Yu looked at the remaining script in his hands.
Right, now all that's left is to wait for the final net to close. Wonderful, wonderful.
Time to get up. With that thought, Cheng Yu slowly climbed out of bed.
As soon as he opened the door, he saw Yog sitting at the dining table. Miss Puppet carried two plates over and set one in front of Yog.
She placed the other opposite Yog.
Hmm, that should be mine, Cheng Yu thought.
"Good morning, big shot. And good morning to you too, big sis."
Miss Puppet nodded to him, and Yog gave a quiet hum of acknowledgment.
After breakfast, Cheng Yu wiped his mouth and sighed.
"Ah, now this is living."
Yog smiled.
"Relaxing already? You're getting a little ahead of yourself."
Cheng Yu sprawled on the couch and waved a hand.
"With the script you gave me, big shot, nothing unexpected should happen, right?"
Yog lifted his teacup.
"Not necessarily."
Cheng Yu abruptly sat upright and looked at Yog.
"Big shot, are you saying something unexpected will happen?"
Yog took a small sip of tea and said,
"Yes."
Cheng Yu frowned, privately wondering where he had gone wrong. He had carefully controlled the plot's development all along. Ever since deciding to deal with Lin Mo, he had taken every step cautiously.
Besides, Lin Mo hadn't even seen him since the incident at the Binzhi Building. His original plan had essentially been to scheme Lin Mo to death without ever showing himself.
But if the big shot said something unexpected would happen, then it absolutely would.
Cheng Yu furrowed his brow and began sorting through his thoughts.
First, he had kept the big shot's teachings in mind at every step. He hadn't touched anything unrelated to targeting Lin Mo, not even a hair. That ruled out the possibility of his directly changing someone else's fate and causing the script to diverge.
Second, the big shot had said events caused by his own involvement would be corrected. The big shot had directly and indirectly caused Cheng Yu's recruitment of Le Shuya and Elder Bai to happen ahead of schedule. Since the big shot had intervened, that possibility could also be ruled out.
Then there was his sending Wang Long and the others to prison ahead of schedule. But that had stemmed from recruiting Le Shuya early, which in turn brought out the Wang Long incident. The big shot had played a part there too, so that was out.
Finally, everything he had done was intended to shake Lin Mo's mind and recover the big shot's authority fragment. If the problem wasn't on his end, then it could only be on Lin Mo's.
At that thought, Cheng Yu raised his head and looked at Yog.
Yog smiled.
"Clever."
He had found the problem, but how could he solve it? Cheng Yu sank into thought.
Then he continued sorting through the information he currently had.
After his series of maneuvers, Lin Mo had already begun his final, fleeting bloom. He wasn't far from death.
So where would the unexpected development come from?
Seeing this, Yog smiled.
"Why do you assume an unexpected development would be for the worse?"
Cheng Yu froze. Right, why did I assume it would be for the worse?
He laughed sheepishly, then looked at Yog with a faintly expectant gaze.
"Then, big shot, could you tell me what the unexpected development is?" (o≖◡≖)
Yog set his teacup on the table, looked at Cheng Yu, and said slowly,
"It isn't anything terribly unexpected. His outcome will simply differ a little from the planned ending."
Then Yog chuckled.
"He actually managed to tap into a little of the fragment's power. That's what I find interesting."
Then Yog looked at Cheng Yu and said meaningfully,
"You're relying too much on the script. That isn't a good thing."
Cheng Yu laughed sheepishly, accepting Yog's warning.
Just then, the system suddenly popped up.
"Warning, warning. This world's World Consciousness aggregate is approaching."
Cheng Yu's expression changed drastically. World Consciousness!? Holy shit!
He whipped his head toward Yog, as though saying, Big shot, save me!
Yog lifted a cup of tea, took a sip, and said softly,
"Don't get worked up. Stay calm."
Miss Puppet tactfully brought him a cup of tea.
Cheng Yu was so flustered that he even forgot to thank Miss Puppet.
He pretended to drink tea as he normally did.
(The big shot told me to stay calm. Right, drink tea, drink tea.) ( ＞﹏＜.)
Clatter, clatter, clatter.
That was the sound of the teacup knocking against its saucer.
Then Cheng Yu felt something enormous circling him.
(Right, the big shot said to stay calm. Calm, calm. Drink tea.) ( ＞﹏＜.)
Gradually, that sensation faded. In its place, Cheng Yu felt something not far away drawing him toward it.
He looked at Yog.
Yog set down his teacup and said,
"Lin Mo's fragment has begun to destabilize."
Then he continued,
"Twenty days ago, the World Consciousness began to aggregate. It was right then."
He looked at Cheng Yu and teased,
"So its main purpose was to see when it could start enjoying the feast. As for you, the dessert, it didn't mind taking a look at you too."
Cheng Yu's mouth twitched. No wonder you told me to stay calm. You knew what it was here for all along.
Then he looked at the system's glowing screen and said,
(System, you did pretty well this time, even if it didn't help much.)
"Hehe, not bad, not bad. Oh, right, host. I forgot to tell you something."
(What?)
"Actually, it made no difference whether this system warned you or not. I just wanted to see your frightened expression."
"Oh, and here's the original image attached: ( ＞﹏＜.)"
(You! You bastard!)
Cheng Yu flushed with anger, then suddenly smiled. Seeing his smile, the system instinctively felt that something was wrong.
Sure enough, Cheng Yu spoke softly.
"Big shot, I wanted to ask: can this system be replaced? Or could its intelligence be erased?"
The system's glowing screen immediately popped up.
"You treacherous bastard! Can't win the argument, so you ask the referee to step into the ring, huh? Utterly shameless!"
Yog smiled.
"Of course. Would you like me to do it now?"
Cheng Yu froze at those words, while the system outright crashed.
Cheng Yu hurriedly waved his hands.
"I was joking, just joking, big shot. I was only teasing him. It's been a month or two, after all. We've grown attached. Please don't take it seriously." ^_^|||
Meanwhile, words frantically flashed across the system's screen.
"Big shot! My big shot! You made me with your own hands! Please don't abandon me!" ヽ(*.＞Д＜)o゜
As their squabbling grew louder, Yog said softly,
"Shut up."
"Okay." (°ー°〃)
"Oh." (°ー°〃)
After a while, Cheng Yu called out inwardly.
System.
"What?"
Aren't you going to thank me? I saved your sorry ass.
"Heh. Whose fault do you think it was?"
Hey, you bastard, you've really forgotten the pain now that the wound's healed.
"Heh."
System.
"What now?"
Let me show you something good.
"What is it?"
Boss! My dear boss! You created me with your own hands! Please, whatever you do, don't abandon me!
*Oh, right, image attached. ヽ(*.＞Д＜)o゜*
"You! You bastard!"
Before you continue