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The six developers sent to monitor Khrx’s situation stared at each other with helpless expressions. They were sitting in the corner of the kitchen, plates of food on the ground in front of them. Were they dogs? But it was a chance to taste the hero’s descendant’s homemade cooking, so they didn’t protest. Besides, the goddess that knocked them out was still there.
“Turn on the radio,” Anaheim said as she brought over a plate of steaming, barbequed ribs. She placed it on the circular table while Khrx leaned over and pushed a button on the wall. Theda was staring at the utensils in front of her as if she hadn’t seen anything like it before. Anaheim brought over three bowls of rice and frowned at Theda. “Do shells even have to eat?”
“No,” one of the developers said. “But they’re still capable of eating. There’s a food-to-electricity conversion system that was implemented for lonely people to have someone to eat with.”
“This is Natasha with your afternoon program, ‘what’s going on in the world?’ Today we have the special guest, self-proclaimed expert on astronomy, astrology, and everything in between, S—. …Why is it you again, Sam?”
“Thank you for the wonderful introduction, Natasha. I’m sure many of you have seen the news or even looked outside and realized something was wrong. The moon’s black!”
Natasha muttered, “Can we remove him from the show? Who brought him on?”
Sam continued as if he hadn’t heard her. “Now, as a self-proclaimed expert, I did a lot of research with Bongle, and I’ve figured out the cause of the phenomenon. Are you ready to hear it?”
“Please, go on.” Natasha’s voice was flat. Anaheim could almost hear her eyes roll.
“There’s three very viable reasons. I’ll list them out for you, and we can discuss each of them in depth. One, the demon lord is back. Two, the world is ending. Three, aliens.”
“I think we’re done here, folks. Someone take this expert away.”
“Wait! You didn’t give me a chance to discuss it!”
“Seek attention elsewhere, please.”
Anaheim furrowed her brow as she turned off the radio. “The quality of some stations are really decreasing,” she said and shook her head. “It’s obvious the moon turned black because of her. The government probably already knows with the help of satellite images.”
Khrx grunted in response to show he was listening, but his face was stuffed to the brim with a row of ribs and bones jutting out of his mouth. He crunched through them like bread and swallowed them, bones and all.
Anaheim stared at the plate that had just been full of ribs. It was empty now. She sighed to herself as she stood up, walking towards the interface on the wall. She selected the phone option and made a call. “Hello? Yes, I’d like to purchase a cow. Yes, a whole cow.” She glanced behind herself to gauge Khrx’s reaction. He held up three fingers in the air. “Actually, I’d like to order three cows.”
Khrx turned towards Theda. “What’s a cow?”
“An animal commonly used as an offering,” Theda said. “I’ve received thousands of cows.” She glanced around at the kitchen. “But this world of yours…, it’s truly very strange. It’s much more interesting than the underworld.” She smiled and rubbed Khrx’s head. “How about this? You become my champion and watch over the underworld for me, and I forsake all my duties to have fun. Sounds like a good deal, no?”
“Uh…” Khrx was about to respond, but a rectangular projection popped out of his watch.
[Would you like to become the champion of Theda?]
There were three options to select from: [Yes], [Of course], and [Absolutely].
Khrx blinked and tried to dismiss the rectangle, but another one popped up. Then another, and another, until he was surrounded by floating notifications. “I’m not even in game!”
The developers stared with wide eyes at the wall of rectangles. The blond elf whispered, “I think there’s a problem with [Resolution]. A major, major problem.”
“Oh really? What makes you say that?” another developer asked while rolling his eyes. “Could it be the fact that a mythical being from the game swallowed our moon in reality?”
Another developer chimed in, “All games release with bugs. It’s a fact of life. There hasn’t been a major release that wasn’t a little glitchy.”
Khrx sighed and pressed [Yes]. All of the screens disappeared except for four.
[You’ve become the champion of Theda.]
[Champion of Theda]
[Guild members and affiliated NPCs acquire the skill In Exchange for Life.]
[In Exchange for Life]
[Rarity: Legendary]
[Active: Strength, Intelligence, and Dexterity increase by X% for 30 minutes. Maximum health decreases by X% for 30 minutes. X is any value less than 100.]
[Cooldown: 1 hour.]
[Your guild has reached the maximum number of champions. Any future requests to a guild member to become a champion shall be automatically declined.]
[You’ve acquired the skill Co-owner of the Underworld.]
[Co-owner of the Underworld.]
[Rarity: Mythic]
[Passive: The underworld is your domain. All beings inside listen to your words.]
[Active: Open a portal to the underworld. Requires a sacrifice. The size of the portal is determined by the number of sacrifices.]
[Cooldown: None.]
Theda smiled at Khrx as a black aura swirled into him while he read the screens. “Like it?”
“Yes,” Khrx said with a nod. “But why?”
“Someone needs to watch over my realm,” Theda said. “Someone I can trust.”
Khrx blinked. “But we met each other twenty minutes ago.”
“Don’t forget I absorbed your mana earlier,” Theda said, playing with his ears. “I can tell someone’s character by the characteristics of their mana. The fact that you’re adorable helps too. You shouldn’t question good fortune too much.”
Khrx tilted his head. It made sense. His charm was irresistible. How much further could he go with his charm? He already became the co-owner of the underworld in [Resolution]. Could he create a country in reality with his charm alone? If he did that, he could trade it to Luke for Fufu. Khrx scratched his nose, his tail swishing behind him, and nodded at Theda. “You’re a lot like Fufu.”
“Like who?”
“My most precious,” Khrx said and nodded again. “She swallowed a moon too.”
Anaheim dropped her fork. “What.”
Theda smiled and patted Khrx’s head, running her fingers through his hair as if he were a pet cat. “Well, tell her not to swallow this one, okay? I made it into my mana vessel.”
Anaheim’s knife fell out of her hands as well. “What.”
Khrx’s eyes widened. “I should’ve done that. Why didn’t I think of that? Then I wouldn’t have to run away from missiles.”