I Awakened My Game System! Now Three Great Houses Want Me Dead!-Chapter 122: Ago II

Well, if it followed the trend, it would’ve been sixteen, but like how the required ’experience’ boosted insanely quickly, the boost from the monsters did so as well... thankfully.

Still, it wasn’t ’boost’ enough as...

—

╔══════════════╗

║Game System Online║

╚══════════════╝

{Level: 36}

[• EXP: 420/1,174 •]

{Health Points}

[• HP: 1172 / 1172 → 1274 / 1274 •]

{Divinity}

[• D: 1225 / 1225 → 1518 / 1518 •]

{Statistics}

[Strength] 25 (D-) (Academy Avg: C+)

[Intelligence] 35 → 40 (D → C-) (Academy Avg: C+)

[Willpower] 35 → 39 (D+ → C-) (Academy Avg: C+)

[Speed] 40 (C-) (Academy Avg: B-)

[Endurance] 34 (D) (Academy Avg: B-)

[Appearance] 70 (B+) (Academy Avg: C)

[Personality] -1 (G) (Academy Avg: C)

[Luck] 60 (B) (Academy Avg: C)

—

Xenos’s ’experience’ rush had truly slowed.

’You shouldn’t be so stuck on the numbers. Keep in mind, two months ago, you were running from Cyclopses, seeing only death from them; now you’re killing them with explosives for ’experience,’ as you like to say, farming them.’

Xenos nodded.

"Progress~."

’Progress.’

Eris echoed, with a smile in Her tone.

He started walking back, stretching his arms, the smell of dust still clinging to his clothes.

"But I still can’t use Synaxis."

’Hm...’

He sighed again.

"Yeah."

Xenos kicked a small stone, watching it skid across the dirt path.

"And the others have already started." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

It was a sore spot, tiny but definitely there.

Though he didn’t show it much, Xenos had his pride.

The others—his ’peers’ in this chaotic realm—had caught up.

Only recently, sure, but they had successfully activated Synaxis.

Meanwhile, he was still blowing up mines to farm ’experience.’

Yes, he was still stronger than them despite that, but...

"Hm."

He didn’t like it.

’They have different aptitudes, Xenos.’

Eris offered a consoling mental pat.

’We aren’t to be compared to them.’

"I know..."

He chuckled.

"I once said that myself."

In the month that had passed since he really settled into his role of House Lord, Xenos hadn’t gone down the typical path of the ’transmigrator entrepreneur.’ He hadn’t revolutionized the culinary world with mayonnaise, nor had he opened a chain of modern department stores to dazzle the natives.

Again, he realized something back in that restaurant.

Commerce, specifically anything that saved time or revolutionized daily efficiency, was strictly gatekept by the Great House lording over the Second Stratum—House Khronos.

They held the monopoly on ’time,’ ’convenience,’ and likely much, much more.

If Xenos had been foolish enough to open a public storefront, disrupting their market, he wouldn’t just be dealing with angry merchants; he’d have the entire Khronos army on his doorstep by morning. They would need only the flimsiest public excuse to crush an upstart, and Xenos wasn’t keen on handing them one.

After all, if given a public reason to attack him, they’d no longer need to stick to assassins.

Xenos wasn’t one to care about attracting attention, as anyone he met since transmigrating would tell you, but even he knew better than to call on the wrath of an entire House so openly.

"I’m already busy enough trying not to die."

He scratched the back of his neck.

’The assassins from the other Great House are quite persistent.’

Eris noted dryly, something that Xenos seemed to obviously agree with.

"Exactly. Fighting a war on two fronts against two Great Houses? No thanks. I’m crazy, not suicidal."

However, public law didn’t apply to private property. I.e., House Khronos could regulate the streets, but they couldn’t tell Xenos what to do inside his own walls.

So, he did it anyway, just... exclusively.

A public bathhouse, a saloon, a proper restaurant, and a café.

All were built within the confines of his manor, strictly for his people.

Ignoring the latter two, the first two were non-negotiable in Xenos’s eyes.

"Appearance is everything, Eris."

’Is it?’

"Yes. My people are a reflection of myself."

Xenos stated with the conviction of a man discussing religious doctrine.

"I can’t be walking around looking all proper while my subordinates look like bandits covered in mud. It reflects poorly on my management."

He needed them to look dapper, clean, and styled.

Once, he had toyed with the idea of a mandatory all-black uniform but quickly scrapped it.

It was too gloomy and too ’generic villain organization.’ His manor needed life; it needed color. It needed to look like a place people actually wanted to live, not some funeral procession or secret organization.

"It’s been a long month getting all that set up."

Xenos sighed, the adrenaline of the explosion finally fading into a dull ache in his muscles.

’It has...’

Eris’s voice drifted into a nostalgic hum.

’Between the renovations, the training... and that first day.’

Xenos paused on the path, a memory returning to grace his mind.

"Yeah, that first day."

***

One Month Ago

The wind howled through the rocky slopes as Xenos climbed up a gray rock, his cloak snapping behind him.

A mountain stretched above him, its sides carved by time and monsters.

Behind him followed Arc, Aspen, Gaia, and Medea.

Each one appeared not exactly thrilled to be there.

"Remind me again..."

Arc grumbled, his gray tail twitching behind him.

"Why this mountain? Out of all the lands you could’ve picked—this one looks cursed."

"It’s not cursed."

Xenos stepped over a ledge.

"It’s just old and... misunderstood, yeah."

"Old and useless."

Arc muttered under his breath.

"I heard that."

"Good."

Aspen sighed behind them.

"My Lord... maybe tone it down?"

Arc huffed and looked away.

"I’m just saying what everyone’s thinking."

No one denied it.

The place did look miserable with jagged rocks and no greenery in sight.

Even Gaia, ever trusting of Xenos, looked uncertain, holding her bladed staff close to her chest.

"It’s... ah... quite barren. Are you sure this is the one you wanted, Xenos?"

He didn’t bother to look back.

"Yes."

Medea, walking in silence behind them all, frowned but said nothing.

They kept walking, their boots scraping against stone, until finally the path narrowed into what looked like a hollow pocket in the cliff—a tight crack between two rock faces that led deeper inside.

"We’ll have to squeeze through, I think."

Gaia tilted her head while Xenos stared at the slit of stone.

With only a single word, he turned to Aspen.

"Greatsword."

Aspen quickly handed it over.

"Here."

Xenos gripped it, stepped close, and in one smooth motion—

Slash, slash, slash, slash!

—carved four diagonal cuts into the rock.

Dust fell as the stone cracked.

Leaning forward, he pushed the rock, and it broke off cleanly like a slab of bread, sliding inward and revealing an opening big enough for them to easily walk through.

"See?"

He handed the sword back to Aspen.

"It fits better now."

"That..."

Gaia’s awe mixed with confusion.

"That shouldn’t even be possible."

"Sure it is."

He walked in first.

"You just need to have the right Runes~."

Arc followed, somewhat expecting this.

"Or be insane enough."

Medea hid a small smile behind her hand.

"That’s true."