Infinity Is My Affinity?!?-Chapter 115: Made You A Promise, Didn’t I?

-Ding!

{Invitation accepted.

Congratulations, you are now a member of Party-1!}

As the golden text faded, the translucent blue interface rippled before rapidly expanding and unfolding from a simple prompt into a massive, highly detailed three-column dashboard that hovered right over the ruined teacup.

But before Peko could even begin to process the sheer amount of data neatly organized across the glowing tabs, a sharp, melodic chime rang directly inside her head.

-Ding!

{Party Leader Nico is requesting a Voice/Video connection.

Accept?}

Peko took a sharp breath, narrowing her violet eyes before glaring down at her tea-stained robes.

With a flick of her wrist, her mana surged, and a spiral of clear water bloomed from the air itself, washing over her body in a controlled torrent to strip the sticky tea away in seconds.

And a heartbeat later, a wave of Phoenix fire rolled across her frame, instantly drying the damp fabric without leaving so much as a single scorch mark.

Now perfectly presentable once again, she glanced at Nom-Nom beside her, who was already giggling at her own translucent screen, before focusing her intent to accept the call.

The very next second, a smaller window popped open right above the main dashboard.

It was cleanly divided into three panes, depicting Nom-Nom’s beaming face, her own perfectly composed reflection, and Nico.

"Sorry, Peko," Nico’s voice echoed inside her head through the connection as he rubbed the back of his neck, looking genuinely apologetic. "I really didn’t think the pop-up would..."

"It is fine," Peko cut him off smoothly, shooting a sharp side-eye at the giggling Nom-Nom who had clearly already snitched on her completely undignified fall. "I am much more concerned with whether this line is actually secure..."

"As secure as it gets," Nico nodded, offering an exhausted but triumphant grin as he sat cross-legged on a lumpy inn mattress. "So, what do you think?"

"It is amazing," Peko said, her voice carrying a rare, genuine thread of awe as her violet eyes scanned the massive blue dashboard hovering in front of her. "And I thank you for putting my request at the forefront."

"There’s nothing to thank. Our priorities need to lie with each other if we’re gonna thrive." Nico laughed softly before winking, "Besides... made you a promise, didn’t I?"

Peko felt that unbidden warmth return, blooming pleasantly in her chest as she held his gaze through the hologram and offered a small, sincere nod.

"Though, I will admit, it cost a small fortune," Nico sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. "... I basically had to liquidate every single monster I netted today, plus everything Nom has been hoarding for the past two days to hit the forty-grand price tag. But the stuff we can do with this module is frankly insane. It goes way beyond just telepathic FaceTime."

With a genuine grinning gusto, Nico leaned forward, and the next moment, the video feed of his face smoothly minimized to the top corner of their vision, instantly replaced by a shared broadcast of his master interface.

"Alright, check the top tabs..." Nico began, walking them through the UI like a seasoned tech presenter. "We now have access to a Shared Inventory, a Shared Fund pool, the System Shop, and Party Logs."

Nom-Nom leaned closer to the screen, her slit eyes tracking everything all at once.

"And this changes the grind..." Nico continued, "Nom, you don’t have to rely entirely on my personal inventory anymore. Whenever either of you kills something or finds loot, you can dump it straight into the Shared space. Then any one of us can access it from wherever, or sell the drops to the System, and the Credits will deposit directly into our Shared Funds. Which means..."

"Wait!" Nom-Nom gasped, her eyes going wide as she connected the dots. "Does that mean I can buy my own snacks directly from the Shop without asking you first?!"

"Exactly," Nico chuckled. "Total financial independence... so long as you actually grind for it."

While Peko stared at the glowing tabs, her analytical mind immediately calculating the sheer tactical advantage of the UI.

[The logistical implications are staggering...] Peko realized, her breath hitching slightly.

[Instantaneous resource sharing, untraceable communication, and a completely independent economy...]

"And the best part?" Nico said snapping Peko out of her thoughts as his minimized face smirked in the corner of their vision before he went over to the far-right column.

"The communications array." He declared, " Let’s do a quick text test. Just think about what you want to type, and focus on the chat box."

Peko focused her intent on the blinking cursor at the bottom of the interface.

Then with a deliberate, focused thought, she typed a single, perfectly punctuated word and sent it.

Hello.

A tiny spark of genuine excitement fluttered in her chest as the message instantly materialized in the shared chat log.

Almost immediately, a second message popped up right beneath hers.

I want cake!

It was accompanied by a small, perfectly rendered yellow face that was drooling profusely.

Both Nico and Peko let out a simultaneous, helpless chuckle at the sheer predictability of the Dragon.

"You can even send exactly what you’re seeing through the chat," Nico explained with his voice carrying a teacher’s enthusiasm.

On his shared screen, he mentally tapped a small plus icon right beside the text box, and a neat, organized row of small icons instantly popped open, giving them options to attach images, locations, and other data.

Peko stared at the expanding array of tools as her buzzing mind clicked into place the sheer, terrifying versatility of this communication network.

It wasn’t just a way to talk; it was a flawless tactical command center.

"Check this out," Nico grinned as he mentally tapped the icon labelled ’Stream.’

Instantly, his minimized face in the corner of their vision expanded into a fourth pane, seamlessly flickering into a smooth, high-definition, first-person view of exactly what he was seeing, acting exactly as if he had strapped a camera right to his forehead.

The feed panned across the inn’s room before Nico physically walked over to the window, poking his head out, bringing into view the chaotic, dirt-paved street right outside the dungeon.

"This is so awesome!" Nom-Nom cheered, practically vibrating in her wooden chair as she watched the adventurers walking around on her screen.

Beside her, Peko fell in stunned silence, watching the live stream of a street kilometers away with eyebrows shot completely up in absolute, undeniable awe.

"Alright. I know you guys want to mess around with the interface," Nico said, his voice pulling their attention back from the live feed of the street. "So I’ll cut to the chase for the last two things I wanted to talk about."

He paused, his tone dropping its casualness. "First, we can now freely view each other’s status screens. And second... concerns you, Peko."

Peko offered a slow nod, feeling a sudden spike of anticipation pierce through her lingering awe.

She was already more than satisfied and, for reasons she herself could not decipher, warmed that he had put her request at the absolute forefront.

Seeing her anticipation clearly there on her usually cold face, the exhaustion entirely melted off Nico’s face.

Flashing a wide, feral grin right into the camera, he said. "I found the item that will handle the Blood Pact’s hold on you."

Peko completely froze.

The pristine composure she always carried shattered in an instant, replaced by a violent jolt of pure electricity shooting straight down her spine.

Beneath the wooden table, her hands clenched into tight fists, trembling with a sudden, overwhelming surge of adrenaline as the sheer reality of his words fully registered in her mind.

He hadn’t just prioritized her peace of mind.

But the promise he made her... and all that it entailed.