3 Invitation

Aster passed the busy corridors again. This time, part of it looked much more lively, while the other part looked quite depressing.

"Cecil passed here?" Aster asked one of the people greeting him.

"She did." A kid answered Aster. "Usually, she returns to her room, but she seems in a good mood."

There were only five rooms that were occupied by just one person.

Three were between the survivor's corridor and the outside door, and two were at the end of the survivor's corridor.

The outside door didn't refer to the door that led to outside the temple but the door that allowed the explorers to access the rest of the temple.

Aster, being the latest explorer who took the job just days ago, naturally got the room farthest from the door.

"Aster, mommy doesn't want to tell me why explorers go outside." The kid quickly took the opportunity to ask Aster once he saw that his mother wasn't looking.

Aster chuckled. "We are trapped here indefinitely. Explorers try to get stronger by eating monster meat. Once they get strong enough, they can venture further and find the exit out of here."

"I know where the exit is." The kid proudly shouted a bit louder. He alarmed the rest of the survivors, making them all look at the kid with hungry eyes.

"Screw off! Don't bully a kid. He doesn't know what he is saying." Aster said to others once he noticed the situation. "A kid's ramblings won't make your stomachs any more full."

Most survivors reluctantly turned their heads.

'They looked like primitives about to eat one of their own for a second.' Aster felt slightly disturbed. 'Must be my imagination.'

"Aster, Aster." The kid called Aster again. "Do you wanna know the secret?"

"Yes, I do," Aster replied with a warm smile. 'He reminds me of myself. The days before all those things happened at the orphanage.'

"It's by going out through the front door!" The kid replied with a proud expression.

"Ah, how did I not think of that." Aster played along with the kid.

After some more playing with the kids, Aster passed through the corridor and arrived in front of his room.

Cecil's words rang in his head for some reason. "Don't make cowards stronger than they should be. If they were responsible, they'd go out and get the resources themselves."

At that moment, just as he thought of the words, he saw Cecil waiting for him in front of his room.

"Oh."

"Cecil, what brings you here?" He almost stuttered.

Cecil was the first pretty girl he saw that wasn't part of the orphanage or was way older. That didn't feel like his family.

Of course, as a young man barely sixteen years old, Aster developed a slight crush.

"Why are you so kind to them?" Cecil asked sharply.

Aster's muddled thoughts instantly cleared as he answered. "It's because I pity people who are placed in circumstances they can't get out of."

"But they can." She commented curtly.

"They can't." Aster countered.

Cecil almost sighed at Aster's naivety. "Look here, let's go through this step by step."

"You arrived here just a few days ago, right?" Cecil asked Aster with a tone that didn't allow for no.

"Yes," Aster answered.

"Although you weren't disabled, you were pretty weak. I'd say as weak as the rest of the people in the survivor's camp. Right?" Cecil asked again.

"What are you getting at?" Aster asked her with a hint of dissatisfaction.

"Answer the question." She ignored his question.

"Yes, I was as weak as them." He reluctantly answered.

"Then, you agree that you had the same conditions as them, maybe even worse. And yet, you are here, exploring and getting stronger while they aren't." Cecil wanted to use more rough words, but she remembered that Aster's dissatisfaction wasn't in her best interests.

"..." Aster looked at Cecil with blank eyes. He didn't expect her to be so good at using words.

In the end, he could only shake his head. "You are right, but I still pity them. I'm allowed to, right?"

"Yes, you are," Cecil answered. "But only if you are strong enough."

With that, she dashed towards Aster.

Blinking twice, Aster watched Cecil quickly approaching.

Then, he reflexively lifted his hand, barely deflecting Cecil's punch.

'Dammit. Just deflecting it hurt.' Aster felt like he just moved a car to the side.

"Not bad." She smirked. Then, she lifted her leg, aiming at Aster's head from the side.

Crouching, Aster dodged the attack barely. 

"Time! Time!" He shouted for a pause.

"No, I gotta test you," Cecil smirked before suddenly stopping the momentum of her leg. It was as if her leg just suddenly stopped in time.

Then, she lowered it, aiming for an axe kick.

Aster jumped backward, barely dodging it as well.

"That's not half bad. To be able to hold out against me in only a few days, you have talent." Cecil commented with a slight grin. "Let's see how you will fare against this."

Aster narrowed his eyes. "Cecil, I don't plan on letting you do as you want."

He didn't want to be treated like a punching bag.

"If you did, you'd be as pathetic as the rest of the survivors." She smirked before suddenly appearing in front of Aster and lifting her feet.

'How is she so damn fast!' He gritted his teeth, preparing to defend himself against another kick.

However, something unexpected happened.

Cecil's leg changed directions, suddenly going for Aster's head. 

'Dammit, it's Brazillian Kick!' He only had one thought before she smacked him in the face.

Slamming into the wall, Aster could feel his head hurting, his thoughts becoming muddled.

"Hoo. Truly not bad." A voice was heard from the side.

Aster looked at the person who appeared. "Nyle, you came to mock me?"

Nyle had a dark tan, black wavy hair, and deep green eyes. He was very handsome and even more strong. In fact, he was the strongest explorer, undoubtedly.

Although Aster was an explorer, he was on the weaker side. It was because he had only been in the temple for a few days. Or Cursed World, for that matter.

"No, I came to invite you to join us in a joint exploration," Nyle replied.

"Joint exploration?" Aster asked with a confused tone.

"Yes," Nyle replied. "Although you are late, the rest of us took at least a month to get stronger. Right now, we should be strong enough to venture deeper into the temple."

"We are sick of spending time in this hellhole," Cecil added.

"Then why attack me?" Aster asked, feeling wronged.

"We had to check if you are up to the challenge." Cecil shrugged with a smirk.

"Do remember, though. Last joint exploration ended with deaths." Nyle warned.

"Alright..." Aster nodded before asking in an annoyed voice. "Can I just enter my damn room finally? I keep getting interrupted, and I want to do something important."

"You wanna eat those?" Nyle chuckled while looking at Aster's bag.

"Yes, I am. Why, you wanna take from the poor?" Aster asked with an annoyed voice.

"Of course not." Nyle chuckled.

The only way for explorers to get stronger was by eating monster meat.

Unfortunately, magic was a path that no explorers knew how to thread upon.

No explorers except Aster, that is.

"Alright," Aster said before entering the room with a headache, giving a passing glance to Cecil. 

'I can't hate her.' He felt like a fool, but he couldn't go against his feelings. 'Well, although she appears like an emo, she seems to enjoy hurting others much more than herself.'

'I'll forgive it as long as it's with good intentions.' He thought.

Then, he took out his bag and started eating the slime.

The slime tasted bad but not really horrible. Its smell wasn't the worst, either.

'At least it's edible compared to this.' He looked hatefully at the painting.

It was possible to eat the painting, and it did increase strength. 

'Despite how it looks, it's still a monster made of meat.' He gulped the slime before picking up the painting with a disgusted expression. 'It tasted horrible, though.'

[ You have gained 0.05 strength ]

[ You have gained 0.05 agility ]

[ You have gained 0.05 vitality ]

Aster could feel himself becoming stronger.

"At least something out of this." He gulped the last part, wishing to squeeze another 0.01 points, but it clearly wasn't enough.

"Anyway, finally, let's get to the real deal."

"System, open the Programmer Mage option."