(III) Quest[Rewrite]

Ruby asked with a noticeable zing coursing through his voice. If the system could hack the bank, as he thought, that would save him quite the hassle of finding other ways of getting money—like robbing banks.

Sometime later, the system gave a reply, shattering all Ruby's plans:

[No! Host would require shop points to hack the bank]

"What does the shop point do??" He had a general idea about it, but he wasn't sure yet so he asked.

[Shop point would allow host to purchase things from the system]

Vague. The explanation was vague, but Ruby grasped what the latter was trying to convey, but that only increased his worries.

'How I'm I going to get shop points?"

[Host could get shop points through performing quest]

'Quest? Like those games.'

Although, Ruby didn't associate much with the outer world, he was aware of the current trends. One might even say, he knew more. This Quest feature, for instance, would allow him to increase his level at least from the numerous games he played during his spare time.

"System, can you give me this quest?? Or doesn't it work like that?"

For one, Quest were issued by the system, the host normally don't ask for it, but this wasn't the game. This was real life, so he wanted to see if there would be a difference.

[Quest: perform 1000 push-ups]

At the mind-boggling number, cold beads of sweat appeared on Ruby's forehead, making a sense of dread crawl through his spine. The highest push-ups he had done was 500, and that too was because he had done it consistently for a year. No, for two years.

1000 just seemed impossible! If he was a superhuman, it'd have been pretty easy; unfortunately, that wasn't the case. He was just a normal human who only made use of gadgets and cool weapons.

"..." An ear-piercing buzz soon reverberated in his ears. Clenching his ears, Ruby tried to subdue the horrific pain, but it only got worse with each ticking second.

"What's this?? What is this pain??" Ruby faintly said, with his voice trembling, sounding like a broken tape.

A bit later, the pain he felt earlier vanished as if he had never gone through it in the first place.

"WHAT WAS THAT!!!"

[Calm down, host, you just went through a lash back for delaying the quest issued]

"But you didn't mention anything like that...?"

[Sorry my bad]

What the fuck! Should he trust his life with this...entity??

Not saying anything again, Ruby plops to the ground as he proceeds to complete the quest. In the first 200, the push-ups were relatively easy without feeling much pain, then it got to 500. He was still going albeit slowly with his green veins threatening to burst out from his hands.

Gritting his teeth, this young man continued; however, when he got to 900, the quivering of his arms intensified as if his bones would snap off.

Then, a few terrible seconds later, he did it! He completed the 1000 push-ups before collapsing to the ground and going for a deep slumber.

*Thump* *thump* *thump* *thump*

"..." Ruby growled audibly as he willed his shaky, wobbly hands to propel himself up. His head throbbed loudly as if someone had used a hammer on him, but it was expected though, this was the first time he did a tedious push-up such as this.

Looking around, he saw that he was still in the cave. "System, are you still there..?"

Silence. An eerie silence was the only thing he heard before the system replied, flashing the rewards at once.

[Reward:5 million $]

Okay, Ruby wasn't expecting this; it almost appeared as if the system knew what he wanted. Wrong, what he needed though, he wanted to hack the bank at first, but he didn't mind getting $5milion. After all, it was still cash.

But first, he had a question: "System, where did you place the Cash? the bank? I'm a wanted man so you can't place it there."

[Very well, placing cash in system Storage]

"Let me guess, I can store things there..?"

[Correct]

Sometime later, Ruby asked:

"Can you send me a map? I need to go to the city and grab a few stuff."

With a ding sound, a mental map, covering the entire outline of the relatively giant cave appeared in his head. Following the map, navigating through a series of circle-shaped tunnels with barley any reptiles swarming everywhere, Ruby finally stepped out.

After exiting the cave, he glanced behind, staring at the towering mountain which was shrouded with snow, making it difficult for one to know it was a cave.

Once he memorized the terrain, he sprinted into the woods.

***

*Step~ *Step~

In a seemingly quiet street, a figure, at 6ft, strides with calm steps while keeping his head low, trying to avoid the rapid blinking cameras.

Cameras. Cameras were practically littered all over earth in the 25th century. It wouldn't be surprising if you actually found one in your bathroom. That was just the way these super organizations were. They'd do anything for information and knowledge, even if it was at the cost of depriving people of their privacy.

But luckily, in this part of the city, superhumans didn't patrol much. You could say that it was a slum, but just slightly higher.

Soon, Ruby approached a square-shaped glass home, an extravagance glass house that stick out like a sore thumb in this slum filled with whores and shady people. But that was one of the reasons Ruby had his home here because the supes didn't put this place in their eyes.

As he arrived at the door, Ruby punch a few lock buttons on a square pad beside the door, and after blue luminous light scanned him, the door unlocked.

Striding in, he stepped into what appeared to be a sitting room with three green-eyed people littered all over the walls!

He sauntered towards the luxurious-looking wine shelf, slightly pushed a bottle outward, and it split up into two, revealing a metal elevator.

Down the elevator, he paced into a tech-lab workshop with cool bombs, and guns neatly kept on tables and glass shelves. He picked up all the weapons, placing them in the system storage.

After clearing almost everything, he strode to a small fridge-like box, pulled it open, and grabbed a thumping heart that was tightly kept in a glass jar.

With a light kiss to the jar, he also placed it inside the store. Sometime later, he stepped out of the elevator, arriving at the first room.

He proceeded to walk out, but voices~! He started hearing voices.

'Who would come here by this time...?'

[«Ding: Annihilate the supes in your home»]

*******

Remember to vote this novel for the Wpc.