NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 23: Chapter 22: Welt, You Old Man, Just You Wait—I'm Pulling for You Now!
Chapter 22: Welt, You Old Man, Just You Wait—I'm Pulling for You Now!
Rita had encountered something truly absurd—
Her privacy had been completely invaded.
Or, to put it more accurately, her every move during a mission had been exposed to Otto Apocalypse.
That was terrifying. Like, really terrifying.
How does he know all this? Was he using some kind of advanced surveillance?
If so… did that include… private moments?
Like bathing?! Like going to the bathroom?! 😨
"You're overthinking things, Rita."
Otto's cold voice suddenly interrupted her spiraling thoughts.
"Revealing your inner thoughts so openly… I don't think I need to tell you how foolish that is."
It was only then that Rita realized—her expression just now… was completely unbefitting of a maid.
Maid status: FAILED. 💀
"My apologies, Lord Otto, I… just didn't expect you to…" Rita trailed off, unsure if she should feel angry or embarrassed.
After all, she never imagined that the Grand Bishop would be so interested in the details of her missions.
"Please tell me… have you been watching me?"
"Hah… hahahaha. Enough joking, Rita."
Otto let out a low chuckle, casting an indifferent glance at the utterly bewildered maid before finally revealing the truth:
"Recently, thanks to Durandal, I've gained access to a rather… peculiar system. It calls itself the 'Live Broadcast Audience System.'"
"I see. Please, continue."
"I won't go into too much detail, but through this system, I can not only observe your actions at St. Freya Academy—"
"—but I can also witness, in real-time, how the experimental subject's mind is slowly being eroded and twisted."
Otto's expression was serious. His words sounded utterly insane, but Rita knew better—this man never spoke without purpose.
"Then… is this a good thing?"
"That remains to be seen." Otto leaned back, fingers tapping lightly on the desk. "After all, I have no control over this system. But its creator… seems to be very well-informed about certain secrets that should never see the light of day."
"...Lord Otto, what do you require of me?"
Time passed, and before long, night had fallen.
Hokuto had spent the entire day operating transport machinery, moving construction materials. It wasn't the most exhausting job in the world, but it was still physically draining.
After a quick shower, he changed into some casual clothes, flopped onto his bed, and grabbed his phone.
"Alright, time to stream."
The moment he launched the game, he noticed his stamina was nearly full.
"Gotta use this up first." Without hesitation, Hokuto dove into farming material stages to grind out as many crystals as possible.
Ding!
[Welcome, my favorite sister Bronya, pink fairy lady, today's performance was less than perfect!]
"Good evening, streamer big brother!" Seele's message appeared in chat almost immediately.
Lately, she had been way more enthusiastic compared to before.
Seeing how lively the once-shy girl had become, Hokuto couldn't help but smile.
"Evening! Nice to see you."
"Eh? Big brother, your voice… you sound tired! Are you sick?!" Seele asked with concern.
"Cough! Just a little worn out, that's all. Appreciate the concern, though."
Just as he finished responding, a new pink message popped up in the chat:
"Hehe~ Did you miss me? o(￣▽￣)o If you're feeling tired, why not talk to this fairy lady~? I'll send you all my love to make it better! 💕"
It was none other than Elysia.
Hokuto nearly laughed out loud.
"Thanks for the concern, fairy lady."
"I'm just farming materials right now. Once that's done, I'll roll for some gear, upgrade my team, and continue the main story."
The moment she heard "rolling," Seele got excited.
"Ooooh! Are you pulling for Bronya's gear?! The one from last time?!"
Hokuto couldn't see her face, but from the sheer enthusiasm in her message, he could totally picture her sparkling eyes.
Poor kid… has no idea the true horrors of gacha yet…
While he did have a streak of good luck before, Hokuto knew from experience just how cruel this game could be.
"Ahem. Just so you know, this game doesn't care what you want. You don't pull what you need—you use what you get. The only exception is…"
"…if you have superpowers."
"Eh? Superpowers? What kind?"
"Money."
As soon as he said that—
The entire chat fell silent.
"…Streamer big brother, you have a real talent for bad jokes." Seele finally responded.
"Wow, what an… elegant way of putting it."
Awkward.
But thankfully, there was one person in chat who knew exactly how to revive a dead conversation.
"Hehe~ Excuse me! Pardon the interruption! But I heard you mention rolling for something… I'm super curious! What exactly are you pulling for next?"
A bright pink message flashed across the screen.
It was, of course, Elysia.
"I'm rolling for a full set of Stigmata—Welt Yang's."
"Welt…?"
Seele hesitated. "I think… I think my mom mentioned that name before…"
Oh, wow. She doesn't even know who Welt is?
This confirmed one thing—Seele was still way too young.
"Welt is the leader of an organization called Anti-Entropy. Also, he's… really, really old."
After briefly explaining, Hokuto finally tapped the summon button.
A ten-pull.
Two purple lights flashed across the screen.
"Ohh! Purple icons! That's equipment, right?! Big brother, you pulled something good again!" Seele cheered.
But Hokuto… was not thrilled.
"Yeah… I pulled something… but the problem is…"
End of Chapter 22