Maids VS Apocalypse

"Anyway..." Mark cleared his throat with a cough and tried to get things back on track. "About giving you some of my maids, I don’t think that’s doable."

He explained his contract with them, and how they only answer to him. The maids provided him with much needed combat strength and it was crucial to have them by his side to ensure his progress wouldn’t stall. There was also the problem with the conditions he has to meet before he’s able to summon new maids. Those made it difficult to consider landing them to others, even if he wanted to.

"Can’t you alter the contract or something? Include me in it?" Kanna asked.

"I’m not even sure how it works." Mark shook his head.

The mechanics of the System were a mystery. Getting access to Developer mode would might shed some light on the innerworkings, but Mark wasn’t holding his breath.

"This sucks..."

Kanna’s depression only got worse as she slumped on the sofa beside Lara. Hearing that her not so family friendly illustrations have been linked to her real identity dealt a devastating blow, especially seeing how she had developed a little crush on Ramsay for some reason.

"So... did you make up your mind or..."

He was hoping she would give it a break now that it was clear getting her own maids was out of the question.

"I... What’s the point..." The illustrator let out another sigh.

"If you hadn’t forgotten yet, the world is literally ending as we speak. It would be for the best if you make it quick."

There was no point in dragging things out.

"Then, let’s do it like this-" After a long wait, Kanna finally straightened herself and got to the crux of the matter. "I will take twenty five percent of the revenue from selling the items produced through your System."

"That’s... acceptable..."

As one would expect, selling items from the System Shop was one of the most obvious strategies one could think of when hearing about what his System is capable of. With the number of items being unlimited and the ability to add anything to the shop, one could say it will be a reliable source of income. There was a little problem, however.

Gold. The currency required to purchase items from the shop didn’t come from nowhere. It’s created by converting his MP, a precious resource he couldn’t afford to waste. At the rate things were currently going, purchasing things en mass to sell in the real world was impossible, even more so when considering the ridiculous prices of the items.

Another problem was that summoning new maids required Gold as well. Saving the amount each summon requires was going to take quite some time so Mark planned to start on it as soon as he could.

Leveling up would lead to an increase in the amount of Gold created, since the Focus stat would increase. It was the only way Mark currently knew of so he had no choice but to wait until his training started.

"My seconds condition is... I want the option to create my own items, and I want to get them free of charge."

"That’ also... acceptable..."

The second condition suffered from the same problem as the first. Gold was the only thing that stood in the way of fulfilling any requests related to the System Shop. Mark saw no reason to inform the illustrator at the moment, however. Once she agrees to help him, everything else could be taken care of at another time.

"My third condition-"

"There is more?"

"This is the last one." Kanna went silent for a few seconds, her eyes wandering down. "I want to the right to create some of the characters going forward."

"Absolutely not."

Mark didn’t wast a second in shooting down the idea.

"Tsk..."

The illustrator clicked her tongue, sighed then leaned back into the sofa.

"I’m not backing down on the last one so..."

"You really aren’t making this any easier on me, are you?" Mark sighed. "The characters we add into the game will be the base for the vessels used when summoning the maids. We will have to be very careful about with their designs from now on."

Mark had a list of the maids he wanted to put into his game, but seeing that now they had a chance of becoming real, he had to reexamine the list and remove any that would prove to be a problem. Doing so required a thorough study of the real races some of the characters belonged to. He didn’t want to get caught in another situation where he doesn’t know a specific detail, leading to a disaster like what happened with Lara.

’I wonder if I can alter the designs of the ones already in the game...’

Things would have been much more convenient if he could edit a few things about Lara’s character in the game and have that reflected in reality, but Mark doubted it would work. Things might be different for the other five so he planned on checking if any changes needed to be made before proceeding with the next summon.

"Don’t tell me you’re going to try and optimize their designs for the purpose of summoning." Kanna clicked her tongue again. "You have the chance to make your wifus real and yet you’re focusing on realism?"

"You think I have the liberty to fool around?"

Real people were going to be living in the vessels created by his System. As their master, it was his duty to ensure their stay is a comfortable one and free from unintended consequences.

"This really sucks..." Kanna muttered in a defeated tone.

Even without her saying, Mark already had an idea of the kind of character she wanted to add to the game. The maids were going to be his main fighting force, however, so he couldn’t have the illustrator insisting on adding one of her lolies into the game.

’C’mon, just agree already...’

"Seriously, why did it have to go to you..."

Mark had to forcefully prevent the answer to that question from leaving his mind. It was far from clear or determined, nothing more than another question. Is it because he was special? Because of his high psychic potential?

It was all a coincidence. It was a coincidence that he was born with the right stats, and a coincidence that he ended up with the maid summoning system. None of it was through his own efforts so he couldn’t truly claim that he had a hand in its creation, even though it supposedly operates by using his innate Abilities.

"Kobayashi, you should be smart enough to know things aren’t that simple." He broke the silnce after some time. "The System comes with its own trouble. It’s not the convenient tool it sounds at first."

A few seconds pass and the illustrator sighs again. "It sure does sound convenint." Drawing her lips into a line, her eyes wandered down for a few seconds before she sighed again. "Alright, I will give up on the last condition. I can always use money to get what I want."

"Then..."

"Yes, I will help you." Kanna waved her hand dismissively. "It’s not like I had much of a choice to begin with. I’m not a fighter so having a wealthy patron is the best I can ask for."

[Quest: System Upgrade has been Cleared.]

Triggered by her words, a small screen popped up in front of Mark. Though it startled him a little he quickly got his thoughts under control and opened the Journal section of his System to check the state of the quest.

[

Quest: System Upgrade.

Difficulty: C

Congratulations on your successful Awakening!

The path of Ascension is long and arduous, but the journey of a thousand miles always starts with a single step. Due to your very high psychic potential, your LRGS has been upgraded to Level 5, granting you a custom interface to better manage your exceptional abilities.

But that does not have to be the end of it.

Further upgrades are possible. With each update the game Maids VS Apocalypse receives, new features can be added to your system. Continue updating your game to further customize your System and achieve greater power. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Clear Condition:

Retrieval of the original Maids VS Apocalypse source code. 🗹

Successful rescue of Kobayashi, the main illustrator of Maids VS Apocalypse. 🗹

]

[Subject Mark White has obtained 1500 AP]

[Subject Mark White has obtained Access to Developer mode.]

[Future updates to the game Maids VS Apocalypse will be reflected in Subject Mark White’s LRGS]

[Future updates must follow the development process of the original game.]

The last line curbed the urge to celebrate and forced Mark to contemplate its meaning. He wondered if by the original development process the system meant using the same tools with only his and his illustrator friend’s involvement. Whatever the case he has finally achieved his goal.

He has completed the System upgrade quest, and with the rewards it granted, he would finally be able to start upgrading his System.