Maids VS Apocalypse

’Twenty Gold!!!?’

Mark was shocked by the ridiculous price, so much so that he failed to notice that the item details were different from the ones he programmed into the game.

’What the hell!? Are you telling me that mammoth of a beast is worth only 20 Gold!!? Even the meat of a Monster Boar is worth 200G per piece!!!’

Monster Boar was one of the most basic enemies one can encounter in Maids VS Apocalypse. One of the side quests involves hunting them so they can be used as an alternate food source. Each hunted boar earns the player 200G, which wasn’t a lot by any means, but it was ten times more than what a Stone Rhino is worth.

’You mean to tell me the entire hoard isn’t even worth two boars!!?’

Though he wanted to scream about how his System was being unreasonable, a part of him felt that he should’ve expected it to turn out this way.

The prices of items in his System store didn’t match the ones in the game. Some of them got cheaper, but most increased in price. Mark guessed that there was a factor influencing the way prices are decided on the system, and he had a hunch it had something to do with the way to obtain more Gold.

’The System Store doesn’t actually sell anything...’ he thought, remembering his discussion with Rebecca. ’It uses Runes to-’

"Master."

Lara’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. Her tone made it clear that something had happened so he instantly became alert.

"What’s the matter?"

"It came to my attention that someone has been spying on us for some time now." She said. "They seem to have moved after I noticed their presence."

"Someone is spying on us?" Mark turned that question to the Sergeant in their company. Ramsay seemed as confused as he was.

"Are you sure?" He began surveying their surroundings. "I don’t think I noticed anything..."

"They were on one of the tall buildings in the city," Lara explained.

"You can sense something from that far?" Mark’s eyes widened.

"I believe they were using a light manipulation Rune to enhance their vision. It might be a tool with similar properties, too."

"Seriously now..." Ramsay’s expression twisted into a grimace. "You sure it’s not a Fallen?"

"I didn’t sense any bloodlust." The maid replied. "I highly doubt there is a Fallen capable of restraining itself in such a manner."

They were already expecting to run into trouble; though the Peace Keepers swept the city and dealt with most monsters, there were at least thirty-five gates to hell still open. One of Natalie’s requests was to deal with anything they came across, but that should have referred to monsters, not humans.

"So... any ideas on who they are?"

"Who knows?" Ramsay shrugged. "This is a Lower Realm going through its First Ascension. It’s not that strange to see invaders coming to recruit some of the Awakened."

Mark drew his brows together in a frown. He was sure Natalie explained everything about the Ascension and Realm Hierarchy, but for some reason, he couldn’t recall most of it. Thankfully Lara seemed to have read his thoughts and took it upon herself to remind him.

"A Lower Realm is a world where the sentient races have yet to make contact with any Primordials. The First Ascension is when that happens for the first time."

’Oh, what a conveniently timed exposition!’ Mark nodded with a smile. He then turned to Ramsay and asked jokingly.

"We aren’t expected to do something about them, are we?"

"Not Really. We already have protocols in place to deal with them." The Peace Keeper replied. "Though they may try to take you away if they learn about you being a Level 5."

"And you just had to say that out loud." Mark nodded, still smiling. "Did it ever occur to you that they may still be listening in on us?"

Ramsay held his hand out and a pack of cigarettes fell into it the next instant. Pulling one out with his teeth, he made the pack disappear and then produced a lighter.

"I’m just messing with you," He said while lighting the cigarette, which appeared to be half-spent. "The Peace Keepers have already claimed you as one of our own. If anyone tries to take you away, it would be like declaring war on the entire organization."

Puffing a cloud of smoke, he added in a rather cold tone. "We might be willing to let go of a few Level 1s, but a Level 5? Even they understand that too much greed isn’t good for them."

"Too valuable to steal, huh?" Mark spoke in a dramatic tone, shaking his head with a smile. "And here I thought no one would could resist my allure!"

"Gay." Ramsay gave him a disgusted look.

"Weren’t you the one who just said you would go to war for me?" Mark asked. "If anyone is being gay here then it’s you."

"You know what? I’m tired of having to babysit a little shit like you." With veins bulging on his forehead, the Peace Keeper tossed the cigarette butt on the ground and stumped on it. "Maybe I should just kill you here and be done with it."

"Go ahead. Give it a try."

"Master," a single word from Lara was enough to stop their fight. She turned her gaze in a certain direction then said. "The Rift has already been sealed."

"About time." Sighing, Mark went to retrieve the drone case, eager to leave the deserted wasteland behind him.

He glanced at the Sergeant from the corner of his eye and went through the explanation he gave him, feeling his distrust toward the organization grow even more.

’No way... right?’

It was no secret that the Peace Keepers wanted to recruit the Awakened of his world, and considering how the multiverse was endless, it wasn’t difficult to believe that there were worlds out there that weren’t on their side but wanted the same thing.

But there was a fundamental problem with the whole thing.

During his conversation with Natalie, Mark became suspicious of the Peace Keepers’ motivations when she revealed that they couldn’t fully repair the Dimensional Border.

He began to believe that their goal all along had been to allow the CDC to happen so they could recruit as many Awakened as possible. He went so far as to question if they were responsible for starting the whole thing from the beginning.

’Nah, It can’t be that... right?’

Mark didn’t trust the Peace Keepers. He believed they weren’t entirely honest about their goals, but not to the point that he would think they were an evil organization in disguise.

’Could it be...’ He suddenly thought of another possibility. ’Was the group that opened the gates to hell not from this world?’

He found himself diving deeper into the conspiracy thoughts.

’Some aliens came to this world and opened a gate to hell. Their goal was to force the First Ascension of this world and recruit the Awakened born from it.

If the Peace Keepers truly are what they claim to be, stopping that would be a more logical reason for them to interfere.

Of course, since the countdown is progressing, it means they failed to carry out their job. Are they trying to reap the prize anyway? Did they fail on purpose?’ 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

One thing Mark didn’t understand was why they didn’t just tell him about the real perpetrators. If they were attempting to gain his trust and convince him to join them, wouldn’t saying they were fighting the aliens who destroyed his world have a greater effect?

’They would go to war for me, huh...’

Mark was still having trouble grasping how valuable he really was, and hearing that entire worlds were willing to fight for him didn’t really help.

He already suspected that he wouldn’t have much freedom going forward, considering that whatever side he allies himself with would want to keep him out of harm’s way. Now, however, he was starting to worry that some might try to eliminate him just to prevent their enemies from getting him.

’Damn, I really am popular, huh?’