My 100th Rebirth a day before the Apocalypse - Chapter 199

Chapter 199: Chapter 199 The Pitiful 008
“What the fuck?!” Kisha exclaimed, jumping to her feet after seeing the system notification. It was unusually detailed this time, showing rewards and punishments in advance, even though she hadn’t upgraded her system yet.

Upon seeing the requirements, Kisha found it quite helpful as she wouldn’t have to figure things out on her own. However, the punishment outweighed the rewards by more than double, and the demand itself seemed unreasonable. Completing the mission within just 15 days with such high expectations seemed impossible, no matter how efficiently she tilled the land and planted.

Seeing Kisha’s frustration and her eyes turning red with anger, Duke rushed to her side. “What happened? Are you okay?” Everyone turned their attention to them, wondering why Kisha, who had been happily planting with everyone just moments before, suddenly seemed so agitated.

Kisha wanted to voice her complaint, but she found herself at a loss for words. The mission seemed completely unreasonable, like an attempt to unfairly deplete her points and stats. The threat of a system downgrade only added to her frustration.

“008!” She shouted in her mind. “What’s going on with this?” She immediately questioned 008 angrily.

“Host, I’m not sure. I was just as surprised as you and am already investigating,” replied 008, its voice trembling with anger. A flurry of codes flew across the system interface as 008 searched for clues. It was unprecedented for a system mission to be this detailed, which was helpful because they didn’t have to guess what was required to meet the mission’s demands—it was all clearly outlined.

But now the problem lay in the unreasonable demand. If before Kisha didn’t know how she would die for failing to meet the mission’s requirements, now she could see it clearly but felt powerless to do anything about it. Both of them were frustrated with this sudden change.

It felt like another form of torture—putting in your best effort, yet deep down knowing exactly how it would end because you couldn’t meet the requirement.

“Host, I’m being blocked! I can’t find anything,” 008’s distressed and crying voice echoed in Kisha’s mind. She pursed her lips in frustration; she couldn’t vent her anger on 008, especially since even 008 couldn’t explain what was happening and was facing a downgrade despite barely reaching level 1.

She exhaled deeply, regulating her breathing to calm herself down. Realizing there was no immediate answer, she understood that no amount of anger or berating would change the situation. “008,” she called out calmly.

“Y-yes, Host?” 008 responded, its voice barely audible between sobs of frustration. It seemed as if the Constellation overseeing it harbored a dislike, always guiding 008 and its host toward potential destruction.

“Initiate a system upgrade, now.”

“Yes?!” 008 choked on its sobs, momentarily taken aback.

“System upgrade. I’ll figure out a solution in the meantime while you upgrade,” Kisha ordered firmly.

[System upgrade to level 2 authorization]

[Cost: 5,000 points]

[Accept] or [Decline]

Kisha didn’t hesitate and immediately accepted the authorization. As soon as she did, 008’s connection to her was cut off for the system upgrade. In its distressed state, 008 forgot to communicate with Kisha before initiating the upgrade.

Kisha understood that 008 felt undermined by its own Constellation, which was supposed to be its creator, and was now frustrated. ‘What a pitiful one’

Kisha surveyed the backyard and assessed what they had accomplished, realizing it didn’t even cover an eighth of an acre. She felt disheartened. Perhaps her only recourse was to consider buying plant growth promoters with mall points, but she wondered if her points would suffice until she completed the mission. Calculating the cost, she feared spending more points than she might lose if she failed the mission.

If that were the case, would failing the mission be the better option? Upgrading the system from level 0 to level 1 cost only 1,000 points, meaning she would lose 151,000 points and 5 stat points. Despite this, Kisha couldn’t shake the bitter taste of failure in her mouth, knowing she couldn’t possibly complete the mission within the given time frame.

But she also didn’t want to simply give up and surrender to the path laid out before her; her defiant spirit was challenging all her reasons.

She felt like the Constellation was treating her and 008 as pawns in a chess game, to be sacrificed at will or for entertainment.

And if she gave up now, there might be a second or even worse, every mission could be the same. She couldn’t forget how many times she had died because of difficult missions; this might explain why, due to the unreasonable mission requirements for completion.

“Is everything alright?” Duke asked Kisha again, concern evident in his eyes as he observed her conflicted expression. Kisha bit her lower lip, weighing how much she could share with Duke about her system, unsure if she should reveal its complexities. ‘Argh! Damn, all this!’

“Um. I-I think I’m in trouble,” Kisha said hesitantly, her voice wavering. She struggled to find the right words, knowing that explaining her situation was complicated. She could show Duke, but explaining the intricacies was another matter. Duke was smart and perceptive; she knew he was starting to piece things together whenever she demonstrated abilities beyond simply storing items in her inventory.

Besides, she had previously explained that she could only store non-living things in her inventory, yet she ended up storing living things like the scarlet bees and even the dog in her space, which was contradictory.

“How so? Can you tell me?” Duke’s deep, magnetic voice echoed in Kisha’s ear, soothing her frazzled nerves. She felt calmer instantly and stopped overthinking.

“You see, it seems I have to plant more vegetables,” Kisha began, letting out a deep sigh. Though it seemed like a casual exhale, her expression conveyed genuine worry. “Not just this small plot, but at least 10 acres…” She explained her mission in a much simpler way to Duke so he could have a complete grasp of her worry.

Duke looked at Kisha with incredulous eyes, unsure whether to be shocked, bewildered, or amazed by the seemingly impossible task she had just described. He had a lot of questions about where this task came from and how it had ended up like this, but he chose not to voice them.

“Okay, you don’t have to explain anything to me. I’ll always trust you and follow what you want. If you ask me to go east, I wouldn’t even think about stepping west. So, just boldly command me and my people, and tell us what to do to complete this task, especially since we don’t have enough time.” Duke said, his voice steady and reassuring, showing his full support for her. If he didn’t need an explanation, then his subordinates wouldn’t even breathe a word about it either.

With Duke’s assurance, Kisha felt a weight lift from her shoulders. She knew he sensed her worry and chose not to push for answers she wasn’t ready to give. She felt deeply grateful to have Duke by her side, willing to protect her both physically and emotionally.

Overflowing with happiness, Kisha clung to Duke’s arm and began to act coy. “Hubby, you are so good to me,” she said, twiddling his arm playfully.