System, after dropping that bombshell, waits for our answer.
The very idea of being manipulated by this seemingly benevolent AI System makes me see red. It's insidious. Seducing us to stay in the game. Luring me into the game via isekai rather than letting me stay and fight for my life. Pretending to be a sagacious guide and even a friend.
I turn to Damon. "Do we take that bet?"
Nodding fervently, he vows, "We will win our freedom. We will train hard."
"You will need more than hard work and discipline," System says with a peevish, haughty tone.
It didn't expect us to fight back, clearly. Maybe it mistook our hours and hours spent playing the game for an obsession that translated to being perfectly happy to spend our literal lives as game characters in this alternate dimension.
"Then we'll do whatever it takes," I vow.
