Chapter 149: Farming Ten Divine Orbs! Haruno Yukinoshita Manifests Her Power!
....
As Chef Ye served six famous Sichuan dishes in succession, Seito took the time to savor every single one. He had to admit, the man's skills were top-tier; the recruitment had been well worth it.
Finishing the meal, Seito wiped his mouth and looked at Chef Ye. "Chef Ye, your craftsmanship is excellent."
"Thank you," Chef Ye replied with a modest smile. To a chef, hearing such praise from a patron was the highest form of respect.
"We'll be recruiting more staff over the next few days," Tooka Takanashi interjected, having already finalized the timeline. "We're aiming to open next Monday. I hope you're ready for a grand opening, Chef."
"No problem at all, Boss," Chef Ye nodded.
After a few more words of business, Seito and the two women left the restaurant. Half an hour later, they returned to their building. At the second floor, Tooka bid them goodbye and headed up to the third.
Seeing that Touka was gone, Haruno Yukinoshita grabbed Seito's hand and pulled him toward her apartment with uncharacteristic urgency.
"Haruno, what's the rush...?"
"Do you even have to ask? We'll log into the game a little later," Haruno replied, her face tinting with a slight blush.
Seito nodded, following her inside. They didn't head straight for the bedroom, however. Instead, they lingered in the living room, listening for any movement from Yukino Yukinoshita's room. They even peeked in to confirm she had already donned her helmet and entered the game.
Once they were certain the younger sister was occupied, they shared a knowing look and beat a hasty retreat to the master bedroom.
(Inside her room, Yukino Yukinoshita took off her helmet for a moment, her eyes filled with a faint, resentful gloom as if sensing the "betrayal" next door.)
Two hours later, after "handling business" with Haruno, Seito used Spatial Displacement to return to his own room. Seeing Kirukiru Amou and Kanade Tachibana already deep in their gaming pods, he lay down and pulled on his own helmet.
God's Domain: 40th Floor.
The moment Seito materialized, he was greeted by thousands of tiny, glowing eyes.
"Mew~"
"Mew, mew~"
The White Moon Cats swarmed him, sitting obediently on the ground and looking up at him with adoration.
[Current Evolution Points: 15,200,000]
"Good grief! That much?" Seito blinked. Over fifteen million points? That was enough to evolve 150 cats at once. It seemed his White Tigers hadn't been slacking off while he was away.
Without hesitation, Seito selected 150 of the highest-leveled cats and triggered the Evolution Template.
Swish, swish, swish!
A chorus of thunderous roars soon shook the cavern as the kittens transformed into majestic White Tigers. Satisfied with his growing army, Seito gave them orders to continue hunting and teleported away.
Four hours later...
God's Domain: 50th Floor.
Having spent the afternoon grinding on the 51st floor, Seito returned to the 50th floor Safe Zone and entered a quiet tavern. He opened his private chat with Haruno.
[Sei: Come to these coordinates. JPG]
[SunnyCat (Haruno): On my way!]
While waiting, Seito pulled out his latest haul: ten Evil Orbs.
He summoned the Mysterious Cup Fragment. The artifact pulsed, shooting out beams of ethereal light that bathed the dark orbs. Moments later, the murky green miasma vanished, replaced by swirling miniature galaxies.
Just like that, he had ten Divine Orbs.
Even after giving one to Haruno, he'd have nine left. He began mentally tallying the recipients: Maple, Sally, Ako, and Minami Kotori—the Empire's Executives—were definitely on the list, though perhaps not all at once. Yukino was a given too. That left four.
Maybe one for Eriri... Seito thought. They had been middle school classmates. Though they didn't talk much at school, their private rapport was solid. But he'd have to test how well she could keep a secret first.
Another one for Shoko Nishimiya. She was a childhood friend of his and the "Blank" siblings. That gentle girl deserved a "Pure Land" of her own. Once she manifested divine power, she might even be able to heal her own hearing.
To be honest, if I wasn't so busy every day, I'd have gone to heal her myself, Seito mused. But giving her a Divine Orb is essentially the same, and she's definitely someone who can keep a secret.
Knock, knock, knock!
The door interrupted his thoughts. Haruno had arrived.
"Come in."
The door creaked open, and Haruno bounced in with a bright smile, immediately throwing herself into Seito's arms. "Seito-chan~"
"Alright, settle down," Seito laughed, gesturing to the ten orbs glowing on the bed. "Take three of them."
Haruno's eyes widened as she followed his gaze. "Are these... the items that allow people to manifest their powers?"
"Mhm," Seito nodded. "They were originally Evil Orbs, but my Cup Fragment purified them into Divine Orbs. The most important part is that the fragment allows humans to absorb Divine Breath without dying.
Normally, a human would explode from the pressure, so this second event reward was a total steal."
"I see." Haruno picked up three of the orbs, then paused. "But why three?"
"One for you, one for Little Yukino. I know you'd want that."
"And the third?"
Seito grinned. "For Mama-san, of course."
(T/N: Mother-in-law)
...
Thank you for reading.