"Second Station?" Aria paused for a mont. She already understood what the system wanted. It was ant to level up.
"Do I need to follow the city you’re going to pick?"
In response, the system’s user interface suddenly appeared before her, and a familiar third map popped up.
City C, Wishing Stop Station, located near the beach of Silveria Town.
A red dot floated above the location, with a flag hovering on top. Golden lines encircled the area, showing the boundaries of the Golden Barrier.
In every direction, there were greyed-out areas, as if they were locked. Aria imdiately understood the scenario. It looked just like a ga, where certain parts of the map had to be unlocked by the player.
"The next station of the Heavenly Train can be anywhere on the map. But since you’re not Level Two yet, the map isn’t available."
"Eh, how can I open this map to access the next station?" Aria raised an eyebrow. This hadn’t been ntioned to her before.
"Host can complete a special task. Task will be provided by the system."
"Oh, special task? What kind?" If it was ant to help her unlock the map for the second station, she didn’t mind doing it.
"The task will only be revealed once the Host accepts it."
Aria sensed that there was so trick to this.
"Okay... what if I don’t want to do it after seeing the special task?"
"Host Survival Points and Rate Progress will decrease if the task is not completed."
Aria: "....."
As expected of the capitalist system, there was no free al. Tasks had to be completed, and work done accordingly.
"Additionally, please be reminded, Host, that once you accept a special task, it must be completed. Otherwise, Survival Points will continue to decrease until it is finished."
Damn, so hard.
"I will not accept or do your special task. I’d rather move on in my own ti..." Aria said, walking forward.
The morning sun shone over the city.
The weather was better this ti, and the wind was no longer as cold, the warmth of the sunlight making it pleasantly comfortable.
"Miss Goldie! Where are you going?" One of the n shouted after noticing the pink figure walking away in heels.
They wanted to follow her, but their morning als had just been served. Besides, one look from their Boss was enough to scare the life out of them.
"Is there no other way?" Aria asked again, refusing to give in so easily.
The Fluff Ball floated in front of her, displaying a screen she hadn’t seen before.
The interface showed her profile status.
[ Identity: Miss Stationmaster... Level: 1... World Survival Rate: 0.04%... Owner: Heavenly Train Station...]
"By completing tasks, you can unlock the Map, or you may choose to do smaller tasks available in the system."
The words of the Fluff Ball echoed in her mind, making her stop walking along the road.
"You said there were only special tasks?" Aria was growing confused by all the new information.
"Yes, if the Host wants an easier way to open the Map." The Fluff Ball system floated to her side, its voice monotone as ever.
"However, to level up, the Host may complete the system’s assigned tasks or accept small tasks listed in the daily activities."
Aria opened the daily activities tab beside her profile, and a list of available tasks appeared on the screen.
Each one could raise her Survival Points, and to her relief, they actually seed quite simple at first glance.
She could earn 100 Survival Points by giving soone food for free. Another task gave 100 points for helping soone get their Heavenly Train premium card.
There were plenty more, simple and small things that all added up toward leveling up.
Aria stared at the list in silence before sighing softly. Even if she started doing all this, she might not even get to sleep in her bed tonight.
NO!
She must do sothing. Whatever it was, she had to act. She refused to have a sore back tomorrow.
At that exact mont, Aria turned around and saw the man coming toward her. It was the perfect timing for her to take advantage of.
"You, what is your na?" Aria asked the Leader of Base E.
She couldn’t rember his na clearly. The impression he left wasn’t deep enough for her to recall anything besides calling him the old man with weird ideas.
"Golden Princess, I thought I already made an impression, yet you don’t even know my cool na?" Michael’s face showed an exaggerated look of disappointnt.
He turned to look down at his feet, probably thinking deeply about his words, or perhaps as if the others were preparing for another one of his flashy introductions.
When he raised his face again, there was almost a smug, peacock-like look on him, as if he was ready to show off his rainbow feathers at any mont.
"I’m Michael, Leader of Base E. I’m good at riding bicycles and good at driving cars... and–"
"Okay, Michael, right? I have a proposal for you." Aria cut him off before he could finish, not wanting to waste ti on his dramatic introduction when she could get straight to business.
After a mont of explanation, golden eyes t black ones, and the silence lingered for another minute.
"What, is that for real!" Michael couldn’t believe what the other had said, but he looked at Aria suspiciously.
Then a slow grin appeared on the older man’s face.
"Yes, for real, as in letter F and R for you." Aria gave her confirmation and continued with the deal between them.
"I will not kick you out, but you must follow my odd jobs. I will provide you with food every day, and you can likely earn sothing as well while staying within my territory. Only, I am going to be strict that no one under you will ever dare to harass a woman, or anyone, even a male."
There was a slight hardness in Aria’s last words, the kind that left no room for argunt. Both of her golden eyes glimred with a stern light as she looked straight at him.
If he dared to break that rule, he would face the consequences.
"Well, well, as long as you can give us food like before, my n can work for you all day and night on this matter. How about that?"
It was a good thing they could have a al, and Michael would not let this advantage go to waste.
For this mont, his focus lingered on the woman before him, observing her more closely.
This golden-haired woman was unlike anyone he had ever t until now.
There was sothing extraordinary about her.
No hostility, no killing intent, and most remarkably of all, she dared to face a man like him alone.
Surely, she was not ordinary, as soone who could disappear and reappear as if it were the most natural thing in the world, without even a trace of panic.
He must find out this woman’s identity.
"Then it’s settled. My first odd job for you and your team is this. You must clean the entire area around here, including the outside parts I’ve marked as the boundary. Next, you must find a good house nearby with complete walls and floors."
With a faint and polite smile, Aria finally sealed a deal with the leader of another base before turning back to walk toward Samantha.
Behind her, the n’s boss gathered his team to discuss the next steps.
Their expressions were mixed. So unwilling, so curious. Working under a woman didn’t sit well with many of them, yet the lingering taste of the food they had eaten earlier softened their male pride.
Most of them had been born after the apocalypse began, never knowing what real als tasted like.
Even the older ones, those who had once lived through peaceful tis, found themselves reluctant to let go of that rare, comforting flavor.
They could only follow the orders from their boss now, while so quietly convinced themselves that it was all for the sake of delicious food.
This small dilemma was unknown to Aria, who was busy discussing her plan to move into a house near the train station with Samantha.
She didn’t forget to remind her again that the outside was far more dangerous than it seed, especially for ordinary people without powers.
They had to be careful, but staying inside the Train Station wasn’t ideal either. There were no soft beds, only hard chairs, and no privacy, especially when passengers were around.
Samantha gave a nod of acceptance.
She was already aware that this world was plagued by the lethal A-virus, so she didn’t protest and calmly accepted the new arrangents while preparing everything to be ready.
After almost a full day of sorting out everything inside the Wishing Stop Station, Aria stepped outside to check if the n were still there or had already gone to look for the house she wanted.
However, as soon as her feet stepped down the stairs, she noticed only three n outside.
They seed busy with sothing, forming a circle around soone in particular.
Wait... who is that?
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