"Cail, what's with the new look?" Iven said, pointing at Cail's glasses.
Cail smacked the hand that was attempting to pull his glasses off, "I looked utterly wrecked. I did not sleep a wink last night." Damn it! Not even a single wink!
So what happened after he lost the box? Well, just as he was about to wake his mother up, the marks on his arms suddenly stung. The moment he touched it, his consciousness suddenly entered another dimension.
The box was there. Cail experimented with taking it out and putting it back, but either it was unstable, or he simply wasn't used to manipulating the space yet, but was all trial and error.
But he did discover something new. Inside his space was a book and an old parchment scroll. The thickness of the book intimidated him, so he first checked the old parchment scroll. What he read almost made him want to burn it.
[Are you the new owner of the Void Box? Why am I even asking that, of course you are.
You're probably asking a lot of questions, right? Like, why me? How did this happen? What do I do? Well well well, if you manage to open the independent space, then you are treading on the right path!
Congratulations! You are now officially The Dealer! Not just any dealer, but a capital D Dealer! You're the Big Deal!
Actually, there are conditions to open the independent space aside from dripping blood on the Void Box.
These are the list of conditions!
1. You managed to sell an artifact at the right price!
2. You managed to encounter the 'void'.
3. You became exposed to the void energy.
4. [Indistinguishable]
5. [Indistinguishable]
6. [Indistinguishable]
7. [Indistinguishable]
If you managed to achieve all that, then you are now official!
A Dealer will have his artifact. No worries, what you chose the moment you opened the box is your artifact.
For more information, please refer to the book.]
Cail spent the entire night browsing through the book. The parchment paper was a liar. The book answered none of his questions, but it did provide him basic information about the void and the artifact classifications.
It also informed him of something he didn't like. The moment his blood dripped into the box, the contact was made. He needed to fulfill the quota. 5 artifacts a month. Failing to fulfill what's on the contract will result in 'unknown consequences'.
"What contract? I wasn't aware of that! Is that even legal? I'm not even an adult yet," he said helplessly. Of course, he knew what he was saying was just pure nonsense.
Before he even knew it, it was already daytime.
Iven sat beside him, "Why didn't you sleep? You weren't online last night, what were you doing?"
I can't say murder, right? "I read manga. I didn't realize it was almost daytime," Cail answered.
Iven wasn't really that concerned as to what Cail was doing last night. The moment he remembered something, he put down his phone and whispered, "Do you know the gossip about the Rich 6 group?"
"What?" Not that Cail cared.
"Today was Jexar's birthday! You should've seen how chaotic it was after the flag ceremony! The whole school celebrated it like it was the school's anniversary!" Iven felt envious, "The girls were screaming like crazy even though he didn't do anything!"
Rich 6 is the nickname that they gave to Jexar's group. It's because they have six members and they are all rich. A lot of bitter students mocked them as a group straight out of a Mary Sue novel.
Jexar was the school president and was dubbed as the school prince charming. If you're going to ask who's the face of the school, it would be Jexar.
Iven sighed, "Almost all the girls in school liked him. Do you think I can manage to snag some?"
This time, Cail looked at Iven carefully, "I think some girls like your type? A bit fleshy but cheerful? Just don't aim too high. Remember Katria? Why not try going out with her?"
At the mention of Katria, Iven felt goosebumps. "Can you not mention her to me? Just hearing her name scares me."
Cail snickered, "Oh, then you're probably not gonna find a girlfriend in your entire life."
Iven pretended to cry, "You and I are the only ones left. Jael and Oris already have a girlfriend!"
"Yeah yeah yeah... Jael's girlfriend... Let's see how long it will be until Jael gets sucked dry by that girl." Cail wasn't optimistic about the relationships of the two, especially Jael's relationship.
Iven gave him a dirty look, "Sucked dry where?"
"Money. Look at Jael." Cail simply said, pointing at the lanky man wiping the blackboard. "Does that look like he's eating to you? I heard that his girlfriend wanted to buy an expensive handbag so he cut off his meals just to give her one."
Iven wasn't really thinking that deeply, "If I have a girlfriend as beautiful as Jael's girlfriend, I'd also sacrifice a lot just to make her happy."
"Simp." Cail looked at him coldly with a faint look of disappointment on his face.
That look made Iven's hackles raise, "Hey hey hey, what's a simp about wanting to treat your girl right?"
"Being considerate and doting to your partner is right. That doesn't only apply to men but also to women. Where do you see Jael's girlfriend being doting and considerate to him? If she really liked Jael, she wouldn't have been happy to see him starve." What Cail saw was an unequal relationship. Such kind of imbalanced effort made him feel sick. It reminded him of his mother and father.
Romance doesn't have to be transactional, but there should at least be some reciprocation.
Although Iven had the tendency to be a simp, Cail laying those facts faintly in front of him made him feel like there was a sharp pain in his chest, "Damn, are we really gonna be single for life or even if we are gonna get married, we'll just be the 'I'm ready to settle man for girls'?"
Cail glared at him, "Don't include me in that. If I want to have a family in the future, I'll just adopt a human or a cat."
Iven was speechless after hearing that, "Did you seriously just mention adopting a cat and a child in the same sentence?"
Just as they were about to continue their topic, there was suddenly a blast of screaming in the hallway.
"Happy birthday Jexar!"