Chapter 147: Plateau Zero (1/2)
”What do you take me for?” Rakna growled. ”I'm not some gun for hire. What kind of target would you even need me to take out? You are, for all intents and purposes, a ruler of the System.”
”You're being mean again,” Eva said exaggeratedly and he kneaded his forehead.
”Spit it out.”
The little girl rolled her eyes. ”Fine. The target is someone that is both in and out of my reach.”
”How so?”
”This is rhetorical, but have you heard of Plateau Zero, Big Brother?” She asked as she started tip-toeing around him. ”And I don't mean the Tutorial Plateau. Shortly said, it's an extra Plateau that should not have existed. To be honest with you, there are three such Plateaus in the System. The Celestial Plateau, home of the Gods, the Eonian Plateau, home of the Immortals, and finally, the Arena Plateau, home of Crime. The last one is what we call the True Plateau Zero.”
”Home of Crime?” Rakna raised an eyebrow. ”What kind of place has that name?”
”Well, obviously, the home of criminals,” Eva shrugged. ”Plateau Zero is a flaw in the program that has been taken advantage of a thousand years ago. Now, some people use it as their own territory, separated from mine. It's become their playground. In there, the System has no influence to speak of and I can't monitor it. I can't send my Adjudicators either.”
”So, what do you want me to do? Kill the one in charge of that place? Before even asking if I accept or not, how would I even be able to assassinate a veteran Host? Much less an entire organization.”
”Actually, killing that guy is the secondary objective. Your target as a whole would be to dismantle the Arena. To do that, you will kill Bora Quaso, infiltrate his territory, and bring a certain item that I will give you to an offline Terminal that should be there. It will give me direct access and I will be able to bring the Plateau back under my control.”
Rakna sighed. ”You haven't answered the most important question. How? And why me?”
”Didn't you hear what I said, Big Brother?” Eva retorted with a tilt of her head. ”The System has no influence there. In other words, there, no one has its support. They can't use skills, magic, or even items. Even their attributes are reinitialized to their base value if they're not the product of their own efforts and Nirvana Skills become somewhat limited depending on their nature.”
”So, we would be put on equal ground, huh?” Rakna remarked and blankly stared at her. ”And you keep answering my questions in delay. So, I'll ask you again; why me?”
Eva raised one finger. ”First of all, you're not a well-known figure in the System and you wouldn't be easily compromised down there. Thankfully, the matter of the Abyss Téras wasn't made public or it would have been complicated. Though… considering how you are, that will probably become a moot point in the future. I don't know if you're an attention seeker or something but I'd be willing to bet you will become very famous in the next few months.”
”…”
”So, other than that, it's because you're an expert.”
”At what?”
”Slaughter.” The little girl flashed a grin that didn't match her stature.
Higure and Fray looked at each other nervously before turning toward Rakna who had fallen silent at the Super AI's words.
Eva giggled. ”But the main reason is the fact that the only things usable in Plateau Zero are racial traits and soul power. And you have a lot to spare, don't you? To top it all off, your 'Scavenger' skill makes it that your attributes are entirely yours and not a resource of the System.”
”…what do I get from this?” Rakna ultimately responded.
”Eh? As I said, I will forgive you-”
”Stop with the bullshit,” he interrupted her and Eva froze before noticing the flickering eyes of the therian as well as the faint wave of energy spreading around the volcanic star in the sky.
”Don't think that I don't know your type. You're trying to get something out of me without cost after getting the opportunity to do so,” Rakna uttered coldly. ”We both know that you're not mad about the Dungeon. So, stop pretending. If I do that for you, I want something in return.”
Eva pouted and sat down in the field of flowers, which somehow did not become damaged in the slightest. ”Fine! What do you want? Tell me.”
Rakna snorted and raised two fingers. ”There are two things I want.”
”Really?” Eva deadpanned. ”Don't you think you're pushing it?”
”First; I want a one-time claiming right for any parcel of wild terrain that I will find in the future, regardless of the Plateau,” Rakna said, ignoring her rebuffs. ”Second; I want you to give Host rights to Marie.”
Eva's eyes widened. ”W-wait a second! The first is easy but the second is a no can do. I can't mess with the database like that. It could create massive flaws that could be exploited to do things way worse than Plateau Zero.”
”I don't care. Do you agree or not?”
”Can't you just ask for a Gold Item or something?”
”No.”
Eva groaned and pressed her hands on her head. ”Umu...! Gah! Fine, I'll do it!”
”In that case, I accept your request. Give me more information about that Arena. Also, I want the payment to be done in advance.”
”You-! There's no guarantee you will succeed so why would I do that?!” The little girl grumbled. ”I knew I should have asked someone else…”
”What? I wasn't your first choice?”
”No, precisely, you ARE my first choice. And now I'm hesitating whether I should go for my second one. Despite your ability,” she huffed and stood up before dusting her dress. ”I'll just consider this an investment,” she relented and lifted her hand with her thumb and middle finger pressed against each other. She snapped them and a system window appeared.
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❮ ◈ ❯
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You have completed the Quest 'Eva's Summon'!
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Eva extends a Quest to you.
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Title: Arena's Demise
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Description: Upon reaching the 100th Plateau, you will be able to find a criminal organization under the name of Kratos. Their leader, Bora Quaso, owns Plateau Zero and holds an event within it called Arena Zero.
It is a fighting exhibit which many influential figures gamble on and use as a negotiation stage. It is also a covert operation for all sorts of criminal exchanges and traffics involving both Hosts and Locals. Many of those are a direct infringement of the System's laws.
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Objective: Enter Arena Zero as a participant, locate Bora Quaso and kill him, then find access to the Terminal for Eva to take over. The time limit will be set to three months.
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Rewards (Will be given upfront): Mae -Marie- Maria Gorgona's Host Privileges, One-Time Terrain Claim.