Chapter 120: What's in the box

There wasn't any great change once we passed the doors. For me, this was just yet another time of passing between worlds. But for Ayda, appearing in my basement was akin to breaking through the barrier that should not be broken. 

Given how I pulled the two of us through the doors, it was of no surprise to me when I ended up tripping on my leg. Falling to the floor, I inevitably pulled the girl in my arms along. Not the best way to introduce someone to a brand new world.

"Guh"

Falling to the floor, I hit it with my back so hard that all the air escaped from my lungs. Squeezed from the top by Ayda's weight didn't help either. But rather than being devastated over this little bit of discomfort, I instantly jumped to make sure that Ayda was all right.

"Are you hurt? Anywhere?"

Raising my head and scanning the girl's body to make sure she was okay, I saw her feebly nod her head before raising her face and taking a look at the basement of mine.

"What is this place…?"

Puzzled by the strange appearance of the room, Ayda ended up asking. 

"It's a basement of a mansion that doesn't exist any longer. Do you remember the time when you felt me reaching the taboo? Back then, my family house and my family itself got devastated. My father died under the rubble before I could even do anything. I tried my best to save my mother… But it didn't work out in the end. This room is the last remaining part of the life I used to have."

Finally regaining enough strength to raise from the floor, I helped Ayda stand on her legs first, before standing up myself. 

"Also, this is the only place where I can use my… ability to travel through the words. Only the doors leading to this basement allows me to do so."

As stupid as it might seem, I didn't want to hide anything from Ayda. Maybe it was just a simple charm that made me look at her in such a favourable way, maybe it was the fact that she was always ready to sleep with me. After all, I wasn't naive enough to believe that having such an accommodating girl by my side didn't influence the way I was looking at her at all.

But ultimately, the truth was simple. If Ayda turned out to be manipulating me all this time if she were to use this knowledge against me… Then it would mean she never had any feelings for me. Such reality was too much for me to survive. Not when all my emotions were bound to this single, particular girl. 

And that meant, it didn't matter whether Ayda would learn about my system or not. If she wanted to betray me, my emotional state would be over either way. And to be completely frank, I already got enough of an edge over the rest of the world with the budding industry of magic stones that even if I were to be deprived of my system, I would still be able to make a living on earth!

"I understand… But what kind of magic is it? Something local?"

Pointing her hand at something that I clearly couldn't see, Ayda looked at me with a puzzled look in her eyes. 

"The ability to move between the worlds? No, I don't think anyone else…"

Before I could even finish my response, Ayda shook her head rapidly.

"No, not this thing. What are those… boxes? Signs? You know, those appearing at the periphery of my vision…"

Still pointing her hand in the same direction as before, Ayda moved her eyes on me only to twitch the next moment.

"Oh, it moved…"

For a moment, I didn't want to believe what was going on. The possible repercussions of something like this happening…

Before those dire thoughts could overtake my emotions, I calmed myself down.

"Can you read what's written on those signs?"

Grabbing Ayda's hands between mine, I looked closely into her eyes. Not with anger or fear, but with expectations. Because if my guess wasn't wrong, then the potency of that potion that I found in my palm just a few hours ago would be way greater than just allowing Ayda to travel between the worlds with me!

"Not really, it's written in some strange language…"

Lowering her head in a clear disappointment, Ayda's aura darkened a bit. From the looks of things, the language barrier wasn't fixed when allowing her to most likely use the system just like I did!

"Give me a moment."

In face of this groundbreaking change, touring the earth instantly moved not only for a later time but also a lower priority. Letting go of the delicate girl's hands, I scrambled around the basement to find something to write. Throwing stuff out of my desk, I ransacked the insides of its shelves before finally pulling out some kind of forgotten notebook and a pen.

"Could you redraw the things that you see in here? I might be able to translate it."

While it was just a guess, if I was right about Ayda suddenly being able to use the system on the same rights as I was doing for a while already, then it would be huge. Not only would that mean that her safety would be now perfectly secured, but she could grow far stronger from now on. But what was even greater, she could actually accompany me to all sorts of different words!

As repulsive as the idea of putting her up for the danger of those worlds would be, there was still the emergency exit. And there was no doubt that with her by my side, accomplishing any mission would become two times easier than doing it alone!

Pushing those overenthusiastic thoughts aside, I watched how Ayda diligently continued to copy the marks that she and only she was capable of seeing down on my notebook. Watching how she pushed just the tip of her tongue as she focused on drawing the symbols made me once again realise how lucky I was to be with her. In the end, the beauty of this level, the beauty that was so adorable and easygoing, had no right to exist on earth.

"Done!"

Finally putting the pen away, Ayda exclaimed with a proud look in her eyes. But given how I watched her place every single line and dot on the notebook, I already knew the answer to my guess halfway through her work.

"Let me translate it to you then…"

With a deep sigh of relief, I took the notebook filled with ugly letters of the alphabet that I was familiar with ever since I learned how to read.

"It goes, congratulations on the first visit to another world. To receive the bonus package, please give an appropriate command. The other one means congratulations on unlocking the basic package of the basement multiverse system. You are now eligible to freely travel through the unlocked words. Reminder, only the original host can unlock new words."

Since I already told her about my ability to travel the words, there was absolutely no point in hiding the existence of a system from her. Especially if she appeared to be able to use it by herself now!

"Woah… But that package.. What should I say? But still, I gotta admit, this is some impressive magic here, I couldn't even feel any fluctuations to the natural flow of the energy!"

Speaking up even after asking the question, Ayda suddenly moved her hand forward only to snatch the notebook away from my hand and put it away on the table. 

"Well, I think anything goes. You can try shouting receive, package, reward, or anything that comes to your mind that will be mentally connected to the idea of receiving the reward."

Shrugging my arms at this topic as I never bothered to actually think about how the system was capable of discerning my intentions, I momentarily lowered my guard.

Only to see a box suddenly appearing in Ayda's hands!"

But what was even more surprising, was how she instantly dropped it to the ground before once again pushing her hands forward. This time, however, there was nothing to snatch out of my hands for her. With her hands grabbing my clothes, I was suddenly pulled into her embrace.

"I know that you might be worried about this situation… But I don't want any of it. I came here to visit your world, to let you see all sorts of faces that I will make by being amazed by the wonders that are lacking in my own world. I don't want you to think…"

Before Ayda could even finish her words, I brought her even closer in my hug, forcing her hand against my shoulder to stop her words from coming out.

"I know that there might be a slight bit of worry in my emotions, but more than that, I'm happy. While I never thought it would happen, having you as the only other person in the world or rather, the worlds, that can share both the burden and the benefits of the system with me… You can't even imagine how happy I am."

Just by keeping the girl enclosed in my embrace, I was already reaching the peak of happiness. No matter what others would say, this was the future I wanted to have. With a girl that I believed loved me, tightly pressing her body against mine in a simple act of hugging.

"Then, how about we see what's in the box?"

After a long moment of this intimate sharing of each other's heat and affection, Ayda finally distanced herself from me with a mischievous smile on her face.

"Go on. This is your box, so you should do the honours of opening it."

Smiling gently at the lovable girl, I even pushed her towards the place where she dropped the box. Knowing from my own experiences, it would most likely contain the things that she wanted the most at the moment. Just like that energy-sucking plant that I received when I wanted to save my mother or the system potion I wanted when I hoped to bring Ayda to earth.

And it would be a great lie to tell that I wasn't curious what was inside it either!

But as I saw her hands moving to open it, as I saw her move the lid a bit up, her cheeks suddenly exploded in redness as she smashed the box closed right away, before I would even have a single chance to take a peek of what was inside!

"Ekhem… Was this something… Not good?"

It would be a huge disappointment to learn that Ayda's rewards were of worse quality than what I was receiving. After all, how could the system be so based to treat her worse than it did me?

"Ah, it's nothing. I think… I think I will show you the insides a bit later."

With her face burning red, Ayda put the box behind her before looking at me with a troubled expression.

"So, how about we start sightseeing now? I can't wait!"