I Hate Systems

"You see…" Grisha spoke after a couple of seconds had spanned past, watching Ranze finish killing the worm type Martial Origin Stage Origin Beast, "Just as you had said, there's nothing to look forward to in that apocalypse world. We have to kill daily for the pearls, manage our stock of pearls, and ensure we have enough to last us in a battle. No matter how strong we become, our dependency on the pearls is the same. And without it, we are helpless."

"Stop being so long-winded. Just come out with it!" Holla shouted.

"Hope, Holla. It's hope." Grisha said in all seriousness, "What I see in Compass Carburettor is hope, hope that one day, he would rid our world of the apocalypse and save everyone. And, the longer I spend time with him, the stronger my belief becomes. Because, I'm confident that he's indeed able to achieve that."

"Even with the powers he possesses at present, he's able to solve most of our world's issues. Then…" She uttered, "What about the Compass Carburettor that had gone through a fourth world? What about a fifth?"

Upon seeing Holla's eyes widen, Grisha smiled, "The Systems must have told you everything about him, right? He achieved all this growth in five years. A mere five years allowed him to go from a mortal to an entity that could play God to a certain extent."

"What about ten years?"

"A century?"

"Holla…" Grisha spoke with a solemn tone, "Until now, for whatever reason, you've been looking at Compass Carburettor as a formidable enemy. But, that's wrong."

"Wrong?" Holla frowned, feeling a headache as she felt something influencing the hormones of her body, affecting her thoughts.

"Compass Carburettor is a merchant down to his very core." Grisha said, "And as a merchant, he pursues profit while vehemently avoiding any losses. And, unlike short-sighted merchants, he'll never let go of anything that's his."

"He'll build his wealth and develop it to its zenith. And, he also considers people his possession." Grisha smiled gently, "So, if you are someone he considers as part of his wealth, you can bet on your life that you'll never suffer until his death."

"How are you sure that this isn't a mask he's wearing?" Holla snorted, "Compass Carburettor is a damn fine actor. You've seen his exploits. Do you seriously believe in that far-fetched fairy tale you've concocted?"

"Did you forget that I'm pretty much an extension of himself?" Grisha slowly riled up her Origin Essence, "I'm a pseudo–Main Character myself. And, I've inherited quite a lot of him. So, I'm sure."

"I'll invite you, Holla." Grisha extended her hand, "Join our side. You'll never have to repeat your life again, but live as your current self for as long as you want."

"Immortality?" Holla was surprised.

"Yes." Grisha nodded, "You'll gain that too. And besides, are you really certain that you don't have any hatred against Velcorn for what he did to you?"

"I'll be lying if I said I don't…" Holla said when suddenly, she grunted in pain, feeling a severe headache.

"Indeed, this happens…" Grisha sighed, understanding that the Perfect Timing System in Holla's mind had probably taken action to affect her. Grisha's words indeed wavered Holla a bit, so, unless the Perfect Timing System did something, it would become the enemy of all Luck based Systems.

Besides, as a System, it could never join sides with the Main Character.

Whether or not it was changing Holla's disposition, Grisha didn't care as Ranze rushed past her, unleashing a lot of beams her way, causing Holla to scream in pain as she wasn't able to luckily evade them all.

The injuries accumulated rather quickly before Holla regained her bearings, grunting as she took out a crossbow, tied a rope to the arrow and shot it far away, immediately reeling herself in that direction.

In this time, Fisksher surprisingly slipped away, suddenly causing a mysterious creature to jump out of his body and rush towards Holla, seeping into her body as her injuries were rapidly healed

Even after his legs had been cut off, Fisksher wasn't flustered, rapidly healing his injuries before taking action. His mind was pretty solid to not even be affected by such a mortal injury that even the most hardened veterans had a hard time enduring.

Suddenly, Grisha appeared behind him, plunging a knife through his chest. Fisksher had activated his defensive barrier, but like before, her attacks just teleported ten centimetres forward, going past the barrier to injure him.

"Gah!" Fisksher gasped for air, slumping to the ground as the injury this time was too serious, even for him.

"This will constrict you for at least an hour or so, unless you cripple yourself by over-drafting your healing abilities." Grisha spat out, bounding him to a nearby tree using a whip shaped Artifact before teleporting towards the running figure of Holla.

The two of them clashed immediately as soon after, Grisha was forced on the defensive. After all, Holla's destructive ability was pretty much the highest for their cultivation base. And hence, she had to be careful, with a single misstep resulting in grave injuries.

Thankfully, she had Ranze to rely upon for support as the two teamed up against Holla, constantly attacking her, riddling her with wounds soon after.

Even though Holla noticed a lot of perfect timing to kill them, surprisingly, Grisha and Ranze managed to evade them by the nick of their teeth.

'Damn, they are also lucky!' She cursed in response, unwilling to be defeated. She was strong, tremendously so.

But despite everything, her opponents were tricky. Grisha was elusive, only sneak attacking her at the perfect time.

She was relying upon her innate luck as a pseudo-Main Character to perform the same actions as Holla. This way, she was negating the Perfect Timing luck to a great extent.

Normally, this shouldn't have been possible. But, Grisha had a good understanding of Holla.

48 loops!

And among them, Grisha had been strong in some loops and became the strongest existence in one loop. So, she had of course come across pretty much all the talents of the Apocalypse World one way or another, at least in one loop or the other.

Because of that, she knew exactly how Holla would act. But conversely, Holla too was aware of Grisha's nature, resulting in a stalemate.

And here was where the variable came into play. The Cultivation World's protagonist.

Ranze!