The Innkeeper

Although Marlo had declared himself King, and New York had gone from being a state to an independent country, practically there were no changes in the way things operated. No laws were changed, no new government bodies were created, and no one got any special privileges.

Still, for the people of Earth, such a change overnight was too drastic to accept. Riots and protests erupted the very next day and filled the streets of Manhattan. Instead of dispersing them, though, the police only maintained the peace. At the end of the day, the Governor of New York made an announcement that, in summary, stated whether the people accepted or rejected the truth made no difference. The whole world was changing, let alone New York, and they could accept the changes or test their luck.

Perhaps once he had dealt with his private matters, Marlo would turn his attention back to New York or even all of Earth, but neither the council nor the politicians in New York had any way of knowing what would happen.

Of course, the council was not going to leave this threat hanging over their head, and while Marlo returned to the Inn, they already began taking precautions. How effective the precautions would be could not yet be determined. The council considered him a normal Nascent cultivator, and did not have a concept of what it meant to be a Prime. Who could blame them? Few in the entire universe did.

*****

Sometime later that day, Lex finally woke up. Unlike his previous procedures, it was not a gradual process. One moment he was asleep, the next he was completely and fully awake. Even without moving, or opening his eyes, Lex felt a tremendous difference! It was not just his strength that had increased, but the fluidity with which his thoughts flowed was unprecedented. It was like he had been wearing shackles that were keeping him in place, but had finally broken free of them.

Still lying in bed, without opening his eyes, Lex called up his status.

Name: Lex Williams

Age: 23

Sex: Male

Cultivation Level: Regal Embrace Body Tempering Stage 4 Complete

Health: Optimal

Midnight Points: 9,730,745

Midnight Inn Level: 3

Remarks: Even hibernating bears aren't as irresponsible as you! Go take care of your guests!

A relieved smile crept onto Lex's face. As he had learnt, oh so long ago, by completing all four stages of the Regal Embrace, his tumor had been removed. He was in perfect physical and mental condition, and for the first time in a long time, Lex felt like himself again. He felt like that guy who had made video games in his spare time, like the guy who had negotiated a $7,000,000 deal, like the guy who had graduated with honors by pulling off nothing but last-minute all-nighters.

"Mary," he called out, as he slowly sat up. He was slow, not because he needed to relearn how to control his strength. No, despite the massive increase in strength, he felt like he could control himself even better now. He got up slowly, because he was preoccupied with thoughts of how his journey had begun.

He thought back to that night when he felt so restless in his home that he went to a park in the middle of the night. He thought of the shooting star he saw. He thought of the wish he made. He thought of the first time he heard Mary's voice, and thought himself crazy.

"You're finally done," Mary appeared in front of him with a smile. She was suited up, similar to Lex, and her red hair was tied up into a neat bun. Lex remembered when they had met, she had taken on the appearance of Mary Jane, and was named after her too, but now somehow he felt like she had subtly changed.

"Yeah, I am. Finally." He smiled warmly at her, but didn't move, and didn't say anything else. After a couple of moments, Mary looked at him with a confused look.

"Is anything the matter?"

"No no, nothing's the matter. I was just thinking back on everything I've done with the Inn so far. I've been to different worlds. I've fought zombies and I've fought wolves. I've had guests from different species and different galaxies, maybe even realms. I hired some AI, got a barber, made a small lake then a big one. I hired a gardener and then hired a turtle to garden. Everything was so... so random. I guess having a tumor made it hard for me to focus on one thing for too long."

He flashed Mary a smile, who responded with a weak smile of her own. Lex's words and tone did not seem to match. The words sounded like he should be happy, but his tone sounded scrutinizing.

"But I guess life's random sometimes, huh? As random as a system falling out of the sky. A system that can transport people from across the universe, but somehow lagged and fell into me while scanning Earth."

At this point, Mary definitely understood that Lex was suspicious, and not just about the system, or else he would not have been giving her such a strange look.

"Yes, I suppose that's how it is. Life's as random as an 'augmented reality avatar provided by the Midnight Inn for my acclimation'. Those were your exact words, right? God, you talked a lot like a robot back then, though that changed pretty quickly."

Mary let out a defeated sigh and said, "You can just ask what you want to ask, there's no need to be so sassy. I can't lie to you, anyway."

Lex chuckled, his previous critical demeanor gone, and he was back to his usual self. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just felt a little dramatic. But even if I ask, I'm pretty sure I already know the answers. Something about my authority not being enough. But, let's try anyway. Who knows, maybe I have enough authority for a hint."

Now, Lex was just being cheeky and Mary looked at him with annoyance in her eyes.

"Let's get reacquainted, shall we? Where did the system come from?"

"As of right now, your authority is insufficient to know the origin of the system."

"Alright, guessed as much. Next question, are there other systems out there?"

Mary let out a defeated smile. It seemed the disappearance of the tumor had affected Lex greatly, and some things that were hidden in plain sight could no longer fool Lex.

"As of right now, your authority is insufficient to know such a question."

"Why did I get the system?"

"It was coincidental. The system lagged, and you happened to be in its path."

"Yes, yes, a system that can literally create AIs out of nothing lagged while flying over my head. I thought you said you couldn't lie."

"I cannot, this is the answer provided to me by the system."

Lex rubbed his chin as he observed Mary, trying to decide whether he believed her or not. Truthfully, he trusted her. But there was a lot of ambiguity about the system that just made him feel unsettled.

"Alright moving on. The system talks to me using 'remarks'. Does that mean the system is alive?"

"As of right now, your authority is insufficient to know such details about the system."

"Predictable, predictable. But it remains a fact that the system can talk to me, since it does so in the form of remarks. But you, Mary, are not the system itself, correct?"

"Yes, I am an assistant provided by the system to help the host."

"See now, I find it strange that the system gave me such a good helper. I can't seem to understand the purpose of the system. From the beginning, when I opened the starter pack, the system has made a point not to help me out and let me do things on my own. It did not help with my cultivation, it did not help with information about the universe, it did not give me the option to keep out hostile guests. It was complete, dumb luck that I ended up getting the Regal Embrace. It even went as far as threatening death in its first few quests, when I was at my most vulnerable and most likely to fail. With everything about the system designed to make me do stuff on my own, and give me a tough time while doing it, why would it give me such a helpful assistant? It feels... contradictory."

"If you are asking the purpose of the system, it is to host the greatest and grandest Inn in the universe, without any comparison."

"Ahan, and why is that?"

"As of right now, your authority is insufficient to know the reasoning behind the system. You know, for someone who benefited a lot from the system himself, you sure are sounding ungrateful."

Lex laughed at Mary's accusation.

"I don't mean to be ungrateful, honestly. The system is amazing, and has improved my life in a million different ways, not to mention it literally saved my life by removing a tumor I would not have even known about without the system. I just feel like things aren't as simple as I was assuming them to be."

While talking to Mary, Lex was also adjusting his emotions. When he got the system, he'd accepted such a massive change way too easily, probably under the influence of his tumor. Now that he was free to think properly, he was just processing the shock that probably should have hit him right on the first day.

"Right, last question. And you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

At this, Mary raised an eyebrow. This new and improved Lex was... way too thorough.

"Before the Midnight Games, before I even got the quest, you told me to ace the next quest. I don't think the system would let you give me hints even before it gave me a quest. So, what was that about?"