Chapter 16: System Contract

When Beast finished his meal and returned to the game, he immediately noticed a large exclamation mark hovering above the big chest in the room. Though he couldn’t tell who had sent the letter, Beast seemed to have an inkling, a faint smile curling at his lips.

“Hello, Flower Fairy Beast has sent you a letter. Would you like to open it?” The system panel appeared before him, and the smile on Beast’s lips grew even more pronounced. He clicked to open the letter without hesitation.

“As you wish.” Four simple words, yet they conveyed so much.

Previously, Beast had written to Flower Fairy Beast, explaining the existence of the hidden instance, Wrath of Agumon. Although their last interaction had been unpleasant, Beast had mulled it over and realized he had no choice but to seek them out.

Either cooperate to attack the hidden instance together, or refuse both cooperation and the challenge. As the saying goes, mutual benefit is the only path forward.

Because of the earlier incident, Beast didn’t fully trust them; he couldn’t simply form a party. Instead, he invited them out first, intending to discuss the terms of their cooperation face-to-face.

He hadn’t expected them to agree, especially after he had obliterated their accounts. Still, it was worth a try—and the outcome was surprisingly favorable.

At the appointed time, Beast arrived at a tavern in the novice village, heading straight to the second floor and entering a private room he had reserved in advance. The novice village, like other online games, was a designated safe zone. After all, there had to be safe places; otherwise, players could be attacked as soon as they logged in, making the game intolerable.

The private room was small, furnished only with a rough wooden table surrounded by equally crude wooden walls.

Shortly after Beast entered, the door opened again. Though the mechanism was simple, this space was essentially a special area; entry required a password, which Beast had sent to Flower Fairy Beast when booking the room.

As expected, the newcomers were Flower Fairy Beast and a burly man.

“We meet again,” the burly man spoke first, even before Flower Fairy Beast could say anything.

“You’re Omega Beast?” Beast asked, recognizing him despite the differences from the previous Omega Beast. This must be his new account.

“That’s right, it’s me.” Omega Beast’s eyes fixed intently on Beast, as if trying to see what sort of person lurked behind the avatar.

Beast leaned back in his chair, a mocking expression on his face. “So, how are you arranging your team? You must know that, as the one who can activate the hidden instance, you can’t enter without me. Besides, with your current strength, you hardly have enough power to follow me into the hidden instance.”

In their previous cooperation, Omega Beast and his group had tried to seize the rewards meant for Beast, leading to their near-complete annihilation at his hands. Only Flower Fairy Beast, who had some history with Beast, escaped unscathed.

As players, their deaths meant the loss of their accounts. To regain their previous level of Digimon, they needed time to nurture new ones. Perhaps with lower levels, the process wasn’t too arduous, but time was still required—and the hidden instance’s deadline loomed.

Beast had sought out Flower Fairy Beast to see if she had any other trusted allies to help. Unexpectedly, he met Omega Beast again.

“Relax, a day is enough for us to prepare,” Omega Beast said, his expression complicated as he looked at Beast. “But before that, we need to establish a contract under the system’s witness.”

The system contract was a mechanism to bind both parties. For instance, if the contract stipulated that neither could attack the other, then such attacks were impossible. Breaking the contract resulted in a three-day ban from the game.

However, system contracts weren’t free; each use cost one gold coin, equivalent to a hundred yuan in real-world money.

Is a hundred yuan a lot? Not really. For the wealthy, it’s less than the cost of a meal. Is it a lot? It is—for ordinary people, or for Beast, it could mean surviving several days outside.

Regardless of wealth, most players avoided system contracts because they were expensive. One contract cost one coin, but who could guarantee they’d only run one instance, needing only one contract? Furthermore, system contracts had levels; as one’s experience and level increased, the cost rose accordingly.

Still, in this situation, there was no better option. Relations between Beast and Omega Beast were delicate; without the binding force of a system contract, neither would trust the other, and the hidden instance would be out of reach.

After much wrangling, they established a mutual system contract, agreeing to meet at the entrance to Wrath of Agumon’s instance one hour before the final deadline.

Though Beast was not adept at such negotiations, he had existed for thousands, even tens of thousands of years. If a pig lived that long in a world where immortality could be cultivated, it would surely earn a place among the immortals—let alone a Digimon with human-level intelligence.

Afterward, Beast parted ways with them. Whether they would keep their word was not his concern. Without them, he couldn’t clear the hidden instance alone. If they came, so much the better; if not, Beast had nothing to lose.

Time slipped by, second by second, and the appointed hour drew ever closer…