I Reject Quests

Chapter 148: Depression

It was five in the evening. The sky was orange.

Rewen got out of the apartment complex. As the apartment complex was in an old locality, there weren't many people going through it. That is also the reason why there were no people at this time of the day.

He saw an empty car parked near the apartment complex and walked near it.

Taking out a key from his pocket, he unlocked it and got inside.

The car was not his. Before coming here, he had already convinced Svety to go back home after dropping him. For some reason, she insisted on leaving the car. 'Now that I'm thinking about it, I couldn't reach home without a proper rest.'

He didn't immediately start the engine. He looked at the back seats and found a pair of tracks. The reason for the set of tracks was - could take the risk of driving the car with the red stains on his clothes? 

The reason is - No.

It was difficult to change clothes in a compact space but for a person with high dexterity, it was no problem.

"All good, let's go."

***

Klofar Residence.

In the living room, Denny and Svety silently sat across each other.

They were quiet for the past hour. Denny obviously couldn't continue looking at her the same way as she did when she heard what she did to her cousin. 'I have to talk to Cal about this…'

*Ding*

The doorbell rang.

Their faces lit up. 

Denny was the first person to rush to the door.

She opened the door to find a red-haired young man in black tracksuit standing in front of her. "Hey… how was… everything?"

Rewen wryly smiled. "It was fine. Let me enter. I'll talk about it later."

"Oh…" Denny was a little disappointed but she made way for him to enter.

Rewen headed straight towards the bathroom. Along the way, he saw Svety who was looking at him intently. He nodded slightly without saying anything, then continued walking towards the bathroom.

'His face didn't look too good.' Svety thought before sighing. 'Whose face would be good after possibly killing?' 

In the bathroom.

Cold water fell on his hairs.

He did a swipe with his hand in the air.

A screen appeared in front of his eyes.

[Ding! A main Storyline quest has been successfully completed! Would you like to receive the rewards?]

[Yes] [No]

He pressed on 'Yes'.

[Ding! You have received a 'Tier 1 Silver Lottery Ticket']

[Item stored in the inventory.]

'Use the cumulative luck from [Missions to Doom] and use all the lotteries at the same time.'

The system didn't respond for a while.

Three seconds passed by.

[Sorry, the inventory is in maintenance. Lotteries cannot be used for the time being.]

Rewen would have normally lashed out but he was too tired. 'How long do I have to wait?'

[Within two weeks, the Host would again be able to use the lotteries.]

'Can I use other items?'

[The Host can use other items.]

'So, how exactly is the inventory in maintenance?' If he spoke out loud, his voice would be terrifyingly calm. 

The system didn't respond.

Rewen's face had various emotions for a while but after a few seconds, he laughed lightly and asked. 'Can I ask for side-quests?'

[Quests aside from Daily Missions can't be issued for the time being.]

'Oh? Is the Quest Department in maintenance as well? Interesting… Stop fucking with me. If you want to see me struggle, just say so. If you want to see me die, just say so.'

Rewen had an outwardly calm face but inside, he was boiling with anger. 'Show me the information about [2x Power Spike].'

---

Item: 2x Power Spike

Grade: 

Type: Operable

Effect: Increases the stats of the user by two times. Time limit - 120 seconds. Can't be used to increase beyond 100.

---josei

"I knew it."

He had prepared to use the lotteries for a long time. He knows that he can't contend against a squad full of Rank 2 Mages unless he uses '2x Power Spikes' which he specifically kept for the Rank 3 Mage that would come at last. But even with [Freestyle Knights Combat] combined with '2x Power Spike', there was a high possibility of it turning out to be the same as the fight on the rooftop. 

Let's say that the organization sends a single squad of Rank 2 Mages this time. By the time he goes to fight with the squad, he would get back his [Freestyle Knights Combat] and have a dangerous average stat of 68 when used. Yes, stats matter. It matters a whole lot but the importance of skills is undeniable.

A peak Rank 2 Mage has an average stat of 45. Could four Rank 2 Mages contend with a Rank 0 Mage who happens to have a high stat?

Maybe. Maybe not. No one could say anything.

It depends on several factors.

Therefore, optimistically speaking, it can be declared that if Rewen is smart enough, he wouldn't have to use a '2x Power Spike'.

But the real problem comes after that.

What if the organization sends two squads of Rank 2 Mages?

Could he contend against eight Rank 2 Mages with just [Freestyle Knights Combat]?

The answer is no.

There's no argument here. If he was cornered by eight Rank 2 Mages, it could be said that it's extremely difficult to survive with just his high stat. He had to use a '2x Power Spike'. He may have to use another if he has bad luck.

With that, he would be out of options.

After that, he didn't know if the organization would send a squad of Rank 3 Mages or a single Rank 3 Mage but either way, he would be in a tight spot. Even if he managed to save a '2x Power Spike', he wouldn't necessarily come out as the victor. No matter how many '2x Power Spike' he got, his stats wouldn't be greater than 100 - which is also the peak stat of a Rank 3 Mage.

He didn't know how effective the 'Brown Fruit' is. If he had to guess, it was definitely useful but the fact of the matter is - he didn't know how useful it is. This isn't a movie where the main character uses a random item and expects it to work as a plot armor. He would never leave his safety to a thing he doesn't perfectly know about.

Everything carefully considered, his future is looking dark unless the system is cooperative.

Rewen stopped the shower. His eyes didn't contain a hint of emotion. 'If that's how you want you want to play it, it's fine.'

"Also…" He looked to the west of his bathroom. "I don't know how I should refer to you but I'm going with the 'secret perverted eavesdropper'. You might want to warn your Boss. I'm giving him an opportunity to stop this or else, I might go insane and do insane stuffs."

It was unknown if anyone heard or not.

Rewen wasn't testing to see if anyone's there or not. In fact, he knows that he is being tracked every single second. He can't be convinced otherwise no matter what. 

Meanwhile, in the living room, Svety and Denny again engaged themselves in a staring game.

In the middle of that, Rewen appeared with a towel wrapped around his waist.

Two pairs of eyes turned to him.

Without any awkwardness, Rewen looked at Svety. "Svety. It's better if you leave. About today's matter, I'll text you. By the way, the key is in your car."

Svety nodded hesitantly, then took her bag and walked out of the room.

When she finally left, Denny sighed. "How was your day?"

"I'm tired. I'll talk to you later." Rewen was in no mood to narrate what he did. The after-effect of the battle is still lingering and according to him, would linger for a while. Waving his hands, he went to his room.

Denny frowned. 'Was it insensitive to ask this?' For the past two years, she had been a horrible cousin to him. Now that she found out that whether she had done everything in good humor or not, she did indeed harm him. Regarding this, she had several conflicts with her mind about him. Self-blaming was a part of it. She was also awkward on how to converse with him as they had rarely talked about a serious issue.

***

Rewen wore loose clothes and turned on his PC.

He had planned to start 'Naruto' after completing FMAB but he had much more serious things that he couldn't ignore.

For instance, depression!

For the past few days, he had been 'feeling' it but today, he realized the reason why he was so negative. 

'From what I understand, depression is not equivalent to sadness or grief. The latter doesn't stick around for long but depression does. It takes weeks, months or even years to get over it. I still can't believe that I'm having something this childish. Damnit, it's my fault.'