Chương 38: Chapter 36

Battle Complete - Victory! Several hundred undead creatures slain Bakari, Undead Legion Commander - Lv. 90 - Defeated Anubis, God of Death - Lv. 100 - Forced to Retreat Rewards: An absolutely absurd amount of XP & A soul bound companion That notification was immediately followed by several more. Mei ignored all of them, swiping the windows aside as she stalked toward Adam with slow, deliberate steps. Each one somehow felt more threatening than the last.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Adam said, backpedaling until he reached the edge of the oasis.

"I... uh... I..." He desperately wanted to say I did nothing wrong. Unfortunately, he also possessed enough self-preservation instincts to know that statement would only make things worse.

"I'm sorry," he said instead. Mei stopped only a few inches away and slowly raised her hand. Adam flinched and squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for impact. Instead, a sharp pain stabbed through his chest. For one horrifying moment, he was convinced she had murdered him with a dagger through the heart. Then his panic caught up with reality. The bloodletting dagger was still sticking out of his chest. Adam cautiously opened one eye and found Mei holding the blood-soaked blade she'd just pulled free.

She turned it over in her hand, examining the crimson metal with an oddly satisfied smile.

"This is the last part of Bakari's loot," she said.

"Oh." Adam glanced at the knife, then at her face.

"Oh. I see. So... are we good then?"

"No." She slipped the dagger into her inventory and shook her head.

"But we'll handle that later. First, level-up and loot time." As though the system had been waiting for her permission, a flood of notifications exploded across their vision. Experience points poured in so quickly that the numbers became impossible to follow. Then the level-up messages started.

Achievements: (Granessa) - Break an Ancient Curse (Unwillingly): Reward: One-Time Use Curse Removal Stone (Legendary) (Adam) - Reseal an Ancient Cursed Being: Reward: Soul Linked With The Cursed Being Facing a God: You faced a god and lived to tell the tale. Impressive. Reward: Your Life Forced a God to Retreat: Rewards: An Insane Amount of XP & Ears of Anubis (Mythic - Head Gear) Level Up! Granessa Lv. 44 → 65 Player Adam Colt Lv. 41 → 65 Player Mei Mori Lv. 41 → 65 Stat Up!

Granessa - Magic C → B & Strength A → S Player Adam Colt - Dexterity E → D & Luck E → D Player Mei Mori - Magic C → B & Magic B → A"What...?" Adam stared at the stat screen in disbelief.

"I get two D-ranks while you get an A? And what's this?" He jabbed a finger toward Granessa's status.

"An S-rank? I thought those only existed in novels and video games. At this rate we'll leave the tutorial at an absurd level with all S-rank stats." He glanced at Mei.

"Or at least you will." Friendly Reminder: Due to a recent update, all levels and stats will be reset upon exiting the tutorial. Adam and Mei both froze. Then they slowly looked back at the notification.

"Eh?" Mei said.

"When did that change?" The system remained silent. Several seconds passed. Still Nothing. Mei shrugged and returned to inspecting her rewards. Adam, however, continued staring at the message. Tutorials didn't receive updates. At least, not that he'd ever heard of. Yet somehow one appeared immediately after they defeated an impossible hidden boss, resealed an ancient cursed queen, and forced an actual god to retreat. That felt suspicious. Very suspicious.

He couldn't help but wonder if the update had something to do with them. — — — Tutorial Administration Department The Tutorial Administrator stood in front of a wall of screens with a wide grin plastered across his face as newly appointed employees rushed about handling the aftermath of a god descending into a tutorial world. Finally. Finally, he no longer had to spend countless sleepless hours monitoring every tutorial personally. He really had to thank those two.

The other two inside the pseudo-tutorial dungeon as well. If not for the completely unheard-of chain of events those four had stumbled into, he would still be trapped in a useless department performing an equally useless job. But now? Now he had subordinates. Actual subordinates. For the first time in his career, there were people beneath him whose job was to handle all the tedious work he hated doing.

On top of that, he had received a substantial pay raise due to his promotion to Department Head of the Tutorial Administration Department. The Tutorial Administration Department even had a budget now. A budget! His eyes drifted toward the new centerpiece of the room, a massive monitor dedicated exclusively to tracking his two golden geese twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. He couldn't help smiling a little wider.

"Sir, the various tutorials have been successfully updated with the newest patch. We've also sent notifications to all active participants. Reception has been... less than enthusiastic so far. We're currently drafting a proposal to compensate affected Players." One of his new subordinates stepped forward and delivered the report. The man was a Law Coder. Not long ago, the Administrator would have been the one bowing and addressing him as sir. Now the situation was reversed.

"Good," the department head replied.

"Only compensate the lower difficulties, though. Leave Impossible alone. Those two already have enough broken items to last a lifetime. They don't need any more handouts." He paused for a moment.

"Actually, the same goes for those other two. Give them a small bonus, though. Their current situation is partially the Company's fault. That dungeon wasn't supposed to spawn until much later, and even a Region Lord wouldn't be able to clear it with their authority level." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. The subordinate nodded and quickly recorded the instruction. However, he made no move to leave. The department head raised an eyebrow.

"Is there something else?"

"Well, sir... as you know, I transferred here from the Livestream Department." The department head nodded.

"I remember."

"While I was there, I spent some time researching declining viewership across tutorial broadcasts. Most tutorials have seen steady drops in engagement over the last few cycles. However..." His expression became more animated.

"The Impossible Difficulty Tutorial has experienced a massive surge in viewership."

"Yes, I'm aware," the department head said.

"What's your point?"

"My point is that we should capitalize on it." The subordinate stepped closer and gestured toward the monitor displaying Adam and Mei.

"Right now, those participants are generating attention unlike anything we've seen in years. If we package things correctly, we could turn them into the flagship attraction of our newly revitalized department." The department head's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"Go on."

"We all know the Company is heavily focused on the livestream sector. It's the largest department outside of Development and receives the lion's share of resources. If we play this correctly, Tutorial Administration could become more than a maintenance department." The subordinate's voice lowered.

"This might be our best opportunity to compete with them." The department head leaned back in his chair. Compete with the Livestream Department? The idea was undeniably tempting. For as long as he could remember, Tutorial Administration had been treated like an afterthought. A necessary expense rather than an important division. If that changed...

"What exactly are you proposing?" The subordinate smiled.

"So, it goes like this..." For the next hour, he outlined the project in exhaustive detail, covering everything from implementation and logistics to projected growth and revenue potential. By the time he finished, the department head was staring at him with genuine surprise.

"Hmm." He folded his hands together.

"That is certainly an interesting idea. We'll need approval from Development before moving forward. If the concept is viable and the results match your projections..." A smile slowly spread across his face.

"Then I'll promote you to Vice Head of the department and place the entire project under your control." The subordinate's eyes widened.

"Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!" He bowed deeply before hurrying out of the room, already eager to begin the preliminary preparations. The department head watched him leave before glancing back at the screens displaying his two favorite troublemakers.

"What a novel idea..." he muttered." Then he shook his head.

"How did a talent like that end up here?" — — —"We really beat off a god," Mei said dazedly while staring at the new Mythic item sitting in her inventory.

"And it dropped amazing loot."

"Mei, phrasing..." Adam sighed.

"What?" She looked up.

"I'm just saying what happened. We beat the god off until he exploded and left." Adam slowly dragged a hand down his face. There were too many things wrong with that sentence to even begin correcting. Deciding it wasn't worth the effort, he turned toward the final member of their little party.

"So... what's your deal?" he asked Hatshepsut. The former pharaoh had been standing silently off to the side ever since the battle ended. She blinked as though startled by the question.

"I... don't know," she admitted quietly.

"This wasn't how things were supposed to happen." Without the seductive undertone that had colored her voice before, she sounded strangely small. Lost, even.

"Yeah, I'm sure the original plan involved killing us all and riding off happily into the sunset," Adam said dryly.

"Didn't quite work out for you, did it?" Hatshepsut scowled.

"Do you know what it's like to spend an eternity trapped in a place where you can never see the sun?" Neither Adam nor Mei answered.

"Because I do." Her gaze drifted toward the desert beyond the oasis.

"Thousands of years have passed since the day I was torn away from my family and brought to the palace. I was forced into a life I never wanted. I endured humiliation and suffering at the hands of the elderly pharaoh until the day he finally died." Her hands tightened into fists.

"And when he did, they tried to bury me alongside him. They tried to mummify me alive." Adam remained silent as she continued. For the first time since meeting her, she wasn't trying to tempt, manipulate, or threaten anyone. She was simply talking.

"But I fought back. I used my beauty to gather supporters. I convinced young men to rise against the old retainers and place me upon the throne instead." A bitter laugh escaped her lips.

"Do you know what that old monster did in return? Even after death, he refused to let me go." Her expression twisted.

"He cursed me."

"I was doomed to reign forever as a virgin queen. Never to know the touch of a man. Never to bear children. Never to watch another sunrise." The laughter returned, only this time it sounded completely unhinged. Then she collapsed to her knees as tears streamed down her face.

"Y-you see?" she cried.

"This is what I endured! I only wanted to be free!"

"So what?" Mei's response was immediate. Hatshepsut looked up. Mei crossed her arms.

"Just because you had a shitty life doesn't mean you get to torture our friend and nearly kill us." She shook her head with a bland look.

"Nah. I don't think so, bitch." Hatshepsut's expression hardened.

"Save the sob story for somebody else," Mei continued.

"Because it won't work on us." She pointed toward the pyramid beneath them.

"We saw your story. It's painted all over the walls." Adam blinked. The walls? He vaguely remembered the murals they'd passed while being dragged to the top of the pyramid, but at the time he'd been far more concerned with the possibility of being sacrificed. Apparently Mei had actually paid attention.

"You used your beauty to gather supporters and overthrow the old regime. That part was true," Mei said.

"Everything else?" She snorted.

"Bullshit!" Hatshepsut's face twisted.

"You were never some helpless child bride. You were a scheming bitch who used her looks to get exactly what she wanted. The only problem was that you got more than you bargained for when the pharaoh sacrificed his own heart to call down a god and curse you." Adam looked between the two women. Apparently the murals had contained a lot more information than he'd realized. Hatshepsut slowly began to rise to her feet.

"So what if you know?" she hissed.

"I'm still—" Bang! Hatshepsut's body crumpled to the floor, lifeless. Even in death she couldn't hide the surprise of her own demise showing on her face. Blood leaked from a hole between her brows which pooled around her and reflected her unbelieving eyes. Your Soul Bound Companion Has Died. Use one level to revive her? (If you answer "no" she will die, permanently.) Adam stared. Then he looked up. Mei stood over Hatshepsut's corpse wearing a strange dog-eared hat and holding a smoking purple Desert Eagle.

The expression on her face suggested she had simply solved a minor inconvenience. Adam gulped.

"No." The response came surprisingly easily. Hatshepsut's body dissolved into flowing sand. Moments later, all that remained was a small pile of softly glowing loot. There was no victory screen. Adam guessed that, as his soul-bound companion, her death had been categorized as friendly fire. Not that he was going to complain. Mei was already crouched beside the loot pile with stars practically shining in her eyes.

As far as Adam was concerned, there was no universe in which a dead soul-bound companion was worth more than a happy girlfriend. None whatsoever. While Mei happily sorted through the spoils, Adam finally walked over to check on Granessa, who was still recovering from the bloodletting ritual and the battle that followed. Hatshepsut's POV: Patreon Exclusive Artwork (Sorry, gotta recoup the $$$ I spent on this somehow 😅) Click 👆 Artist: 01Neeto https: //x. com/01Neeto