Chương 116: Ch. B1 – Exchange

While I'm processing the new information, Iris asks, "What has happened to Ephran, Geoffrey and Marca? I haven't seen them since the event."

Therese sounds even unhappier, "You had to ask... Marca didn't come back with you from the dungeon, and since time resumed that leaves only one conclusion: she is dead. Though one monster with her appearance assaulted our fortifications, we're not sure what that means, most believe it to be just a coincidence. But, well, Geoffrey was there and did not take well to it. He has been sulking in his room ever since he personally killed that monster. Ephran... was just Ephran. A lot of effort had to be spared to separate him from Chloe and get him to do his work. The less said about that matter the better."

So that really was Marca back then? A pity, we didn't really have a chance to get to know each other.

I want to take this opportunity to finally ask about Elly but my gut tells me to wait. She may be a dear friend but in comparison to the thousands of casualties... I don't want to jinx it but she should be safe, being a spirit and everything.

Darius gets up, "Sorry, but if you're just recapping what I already know then I'll take my leave. I've still got enough other work to do, and it's certainly not getting less. We can continue the rest later."

Therese rolls her eyes, "Fine, it was obvious that listening is not your strong suit. I'll fetch you tomorrow at the usual time."

Darius throws her a stern look, "Therese, please."

She smiles, "Yeah, I'll drop you a summary later."

And with that, Darius leaves the house.

"So back to the topic of the Hybrid class and the connection to... me. If your presumption that it all flows back to me was correct, why is Lucia the one suffering from imminent existence failure while I am fine? Shouldn't the familiars also be connected to her in the same way, so both of us suffer the same way? That I don't understand. Nor why the familiars with the Hybrid class are healthier than the others."

Ms. static noise says something, "T̸h̶a̶t̵'̶s̸ ̷w̷h̴a̸t̵ ̶I̸ ̸w̶a̷n̴t̵ ̷t̷o̴ ̷k̴n̶o̸w̸ ̷a̷s̴ ̷w̴e̶l̵l̶.̷"

It pains me to hear her like that.

Karen explains, "Right, I was getting to that before we got sidetracked. From my current understanding. this is partially Lucia's fault. Officially some of the familiars would belong to her, the rest to you. But I theorize that her subconscious believes that all the familiars belong to you. To make a long story short, through instinctive use of DP and your bond established by the [Unholy Matrimony] skill, she had given ownership over all of her familiars to you. By now, this is an automatic process that she could only stop by using more DP, but, well, she has none left and it is unlikely she will ever again gain some, at least not enough to use it. So no matter what happens, everything will go to you."

I'm puzzled, "How do you even know of DP? By my talk with a certain someone, I understood it to be a well-kept secret. And what's the business with never gaining any ever again?"

At least that is what I understood from that damned lich. There is supposedly a lot of secret stuff to divine classes and DP and whatnot.

Karen answers, "Why, Lucia told me. We ran a few tests and... look. You already know that they are called divine classes, right? They are derived from some kind of divine order. And glitches are... distilled chaos? You can think of them as polar opposites. They are drawn to each other and wipe one another out. Even if people would send their prayers and belief to Lucia now, they would just get deleted from the infected atmosphere before they can reach her. And the infection in her body would eat the rest."

That's too much technobabble for my taste, not that I understood half of it, "Uh, sure, but why am I fine then? Shouldn't I be infected like nobody's business? I only have some mild coughing but I'm not at death's door. Given what you've told me, the result is the opposite of what I'd expect."

You are reading story Deteoh – A Glitched World’s Isekai Story at novel35.com

She discourages me, "You... haven't looked at yourself or your status recently, have you?"

I'm not sure what she could mean. My exterior is defined by the [Disguise], there should be nothing out of the ordinary to see. And my status - I checked it after waking up, it was a bit messed up, but not more than it always was.

Filled with curiosity and dread, I open my menu. Where previously the whole window was as flat as you expect it to be, now - not so much. Some of the buttons are pulsating back and forth, others are jumping around.

Can't you sit still you dumb buttons!?

One of the menu tabs freezes as if in shock and then falls out of the window, shattering on the ground, "What the-"

I touch the shards it left behind, they are real!? What the hell!?

I hold a fragment up, "Does anyone else see this?"

Iris replies, "Yes, what is that?"

"My... menu?", I ask, unsure what I just witnessed. Dadaism got nothing on this.

As if they felt my frustration, the buttons stop running around but still shake. Some of the menu buttons slightly lean into each other as if they were discussing some secret plans, then trade places. Even after reaching what they think are their original positions, they annoyingly won't stop trembling.

Hey, Skills and Settings, you're the wrong way around!!

After my mental outcry, the two tab buttons jump up startled and trade positions but keep shaking as if afraid of me.

Goddamn, this system really needs to finally reach the beta stage. Well, thinking of it as an alpha state might even be too generous, this is barely past a tech demo and would squarely fit in with other early-access products.

Wait, does this mess even have testers in the first place? You look at something funny, it breaks. Gravity is barely a suggestion. You fail a dungeon puzzle and your whole planet suddenly imitates safari town.

What. A. Godforsaken. Mess.

Anyway, what does my status show?

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