My Evil System

". . . Huh?"

Athena ignored the wrinkles on my face. "Think about it, my Lord. With your ATP, the beasts here aren\'t a match for you. However, one wrong stab of a poison and you\'ll die with eyes rolling in the back of your head and saliva foaming from your mouth."

". . . Egh." I suddenly remembered that woman named Ruka and shuddered.

"And with the apocalyptic event, Blood Rain, coming you needed to secure your health all the more."

". . ." I pondered her words seriously, and all of what she said was true.

I didn\'t have a healer with me and definitely didn\'t have an antidote from all these poisons and whatnot.

I needed to have somebody to take care of that.

"Also," Athena added, "I will remind my Lord that the grades of Tokens dictate the aesthetic of a structure. For example, if you order a grade A and below builder to build a simple animal barn, it would look like wood put up together by an amateur worker.

"However, if you ordered an S and higher grade builder to make that animal pen, it would ignore the design of the blueprint and make it according to the overall theme of your Kingdom. And sometimes, an added feature would be included.

"Although you can have the lower grade barn upgraded by a much higher grade master Builder in the future."

I opened my mouth, but Athena beat me to it.

"Another thing, my Lord. The levels in the blueprint just meant that it could be upgraded until it reached its max. And the amount of time to finish it depended on your builder\'s grade. A much higher grade Builder would finish it in no time."

". . ." I was going to ask about upgrades, but she had already answered.

And I get it — no need to repeatedly slap the builder on my face.

"I see . . . I\'ll take that in mind," I said instead.

Currently, I have an SS, S, A, and B token. Should I choose a builder and a physician with the higher grade token?

Then something clicked in my mind. And since we are building, we also needed workers. A lumberjack, Miner, and workers for foraging and stuff . . . Hmm . . . but I was missing Tokens. Lots of them.

I skimmed my jawline and looked to the side. I think that wouldn\'t be a problem since I could also forage. With my ATP, I think I could smash boulders into stones.

<Host needed a hammer for that. You can\'t smash boulders and stones, hoping to turn them into stone blocks. Likewise, you can\'t chop logs with your hands and hope they will turn into lumbers. You need an axe for that. Though you could forage trees for logs and boulders for stones. But to turn them into their final processed form, you need tools.>

It sounded complicated. Best if I just remember to have an axe and hammer in my inventory. Where would I get these things . . . wait . . .

A grin made its way to my lips, and I looked at Athena.

"I made up my mind."

"I am merely an advisor. The final decision is yours," she said like she read my mind.

What a scary woman.

I stepped away from Athena to give room for the incoming beings to aid me in my conquest of self-preservation.

By the way, system, since the other players also have Tokens, can they summon another Athena? I asked in my mind as I looked at the Tokens in my hands.

<No. Tokens are one of a kind. It couldn\'t summon the same being twice>

I see. How about blueprints?

<Blueprints can be replicated how many times you need them. What\'s more, if you destroy a village, town, or Kingdom in your conquest for world domination, buildings in that territory that aren\'t available in yours would appear before you in the form of a blueprint>

I see. Like what happened when Little Piggy destroyed Euclid village, all its facilities became available to me in the form of blueprints.

<What\'s more, if those Kingdoms or towns have summoned Tokens, those summoned Tokens would belong to you as a spoil of war since you conquered their territory>

It\'s like the Token\'s master is the territory and not the one who summoned it. Was that right?

<Summoned beings are restricted by territory, after all. They needed a domain to exist. That is the rule they were placed upon to be summoned into this world>

However, I didn\'t have any territory yet.

<Exception to the rules are first-time players who first time summoned their Token. However, after one month, you must build your own territory or join an existing one for your summoned Token to stay with you, or they will go back to their world>

Joined a territory?

<There are numerous Kingdoms in Nordland, all fighting for supremacy and resources>

What happened to your Summon Tokens if you joined this . . . other territories?

<Your summoned Tokens will still belong to you. Inhabitants in this world couldn\'t acquire Tokens and blueprints. It is only available to players>

So that meant that players were sought after by these Kingdoms?

<Sort of>

Except for this village that wanted the players to be sacrificed to their God. I thought.

<Only Kingdoms and larger territories are in need of players. Small Villages like this in the unknown didn\'t need players to begin with. They purely rely on what is available to them whereas a Kingdom and Town have bigger population to preserve>

I see . . .

I briefly looked over at Athena, who was looking at me with dull eyes and a much duller face.

She seemed not happy being summoned, though. I thought and grinned.

Not my problem.

She must have wanted to go back to her world since she didn\'t mention this stuff to me.

If the system didn\'t tell me about this one month grace period, she would surely keep quiet until the one month was up and she would go back to where she came from.

Too bad for her . . . I already found out and I wasn\'t planning on sending her back anytime soon.

I broke all four Tokens together and chose the Professions that popped on my screen.

ǁ SS – G R A D E T O K E N ǁ

<Master Builder>

⃝ Daedalus

Master Crafter and Builder of Ancient Times

● can build any Blueprints

● can build uncomplicated things without Blueprints

● can influence other Architects/Builders

● all lower grade Architect/Builder increased by 1 grade

● All building time ↓50%

ǁ E N D ǁ

ǁ S – G R A D E T O K E N ǁ

<Alchemist>

⃝ Ulysses

The Legendary wandering Alchemist

● can concoct any Recipes

● can concoct simple potions without Recipes

● can influence other Alchemist

● All brewing time ↓20%

ǁ E N D ǁ

ǁ A – G R A D E T O K E N ǁ

< Miner>

⃝ Iskemo

A veteran miner that gets the job done.

● mined items increased by ↑10%

● mining time decreased ↓10%

ǁ E N D ǁ

ǁ B – G R A D E T O K E N ǁ

<Lumberjack>

⃝ Coco

A somewhat skilled lumberjack

● trees cut increased by ↑5%

● trees cut time decreased ↓by 5%

ǁ E N D ǁ

Four lights flashed from the sky and shot to the ground below. After the blinding light, four figures presented themselves with one knee in the mud.

The rain was getting heavier, and the fog was starting to settle. I pried upon the appearance of the four figures.

Iskemo and Coco were Halflings. Iskemo had a human face but had goat horns and feet. While Coco had cat ears and tails and whiskers on his upper lip.

Ulysses was a gloomy man whose face was hidden under the hood of his long cloak. He was shrouded with a mysterious air, and no limbs were seen from his long airy sleeves.

And the last . . . Daedalus . . . my master builder . . . kneeling in the height of a man with a body of boulders enclosed in layers after layers of rocks.

A . . . golem?

Or so I saw in the pictures.

"Greetings, my name is Daedalus, master crafter and builder in ancient times. The one who summoned me into this world, what is it that you want me to call you?"

Daedalus\'s voice was raspy and crunchy in the ears while Ulysses was deep and . . . creepy –– in a mysterious way.

"Greetings, my name is Ulysses, the legendary wandering alchemist. The one who summoned me into this world, what is it that you want me to call you?"

And the other two, I just ignored them.

"Rise. You all can call me My Lord."

"Yes, my Lord!" they said in unison.

I cracked my head from side to side while I rubbed my wrists.

"Well then. Now that introduction is out of the way . . . it\'s time to build my home."

"Shall we?" I grinned.