Nadia reacted instantly once more.
’’Nope,’’ she said, shaking her head. ’’That’s not happening.’’
Her answer came so fast, Theo barely had time to even turn towards her.
’’Besides, I’ve already agreed to guide two groups there,’’ she said, folding her arms. ’’And all of that happened because we couldn’t be sure of your payment.’’
Theo frowned slightly.
Before he could respond, Yusuf let out a quiet chuckle.
"Those are both large expeditions," he said calmly. "Surely five more people won’t make much of a difference."
Nadia immediately shook her head again.
"It does when those five people need to be kept alive," she shot back. "The other experts wouldn’t be happy with that in the slightest."
Yusuf simply smiled.
He quietly stared at his daughter for several long seconds.
Nadia held his gaze without backing down.
The room gradually fell silent.
Finally, she let out a long, exaggerated sigh before pushing herself up from her chair.
"Fine."
She raised one hand dismissively as she turned to walk away.
’’But I won’t be responsible if any of you somehow get yourselves killed.’’
With that, she left the room and slammed the door shut behind her.
For a moment, silence fell inside.
All eyes slowly turned back to Yusuf, who was scratching his cheek awkwardly.
’’There’s still two weeks left...’’ he said weakly. ’’I’m sure she’ll come around before that.’’
Theo also couldn’t help but smile wryly.
’’I hope so,’’ he said awkwardly.
After several seconds, Yusuf stood up.
He quickly guided them upstairs, pointing out the two spare rooms to them.
There wasn’t much discussion amongst the group.
The girls naturally claimed one room, leaving the other to Theo, Jim, and Owen.
’’Damn this country,’’ Owen cursed as he unpacked his clothes in the other room. ’’Ever since getting here, everything’s only been going bad.’’
Jim chuckled beside him.
He stopped unfurling his sleeping bag for a moment and glanced up at Owen.
’’Looking from this closely,’’ he started tauntingly. ’’Your head does seem kinda big.’’
Owen froze in place.
His head slowly started turning towards Jim.
The second Jim saw his face, he couldn’t help but burst out laughing before quickly running to the other side of the room.
’’You motherfucker!’’ Owen cursed loudly.
As the two messed around, Theo continued unpacking his own stuff while occasionally chuckling.
That was until he opened up the system window.
[Would You Rather cooldown: 00:03:47]
His expression changed for a split second.
’Already?’ he thought, caught off guard. ’I didn’t even notice how fast time passed by...’
The timer continued ticking down second after second.
Without another word, Theo glanced up at the other two.
Owen currently had Jim locked in a headlock while the latter desperately tried to pry his arm loose.
Letting out a soft sigh, Theo cleared his throat loudly before pointing at the door.
’’Can you guys leave me alone for a few minutes?’’ he asked. ’’I need to do something.’’
Owen narrowed his eyes, his arms not budging even slightly around Jim’s neck.
’’And what are we supposed to do?’’ he asked.
Theo simply shrugged.
’’Go kick rocks for all I care,’’ he replied. ’’I just need you out of this room.’’
For a moment, Owen remained quiet.
Then he clicked his tongue loudly.
’’Of course,’’ he said, letting go of Jim.
Jim immediately let out a deep breath as he straightened his collar.
Only a second later, Owen grabbed it once more from behind.
’’We’ll be back later,’’ he said before pulling Jim out alongside him.
Within moments of the door clicking shut, everything fell silent.
Theo slowly sat down on his sleeping bag.
’Finally, some peace and quiet,’ he thought, staring at the blue screen. ’Now I can make a proper decision.’
The remaining minute quickly ticked down.
[Would You Rather cooldown: 00:00:21]
Theo’s lips slowly curved up into a wide smile.
’It’s time,’ he thought. ’Let’s see what you have to offer me this time!’
Before long, the cooldown hit zero.
DING!
A broad golden screen immediately unfolded in front of him.
[Would You Rather——]
Option A: Pee dry sand for a week to receive five hundred million dollars.
Option B: Have an incredibly annoying high-pitched voice for a week to greatly reduce the effects of all sound-based attacks.
Option C: Be teleported to the bottom of the ocean for two minutes every day for a week to be able to breathe underwater.
Option D: Be teleported to a random stranger’s bathroom for ten minutes every day for a week to receive perfect stealth.
———
Theo’s bright eyes instantly lost all their luster.
Just the first option alone left him in complete and utter terror.
’’What the actual fuck?!’’ he almost shouted. ’’I’d rather die!’’
For several more seconds, he stared at the screen in disbelief.
As his gaze flickered between the first and last options, he couldn’t help but shake his head.
’What kind of psychopath made this system?’ he thought. ’I know you can hear me, System. Speak up!’
Nothing happened...
After several more seconds, Theo finally turned back to the options.
’Alright... calm down,’ he thought, forcing himself to ignore the ridiculous options. ’Which one between those two is better?’
The second option seemed interesting.
He could simply not talk for a week and he’d be more than fine.
But the reward from the third option was something he’d wanted for a long, long time.
’Breathing underwater,’ he thought. ’And the punishment isn’t too bad either...’
As long as he didn’t drown in those two minutes, it would be easily manageable.
After a moment, he nodded once to himself.
’’I choose Option C.’’
DING!
The golden screen flickered.
[Reward Selected.]
[The first Daily Dive will begin in twenty seconds...]
Theo’s eyes twitched just seeing the name.
’’Certainly brings back some memories,’’ he muttered through gritted teeth.
Before he could think any further, another line appeared beneath it.
[Warning: To conserve energy for a future reward, the system will not provide protection during this Daily Dive. Please hold your breath.]
’’...’’
Theo stared at the sentence for several long seconds.
’’You son of a bitch.’’
Only a moment later, he sucked in as much air as possible.
WHOOSH!
His body vanished in an instant.