Chương 80: Isaac loves upgrades
- Bang!
The sound of gunshots rang through Isaac's ear as his eyes locked on to the decaying body of what seemed like the corrupted body of a human.
Looking coldly at the previously sane person moments ago before he transformed into a monster resembling a werewolf, Isaac frowned.
He looked at his hands and saw that he was holding two things— one was a gigantic scythe whose sharpness could easily slash into the flesh of its victims, and another was a modified Blunderbuss gun.
- Awoo!
- Bang!
On this night covered by the crimson veil of the moon, all Isaac heard were the cries of the beasts as other Hunters following him hunted them down with their Trick Weapons and Guns.
Not a single word escaped the mouths of each hunter present in this nightly hunt— only the gruesome sound of their weapons ripping off bloody flesh from the monsters echoed throughout the streets of the decaying city of Yharnam.
Isaac then looked up, only to see the crimson-red moon shining down on him, providing a bloody backdrop for their hunt.
"When will this end, Laurence?" Isaac's mouth moved on its own without his control, uttering a sentence as if lamenting. "These beasts... Are never-ending."
"Trust the process, Gehrman." Beside Isaac, a man clad in white garb spoke calmly as he watched the hunters take down monsters. "I will soon... make contact with 'Flora', and offer a proposal to them that will put an end to this horrible nightmare."
"Until then, continue hunting, Gehrman." The man named Laurence said with a solemn voice as he looked at Isaac. "I believe we will achieve our goal through this. Have faith."
After saying this, Laurence turned his back and walked away, disappearing from Isaac's view.
The latter, on the other hand, looked at the dark city in front of him, which had horrible monsters hiding in the dark, awaiting their next victim.
Holding tightly to his scythe and gun, Isaac swung his scythe first before resting it on top of his left shoulder. With his gun in his right hand, he paused for a moment before jumping down the rooftop which he was at.
With nothing but strong conviction and responsibility to hunt the monsters of the night, Isaac silently muttered a sentence to himself.
"A Hunter... Must Hunt."
As Isaac reached the bottom of the building he was at, the darkness beneath him slowly engulfed him, and once he arrived at the bottom, the silhouettes of various werewolf monsters looked at him.
However, even at the sight of this, Isaac's expression never changed. Instead, fierceness appeared in his eyes as he changed postures. He then whispered to himself:
"What a terrible Nightmare..."
After saying this, Isaac dived straight into the beasts. Before he could witness it though, his vision suddenly cracked as if a glass was shattered.
Before Isaac could even start ripping the flesh from the beasts, his vision suddenly darkened as the cracks grew.
---
[Quest reward implementation completed.]
[Cafe interior has been upgraded.]
[Memories of Yharnam's First Hunter (1/4) successfully implanted.]
[Your skill, Evernight, grew more compatible with you.]
"..." Isaac, who was lying down on his bed, looked at the system notification floating in front of him. His eyes, slightly moist and tired, looked at the notifications silently before he let out a sigh. "That... wasn't a pleasant feeling..."
"My head... hurts..."
'I for sure didn't dream of that scene...' Remembering what had happened earlier, Isaac put his hand over his forehead as he tried to rationalize his chaotic thoughts. 'That was definitely Gehrman's memories during the Scourge of the Beasts...'
His mind still in turmoil, Isaac slowly lifted himself from the bed and sat upright.
He then looked at his hand, opened it, and closed it as if he was testing something. He then closed his eyes. 'This is reality.'
"That memory felt a bit too real... I could still even recall the stench of the blood in the air." Isaac sighed softly as he let his arm down. He then stared up at the ceiling. "..."
For a few minutes, Isaac just laid down his bed and didn't do anything. However, he soon let out a low groan as if releasing his frustration.
"Well... Since I gained a portion of Gehrman's memories, I should have also gained a portion of his experience, right?" Wanting to test this theory, Isaac plans to go outside for a bit.
However, just as he was about to leave his bed, his sense of balance became disoriented due to still adapting from the memory given by the system. 'Ah sh—'
He was about to fall from the side of his bed when suddenly, his body reflexively reacted fast and his hand stopped his fall.
"What the... Huh?" Isaac was just about to wonder about his body's sudden movement when he realized another matter. "Uhh...?"
Isaac looked at his room and noticed something off. He then immediately got the answer—
He was upside down. More specifically, his one hand singlehandedly lifted his whole body while he stayed still.
"...erm..." Looking down— or rather— up, Isaac saw his whole body balance itself perfectly still. Faced with this, a wry smile appeared on his face. "That's... New..."
Controlling his body, Isaac slowly took control of his muscles and, slowly, he put himself down on the floor. After doing this, he stood up straight and pondered over this matter.
"Well... That should answer my question. I did have good reflexes, but they were never that extreme." He commented. "I should... Take this moment to get familiar with my body again..."
After Isaac said this, he sat down on his bed and started meditating while doing small tasks like manually breathing and moving his fingers and toes, gradually regaining full control of his body.
After what seemed like minutes, Isaac finally felt settled and opened his eyes.
"That should do it." He smirked as he moved his fingers. He then continued to mutter to himself, "By the looks of it, my body seems to have developed an instinct to protect itself... Albeit extremely."
"Not only that, but I also seem to have grasped some bits of knowledge about guns and fighting styles..." He added.
"I bet I'd do well with a scythe or something." He joked to himself, letting out a small chuckle.
Looking out the window in his room, Isaac saw the rays of sunlight going through the glass, bathing his room with light.
He then turned his head and looked at the clock. "Hm, Eight in the morning... I slept too much."
Realizing this, Isaac stood up and looked around his room for a bit before deciding to clean himself. "I should go take a shower first. After that, it's another day for the café."
After muttering this, Isaac did just that
---
After taking a bath, Isaac decided that it was time to have a quick breakfast. He went downstairs and opened the door to the kitchen.
"...oh?" However, when he entered, he immediately noticed something different. "This... When did this place get bigger?"
The kitchen was now twice as big as it previously was. Moreover, there are also new tools and equipment present that weren't there before.
"This must be the upgrade the system mentioned..." Isaac said to himself as he went around and inspected the expanded kitchen. "There weren't any changes upstairs... So I'm guessing the upgrade only happened here."
After checking the kitchen, Isaac once more opened a door leading to the counter of the cafe.
When he opened the door, it was as he had expected. Upon seeing the changes, a small gasp escaped his mouth. "Woah..."
The cafe was now bigger, and could now accommodate more tables. Just like the kitchen, it had grown twice as wide inside. Of course, Isaac's counter also expanded, with new equipment appearing like two more brewing machines.
"Since it was only an interior upgrade, I'm guessing the cafe outside still looks the same..." Thinking of this, a troubled expression appeared on Isaac's face. "The customers would undoubtedly notice the changes..."
Thinking over this matter, Isaac pondered for a few moments before letting out a small sigh.
"Ah, whatever— I'll just tell them that I got a mysterious sigil from someone from Liyue." Isaac scratched the back of his head. "That should be a good reason."
Liyue's Adepti were known to create artificial spaces as their abodes and can alter the space inside them by either expanding or shrinking them.
As such, an excuse like a random sigil from Liyue was enough for Isaac to use as an excuse.
Moving on from this matter, Isaac set his eyes on the new cafe. He then smiled with vigor. "Alright... Let's start a new day."
After saying this, Isaac started cleaning up the newly expanded cafe, while also placing down new tables and chairs from the system's store function.
He made sure to keep the cafe's comfortable atmosphere as cozy as possible by adding warm lighting. It was basically just Isaac's normal cafe but with more tables now.
Finally, after cleaning up and renovating the new cafe, he walked over to the door and flipped the sign open.
Afterward, he returned to his counter and started preparing his morning coffee.
"I should try my new Gehrman abilities later in the woods... That would be fun." Isaac, who was pouring hot water in his cup, muttered to himself. "Hah... This reward is so useful. With this, my defense has gone up once more."
Another layer of defense to preserve his life was always welcomed by Isaac. Previously, he wasn't good at hand-to-hand combat, but now, he was positive that he could take on any normal person that he crossed paths with under normal circumstances.
Ding~
Just then, the bell of the door chimed, indicating that a new customer had appeared.
"Welcome." Turning his head, Isaac looked at his customer. However, he soon immediately recognized who it was. "Oh my, if it isn't Miss Navia!"
"Good morning, Mademoiselle." Isaac said with a courteous smile, welcoming her. "You're early today... And you don't seem to be accompanied by your usual entourage?"
"That's right, Silver and Melus are currently unaware of my location." Navia, who was wearing a casual outfit and a pair of sunglasses, nodded her head. She then took off her glasses, revealing her beautiful blue eyes. "However, I believe it won't be long before they track me down."
"Hm? Did you sneak out or something? Or did you do something that would make you want to avoid them?" Isaac, curious about her current situation, asked. He then decided to humorously tease her. "Gosh, I hope you didn't do anything illegal, mademoiselle. Oh, to be an accomplice..."
"Haha, that's a nice joke, Monsieur Isaac." Finding Isaac's sarcastic acting funny, Navia chuckled. She then walked over to the counter with a soft smile. "But unfortunately, I didn't do anything of sorts. I merely wanted to act independently for today."
"Hm? Why's that?" Upon hearing her reason, Isaac raised an eyebrow.
Navia, who was looking at Isaac, opened her mouth and was about to say something when she suddenly stopped. "Well..."
She then paused for a moment and entered what seemed like a moment of contemplation.
Isaac didn't interrupt her and merely remained stationary, while also making his cup of coffee.
After a few moments, however, Navia finally made up her mind and spoke. "Say, Isaac, you were Lady Furina's assistant for a time, right?"
"Indeed." Isaac softly smiled as he agreed to her question. He then continued, boasting. "I was quite good at it. My side job of being a private investigator helped me a lot."
"An investigator..." Upon hearing this, Navia's mind churned as her eyes blinked twice before she smiled brightly. "That's it... This could work!"
She then placed both of her hands on the counter and locked eyes with Isaac. She then smiled at him. "Monsieur Isaac, I want to hire you!"
'Why am I getting déjà vu...' Isaac looked back at Navia with a wry smile and quickly responded. "Well... What do you need me for, exactly?"
"Will you promise you won't tell anyone?" She said as she continued to have a staring contest with Isaac. "Not even with Lady Furina?"
"I promise." Isaac, not wanting to lose in what seemed like a staring contest, nodded his head. "Confidentiality is also the name of the game to us private investigators."
"Yeah? Alright..." Receiving Isaac's reply, Navia looked around for a bit before leaning in closer to him and whispering, "Actually, the reason I wanted to be independent today is because..."
"I believe I found the Masked Clown." She said, with conviction present in her eyes. "As well as... The painting of Lady Furina he stole."
"..." Isaac, upon hearing this, maintained his curious look. However, deep down, he was chuckling to himself. 'Oh... Right.'
'I did leave out clues for that painting... To think that it was Navia who found it first.' Isaac smirked internally. Finding this development entertaining, he continued to ponder. 'Well, since I've already been invited...'
'It wouldn't hurt to observe her as she figured out the puzzle, right?'
And so starts the partnership of the president of the Spina Di Rosula and the owner of a humble cafe.
* * *
A/N:
Koro, holding a gun, pointed at the author named Unusual as he spoke calmly.
"Share the invite code to the server."
The author of a crack fic, Unusual, looked back at him and replied, "But what's the point? Besides providing notifications when I upload a new chapter, our server is long dead."
"That's because you let it die. You never invite new members and you barely come online to start a conversation." Wiz, another person present at the scene, said as he loaded his rifle. He then pointed it at Unusual. "Me, Paragon, Wiz, SEEKER, Koro, Dust, Inchel, and Sticko are the only ones talking in this gravesite."
"But you can still bring it back to life." Wiz continued to speak. "Share the code in your next release, Unusual."
"That way... We can bring this realm of death back to life with fresh newcomers."
"Gathering all of us here just to revive this place... You've got some wild ideas, Wiz." SEEKER, a person sitting not far away, commented. "But next time, don't call (Ping) all of us at once. It's childish. Do you have brain rot or something?"
Wiz: 💔
"Our server is toxic— full of schizos, emos, and racists who may or may not be joking," Koro said while looking at Unusual. He then smiled softly, "But that's what makes it fun."
"So, Unusual, would you share the code?"
Faced with all the active members in the server he controls, Unusual paused for a moment as he deeply pondered the answer.
Then, after a few moments, he opened his mouth. "Then let us flood the gates once more."
"Those who want to join this chaotic amalgamation of inactive members, sudden schizophrenic conversations, and degenerate things..." Unusual listed all the possible dangers present in his server as his eyes looked at the current active members surrounding him. "Shall decide whether they'll stay or not."
"Bored readers are welcome to join in, and authors who want to share and promote their work can also come." Unusual said as he adjusted his thin-rimmed glasses while looking at the Silhouette of another member named Paragon.
"Then share it." Finally, at the back of the dark room, the visage of Inchel smirked. "Share the code, Unusual. Unleash chaos and watch as it burns and turns to ashes—and eventually pathetically returns to what it previously was... A dead server."
"This server was passed down to you, so be a proper Administrator. You alone have the sole full control of this place... So watch it grow and fall."
Upon hearing this, Unusual paused for a moment before finally uttering the code for the passage to his server.
"Discord . com / invite / Q7JnFk3ckp."
"Abandon all hope... All ye who enter here."
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