Chapter 63: 63. Manipulator

"Riki, stop embarrassing us. Don’t you feel sorry for us your uncle and aunty?"

Riki snorted at his aunt’s words. They had been like this all along. Manipulating Riki’s mind so that he would feel bad, feel guilty, until he finally obeyed the words of those jerks.

"So, I’m the one who’s wrong now? Am I wrong for stating a fact? Besides, what’s the point of you coming to me if you’re not asking for money? I already know your situation. You went bankrupt because you couldn’t manage the business. That company was built by my father with great effort. He was dedicated to his work. But you came and said it wasn’t fair that my father could be successful and you couldn’t. My kind father took you in, hired uncle there. But what did uncle do? He collaborated with my father’s enemies to bring him down—"

SMACK!

A loud slap was heard.

Riki just stood there as his aunt raised her hand high to slap him. He even knew he was going to be slapped, but he didn’t fight back.

Riki smiled, then chuckled. It made them feel offended.

Suddenly, Selene approached the old woman and slapped her back.

Everyone was surprised to see this, including the audience who had become absorbed in the exciting domestic drama.

Like a telenovela full of intrigue.

Riki took advantage of the moment to gain public sympathy.

He even remained silent when he saw someone recording the incident from the beginning.

Riki lived in an elite apartment. The people who lived there were certainly wealthy.

Among them were several social media influencers.

His uncle and aunt were very wrong to approach Riki without thinking twice. But, well... Riki knew his uncle and aunt never did that.

Think twice.

"You... who are you to dare slap me like this?" shouted the old woman.

Selene smiled broadly upon hearing this, then took Riki’s arm.

"I am Riki’s older sister! I mean, his cousin! I won’t let anyone hurt him. You’re lucky because Riki won’t hurt a woman, but I can take Riki’s place and do it for him."

"Cousin? Riki’s cousin is my daughter, Sofie, not you!"

Selene burst out laughing, "You didn’t know? If I’m the daughter of Riki’s mother’s sister, that also makes me his cousin? Don’t act stupid, I’m Riki’s cousin!"

"ENOUGH!!"

Suddenly, Riki’s uncle shouted, his face red with anger.

He must have felt very embarrassed by the situation.

"Let’s go now! This ignorant nephew wants to embarrass us."

Riki grinned, then laughed out loud, causing them to look at him again.

"Uncle, we can talk again later, but not here... maybe — in court?"

The man walked away, looking so angry that he could explode at any moment.

"Let’s go, Sofie!"

But the girl just stood there, looking like she could cry at any moment.

"Hurry up, come here!" Sofie’s mother pulled Sofie’s arm, urging her to follow them quickly.

Sofie looked back at Riki again, as if to say she needed help.

But what could Riki do? He didn’t hate Sofie, but he couldn’t just help her without a clear reason.

Without a word, Riki, Sean, and Selene took the elevator to Riki’s apartment.

Even when they entered the apartment, they remained silent.

Riki, feeling strange, looked at his cousins one by one.

"Are you guys okay?" asked Riki.

Sean looked at Riki with an incredulous gaze, "We should be the ones asking that question. Are you okay after all that? That was crazy! I couldn’t even speak when I saw someone who was supposed to be your relative—ugh... sorry, I forgot that humans are like that. Even my stepmother wasn’t nice to me," said Sean. He leaned his back against the sofa and closed his eyes. Too many things had happened, filling his mind.

"Riki, if only we had known about your situation sooner, then we might have been able to help you," replied Selene.

Riki laughed when he heard that, then he gently stroked Selene’s hair.

"No, don’t say things like that. Besides, your situation isn’t much better than mine, right?"

Sean and Selene agreed with that. The three of them had their own difficulties. It would have been almost impossible to meet if not for that day.

"I’m going to rest first. You guys rest too. There are other rooms here, so feel free to use them. Sean has stayed here before, so just ask him if you need anything," said Riki. Then he went straight into his room without looking back.

Selene stared at Sean, sitting very close to him. Their faces were only about ten centimeters apart.

Sean pushed his twin’s forehead.

"Keep your face away from me!"

"How did you meet Riki first?"

"It’s a complicated story. If I hadn’t met Riki at that time, I might be dead now."

Selene was shocked to hear this. "Seriously? Hurry up and tell me what happened!"

"But I’m sleepy..."

"Come on..."

***

Riki woke up thirsty. As he sat up slowly and leaned his head against the headboard, he felt dizzy.

"Ugh, what’s wrong with me?" Riki muttered hoarsely.

[It seems you have a fever, master]

"Then give me some medicine."

[I can’t]

Riki furrowed his brow, "What?"

[You have a fever because there is too much magical energy in your body]

[As you know, humans on Earth don’t have that kind of magical energy, it’s very rare]

[In fact, there is a lot of magical energy around you, or inside the Earth!]

[You just need to release it little by little so you can recover]

[You can choose several ways to get rid of your fever]

[The first is to reduce the magical energy by fighting directly. You can go somewhere to hunt monsters—]

"Hurry up and do something! My head is spinning! It feels so hot!" Riki felt like his body was burning, but he was fine.

[The system will transport you to Etheria]

"Huh? Wait—Ethe what?"

Before Riki could finish his question, he found himself in a vast grassland.

He no longer felt dizzy or hot. Instead, he felt very light and refreshed.

[In Etheria, you won’t feel feverish, but you still have to defeat the monsters that come at you]

[What weapon would you like to use?]

Riki was confused for a moment.

"Is this like in a game? Wow! I want a sword!"

[You have obtained a fire magic sword. Channel your magical energy into the sword and slash your enemies]

[You will earn money for each hunt]

Riki ran, using his lightning-fast skill, he could move here and there with ease.

Just as he entered the forest, he found a large black snake.

[Black Mamba King]

Riki tried to channel his magical energy, his sword blazing, but Riki’s hand wasn’t burned.

He swung his sword with lightning speed as well.

[Black Mamba King defeated, you get $500,000!]

It wasn’t just the big black snake. Several other terrifying monsters came.

Riki, who had learned to play games, felt very happy.

It was almost like the game Zeno and Kaivan were making. Zeno forced Riki to try the game, and he also taught Riki how to play. But, according to Zeno, there were many flaws in it.

According to Riki, Zeno should try fighting directly like Riki to find out what was missing.

Because Riki was having fun slaying all the monsters in front of him at that time.

With lightning-fast skills, he moved quickly and attacked just as fast.

[You have defeated the Goblin King, your reward is 200,000$!]

[You have defeated the poisonous black spider, your reward is 300,000$!]

[You have defeated the Red Boar, your reward is 250,000$!]

Riki couldn’t stop, he kept attacking, not allowing his enemies the slightest opening. He thought it was all a game, that there would only be dangerous monsters inside.

But suddenly, he saw a group of humans also fighting monsters.

They were poisonous spiders, just like the ones Riki had fought before.

[Will you help them?]

[You will receive double the reward if you successfully help them]

Riki nodded, then quickly moved towards them. In a flash, he defeated the poisonous black spider monster.

[You have helped a group of lost adventurers]

[Your reward is $600,000]

Wait a minute, was he in the real world?

[You are not on Earth, but in another world, and yes, this is all real]

[They are humans like you]

[The system has enabled you to speak and understand their language]

Before Riki could recover from his shock, a girl came and hugged Riki tightly while crying loudly.

Everyone in the group was also crying loudly.

But Riki saw that two people were seriously injured.

[Will you buy the high-level healing potion?]

Yes.

[2000$ has been taken, your potion is in your pants pocket]

Riki took out the potion bottle and gave it to the girl.

"Here, give this to your two injured friends. I have to go," said Riki.

"Wait a minute, who are you? And where can I meet you again?" asked the girl.

Riki smiled at her, "I’m Riki, but I’m not sure I’ll see you again."

After that, Riki ran off again, unable to stay in one place.