Unholy Player-Chapter 141: New Ideas

Marielle, though hesitant at first, couldn’t bring herself to refuse the meal her son had prepared with such care. Slowly, she took her first bite. With each mouthful, she tasted the rich flavor, enjoyed the aroma, and found herself smiling, caught in the strange blend of art and flavor that made breakfast feel almost playful.

The casual, warm conversation between her son and daughter at the table wrapped around her like a soft blanket. And before long, the memories that had been weighing her down faded into the background, allowing her to finish the meal in rare peace.

Adyr looked satisfied. He had always known Marielle was a strong woman. Her work with orphans had not only given her purpose but also kept her mentally resilient. Watching her now, he realized she might recover much faster than he’d anticipated.

As the last of the tea and coffee was sipped and the conversation continued, the fixed-line phone on the wall rang sharply, cutting through the atmosphere.

"I’ll get it, Mom. You sit," Niva said, immediately rising from her chair and heading over to answer. freeweɓnøvel~com

"It’s Niva," she said into the receiver.

But as she listened to the voice on the other end, her cheerful expression shifted—first into a moment of seriousness, then melted into something lighter. She turned back toward the table with a mischievous smile.

"Mom, it’s for you. A friend is calling."

Lately, Marielle had been receiving frequent calls from people checking in on her. The phone rarely stayed silent during power-on hours, except when the blackouts hit. But something about Niva’s tone this time—something in the glint of her eye—suggested this call was different.

"Who is it?" Marielle asked as she got up, noticing the shift, but Niva didn’t answer. She simply handed her the phone.

"This is Marielle," she said, curiosity and apprehension lacing her voice.

A moment later, her expression broke. Shock took over her face. Then tears welled up in her eyes and began rolling down her cheeks as she covered her mouth to stifle a sob.

"Neris... I’m so glad. I really thought..." Her voice faltered as emotion overtook her, but after taking a moment to steady herself, she continued. "Yes, of course. I’ve been meaning to get out anyway. I’ll come by in an hour or two."

They spoke a little longer before she finally hung up the phone.

Niva, watching her closely, stepped forward and hugged her tightly. "Are you going to the orphanage? I’m coming with you. I haven’t seen Sister Neris in forever."

With entertainment nearly nonexistent in this world, Niva’s only real social activity outside of studying and running errands was volunteering at the orphanage with her mother. She had grown close to many people there, and Neris had been one of them.

After what happened during the attack, both of them had assumed Neris hadn’t made it out. But now, the unexpected phone call had brought back a piece of the past they thought lost.

"Yes, of course. She was just rescued recently and wants to check on the children as soon as possible," Marielle said with a warm smile.

Most of the people in the Angel Wing Foundation were the same—individuals who had devoted their lives entirely to charity and caring for children. Since returning home, Marielle had wanted to visit, but the constant medication and her unstable mental state had caused her to put it off. That, and the self-consciousness of showing up in front of the children with a missing arm.

But now, hearing Neris’s voice—alive, calling her back—gave her the resolve she needed.

After hugging her daughter again, Marielle turned to Adyr.

"Would you like to come with us?"

Adyr had occasionally accompanied them in the past, and somehow, he always got along well with children. She thought he might want to join this time, too.

But Adyr shook his head.

"I would, but I have things to take care of at the headquarters. Maybe another time."

He couldn’t afford to stay dormant in the other world for too long, especially with the situation in the city still unresolved. He needed to be there in case things went wrong.

More importantly, he was certain Neris—and likely the Boy—would recognize him if he showed up. And he had no interest in dealing with the emotional fallout or drama that would follow.

"Okay," Marielle said, not pushing further. She could see he’d been unusually busy lately.

After spending a little more time talking and sipping hot drinks, Adyr left the house as the vehicle and driver he had arranged earlier arrived to take him to the headquarters.

He hadn’t slept at all, though it didn’t matter. His mutant body required very little rest now, and with one body active while the other rested, even that limited need was more than covered.

Upon arriving at the headquarters, he went straight to his room. Before diving back into the game, he wanted to browse the forums for a while and reorganize the shop categories to identify items that might be useful later.

He powered on his computer and browsed the forum. As expected, there was no free information being shared, but it gave him a general sense of where the other players stood.

Activity was noticeably lower than before, likely because players were still dying, and the overall number continued to shrink with each passing day.

The ones who remained were naturally the most adaptable, the most capable.

He noticed a surprising number of players had already completed their first evolution steps. In fact, when he entered the shop section, he saw that a few players had even begun selling directly. Most notably, someone had listed energy crystals for sale.

The price, however, was astronomical.

Only ten units were available, and even the cheapest was listed at over 500 merit each. Considering Adyr had earned 6,000 crystals after spending just a little over 300 merit, the absurdity of it made him chuckle.

He continued exploring the shop section, gradually building a categorized list of items that could be sold in exchange for crystals.

Instead of raw materials, he focused on refined resources and technology-based items.

It was clear the other world didn’t lack raw materials—if anything, it had a surplus—but their capacity to process them was limited, and their technological expertise was nearly nonexistent in the region he is in. This gave Adyr a considerable advantage.

The research sparked a new idea.

If he could acquire rare, functional materials or metals from the other world—items this world didn’t have—and have them processed here using local expertise, the resulting products could be both useful and profitable. He could then sell them back in the game world.

He had access to an entire headquarters filled with some of the most talented and skilled researchers. The only thing they lacked was proper resources.

"I’m becoming a merchant," Adyr said with a small laugh. And it wasn’t a bad idea. In fact, it had the potential to bring in massive profits.

He also still had the 50% discount coupon, and he intended to spend it wisely.

When he checked his profile from his wristband, he saw that his merit had increased from 870 to 930. But that was just from the residual bonuses earned by previously submitted intel. The real reward Adyr was waiting for was still pending—the Spark he had extracted from Cannibal’s body, which he still carried with him.

Henry had yet to reach out about it.

That was, until his doorbell rang—and the screen above the door displayed an elderly-looking man in a researcher’s uniform.

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