Chapter 227 - 4.53

[Operation Rescue the Host has officially begun!]

[A short recap of what the Host went through.. Haa, well, I actually don't really know what she went through, I just know that.. Tsk.]

In the middle of the System space, everyone's beloved little System was floating around an unresponsive Xu Jiaqi's astral body.       

The System mumbled words of reluctance in accepting his fate. He had tried for days to no end in fixing the Host's condition. There was nothing wrong with her soul, but it was just that..

It appeared that she was isolated from the world. Like she was kept in a separate space that he couldn't ponder upon. He tried to locate her coordinates, wishing that perhaps the Gods would take pity on him and show him the way to where his Host was.

He was pretty certain that so long as he was able to locate her, he would be able to reformat the Reset phase and return her back to normal.

This was the scary part about dealing with agents, who were stripped of their 'origins' and reduced to nothing but a wandering soul even if there was a System that acted as their manager.

Since Xu Jiaqi had only gone through so little worlds, she wouldn't have a strong enough connection to be permanently included in the world's database, in their management process.

For super high ranking agents with tons of achievements tied down to their names, they would be awarded special perks that scaled up with their ranks.

As for Xu Jiaqi, for impartial reasons, even if she did have a special identity.. She didn't have such perks and couldn't be prioritized as much as he wanted to.

[Wuwuwu.. Host, I miss you..] The System cried out.

No matter what, she was his Host. Although she was an eccentric, peculiar person, she was someone he came across, someone he contracted, and one he swore to manage and protect.

And now, he had failed to accomplish that task. He lost her to something that he was unaware of.

It was so vexing. His Host didn't even tell him what she was going to do, hurting herself so badly like that even though he repeatedly told her to wait for Tang Yizhou to come and settle this matter in peace.

It would've been much safer.

Well.. Nonetheless, deep down inside his heart, he knew that the bullet wound was not the culprit of his Host's unending slumber at all.

It might've been a contributing factor at first, but the one who actually stole the Host away, it couldn't have been shy of a higher being that messed with his Host.

He did try to contact the Main System for help, but somehow there hadn't been a response yet.

He understood that time could flow differently, and all the respective tasks jamming the System could set him back, but how could there not have been a response sent by any of the administrators when a literal agent disappeared and even fell into Reset when they came back?

Especially when.. the agent was Xu Jiaqi, an extremely important figure.

The System did have his suspicions, but he retracted all of them for now. There was no use crying and counting on the Main System if they weren't going to help in the first place.

He ought to invest his time in something more productive.

As he sighed, tired due to the inexplicable dilemma, he suddenly received a reaction in the space.

It wasn't a reaction from his Host, but he hadn't done anything yet. Receiving a reaction like this, it could mean several things.

Either the administrator sent a response, or.. his Host returned!

He rushed to check on his database and found out that the plight was actually from something else and not what he had assumed.

It was a quest window that opened up.

Particularly, the previously locked side quest.

[..The side quest?] The System perked up, looking at the stray notification bar that rang carefully. Trying to analyze and inspect its elements. [This is..]

He wasn't allowed to look at it before the conditions were triggered as well even though he was the System who assigned it, so he had no idea what the quest was.

He was able to be sure that the quest was genuinely triggered, but who did it?

If it wasn't him..

Ah! Could it be...

The System's mind began to draw the picture and piece out the puzzles together.

[This must be the answer.. The Host had just triggered it!]

The fact that the quest was unlocked was plenty of proof for the System that the Host was at least doing something. She was conscious, although not in the same realm as him.

In there, she managed to trigger the side quest.

Somewhere. She was alive and well somewhere.

That fact alone already made him overflowed with happiness.

[Host.. Please wait for me! This System.. shall use the hint you gave me to the fullest extent!!] The System became fired up once again.

Since the side quest was triggered outside the current realm they stayed in, that further fortified his theory that an external being was the one who caused mischief.

He could narrow it down. He will.

[A higher being with their own realm.. Who snatched my Host away.]

[That's..]

The System looked downwards to the mortal realm and saw that Tang Yizhou was there, sitting by his Host's side and stroking her face gently.

[..No. If it was him, the Host wouldn't have entered the Reset phase. It's too dangerous, that being wouldn't have risked anything like that happening to the Host.]

[A being who isn't afraid of hurting the Host, is familiar with her to the point of taking her away for unknown reasons...]

He tried to think what might've caused it. At the time of the incident, what occurred?

Xu Jiaqi's collapse. Along with it, the shaken up Tang Yizhou barged in with huge emotional turmoil.

..Was that it?

Xu Jiaqi and Tang Yizhou, their souls were bound even though both of them were not fully aware of it yet. They could definitely sense what the other was feeling, so..

If the emotional spike was what prompted the Host's soul to enter the Reset phase, what was the likely sequence of events?

The System ran through a list of candidates from any plausible higher being that could be motivated to do such a thing.

There was one likely candidate that checked out all of the criteria for this bastardly crime.

The one who governed over..

Fate.

Right.. If it was that man, it might just be possible.

No, it was highly likely that the lord was the culprit.

It was no wonder that the administrators didn't send any responses back. If the lord willed for it, then he might've manipulated some strings here and there.

After all, he was someone who was known to be embroiled in some ambiguous relationship with the former Host.

[This is going to be troublesome.. Haa..] The System wanted to hand in a resignation letter if his whole existence wasn't based on the cycle of agents in the first place.

He had to get Xu Jiaqi back by any costs. And to do that, he had to interrupt in the fate lord's business.

It was definitely going to turn out into a strenuous exercise for his pure little heart.

_____

The System did as he had planned, using every single means possible to try and create a loophole in the System. The side quest popping out like that managed to give the System some rough coordinates to where Xu Jiaqi was currently at.

Not to mention, since they were contract bound, it wasn't wrong to say that the Host and him were both bearers of the same essence threads.

Due to that, he was able to do far more than what he anticipated, using every single last bit of his brain cells to 'feel' where the Host was after he narrowed down several realms that would be able to restrain his Host and jam the connections.

One of these ought to contain the lord of fate.

And indeed, one day, he hit a lucky jackpot and managed to break the impossible bar.

He found where Xu Jiaqi was. The Host's essence resonated with his and created a reaction. A genuine reaction that couldn't have been forged.

[I did it! I did it!!!1] The System was full with joy, but there was another problem.

How on Earth would he be able to interrupt upon the lord of fate?

In his plans, he briefly mentioned over it, convincing himself that the thinking should be done for later when he had discovered his final target.

But now that he was here..

It was a big problem that he couldn't solve.

________

The lovely System didn't know yet, but he didn't need to have worried so much over Xu Jiaqi.

The Lord of Fate already had a set decision inside his mind. When he summoned the girl over to his realm, never did he think that he was going to harm the girl.

In fact, it was the complete opposite. It could be said that taking her here was considered a form of protection for the woman.

________

System: Wuwuwu, Host, come back soon please~

Xu Jiaqi: Shush, the strange old man is here to get me, I'm trying to kill him.

The strange old man (Fate Lord): .... Child, my patience can only stretch so far.