Chapter 107: Living Takes True Courage
"Join in the dungeon? You mean helping my monsters kill those people?" Jin was not surprised by this at all. He knew when he accepted the fact that he would build this shop of his on a mountain of corpses, but he still felt very hesitant to take a life away. This would be the first time he would be killing someone and if what Yun said was true, they would never resurrect again.
Someone will experience the hate Jin had gone through or the grief Ming had to suffer. If there was a cycle of karma, Jin felt that he would be at the epitome of it. Even though he was bringing happiness and joy to his fellow cultivators and customers in his world, he would be hated for the grief and destruction he created in this Dungeon World.
"Yes, Jin. You will be killing them. They will be absorbed by the system and you will be able to use them for your shop." Yun said in a serious and cold manner. She understood that Jin could run away from this choice but in actuality, this was not one out of many paths to take. This was a one-way road.
Jin gritted his teeth and had decided to act on it. In his life, all he had been doing was following the rules but he had only been escaping from reality and using acceptance as an excuse for being ignorant. The many choices he had regretted not making had haunted him time and time again. Even right now, he wished to blame the system for utilising such ruthless methods to make him stronger.
However, he understood that no one was forcing him this time round. He would kill to make his shop better. He would kill to make himself stronger. He would kill to protect someone he loved. "I agree to join. Is there anything I need to be aware of?"
Despite Yun was the one speaking most of the time, this time the system spoke with its digital screen. "You can die in this dungeon too. That is the risk you have to take." Jin stared at the digital screen blankly when the system wrote it out in black and white.
"But you can use anything in your disposal to stop your enemy. Your cultivation. Your weapons. Your bellators. Your monsters. Whatever you need to create, this Dungeon Maker will assist."
The system's words were harsh and on point. It made Jin feel really scared and at the same time caused his adrenaline to start pumping. However, Jin could not help but clarify something that was on his mind. "Can I get resurrected?"
"Right now? No." Those three words, or more specifically, the first two, lit a speck of hope for Jin, but he figured it did not remove the fact that he could really die with his current resources.
"You might be thinking along the lines of: If I can die, then why should I bother?" Yun interjected for the system, playing the intermediary between the two of them and probably sweetening the deal for Jin while she was at it.
"In any encounter you intervene, the system will give you twice the amount of resources in return as compensation for the risk you are taking. Or you can assume it as justified rewards. As usual, do not ask me how or why. All I know is that it is doing that to motivate you to join and take ownership of your personal dungeon." Yun explained.
"Oh and trust me, knowing the system, I think it can be generous once in a while as well if you intervene sufficiently." Yun tried to coerce Jin more as she was instructed by the system, even though she was starting to think it was unnecessary. She could see the fresh eyes of determination in Jin.
"Well, if I am not wrong. That also means that my monsters will not die as frequently and I will have more Soul resource to spare for my shop too." Jin added his reasoning.
"Very good! You are actually paying attention and learning. I was afraid you were too bombarded by the new information to process it all." Yun pretended to sigh a relief.
"Indeed I am. I am still very shocked. I even feel that all of this just a bad drea-." A sudden firey explosion came from his phone, which was on the Dungeon Maker's table interface. It had blown up the entire area.
However, in a matter of seconds, Milk appeared to heal Jin's burns and took the opportunity to hug him too. "See, this is not a dream at all, Master." The fluffiness was incredible and Jin just laid in her embrace for some time.
"Ahhh! Master you pervert! I am telling Zhen Qing this when she becomes your girlfriend!" Peppers came out of the phone and teased Jin. However, all he could do was to laugh bitterly. He realised at that moment both Peppers and Milk probably had their own troubled pasts that he had yet to discover but for now, he understood this was their way of encouraging him.
"Master Jin, whenever you need me in your personal dungeon. Do not hesitate to call for me. Just your thought alone would be enough to send me out for battle." Zeru appeared humbly and knelt with one leg on the ground and his sword placed right in front of him.
"Same here! I would like to blast them out of the dungeon!" Peppers raised her hand up with delight.
"If I allow you to do that, won't the dungeon be destroyed by you?" Jin got out of Milk's embrace and she too, like his other bellators, silently nodded her head with a zealous look in her eyes.
"Ah, do not worry about that, the dungeon was designed to withstand Peppers' strongest blast. The ecosystem would be recreated again in a short period of time due to the laws of nature in the Dungeon World." Yun yet again clarified Jin's doubts.
"To have such serva- no, comrades by my side is a real honour. I will be in your care." Jin looked at his three bellator companions. Even though he knew that the system chained them to him, Jin still treated them with respect.
"One more thing Master." Zeru stood up and talked. "When you hold Bam and Boo, remember this. Engage in combat fully determined to die and you will come out alive. Wish to survive the battle and you will surely meet death. Becau-"
"Because living takes true courage." Both Jin and Yun spoke in unison, which amazed Zeru. He smiled and placed his hand on Jin's back before giving him a forceful pat. Both Yun and Jin did not realise that both of them could never forget that quote when they first watched Samurai Z in the movies. Yun smiled back at Jin and asked the question once more.
"So, are you ready to join the fray?"
"No. I am not." Jin smiled widely as he said that, which stunned everyone for a moment. Peppers was ready to shoot another fire blast at him when she recovered and Milk was bitterly laughing. Was the pep talk all for nothing?
Jin then realised his mistake, waved his hands frantically to stop everyone from delivering bodily harm and rephrased his sentence. "No, I am not ready because I would like to prepare some items before I head in!" Jin tried to calm the sudden awkward atmosphere.
"Not funny Jin." Zeru used his scabbard and knocked on Jin's head before the bellators disappeared into mid-air.
"Alright, quickly craft your items. This party leader for this party of four is debriefing the rest of his squad." Yun folded her arms and shook her head as she saw Jin launching into a frenzy, trying to create items and putting them into his storage watch.
However, no one even Yun knew that the initial refusal he spoke so quickly was the hesitation he had been suppressed to a corner of his heart the entire time he realised the situation he was in.