40 Dear Traveler,

Warmth.

This is what Alina felt as the golden glow covered her body.

It reminded her of the warm hug of her mother and lukewarm tea that she and sister used to drink.

These memories brought out some melancholy inside Alina, but she just shook this off as she focused on her body.

With her Esper Ability, Alina could sense that something was being changed inside her body, although she could not pinpoint exactly what this change is.

Thinking that what was happening to her right now was a delicate process, Alina decided to stay still in order to ensure that there will be no mishaps happening to her.

After exactly a minute, Alina felt the golden glow leaving her body.

Actually, the golden glow did not leave her body at all. The golden glow just converged towards her forehead, creating a golden symbol.

Surprisingly, Alina could see in the mirror that the glow on her forehead can be seen even when she was wearing her mask.

The symbol was a wheel with 12 spokes, which was continuously rotating on her forehead.

As she tried to inspect her body, Alina heard Alex questioning Asteria on the authenticity of the process.

Asteria, being the smug person that she is, shamelessly boasted that Alina is already Alex's Companion.

"…." Even though she felt grim at her current state, Alina could feel the blood rushing on her cheeks as she realized that she's going to stay with Alex wherever he goes.

"That might not be a bad way for me to live." Alina thought to herself as she stood up from the floor.

"Are you ok, Alina?" Alina could not help but smile as she heard the concern in Alex's voice. Of course because of her mask, Alex could not see her current expression.

"I am fine." Alina replied quickly. She could not help but wince as she felt that she sounded a little cold with her reply. "I do not feel anything wrong with my body, nor that I feel that someone is attempting to manipulate me."

"That's good." That was what Alex said to Alina as Alina proceeded to grab Asteria from the air.

The little fairy tried to go away, but Alina just used her silky smooth fingers to take down Asteria.

"…." Asteria had no choice but to curl in Alina's lap as she enjoyed the petting given to her.

"Um, you know that we are in danger now, right?" Alina heard Alex saying hesitantly as he watched what he and Asteria was doing. "I think we need to take a look at that bonus gifts that Asteria was talking about."

"Oh, right." Upon hearing what Alex said, Alina had no choice but to release the currently relaxed Asteria.

"Hmph, always a spoilsport!" This is what Asteria said as she flew towards Alex with a pouting expression. "Maybe you are just jealous that your head is not being petted by Alina!"

"What? Of course not!" Asteria tried to not laugh as she saw that what Alex said was a lie.

"Tsk." Alex's face looked a little pale as she saw that the two women were against him right now. "Let's… just get this over with, ok?"

*******************

Alex stabilized his breath as she saw Asteria approaching his forehead.

Alex was extremely curious on what his bonus gifts were, and he wanted to see them already.

Of course if Alex can choose his gifts, one of them will surely be additional lifespan.

Of course Alex was not sure if lifespan can even be gifted to others. But sometimes, a guy can just wish for the best right?

"Here we go!" Asteria, the irritating fairy declared as she started to withdraw something from the symbol on Alex's forehead.

Alex could not help but feel incredulous as he saw an envelope coming out of his forehead.

As for Alina, she just sat in her place, watching what was happening with Alex intently.

"Here, read the letter inside this." Asteria said as she passed the envelope to Alex. "You will understand the reason for the bonus gifts that you have right now."

"To whom did this letter come from?" Alex inquired as he tore the envelope apart, revealing the letter inside. "Did it come from someone that I knew?"

"Yes, you knew the writer of this letter." Asteria said as she assisted Alex on opening the letter.

"After all, this letter was written by the old man who turned you to a Traveler."

"!!!" Alex almost dropped the letter on the floor as he found himself surprised by what Asteria said.

"This letter came from that old man? Seriously?"

Everytime that old man was being mentioned in front of him, Alex could not help but feel awed and also apprehensive as he knew that this old man was the reason for his current state.

Alex was not sure why that old man turned him to a Traveler, so Alex swore to himself to demand the answer to his question once he meets the old man again.

Now that the old man actually left a letter for him, Alex knew that he must read the letter well.

Alex then gingerly opened the paper containing the letter. After seeing the paper filled with words, Alex took a deep breath as he started reading it.

[If you are reading this letter, then that means that you managed to get a Companion in your First World. If not, then you are already dead.]

"What, this intro sounds a little dark." Alex muttered to himself. He then continued reading the letter.

[Let me apologize to you already. Since I am a high-ranking Traveler, any Traveler that I create will be forced to have a very difficult first mission. You are the same too. Since I created your Traveler Status, your first mission will be extremely hard too. From what I know, it seems like you will be sent to that Simulation World, where you will destroy its rogue guardian program.]

"This guy…" Alex was not sure if he should be angry or thankful to this old man.

[But do not worry! Since you are in an unfair state, I decided that I should assist you a little in your first mission.]

"Oh, this must be good." Alex thought to himself as he continued on reading. "Let's see what he was talking about."

[However, you must remember that this assist that I will give you will only be available in your first mission. You will be entirely on your own already at the following missions. So, try to maximize my bonus gifts to you ok?"

"…."

[By this point, you should already realize that my assist to you will be the Bonus Gifts. Of course since I still want you to be a holistic Traveler, you will only be able to get these Bonus Gifts if you managed to get a Companion. If not, then just like what I said at the intro, you are already dead. Ok, that is all that I can say to you right now! If you want to know why I made you a Traveler, then you should come and fine me first!]

Alex was not sure if he should criticize the old man's writing skills, as the letter felt extremely rushed for him. Well, different people has different writing styles, right?

"… So that is why Alina is so interested on me having a companion." Alex muttered to himself as he saw that there was only one last line left in the letter.

[P.S. If your Companion is a hot chick, make sure that you treat her well! She will be your prime wife material! Oh, and from what I know, your Guide is pretty hot too. Hehehe, you can start your Harem with them!]

"…." Because Alex read the letter out loud, both Asteria and Alina heard everything, especially the letter's parting words.

"Ummm… it's the old man who said that, not me." Alex replied as he endured the wilting stares that came from Alina and Asteria. "I swear, I am not ruminating his advice.

"You better not." Alina replied monotonously as she watched what Asteria was doing.

With Alex done reading the letter, Asteria continued on withdrawing objects from the symbol on Alex's forehead.

In the end, Asteria found 3 objects inside the symbol on Alex's forehead.

One was a sword, the second was a card and the last one is a marble-sized ball.

"Don't try to touch them. I can identify these things by myself." Asteria declared as she flitted towards the sword first.

"This one right here is a Sword Type Growth Weapon." Asteria said as she lifted the sword with her small body.

Asteria slightly wobbled in the air, as if she found it hard to stay afloat. "Just like what its name says, this sword can get stronger along with its owner. Not only that, but the sword will also adapt to the abilities that its owner has."

"Oh, so if the owner has fire-related abilities, then this sword will have fire-related abilities too?" Alex inquired as he listened to what Asteria said. "That is the gist of it, right?"

"Exactly." Asteria said as she tossed the sword to Alina. "That sword is for you, Alina."

"Um, thanks…" Alina mumbled in reply as she stroked her new sword. "But I do not really need this…"

Even though Alina sounded somewhat unsure of taking the weapon, her hands were visibly excited on holding the sword.

From the way Alina looked right now, Alina looked like a young kid who received a new toy. In Alina's case however, her new toy was a deadly sword.

"Cute." Alex thought to himself as he looked at the next object, the card.

"This card contains 1,000 Contribution Points inside it." Asteria said as she tossed the card to Alina. "Go, you should use that to buy some stuff."

"Ok." After being held by Alina for one second, the card dissipated into small light particles which were absorbed by the symbol on Alina's forehead.

"Ok, seems like you got it already." Asteria declared as she approached the last object. "Now then-"

"Wait, a second." Alex said as he looked at Asteria with narrowed eyes. "Will I still get a Bonus Gift? Because somehow, I can feel that I am not getting one."

"Oh cheer up, big guy, this last object is for you." Asteria said as she tossed the small ball towards Alex. "Take care of that ball. That is much more valuable than your balls."

"I will try to ignore that crude joke of yours." Alex mumbled as he looked at the ball that he held. "So, what does this ball do?"

"Oh, the function of that ball is just simple." Asteria replied as she prodded the ball with her finger. "Inside that ball is a powerful computer virus, which can destroy any computer-related software. Simple, right?"

"Oh, wow. This is… great." Alex said as he began to held the ball more gingerly. "This ball is my chance to survive!"

If this ball really had a powerful computer virus inside it, then Alex will most obviously use it on the World Diagram itself!

"Before you could feel happy, you should remember that the computer virus inside this ball will only work if you place the ball in contact with the World Diagram." Asteria said, which rudely shattered Alex's fantasy. "That just means that you still have to get past through that afro guy and Lord Ergo if you want to succeed."

"...."