Romance

Three weeks had passed since the war on the Inner Circle began.

After Jason left the Golden Lion once the fight with Perseus ended, he ventured to the realm station. There, he chose a peaceful realm to go to calm himself down and gather his thoughts.

The realm he chose was the Romance Realm. It was the first realm that came to his mind after remembering the scenario where unarmed men and women entered the Romance Realm's spatial tunnel. It was the only realm he remembered at that moment that was peaceful.

After going through the spatial tunnel, he appeared in a realm that was ridiculously pink and blue. The white clouds were shaped like hearts, the weather was nearly almost sunny and the streets were immensely clean. There was laughter and happiness everywhere.

Children held hands with their parents, innocently laughing. Everyone wore bright-colored garments. The outfits men wore consisted of mostly tunics and linen shirts, and some had aristocratic long-sleeved coats with golden chains. They looked majestic and noble.

On the other hand, women wore beautiful summer dresses. Some had ribbons around their waists; others had their shoulders exposed; and some had dresses with long or short skirts. The shoes mostly consisted of sandals.

It was a scene Jason wasn't used to. Everyone in the Romance Realm was so bright and happy. The Romanceborns—the race of the Romance Realm's residents—were mostly beautiful and innocent young maidens, while men were handsome noble knights.

The first thing Jason did in the Romance Realm was rent a house. He got a nice apartment at 13 Silvers Street. It had a garden, two floors with four bedrooms, and one bathroom. There was also a fireplace, a living room connected with the kitchen, and a small garage.

The building was painted white, with the triangular roof painted blue. A small chimney poked through the center of the roof, and water pipes went from the roof to the back corner of the house.

After acquiring a house, he bought clothes to fit himself with other Romanceborns so that it was difficult to associate him with the human race. There were many humans roaming the streets, and they looked different from ordinary Romanceborns. They didn't try to look like them, but since Jason was hiding, he tried to do so.

As the three weeks had passed by, Jason had gotten used to his smiling neighbors, who greeted him whenever he went outside to pick up mail. As if they were waiting for the moment his door opens so they could greet him with good mornings.

"Good morning, Ma'am Layfey." Jason greeted the elderly woman next door. She had grayish hair with wrinkles around the corners of her eyes. Even though she had an aged appearance, she still had the vitality of a Romanceborn and had some attractive traits, such as the body of a 30 year old woman.

If she didn't have gray hair and slight wrinkles, he honestly would have thought she was 30 years younger.

"Good morning, Mister Jason." Ma'am Layfey's face beamed into a smile as she waved. She was doing gardening work, which was her hobby after her retirement from maid work. She was a maid for 35 years for an aristocratic family. Thus, she stayed unmarried all this time, even though she was allowed to marry.

Jason entered his house and took a seat on the comfy sofa. As he placed his feet on the table, he flipped through the newspaper. Most of it was useless. The news mostly talked about the incoming banquets, where aristocrats gather, and the incoming summer festival, which was the year's biggest event.

After flipping through the newspaper, he closed it and put it on the table. As he stood up to go to the kitchen to brew some coffee, he noticed the three heavy-looking bags in the living room. They were right next to the glass cabinet.

Jason sighed, as he had been pondering for the past two weeks what to do now. He had counted all the gold coins and checked all the potion recipes. There were in total 112,354 gold coins, which he had spent some already. The total count would be below 100,000 by now.

There were 47 potion recipes. Some recipes he knew, and some he had never heard of. At first, Jason thought about rewriting the potion recipes and then selling them. However, his father had forgotten to mention another Rule of the Universe. The second rule.

When he tried to write the information about the potion recipe on a goatskin parchment, all the written text disappeared as if it had been erased. Then he tried another method. He tried telling the potion recipe. However, words didn't come out as he tried to speak.

The second Rule of the Universe: The owned potion recipes are yours and only yours.

Thus, since he stole the potion recipes, ownership transferred from Percy to him. He, however, continued to think about how the Golden Lions would share the potion recipes with each other. They must have a way to transfer the ownership, but Jason doubted it would be so easy. Therefore, he did more research and found that if he lost his ownership once, it was impossible to get it back!

Therefore, he threw out the idea of selling his recipes. He could have first used the potion recipe that only had a one-time use and then sold it, but he planned to keep them for himself for now.

Then he began thinking about what recipe he should try. There were powerful enough recipes that could get him straight to System Veteran. However, the ingredients were needed, and Jason couldn't find them at any merchant store. He had money to buy them, but the ingredients were very valuable and rare. He was also sure that even the Inner Circle wouldn't have them.

One of the recipes required a Blood-stained Fang. Whenever Vampire bit someone and sucked their blood, their fangs would stay red for 24 hours. In that timeframe, he would have to hunt down Vampire. However, Vampires in Vampire Realm have their own food, which doesn't make their fangs red.

Therefore, the Vampire would have to sucking the blood of someone in Romance Realm, then he would have to find it and kill it. All that, within 24 hours. Also, seeing Vampire in flesh was immensely hard. They looked like humans, except most of them had very pale skin. Without seeing their fangs properly, he couldn't be sure who was Vampire.

It was unfortunate since Jason really liked the potion recipe. It was called the Vampirification Potion. It would make him somewhat vampire-like, except for turning into a bloodthirsty vampire. His senses would heighten, and his body would become more durable and stronger. The rumors say that it could also increase lifespan. It hadn't been proven to be true as of yet.

The Vampirification Potion also had a beautifying effect. It would make Jason's skin more fair and healthy. However, he didn't care about that. His main focus was on heightened senses and a stronger body. It was immensely helpful in the long run.

However, the ingredients needed were: 50 grams of blood-red rose powder. Blood-stained Fang. Healthy red strands of hair. 500 ml of bath water. The Blessing of the Holy Man.

Jason believed he could get everything except the blood-stained fang. The Blessing of the Holy Man hinted at a priest. He would have to get a priest to bless the potion before consuming it. Without the blessing, if he drank it, he might turn into an actual bloodthirsty vampire. However, he would be worse than an ordinary vampire since his mind would break.

He would slaughter residents of the Romance Realm before being ultimately taken down.

'I want that potion.' Jason groaned, as he truly believed that this potion was potent enough to push him straight to System Veteran. Unfortunately, the reason why blood-stained fang wasn't on any merchant store was because it would be useless after 24 hours. It would turn into ordinary fang.

It was also very difficult to get. The Vampires were hard to kill.

'Well, the second option is Night Potion and Strength Potion. I would first get Horror Creature's lung from Horror Realm, concoct Night Potion, and successfully level up. Then, a Strength Potion should take me straight to level 10. Its ingredients are more common, and I can just buy them without going anywhere.

'Unfortunately, Strength Potion is only good for one use. Strength Pathway adventurers have to find more strength-related potions that increase their strength. Such as Punch Potion. Muscle Potion...'

Jason made up his mind. Tomorrow morning, he would return to the Horror Realm. Try to find a Wraith, Ghoul, or Zombie for Horror Creature Lung, then concoct the potion, drink it, and digest it at night. The next day, he would go buy ingredients for Strength Potion, concoct the potion, and digest it by going to the gym.

'I am glad I already bought potion-making tools.' Jason glanced upstairs. He turned one of the four rooms into a potion-making room and one into his personal study, where he had already collected some books. There was also his newly-bought laptop, which he used to watch Realm Streamers. There were actually people who streamed the war in the Inner Circle.

It was a good research tool, and it made him aware of how things were playing out there. At the moment, the biggest losses have been taken by War Armament. Their members had died the most. The Watchdogs were mainly protecting Main Street and Iron Wall Street.

The Main Street was where the Inner Circle's Realm Association and the Realm Station's Entrance were. Then, at the end of Iron Wall Street, was the entrance to the Outer Circle. They couldn't let the war spread to the Outer Circle.

'I wonder how my father is doing and how Outer Circle has reacted to the war.' Jason sighed and went to the kitchen to brew some coffee. 'Outer Circle is where Non-Systemers live. They will be relatively safe. I doubt the war goes past the Iron Wall.'

After brewing coffee, he filled a cup and took a seat on the porch. He watched as the vast blue sky turned red and heart-shaped clouds drifted into the distance. At moments like this, he truly appreciated the beauty and importance of life.

...

The following morning, Jason locked the door to his house and left Silvers Street. He then paid for a carriage, which set off from Flowers Street and headed to Trust Street. The Trust Street had Romance City's only weapon store. He still lacked a weapon and decided to go buy one now before departing for the Horror Realm.

In the carriage, he had his backpack seated next to him. He didn't take much with him—just a change of clothes, some medicine, water, and rations. He wanted to finish his business in Horror Realm today.

After entering Trust Street, Jason grabbed the backpack, paid the required amount for the driver, and then briskly started walking down the sidewalk. He wore a white linen shirt without a coat and black trousers. He looked like an ordinary Romance Realm citizen. His hair was combed neatly backward, and with his height going above 1.8 meters, he looked quite attractive.

The pedestrians that walked by held hands with their lovers, sharing intimate whispers. There were even times when two lovers shared a passionate kiss and then separated unwillingly as they had to go to work or had other businesses to tend to.

After a short walk, Jason entered a weapon store named Red Crest. There weren't many customers, and the shopkeeper spent his time cleaning the glass display cases.

"Oh, hello, sir. How may I serve you?" After seeing a potential customer step inside his store, the middle-aged shopkeeper nudged his glasses and walked to the front desk.

"Any revolvers?" Jason asked as he stopped in front of the desk. There were glass display cases that showed melee weapons, guns, and more discreet weapons such as bows and crossbows.

"Yes, sir." The middle-aged shopkeeper excitedly walked to one of the glass display cases. There were at least 11 different-looking revolvers. "Which would you prefer? A soft or hand grip? Wooden or iron? Some of these have grips made of walnut wood and adam's wood. The barrels are, of course, made from iron, but they can be custom-made with different colors if the customer wishes so."

Jason thoughtfully looked around. He wanted a revolver that fit him. In the end, he cast his gaze towards the silver-black revolver. He pointed at it and asked, "Can you tell me more about this one?"

The middle-aged shopkeeper nudged his glasses and spoke professionally. "It's Silvers Model 2599. Its grip is made from Tyrant Wood, and it is cushioned with a black molded substance. The chamber has space for 8 bullets, and it can fire at 100 meters. From the end of the barrel to 100 meters, it would take 0.10 seconds."

Jason couldn't help but smile. "I'll take it."

"Excellent!" The shopkeeper was very pleased. "It costs 15 gold coins, but it is definitely worth it."

Jason rummaged through his pockets, picked up 15 gold coins, and placed them on the desk. The shopkeeper took the revolver, placed it on a soft-cushioned box, and handed it over to the handsome black-haired young man with a smile.

Jason then also asked for bullets, such as Anti-Ghost, Purification and Regeneration Nullifying ones. He wanted hundred each, in the end, costing 21 gold coins. He got a good discount for ordinary bullets, of which he bought 200.

"Thanks and... do you have a few combat knives. Give me your best." Jason placed the box on the backpack as he asked.

"Yes, sir." From below the table, the shopkeeper grabbed two identical-looking knives and placed them on the desk. Their handles were black in color and were curved like a dragon's fang. They looked menacing.

"Its 5 gold coins. They are separately three coins each, but this is a small discount."

"Thank you." Jason paid for the knives and placed them on the backpack before bidding farewell to the shopkeeper. As he left the story, his head turned in the direction of the faraway building. It would take him directly to Global Realm Station.

The Romance Realm didn't have a way to enter Humanity's Realm Station. However, Jason still had his translucent ticket inside his system. However, he didn't plan to expose him there. Who knows if other Golden Lion members saw him? They must have noticed his disappearance but would never link him with Perseus' death. After all, he was a mere cleaner. How could he defeat someone like him?

In the end, Jason had to go via the Global Realm Station, which every race in the known universe used. He had only heard his father talking about it, but now he would visit it in person.

Jason felt slightly excited as he started walking down Trust Street, heading straight toward Global Realm Station!