Picked It Up (3)

Encouraged by its success in figuring out how new areas were created in the waystation, the sanctuary spark was happily bouncing around in its wooden seed ball.

With the lights surrounding the feather flashing like a disco ball, it ricocheted off the walls and floors before slamming into Cyril's head.

Thunk-

Once.

Cyril's brows furrowed slightly before he took a deep breath before speaking.

"It's fine. Clearly, it was an accident. I'm happy you succeeded."

Thunk-

Thunk-

Twice.

A throbbing vein became visible on the pale face of the young man as he mentally counted to ten and forced words out of clenched teeth.

"Go bounce happily somewhere far away from me and come back when you're done."

Thunk-

Thunk-

Thunk-

Thunk-

Thuuuuuunnnnnk-

As the seed ball intentionally rolled slowly on his head after repeatedly hitting him…

Cyril: ಠ_ಠ

Cyril: (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

Cyril finally lost it.

Thunk-

Yoink!

At the final bounce, the wooden ball containing the sanctuary spark was grabbed and thrown to the floor. Immediately, a foot shot toward it, dead set on launching it into the wall.

"Didn't I say go and bounce somewhere else? Are you blind?"

As the wooden ball barely zipped to the side while dodging before returning to whack Cyril on the head once more, a brawl broke out between a colorful feather hidden in a wooden ball and the human trying to pry it out for a beating.

After 20 minutes, when Cyril finally tired out after inflicting a crack on the wooden ball, the feather finally waved its white flag, created from a wooden floorboard and attached to a scrap of fabric torn from Cyril's shirt.

Rearranging his stretched collar, Cyril stared at the missing fabric of his shirt before staring incredulously at the sanctuary spark, which was sending feelings that it would get revenge the next time.

"Next time? You've never won a fight, even though you always start them. Since you like to act smart, use your head instead of acting like a wild animal and picking a fight with me, you little punk."

Little Oasis: (≖⩊≖) This is animal abuse.

"So you agree that you're an animal. Don't learn bad habits from that rabid guard dog. Otherwise, I'll drag you to the lake and teach that snake how to play fetch."

Little Oasis: ……..

"Anyway, since you got the feeling, you wanted the life energy coins, right? Let's start by trying to absorb only 1,000 from this machine. Only 1,000 got it? A very tiny amount. One room worth."

Cyril held up the little atm machine to the feather.

Little Oasis: ( ˘ ³˘)♥︎♡💲 ⊹˚₊💸

"I'm serious. Only 1000, the cost of the room you just sensed. You understand? Extract only 1000 and make a small room. If you succeed, I'll give you a big tip."

Little Oasis: (￣^￣ )ゞ+1

A sensation of a will to succeed by any means necessary came back and Cyril nodded approvingly.

"Okay, here you go."

Cyrill trustingly held the machine against the feather and watched the light emanating from it begin to flicker as the wooden panels of the ball wrapping around the feather clung to the it.

Settling in for a long wait, he opened a Door to drop down a pillow and blankets, making himself comfortable on the floor as he watched a process he hoped would work.

When he originally gave the sanctuary spark the seed, the description was 'Increases the capabilities of a sanctuary spark.'

Although he had not been able to find something similar in the employee store to get a more detailed description, he kept it in the back of his mind and always wondered.

Where did the effects of the HELP Apocalypse Co end and the sanctuary spark begin?

If a Waystation could fix itself without direct interference from H.E.L.P. Apocalypse Co, rearrange itself according to his and its own whims, and even shift things in the surroundings that it considered its own territory, why could it not grow by itself without him buying upgrades from H.E.L.P. Apocalypse Co Employee Store?

It couldn't be that any room he purchased was being made in a magical lab and was being teleported, so he figured he might as well experiment.

Every time Cyril asked the sanctuary spark to try and create a new space or to expand beyond whatever set limits it had, it gave an ambiguous response.

It wasn't a yes, but it definitely wasn't a no. It just said it didn't know how to do it. Not that it couldn't do it.

Due to a lack of sleep, Cyril temporarily let it go, but after browsing through the Employee store, the thought came back to the forefront.

His conjecture was that the life energy coins were what was needed for growth, so…what if he fed the sanctuary spark life energy coins directly instead of going through the employee store?

And what if the sanctuary spark focused on observing the moment that a room was created through that employee store? Wouldn't it be able to somewhat mimic the effect?

That was his goal.

Although Cyril had told the Sanctuary Spark he would give up if it didn't work, he planned on using all of Alexei's Life Energy Coins if he had to so that the Sanctuary Spark could figure it out.

That was the only way this waystation could work. Because even if people wanted to stay here instead of their homes or utilize other services, nobody could afford it.

Firstly the minimum cost of a 'basic bedroom' was too much. 100 coins was the cost of 1 human life.

It was ridiculous to expect people to pay that, and he didn't want to charge that, especially when his own profit from that was only 1 life energy coin.

Left to him, he would allow others to stay in the bedroom for free, but it was a situation in which anyone other than him would be charged for spending the night there.

Hindsight was 2020.

If he had known, he would have just made everything a shared space.

Since he hadn't, he would find an alternate way to get around it.

Specifically taking inspiration from businesses in his home country.

Why didn't H.E.L.P. Apocalypse Co. do their investigation?

The food and entertainment businesses in America were known for wage theft and tax evasion. How else had they convinced an entire population to live on an hourly wage of 2 dollars, with the rest coming from tips?

He planned on following the steps of the forefathers, shorting the company while depending on tips when doing business.

If he never built a room by buying it from the employee store, then he would never have had to pay H.E.L.P Apocalypse Co. And if the room could be built without them, he would repurpose it for other uses.

In fact, if the entirety of his plan worked the way he wanted, he would be utilizing the company benefits free of charge and they would in fact be paying him.

Thinking about properly screwing over the company, Cyril began laughing while mentally cheering the sanctuary spark on.

Please! Succeed in absorbing the life energy coins from this machine.

Even if the machine broke and he had to purchase a new one before taking Alexei's coins again, it was completely fine.

Just absorb it properly!

It was the second time that Cyril almost wished he believed in religion so he could pray.

Instead, he stared at the black wolf that had appeared at some point, wrapping around the sanctuary spark protectively while growling nonsense at him.

Rather than flipping the wolf off as he usually did, Cyril smiled gently at it before heading upstairs.

It was time to deal with this annoying puppy that hated him.

First, he removed all the furniture from the bar area, making a clear open space with nothing that could be hit or thrown before moving to the kitchen.

After grabbing a pile of the raw monster meat stored in the fridge, Cyril quickly cooked it all, making some into sandwiches for himself and piling the rest on a plate.

He set the plates and chips on the bar counter before hopping up and sitting next to it.

Then, tapping his hand on the counter, Cyril opened a door beneath the wolf that was with the sanctuary spark, dropping it into the center of the dining area.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Suddenly, a large, jet-black wolf filled the space, causing the floor and walls to nearly vibrate with the loudness of the growling as it took a step forward.

Baleful yellow eyes stared at him as the wolf exposed its large teeth as if they wanted to rip him apart.

Rather than being afraid, Cyril continued tapping the counter with a cold smile, absentmindedly noting that despite him sitting on a tall bar counter, he had to look up a wolf that had grown in size, its large tail brushing the ceiling and all the fur on its body standing on end.

Big ass dog.

After staring at the wolf for a moment, he broke his silence.

"Let's be frank, I don't like living in an uncomfortable situation, so let's talk. Why do you hate me?"

It was a blunt question, and the person who asked refused to break eye contact. Instead, he scowled at the wolf in complete irritation.

Truthfully, he disliked it, but since it did a good job guarding the area and would protect the sanctuary spark, he tolerated its antics.

If it only messed around occasionally and did its own thing, he would be fine and would never bother it.

The only issue was that it refused to let him sleep, and that was completely unacceptable.

Since chemical food warfare hadn't worked, it was time to change tactics.

It was the main reason he had increased his Gift of Gab skill so much.

Just as the wolf pulled its lips back to begin growling again-

Cyril calmly interrupted while snapping his fingers at it.

"Please just talk instead of using that fake growl noise that you've been using. Grrrr, grrrr, grrrr, grow up. You're giving me a headache."

The wolf's eyes widened slightly, and taking advantage of the silence, Cyril withdrew his employee ID and flashed it at the wolf with a mocking smile.

"Gift of Gab skill level 4. Even if we don't speak the same language, I should be able to understand you and vice versa. Additionally, you're an pet I bought from H.E.L.P Apocalypse Co. There's no way you can't communicate apart from saying 'grrrrr' all the time, right? Or are you really a stupid puppy like I've been calling you?"

As the wolf continued to glare at him, Cyril crossed his legs, grabbed his sandwich, and began eating it slowly as if he had all the time in the world.

"Why do you hate me? And how can I fix it? Take your time in talking. I don't plan on going anywhere or doing anything for the next couple of days until we solve this. Now that I can rest properly, if it's an endurance battle you want, I'm ready to play until I get my answer. And if it's a fight you want, I'm fine with that too."

Blue eyes with a hint of red behind them glared at the black wolf with an expression of distaste, then closed as the owner took a large bite of the comically large sandwich, chewing slowly before swallowing.

Then the cat-shaped eyes opened, irritation clearly visible in the pupils.

"Start talking, you damned dog. Unless you want to go swimming in the lake."