Ultimate Gamer System: Factory Must Grow!

Just the task of moving over to where he left that group of weird strangers proved to be quite difficult.

Sure, his system healed Theo's injury, but…

Who was there to say that it removed all the pain?

'Is it the first sign of gathering invisible wounds that shall never stop hurting?' Theo thought with a big grimace on his face as he crossed his wooden gate and then followed down the path outlined by his system.

This time, however, he wasn't in a hurry, nor did he try to stalk the group. No. This time, Theo just leisurely walked over to the place where there was a patch of reinforced concrete scarring the face of the already devastated forest.

With the first swipe of his hand, twist of his wrist, and press of a button, he removed all the broken pieces of wood and upturned stones that the rampage of the boss of the last wave left in its wake. Then, after tweaking the settings for a moment, he erected a small stone pillar just high enough for him to rest his arm on.

'By appearing weak here, I might be able to coax them into revealing their true intentions.'

Between the turmoil he felt inside at the sight of that red-haired girl, the system messages, and an outright quest most likely related to her, it was quite clear that there was some sort of connection between her and Theo himself.

But that didn't mean he was willing to drop all the caution and just happily accept her and her companions into his claim.

'I'm already busy enough fighting monsters and developing my factory. The last thing I need are people to mess with me from the inside!'

Taking a deep breath, Theo put most of his weight against the small concrete pillar before swiping his tool, changing its setting back to the extraction mode, and then removing the concrete cap over the hiding hole.

By now, Theo was long used to the sight of matter just vanishing or popping out of nowhere by the grace of his tool. Yet, when he looked down and saw the now slightly startled group of people who went through this entire ordeal with the boss doing nothing and just hiding…

'I know it was my idea to begin with, but still…'

Theo's jaw clenched a bit as a sense of missing fairness filled his soul.

And so, rather than greeting them, welcoming them to the place, or even trying to question them while they were still all locked within the hole…

"It's over," Theo shortly announced before squinting his eyes as he looked at the group with poorly hidden anger. "You can come out and fuck off now."

With a single glance, Theo molded the shape of his excavation tool before pressing it into one of the walls of the hole, effectively erasing the dirt in just the shape necessary to make an entire side of the hole into a steep but wide staircase.

Then, wasting no time on those unexpected guests, he turned around, ready to leave to return behind the safety of his walls before the group could even try to catch up with him.

'Fucking pissants,' Theo cursed in his thoughts as he stepped away from the hole and between the broken trees left in the Chief Voiderling's wake that reached far beyond the path it actually took. 'I wonder why am I the only one that doesn't have it as easy as…'

Theo's eyes locked on the flattened corpse of the man that one of the monsters from the second wave simply stepped on.

It was by no means a pretty sight, with much more elements of human anatomy directly on messy display than Theo would ever want to see.

Still, this sight was exactly what he needed to calm himself down and push his irrational anger away.

'I'm facing those monsters on my own because I'm the only one that can, huh?' he thought, shifting how he narrated his entire situation before rolling his eyes and picking up the pace.

Soon, Theo escaped from between the trees, stepping into the open field of the most direct perimeter of his inner wall, a place where the corpses of the few monsters that made it through now accompanied the corpse and the shells left behind by their boss.

'Oh right, there's going to be a whole slew of loot and perks once I can actually afford to take a look,' Theo thought, making a mental note as he passed by the monster's carcass only to then stand at the edge of his moat, whipping out his tool to create a temporary bridge so that he could cross over the water rather than swimming through it.

'I might've turned all the switches off, but it's best not to try my luck.' Stay connected via My Virtual Library Empire

It took Theo but a second to construct a mental image of a simple iron grate spanning over the entire moat. Yet, as he reached his hand out to place it…

"Theo!"

A shout reached Theo's ears from behind.

'Shit, they caught up.'

Theo turned his head around while making sure to twist his wrist and press the button, watching how the progress bar completed by the time he turned his head, allowing him to already switch the mode of his tool to excavation, marking the bridge for removal.

But that wasn't enough.

If he wanted to escape, he could always build a sky-bridge leading up to the point from where he would get the range to open up the hole, only to then retreat while removing the path behind him.

If he wanted to just be safe, he could sic his guns on the group… Or rather, from the look of things, just the girl alone, to make the message clear.

But now that Theo's irrational anger towards them had ceased, more logical thinking remained.

'Just like I assumed,' Theo thought, forcing his lips to remain still as opposed to forming a satisfied smile.

That girl's reaction before, the fact that she called out his name, even the way in which her voice messed him up on the inside… and now coupled with the system actively trying to push Theo towards her, made it quite clear that there was something more to this girl than met the eye.

And that, in all honesty, was already quite an achievement.

Despite sporting proper armor that covered her vitals rather than the sexualized joke of it so often seen in popular games, this red-haired woman managed to both wear proper armor and keep her looks quite damn elegant if not outright dignified.

'Wait, is that composite armor?' Theo's eyes widened as he now looked directly at the girl, only for his attention to be drawn by the protective equipment she was wearing.

It was a slightly lighter version of what one could call plate armor… One that incorporated just the most important parts, like a cuirass covering most of her front, a short metal skirt protecting her hips, and then the greaves and long gauntlets keeping her lower arms and legs shielded. Beyond the darkened plates of her armor, she was sporting what appeared like painted pieces of a hardened leather suit with some occasional pieces of added padding here and there, ready to soften up any blow that would come her way.

By all means, what this girl wore… was a state-of-the-art armor, designed to offer the most protection possible while limiting as little movement as possible.

A perfect suit of armor that only made it clear this girl… had to be so filthy rich, not even the possible value of the output of Theo's factories would make her blink.

"Theo…!" Standing at the edge of the forest, the girl silently accepted Theo's inquisitive looks, either giving him the time to stare all he wanted or maybe hoping that with enough looks, he could recognize her.

Yet, against what the girl likely hoped for, when Theo finally looked up from her armor and to the girl's face… his interest visibly faded.

"I've already kept you guys safe through this invasion that you stupidly waltzed right into the middle of," Theo decided to finally take the initiative before the girl could say anything. "Now, I believe, would be the right time for you to…"

The girl reached out to her hip, grabbed her mace, and then raised it, as if preparing to strike Theo down across the several tens of meters that separated them.

'Just give me a fucking reason,' Theo thought, turning silent at the sight of what looked like some sort of unwarranted hostility.

To his surprise, however, right as his guns came online and turned their barrels toward the girl…

She dropped her mace down to the ground, only to pull out a dagger… and then start cutting through the straps that held her exquisite armor together.

Bit by bit, pieces of metal fell down from her body into a small pile around her feet, ultimately leaving her in nothing but a simple leather suit with occasional pieces of padding strategically sewn into her suit for the best possible dispersion of the attacks her original armor was designed to take on.

"I…" the girl muttered silently as she then dropped her knife too and slowly raised her hands, "I mean no harm, I swear…" she stated, making Theo squint his eyes even further.

'Obviously you don't. You would have to be insane to still think about…'

Before Theo could even finish his thought, the girl… disappeared.

…

No!

'Fuck!'

Caught off guard, Theo attempted to jump back, hoping to cross the bridge on the water before it would be too late…

But for all the might his technology offered, all the abilities he could max out with the points he left to rot within his system… when it came to physical performance, Theo was slightly above the level of an average human, with some boost to stamina. And when it came to this girl?

When it came to this red-haired girl, she managed to leap, sprint, or maybe outright fly through the distance that separated them within what seemed like a single instant, only to then open her arms… and clash with Theo, pushing the two of them straight into the water… only to then pin Theo down under herself with the momentum of her leap when his back struck the metal bridge.

In this single instant, Theo considered the option of just blowing her away with one of the guns, knowing full well the risks of shooting so stupidly close to his own flesh…

But this red-head didn't use the opportunity to pull out a hidden weapon and start stabbing him.

No.

She merely closed all four of her limbs around him, locking her legs behind his waist and her arms behind his neck while pressing her face into the corner between Theo's head and his shoulder.

"Theo, Theo, Theo!" she cried out, the upper part of Theo's shoulder suddenly turning wet even though it was above the surface of the water within his moat. "I'm so happy you are alive!"