— — — — — —
Kazuma reappeared in the Fairy Tail world, standing in his own home. Rain drummed steadily against the windows outside, and the clothes he'd just changed out of were still damp.
"So when I went to Miko's world… does that mean time here slowed down?"He frowned. "Or did it just stop altogether?"
The system responded calmly in his mind: [Time flows differently between worlds. When the host travels to another world, time in the current one slows dramatically.]
[One day in another world equals one hour here.]
"Oh?" Kazuma's eyes lit up. That sounded just like the Hyperbolic Time Chamber from Dragon Ball. The ratio wasn't as extreme, but the concept was the same—spend a day training elsewhere, and only an hour passes here.
In other words, if he spent a month in another world, barely more than a day would pass in this one.
Forget pay-to-win players—he was about to become the ultimate grind-to-win player.
He could go train in other worlds every hour and be invincible in no time.
"Too bad the dream's nicer than the reality," he muttered. "I still need to spend mission points to travel." The system's explanation scrolled across his mind: each trip cost ten points and lasted three days. With his current 200 points, he could stay for roughly two months of outside-world time.
"Two months, huh? That's not much at all." He sighed. "Guess I'll just have to work harder—and maybe find a few people to 'help' me earn more points."
He shook his head and decided to take stock of his latest haul.
After completing Miko's request, he earned 100 mission points. And because it had been his first crossover commission, he'd also received a bonus reward—the Ninja Shadowkhan, straight from the Jackie Chan Adventures universe.
"Come out!"
He waved his hand, and shadows rippled across the floor, walls, and ceiling. One after another, black-clad ninja warriors materialized, their crimson eyes gleaming in the dim light. They stood silently, awaiting his command.
"Start by cleaning up this place—and wash my clothes while you're at it."
The shadow soldiers bowed and got to work, sweeping, scrubbing, and hanging laundry with inhuman precision. Within minutes, the entire house was spotless.
"Perfect. Combat-ready, domestic skills on point, and since they're made of shadows, they can't even die." An idea struck him, and he grinned wickedly. "What if I turn them into walking bombs? Now that's real deterrence."
With a flick of his hand, the soldiers melted back into the darkness.
"They can even travel through shadows… and take me with them if needed." Another escape option in the bag. Excellent.
Next up was his reward for establishing a guild and completing the first achievement in Miko's world—[Beast Speech Mastery] and another 100 points. Not the flashiest ability, but maybe useful someday.
He reviewed his point system again. There were really only two main uses: world travel and upgrading existing skills.
"Let's see… upgrading the Gate of Babylon costs ten thousand points." He scratched his head. "Maybe the really good weapons will unlock then."
"Sadly, I can't upgrade it—I'm poor."
"Sigh~ Next, Observation Haki (Future Vision) costs one thousand… Ninja Shadowkhan, one hundred… Hidden Reserve Energy, also one hundred… Beast Speech, another hundred."
The costs varied wildly. After a moment's thought, he decided to test an upgrade on the Hidden Reserve Energy. His reward for achieving 100 missions.
[Hidden Reserve Energy I: Stores up to two full reserves of magic power, each equal to your total current capacity.]
[Next upgrade requires 200 points.]
"Huh?" Kazuma blinked. "That's it? Just… two extra full mana bars? For a hundred points?"
"Well, thinking about it, it makes sense. It's a growing skill after all.
Considering his own mana reserves—already ten times greater than a typical S-rank mage thanks to his buffs—that was insane. Now he effectively had thirty times the average output, and still growing.
He couldn't help imagining himself firing a single blast from Ea someday, wiping out an entire continent in one shot. Yeah… that sounded about right.
He decided to save his remaining 100 points for later and stretched with a satisfied groan.
"Not a bad haul this time."
A wave of fatigue hit him. He flopped onto his bed and drifted off almost immediately, sleeping straight through until morning.
...
The next day, Kazuma arrived early at the Fairy Tail guild. The hall was already lively—members laughing, drinking, and roughhousing like always.
"Morning, Mira," he called, heading for the counter. The white-haired barmaid was already at work, polishing a glass.
"Good morning! You showed up just in time. I got a weird request earlier—take a look, see if it interests you."She remembered him asking her to keep an eye out for commissions, so she handed over a sheet of paper.
"A weird one, huh?"
He scanned the request: a wealthy man wanted someone to find a certain book in his mansion and destroy it. Straightforward enough… except for the reward—two million j.
"Two million? That's way too high for something like this," he muttered. "There's definitely more to it."
Then it clicked. He remembered this job from the original timeline—it wasn't particularly hard. Just a celestial spirit, a couple of mercenaries. No way that was worth two million.
"It was originally listed at two hundred thousand," Mira explained. "But then the client suddenly increased the reward. Seems desperate. The others thought it was suspicious, so no one's taken it yet."
Kazuma grinned. "No problem. I'll handle it."
He was just about to leave when a familiar, overexcited voice rang out behind him.
"Kazuma! I was waiting for you."
Natsu came charging across the room, grinning from ear to ear.
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