"Bastian, don't say that! Alex works there too and he's a good worker. Of course he'll get a bonus." Lucia interrupted before Bastian could continue his insults.The man snorted again and quickly looked away with a disgruntled face.Alex touched Lucia's arm, signaling the girl not to respond to her brother's remarks. "Already, it's okay. Don't mind him."Lucia nodded with a long sigh. "Come on, we should sit down," she invited, pulling Alex to join her family on the sofa.A glare from her in-laws was the first sight to come, but Alex chose to look the other way."By the way, is your business done? You're back early," Lucia said, noticing Alex's appearance."Yes, just a brief meeting. We talked about work.""Ah, I see." Lucia nodded. She seemed to want to ask further questions, but seeing Alex's haggard and tired face, she decided against it. Her hand impulsively rose to wipe the sweat from Alex's temple. "So, I want to use the bonus to pay off dad's debt, so we can all breathe free,"

"Oh that..." Alex paused his sentence and racked his brain for an answer that Lucia could accept. "It's because... my ex-wife Jasmine visits there often. Yes, she used to visit Bianca in that house. She's very annoying and I don't want you to have anything to do with her," Alex explained at length.He looked at Lucia who was silent at his answer, but then Lucia nodded.Yes, Lucia didn't think much of it. She thought it was a reasonable excuse. After all, she trusted Alex completely.He once told her that his ex-wife had cheated on him and left him for another man. His attitude was bad and Alex seemed reluctant to talk about it. Lucia had never met her in person, but she wondered how Jasmine behaved now? Was it possible that she had changed?If she was visiting Bianca frequently - as Alex had said - did that mean she regretted her actions?Lucia wrung her hands at the thought of that possibility. She wasn't jealous at all. She was just worried if Alex's ex-wife changed her mind and too

The situation was chaotic.The monster seemed to have lost control. It raged and roared in place with a shrill sound that could damage the eardrums.Right under the light of the sun that had gone back to bed, the monster looked so intimidating with its burning red eyes.Alex noticed that the monster's leg was still wounded. It was the mark from the laser he used to cut off its poisonous claws. Other than that, the rest of the body still looked intact. Especially its upper back which was covered by hard and thick scales like protective armor.Alex scanned further to see if there was anything he could exploit?The only parts that looked soft to attack with weapons like swords and lasers were the monster's legs and mouth. They were not covered by thick scales. But Alex thought, no one from the human system would dare to take such a close position. Especially with the monster's mouth that could spit out hot flames at any time.Alex didn't want to take any chances. And he wasn't going to a

Alex gazed sadly at Gonzes' departure. Another fallen human system partner. They had been a good team, but he was too late to save the man.He sighed and rubbed his face in frustration.Now there was only himself left.How could he possibly defeat the monster alone? Alex had fought hard with the other system humans, but not much had changed. Then, if he was alone, would it make any difference?Apparently not.Alex stared at the monster and spontaneously stepped back to see its red eyes fixed on him. The two corners of the monster's mouth moved up, forming a horrible grin that seemed to say that Alex was on the verge of defeat.Alex was indeed just waiting for defeat. His body ached in all parts and the scratched side of his face was constantly twitching with pain. Not to mention his head that hurt, it felt like it was going to explode.What should he do now?The monster stepped forward with a loud noise at every step. Its steps were slow, its eyes fixed on her, like a predator eyeing

"Can we be friends in real life?" asked Alex after a while. He was quite curious about it considering the chances of them meeting were very slim."Sure, but I'm not sure we'd know each other there? I mean, we'd look completely different," Gonzes said, shrugging his shoulders in amusement. Apparently he had the same thoughts as Alex. Alex chuckled and patted Gonzes' shoulder lightly. "Well, we'll see," he said.For some reason, he felt that Gonzes had a personality in common with him. Alex didn't get along with people easily, but Gonzes was different. Even if the time was short, he could see that Gonzes had a friendly demeanor like Missi.They had been good coworkers in the system world, so who knew if they met in the real world as well?Then there were Leo, Martinez, Damme, and Bella.They all looked nice. Alex tried to remember their faces, maybe in the next level there was another gathering of system humans.They all patted him on the shoulder with proud faces while praising Alex.