The hidden reward and Kai's ecstasy

Blue grew against the white with arrogance, the flash of teleportation leaving behind an unforgettable impression in the vast White Hall.

Kai found himself sitting on a comfortable white chair. He returned to his human form and threw the swords, the Book, the case of remaining MP and SP capsules, and the "Legendary" Rock Cake back into his Inventory. He was still wearing his tattered black kimono and trousers, Kai noticed. A testament to the absurd VF Random World he had survived, perhaps.

Kai put his arms over the chair's arms and leaned back, taking a relaxing breath. His right hand lifted, and Kai felt the tiny red bead that had resurfaced on his forehead.

The image of red sparks and Shinobu's trembling eyes surfaced in his mind.

Kai shook the memories away.

The giant white screen in front of him was empty, but Kai wasn't overly worried about the mission's result. The Systems had already awarded him the best reward one could've given to him.

No. It wasn't the unconditional follower or the Ability Fusion. Those were the product of Kai's own trials and tribulations.

It was the mission itself.

Kai had sensed its mysteriousness and uniqueness the very first time he had laid his eyes upon it.

Even then, he had not forgotten that "Survival" was nothing but a theme of this Tournament. According to Item-M, these themes let the audience assess potential candidates to join their factions.

In its essence, the Tournament had always been about Worth, hence the name — Tournament of Worth.

In the 1st Stage, the Systems had hidden this essence behind the curtain of surviving an infested island. However, the Systems truly meant to say — Survive with unfavorable Stats and prove your Worth.

This time, in the 2nd Stage, even more emphasis had been given to Survival, hiding the truth behind two layers. For Kai, these layers were to protect the Package and to survive the onslaught of two factions , i.e. demons and demon slayers.

However, the genuine test wasn't Survival, but the Mission. Or, to be precise, the Mission's Objective; the Question.

What is Demon?

At a glance, Kai could tell that this mission wasn't ordinary. It demanded no obvious answers, either. The Systems had a great motive behind this question, Kai knew.

And the more he thought about it, the more he felt he was right.

This mission didn't demand an Answer. It demanded Comprehension.

What was Comprehension, if not understanding oneself, the world, and the interrelation between man and heaven?

Kai still remembered the teachings of his previous world. So it didn't come as a surprise that he had indeed figured out the meaning behind the Mission's Objective.

No wonder he thought the Systems had already given him the most outrageous reward.

Because, in a way, they indeed had.

It wasn't anything material. It had no form. No correct shape or size. Not even something corporeal or that the senses could perceive.

All it had was an ethereal sensation. A sense of its coming and knowing when to grasp it.

Yes. The first reward the Systems had given Kai was — An Opportunity!

Comprehensions, especially those that needed one to confirm one's nature, were too heinous, to begin with. They couldn't be forced. Neither one could just create artificial situations and circumstances to force them upon oneself.

Comprehensions were spontaneous, and they descended on a being like a slippery fish in the river of time.

All one needed to do was to grab it the moment it passed by them.

Take Kai's comprehension of the Facelessness' three conversions, for example. Even with his mind, he could've never predicted its coming. This comprehension resulted from three spontaneous events. A Deep One's gaze (-Malebolgia, from Spawn Random World-), Kai's one week worth of accumulated knowledge in the House of Black and White's library, and the Dream Lucidity he had gained because of the Saying passed to him by the High Priest.

That's why he knew that after gaining the Comprehension if he were to let this chance go, there would be no guarantee for it to return even after thousands of years.

So when Kai saw the opportunity, he took it. Others might not see or understand his reasoning behind reincarnating in a girl's body, he knew. Most of the world's geniuses would even probably scoff at him if they were to hear his explanations.

'Fuck them!' Kai's thoughts were simple. This was his Demonic Path, and what others had to do with it. If he was right, then he would ascend to the peak of absolute power using this Comprehension. Otherwise…

"Otherwise…" Kai mumbled, the grin on his face becoming vile and demonic, "… Ashes to ashes and dust to dust. Haha!"

As if replying to Kai, the white screen lit up and rows of words appeared on it with apparent pride and exhilaration hidden behind them.

[[

Congratulations Kai Stormborn…

You have completed the Survival Mission

Survival Mission: What is Demon?

Survival Mission Status: Pass

Survival Mission Time Limit: 1 month

Survival Mission Difficulty: D+

Note: The Survival Mission has four Rewards. The Contestant can only choose 2 out of these 4 rewards, forfeiting the rest.

]]

'Hmm?' Kai raised an eyebrow. 'Not even giving the option to trade the rest of the rewards by sacrificing something? Let's see what the rewards are first.'

Kai seemed nonchalant about it, but his heart was pounding in his chest.

There was one reward he wanted the most. His desire to see it among these 4 rewards was only lower than the revenge he had gotten in his previous life.

Kai licked his lips, and the voices returned, bringing rows of words on the white screen with no exceptional grandeur about them.

[[

Survival Mission Rewards:

1. 1 Million Mission Credits

2. Blue Spider Lily

3. Hanafuda Earrings

4. Multiverse Id (Unique Random World)

]]

Kai's laugh echoed far and wide, reaching to the furthest unreachable corners of this white hall.

"I choose the 4th reward, Multiverse ID," Kai declared with no further thought.

Instantly, the 4th reward from the white screen disappeared, and appeared in his Stats, below the Multiverse Id of the Game of Thrones Random World, from where his other follower, Andrik, was.

Only one more choice remained now.

Kai took a deep breath, calming down his ecstatic emotions. Normally, he would have never lost his cool, no matter the reward. But this Multiverse ID had too much significance for Kai. He already had grand plans related to it. Not to mention, he had too much to learn from this VF Random World; too much to explore.

Kai closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he had already returned to an optimum state.

Now he looked at the rest of the rewards. The very first reward looked intensely tempting to him.

1 Million Mission Credits!

It was no ordinary sum. For comparison, his low-level Uncommon grade Item, Murasame, which was also a Named Sword, had cost Kai 400,000 Mission Credits. Even among the nobles of the Primordial Tower, only the most favored and extraordinarily wealthy could afford such a price. If it wasn't for the White Being giving him 10 Million Mission Credits, Kai might well have not seen such an amount for years to come.

Not to mention, Kai was broke now, and Mission Credits meant too much to him. At least, more than they meant to an ordinary Contestant.

Without them, Kai couldn't jump to another Random World. Nor could he stretch or compress time, which he direly needed, now that the Harry Potter World's Timeline had diverged from the Primordial Tower's one.

The offered amount was truly too much to just ignore.

But it wasn't something to lose one's cool over it, unlike the Multiverse ID of a VF Random World. So Kai said, "Show me the Stats of individual Items."

The Systems brought out the Stats of Blue Spider Lily at his request.

'This?!' Kai's eyes almost popped out.