CHAPTER 70: CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

If he was being honest, Max didn’t know how to react to such a huge information dump. He needed some time to process everything and then think about his future.

Especially everything related to his engagement with Harley.

"About your little girlfriend, do you want her or someone like me?" Harley asked, her voice so alluring that it directly tugged at his heartstrings.

She really was a master at playing people however she wanted.

Sadly, Max was far more stubborn than she expected as he just stared dead into her eyes and said, "I’ve said it multiple times and I’ll say it again. Relationships mean much more to me than you can imagine."

He pushed her on the couch and loomed over her, saying every word with seriousness, "I will not leave anyone I love, and it won’t change no matter what you do."

"Even if it means the end of the world?" Harley asked, touching his cheeks with her soft hands.

"Yes! I will save it without sacrificing anyone," Max smiled confidently and said.

Those were his exact thoughts that he wanted to let Harley know, but it was also his mission after all—well, in a way.

Harley caressed his chin, looking so enticing beneath him, "I can see what you want, boy. You want to make a harem and want me in it too, don’t you?"

"What if I do want it?" Max asked.

"Then, you’ll have to prove yourself. I’m a Lannister and I will never submit to a weakling," Harley grinned. "I’ll give you a chance. Defeat me and I’m yours. I won’t even question your decision of having a harem."

"What if I lose?" Max knew she wouldn’t offer an unfair trade.

"Then, you will be my toy, and you can forget about having a harem. Your mother told me to marry you—never said the position you’ll have in the marriage," Harley said. "Are you up for it?"

Before he could say anything, she added, "Of course, this doesn’t mean our other deals are off. I will still support you with all I have and help you in becoming stronger. After all, I also dreamt of having a strong husband."

She licked her lips and rose close to Max’s face, "If I can’t find someone worthy, then I’ll just groom one. Don’t make me disappointed, boy."

Max felt a chill from her words, but there was no way he was going to back away now. So, he pushed her down once more and grinned.

"Boy this, boy that... I swear I will make you call me your man. As for the deal, I accept it. I will surpass you and conquer you properly."

"Good! I’ll be waiting till then, boy~" Harley patted his back. "Now go on and have some rest. You have to meet your little girlfriend in the morning, after all."

Max smiled and leaned forward, noticing the amusement in her eyes. He could see she was also affected by their closeness, as for the first time he could read her and saw pure lust in her eyes.

However, before his lips touched hers, he rolled over and stood up. Looking down at a dumbstruck Harley, he grinned and said, "You’ll really have to wait for that."

"This brat..." Harley just chuckled at his behavior, seeing him walking toward the door. She shouted, "You can stay here, you know."

"Nah, I’ll have some rest in the Inn," Max waved his hand before stopping all of a sudden. "That reminded me. What happened with the leftover gas from the Manaflow Restoration Elixir?"

"Oh? You will have some stomach problems because of that for a few days," Harley exclaimed, as if she had just remembered it.

"Why didn’t you te—" Max stopped himself, seeing the teasing smile on her face.

"Haha! Don’t worry! There is no harm from the leftover gas," Harley chuckled and said. "Bye! I’ll meet you in 18 days and will also prepare for your journey to the First Selections."

"Thanks!"

...

In the morning, Max prepared himself to leave for the Labyrinth. He was quite surprised at how he was so full of energy despite sleeping for only a few hours.

He had returned quite late in the night, but John was still at the reception and welcomed him with a proud smile on his face.

Max could guess his thoughts but didn’t clear anything, as that would take too much time. He just smiled back in return.

After waking up, the first thing he did was make some space in his System Space since his CID wouldn’t work inside the Labyrinth.

So, he threw all the Gold Coins into a wooden box and gave it to John for safety. He trusted him enough, and even if he didn’t, John was too wealthy to steal those gold coins from him anyway.

After that, he shifted all the important materials into the System Space, which he found surprisingly bigger than last time.

’Is it because I advanced to Silver Rank?’

It was at least three times bigger, which made him regret his decision of giving the gold coins to John. He just consoled himself thinking he could store some valuable monster materials in the System Space.

Because of the immense space, he packed more than enough things for the next eighteen days, including various survival kits.

He couldn’t read or write, so he had Kafka’s help for that for the past few days. Through that, he found many quality survival videos on the Internet.

Many people died in the Labyrinth, but not every death was because of the monsters, after all.

Once he was finished with packing, he took out Moon’s Shroud—a High Silver Rank Light Armour he had gotten from Harley.

He couldn’t use it without refining it, but it was still better than wearing normal clothes in battle.

It wouldn’t provide him much defense since he couldn’t activate its enchantment without refining it, but he could use its physical protection.

The light armour was a full-piece gray leather suit that fit his body perfectly, as if it was made just for him. There were various subtle scales on the suit, but overall it looked like a gray battle suit.

Max tried moving around in it and found it pretty comfortable, making him wonder if Harley had tampered with it somehow.

Shaking his head, he picked up a black slick bag and threw it over his shoulder. It had some important things needed for diving in it.

Max didn’t really need it, but it would be too suspicious if he entered the Labyrinth empty-handed. People would probably call him a madman and bet if he could survive.

He had also picked up a nice pair of daggers that he held on his waist, sheathed. His wear would give him away as an assassin, which was fine for him.

Max checked himself once more in the mirror and couldn’t help but smile in pride. The reflection showed the perfect image of what the average person would call an edgy persona.

He pushed his dark hair back and muttered in a dangerous tone, "Time to let the world see who the true alpha is!"

[...Boy, even I had a disgusted face at that. How can you say such cringey lines with a straight face?]

"It’s a talent peasants wouldn’t understand," Max smirked.

[Trying to forget the matter of Harley?]

Max stopped smiling and sighed, "Why do you have to remind me of that?"

[So you are delaying it.]

"Yeah, this is an important dive, and I just want to focus on getting stronger for the next eighteen days. Everything else will be seen later on," Max said, turning toward the door.

[I see! Good luck! I’m going back to see my favourite anime.]

"And which one is that?"

[THE WORLD!!!]

Max almost stumbled hearing the shout in his head. It really was eerily similar to that blonde bastard.

"Seriously? Of all anime, you liked that the best?"

[YES! YES! YES! YES!]

"Aghh! Please continue and stop that chant," Max groaned.

[Tsk! Peasants don’t understand peak!]

Max completely ignored her and went downstairs. It was still pretty early, and he had at least three hours to reach the portal. But then again, it would take some time to reach there because of traffic and the distance.

Fortunately, he had already called his favourite driver.

"Morning, Uncle John. Morning, Aunt Melissa," Max greeted the two of them, as they were busy with the morning customers.

Melissa gave a short glance at him and nodded, "I have already prepared a portion for you. Go and get it from the kitchen. I’ve also packed some things, so take them too."

"Haha! Thanks!"

"Take my spear too," John added. "Those daggers are trash!"

’You don’t have to remind me,’ Max sighed and nodded, "I’ll do that!"

After he was done with everything Melissa and John prepared for him, he went out of the Inn and found the familiar driver from Fastec waiting for him.

"Kiddo, I might seriously overcharge you for dragging me every time!"

"You’re getting paid, old man. Now let’s go, I need to conquer the world."