Chapter 174 System Space I

888 rested his chin on one fist as he watched Kaede and Akari dance. He soon began to chuckle as Kaede did everything wrong. She clearly hated dancing but did it anyway to please Akari.

Even her face was set in its usual slight frown. It was funny watching someone dance with such an expression.

The bar had more souls in it than other times. What with a lot of the new batch of novice taskers getting promoted to intermediate taskers, the amount of break time they received was much more.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh. Just what I like!" Someone screamed from the door and Kylie rushed in to join the girls in dancing whilst Toby shook his head in laughter and walked straight to 888.

They both nodded at each other in greeting before Toby took the seat across from 888 and beckoned to the waiter to get a drink.

"How was Kylie's task?" 888 asked casually.

Toby cocked a brow at 888 before shaking his head with an exasperated smile. "Good. Well as good as crazy could get." Next, he let out a groan and stretched, as if to de-stress. After the waiter brought his drink, he took a sip and looked around. "Yuan isn't back yet?" This was him and Kylie's second task after He Yuan went on his intermediate test task. It wasn't too shocking as the flow of time was different in each realm.

888 adjusted his glasses with his knuckles and shrugged but internally, he was a bit worried. What was taking He Yuan so long? There was no sense of time in the Soul realm but after spending all his time -for as long as he could remember- here, he was able to at least deduce the general flow of time.

He remembered vividly that Kaede's intermediate test task didn't take this long -neither did Kylie's... Or did he miscalculate?

Toby poured a shot into 888's half full glass and flicked it over to the other system with a finger. "Relax. He'll be fine, no need to worry."

888 picked up the glass before raising a brow at Toby. "Who said I'm worried?" When Toby shot him a disbelieving look, he drank the contents of his cup in one gulp and set the glass down. "So what if I'm a little worried? If He Yuan makes a stupid mistake that costs him his life, I'm going down too.

-Even if I'm right here and have absolutely no idea of what's happening. Permit me for caring about my existence."

Toby's happy golden eyes darkened a bit. "Who even made the system rules?"

888 shrugged and poured himself another shot. "Someone sadistic I bet."

A couple of loud souls walked by and Toby watched as 888 stared at one particular soul with mild interest. Toby chuckled. "Finally tired of pretending you're only interested in women?"

888 raised a brow. "Whenever did I say I'm only interested in women?"

"You did not explicitly say it but it was implied in your words." Toby's gaze turned serious. "Something you tend to imply a lot whenever your host is present."

888 avoided Toby's gaze and tipped back the second shot. When Toby did not relent, 888 adjusted his glasses once more and shrugged. "Just didn't want him to get any ideas."

Toby was dumbfounded now. "Get any ideas? You're not making much sense Ren. I might not have known He Yuan for a long time but I'm pretty sure he's not the kind of guy to force himself on others."

888's eyes widened behind his glasses before he sighed and shook his head. "That's not what I meant. Look, I just think it's very unprofessional for systems and taskers to get involved -no offense to you guys- but if something went wrong between the two, it could jeopardize the entire task and put both lives in danger."

Toby chuckled. "I don't believe that."

888 tilted his head to the side. "It's understandable for you not to beli-"

"No." Toby cut in. "I'm not referring to your theory. I'm referring to the fact that you're claiming that to be your reason for consciously hiding your sexuality from He Yuan."

"Fine." 888 pinched his nose bridge. "I just don't want to get stuck with a person who is with me because I'm the only option and not by choice. This system-tasker pairing is low key psychological play.

-You spend all your time together so inevitably, the magnetic force of attraction would kick in sooner or later. You end up together not because they were your ideal choice from the start but because constant contact had conditioned you to settle for what is available."

"So?" Toby asked after moping for a while. "Why bother over thinking things? The people involved like each other, find comfort in each other and are able to create a semblance of happiness for themselves -especially with all the fucked up things that goes on with us systems. Why bother thinking about all these messy things like being your partner's only option or choice?

-If it makes you feel any better, even the taskers have to face such doubts too. Relationships are risky gambles. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. The most dangerous part is, whether we like it or not, we all end up as gamblers."

888 tipped back another shot and relished the burn as the drink travelled down. "I feel we don't have the capital to be gamblers. If we lose then..." He shuddered. Imagine having to spend every waking moment around your ex. The level of awkwardness would be damaging.

Toby nodded. Even if 888 said nothing, he was very sure that the major reason for the silver haired man's aversion to the system-tasker pairing was his intense fear of manipulation. Him and 888 have been friends long before they met the others. He'd been present during the times when 888 used to have constant breakdowns and panic attacks due to the manipulation and brain washing that the systems generally went through.

He sometimes felt that 888 had gone through much worse than the initial brainwashing during his trial period because unlike others, 888 suffered from memory lapses and amnesia after every session. He remembered everything that was done to him during every punishment but 888 didn't.

It was as if the higher ups made a conscious effort to wipe 888's memory and then wipe 888's memory of losing his memory. That way, 888 wasn't even aware that he had missing memories. It took Toby a long time to find out that 888's punishments were especially different from other systems.

But even he did not know what they entailed. Not because he couldn't find out from 888 but because 888 also had no idea of the details of the punishments he went through.

It was better not to think about these things.

Toby suddenly smiled at 888. "You know, it is not a must that system and taskers end up together. It is usually out of convenience.

-Rather than going out to seek pleasure somewhere else, why not do it with someone whom you had gone through shit with in the task realms? They would understand you better.

-You could also lay down an agreement not to involve romantic feelings. That works too. Which brings me to my current question; Why is it that you seem to have the concrete belief that He Yuan would definitely fall for you if he were aware of your true sexuality? Aren't you thinking too much of yourself?"

888 cocked a brow at Toby as if he'd just said something stupid. Was Toby blind?

Toby stared at 888's proud expression. He knew the man's ego over his appearance was larger than the entire Soul realm itself. He suddenly smiled mischievously. "Even if you're a very attractive man. You have to understand that every person has their type. Aren't you really over thinking things? What if you aren't just He Yuan's type?"

888's eyes widened in pure horror and his face turned so red Toby burst out laughing. He couldn't help it. 888 was always sporting a neutral expression, seeing him this stumped was refreshing.

It would be really embarrassing if 888 went through all that stress only to find out that He Yuan did not even fancy him one bit.

888 opened and closed his mouth a few times before he suddenly felt a pull in the system space. He froze and relief washed over his soul bones. He Yuan was back.

He stood up and glared at Toby before scanning his card over the scanner by the table to pay for their drinks. "I'll treat you this one time. I have to go now." He turned around then paused. "By the way, I think you're just spouting bullshit." And then he walked away.

Toby chuckled endlessly as he watched 888 say bye to the girls and leave. His eyes suddenly narrowed. 888 could barely hide his excitement. He was sure the system did not even notice that he was brimming with excitement even if his expression and manner was still neutral and casual.

He Yuan was back wasn't he?