Chapter 222: "What the Heck Is a Healthy Yandere?!"

"That’s insane." Luke couldn’t help muttering to himself.

His eyes shone with excitement as he read through the milestone’s benefits.

One feature immediately caught his attention.

Daily charge stacking.

Until now.

Whenever a reward triggered the 10,000× Return, the additional 100× passive multiplier from Aurielle became almost meaningless.

After all compared to ten thousand. One hundred was practically nothing.

But now, those daily charges could be accumulated instead of being wasted.

A grin slowly spread across Luke’s face. "Now that’s actually useful."

He had barely finished celebrating—

When another notification suddenly appeared before him.

[0-0]

"..."

Luke’s smile instantly froze.

"What?" A bad premotion immediately rose inside him.

He instinctively took half a step back.

If the System had possessed a physical body.

Luke would have already put several meters of distance between them, as though avoiding a contagious plague.

Seeing his reaction. The System calmly continued.

[Luke.]

[A new update has been installed.]

Luke’s eyelid twitched.

For some reason. He had an extremely bad feeling about this.

"...Go on." He answered cautiously.

The System didn’t keep him waiting.

[The previous base multiplier has now become the new Return rate.]

[From this point onward...]

[Aurielle’s Return will be fixed at 1,000×.]

"..."

Luke stared at the notification for several seconds.

Then—

"THIS IS ABSURD!" His shout echoed across the empty hills.

He looked completely speechless.

"Other people’s systems receive updates that add new functions and increase rewards."

"But mine?"

"It keeps finding new ways to reduce them!"

Luke couldn’t help complaining.

Although, He had to admit.

The Second Milestone had indeed unlocked several incredible features.

Still, at this moment. He genuinely missed those cliché slave systems from the novels he had read on Earth.

The System immediately responded.

[(ಠ_ಠ) Tch.]

[I’m far superior to those slave systems from your novel world.]

Its tone sounded strangely offended. As if Luke had insulted its dignity.

Completely ignoring Luke’s aggrieved expression. It continued speaking.

[However...]

[There is another piece of good news.]

Luke raised an eyebrow.

He had already learned from experience.

Whenever the System said "good news". There was usually a catch somewhere.

Still.

He patiently listened.

[Aurielle has successfully advanced to the Silver Knight Realm.]

[Silver Knight corresponds to D-Rank.]

[Therefore from this point onward, every reward generated through Aurielle will be fixed at D-Rank.]

Hearing that Luke’s mood improved slightly.

At least he wouldn’t be receiving rocks as rewards anymore.

The System immediately interrupted his thoughts.

[There are plenty of D-Rank rocks.]

"..."

Upon this Luke’s mouth twitched, as the system was hell-bent on giving him rocks.

The System completely ignored his expression and continued.

[Also the daily charges are cumulative.]

[They are not multiplicative.]

Luke quietly listened. The System gave an example.

[For instance, after accumulating charges for ten days.]

[The stored Return becomes 10,000×.]

Luke nodded.

"That’s about what I expected."

There was no way his System would leave such an obvious loophole unpatched.

If stacking had been multiplicative. The numbers would have become absurd within a few weeks.

Then another notification appeared.

[The reward upgrade limit has been adjusted.]

[Maximum upgrade: B-Rank.]

Luke’s expression stiffened slightly.

The System continued mercilessly.

[The previous 100× Upgrade option has been removed.]

[The first upgrade of a reward will now consume a 1,000× Return.]

[Upgrading that same reward a second time will require a 10,000× Return.]

Seeing this, Luke finally gave up arguing.

He let out a long sigh.

"Even the 100× Upgrade option is gone. What else is there to say?"

Complaining clearly wasn’t going to change anything.

After calming down, he looked at the update again.

Then a faint smile returned to his face.

"There is atleast one good thing."

Previously, everything depended on luck.

Only when a 10,000× Return happened to appear could he upgrade the same reward twice.

If his luck was poor. He simply had to wait.

Now, however the rules were fixed.

As long as he patiently accumulated charges. He could reliably upgrade a reward all the way to B-Rank.

That meant. In roughly ten days, he could create a Platinum-rank asset whenever he wanted.

Luke slowly nodded.

"I can work with that."

Then his gaze then shifted toward the final reward listed in the milestone.

Monthly Claim.

The moment he read those two words. His anticipation skyrocketed.

If...

If it really worked the way he imagined. Then everything would change.

His thoughts instantly began racing.

’Several plans I’ve been putting off. All of them suddenly seemed possible.’

Just as his excitement reached its peak. The System finally began explaining.

[The Monthly Claim is a Choice Reward—]

"FINALLY!" Before the System could even finish explaining. Luke threw both hands into the air and shouted toward the sky.

"So the Goddess of Luck hasn’t abandoned me after all!"

The System was silent for a moment.

Then...

A single notification appeared.

[o_O]

[The Goddess of Luck had nothing to do with this.]

[It was this System that added the feature you were cursing a moment ago.]

"..."

Luke immediately cleared his throat.

"Ahem."

His expression changed at lightning speed.

He smiled warmly.

"My dear System. You’ve always been the best."

The System remained completely unmoved.

It simply gave him a thoroughly shameless look.

Then it continued its explanation.

[With the Monthly Claim. You may choose any reward once every month.]

Luke’s eyes lit up.

The System continued.

[The selected reward will always be generated at the same realm as Aurielle.]

[Current Rank: D-Rank.]

Luke clenched his fists.

This was far more valuable than relying on random luck. He could deliberately choose exactly what Blackstone needed.

The System wasn’t finished yet.

[One Monthly Claim is generated at the beginning of every month.]

[However.]

[As compensation for this update. One extra claim has already been granted to you.]

Luke’s smile widened even further.

Then—

The final notification appeared.

[This compensation has been provided because several benefits previously exclusive to Aurielle have now been removed and distributed across your other wives return as well.]

"Now." Luke slowly looked toward the System.

"What exactly did you remove this time?" His voice carried more resignation than anger.

By now he had already accepted that every major update came with hidden conditions.

The System answered immediately.

[First.]

[Milestones have now become mandatory for your other wives.]

Luke frowned.

The System continued.

[Previously.]

[Even without unlocking Milestones, wives could still trigger 10,000× Returns through sufficiently strong emotions or the awakening of new emotions.]

[That is no longer possible.]

Luke’s expression gradually stiffened.

[From now onward.]

[A wife without her First Milestone unlocked will only generate 1× G-Rank rewards.]

[Which is effectively... nothing.]

"..."

Luke silently rubbed his forehead.

The System wasn’t finished.

[Only after reaching the First Milestone, will her Return become 100×.]

[The reward cap will also increase to E-Rank.]

Another notification appeared.

[Even if that wife’s cultivation surpasses the reward limit. Higher-ranked rewards will not be generated.]

[To unlock them. Complete their Milestones.]

Then came the System’s final explanation.

[The System encourages healthy Yandere wives.]

-____________________-

A long silence, then Luke face-palmed himself. "What the heck is a healthy Yandere?"

"Since when have Yanderes become healthy?"

At this the system showed an innocent smile.

[😇]

Upon this, Luke’s mouth twitched violently.

Slowly, he raised a trembling finger toward the floating System screen.

"You seriously don’t want me to live anymore."

The System let out a dramatic sigh.

[Sigh, Luke, listen carefully.]