Chapter 68: Back Home (Buy Privilege Please)

When Kyle heard Lira’s voice on the other side of the phone, his inner cowardice vanished in an instant.

It wasn’t because he had suddenly become fearless.

It was because he could hear the emotion in her voice.

Her voice was heavy, carrying the kind of worry that couldn’t be hidden no matter how hard she tried.

"I’m sorry, Lira."

Instead of answering her question, Kyle immediately apologized for making her worry.

[I asked if you are alright.]

Lira simply repeated her question.

But this time, the tone of her voice had changed. The heavy emotion was still there, but it had quickly turned into something much more stern and annoyed.

"Uh—yes, I’m alright. What about you?"

Kyle was caught off guard by the sudden change in her voice.

He had expected her to continue sounding worried, but apparently hearing his voice had already reassured her that he was alive and fine.

[Alright. Good to know you’re alright. And as for me, can’t you guess that from all the texts and missed calls you got on your phone?]

"Uh... I get it. You were worried. I’m sorry for causing you to worry."

Kyle’s heart finally began to lighten.

Just hearing her normal voice again made him feel much more comfortable. The nervousness that had been gripping him moments ago slowly disappeared, allowing him to talk more freely.

[Worried?]

Lira scoffed.

[I didn’t just get worried. I got hell of a lot more worried than you think I was. I almost called the police at one point to find you, but you couldn’t even bother making a single call back. Just where the hell are you, Kyle?]

Kyle swallowed.

"I—I’m sorry. You know I got busy with some work and didn’t realize how quickly time passed. Most of the time, my phone was switched off or out of battery, too. And I’m at the place I told you about. The network just doesn’t come here at all."

He was being completely honest.

Well... mostly.

The place he had told Lira he would be going was obviously different from where he actually was.

He had told her he was going to his village instead of the forest because there was absolutely no way he could casually tell his girlfriend that he was going into the middle of the jungle to learn magic.

That would have raised far too many questions.

[I see.]

Lira sighed on the other side of the phone.

[Just come back. I’ll teach you a good lesson when you get here!]

There wasn’t much anger left in her voice now.

It sounded more like she had already accepted that Kyle was simply the kind of idiot who could disappear for several days after getting too absorbed in something.

"Sure. I’m going to be all yours to receive the punishment, so punish me well."

Kyle chuckled.

[I will. I promise you that! Hmph!]

Lira sounded almost satisfied with his response.

[Anyway, come back safely, okay? And come meet me when you get back.]

"Of course. Well, see you then!"

[Yeah. See you.]

The call ended.

Kyle lowered the phone and stared at the screen for a few seconds.

Both of them had finally managed to say what they needed to say.

The heavy feeling in his chest had disappeared, replaced by relief. He had expected the conversation to go much worse and tense.

Instead, after hearing his voice and confirming that he was alright, Lira had gradually returned to her usual self.

Kyle smiled faintly.

"She’s still worried about me..."

[You handled that well.]

The System complimented him.

Kyle raised an eyebrow.

"Of course I did."

He leaned back into his seat.

"I’m naturally good at these things."

[That confidence appeared remarkably quickly.]

"Shut up."

...

By the time Kyle was dropped off at the city bus station, it was already late afternoon.

From there, he still had another hour-long journey before he finally reached his apartment.

The moment the bus finally stopped near his neighborhood, Kyle stepped off with a tired expression.

He had spent far too much time sitting on buses lately.

"Argh! Stupid fucking bus rides and stupid fucking roads."

He stretched his back while walking toward his apartment.

"Once I get some money in my account, I’m buying a fucking car. I’m already sick of using public transport. It’s fucking unreliable."

The thought of having his own vehicle sounded increasingly appealing.

No waiting or suffering from the public transport.

No terrible roads shaking his entire body every few minutes.

Most importantly, he could simply leave whenever he wanted.

After reaching his apartment, Kyle unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Click.

The familiar sight of his small apartment appeared before him.

Kyle dropped his belongings aside and immediately threw himself onto his bed.

Flop.

"Finally..."

He stretched his arms and legs across the mattress.

Even though he had grown surprisingly fond of the shed in the forest, this place still felt different.

The shed had been far more comfortable than he had expected. It had everything he needed, and being surrounded by nature had even made him somewhat reluctant to leave.

But this was still his home.

It was the only place that gave him that strange feeling of familiarity. The kind of homeliness that couldn’t simply be bought from the Marketplace.

After resting for a few minutes, Kyle remembered that he hadn’t informed Lira that he had actually arrived.

He picked up his phone and sent her a message.

[I reached home. I’ll come meet you tomorrow.]

He sent it and waited for the message to deliver.

Once it did, Kyle put the phone aside.

He had barely gotten comfortable when another thought entered his mind.

"Should I call Stacy? I mean, it hasn’t even been a whole two weeks since we shot the videos..."

Kyle stared at the ceiling.

He began wondering whether it was really the right thing to make new tapes this soon.

Even though Stacy had been more than satisfied after their previous shoot and had told him that she was looking forward to his next call, Kyle still felt hesitant.

He remained lying on his bed, lost in thought, pondering whether he should make the call or not.

----

"uhhg!"

Stacy moaned.