cerim
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Chapter 757 - Party pooper and Grumpy
🕑 Added 2025-12-15 09:35:34 +0000 UTC“So, how does it look here on Earth so far?” I ask. To not waste any time, I start manifesting and weaving together weapons made of manabloc that I put on the floor.
“Please make some simple square plates, cubes, and orbs, I’m selling these, and pass some to scientists I hire,” Channeler says as he sees that. “I would say it goes as well as it can in the current situation. Sure, they try to control us, but they have a smart person or two who realizes it will be near impossible soon, so they are trying to be more sneaky about it. If you want, I can tell you much more about that. About annoying senators, what the president thinks of this all, what the army plans, and more, but I think it would bore you.”
“It would,” I confirm and start making the shapes he just asked for. “Any danger to you or the people with us?”
“There is always a little bit of it, but nothing too serious other than them hinting they could do some damage if we push them too much. We mostly cooperate, but only to the point we want, meanwhile making contacts for the future. There are some smaller countries that are a mess after Normal difficulty people returned, but we all know the real trouble starts when Hard difficulty will start appearing.”
“Well, I would not rely on that,” I lean back and throw another sheet of manabloc on the floor. “I didn't return alone, there is another guy.”
“Hell difficulty?”
“You could say that, he is a Beyonder.”
“Stronger than you?”
“For now. Confirmed Champion level.”
“Well, fuck.”
“Yup, I will talk to him soon to see what his plans are. But honestly, I don’t think there is much I can do other than try having my family stay safe as well as you guys.”
“Do you think he would try to use your family against you?” Channeler asks in worry.
“Quite likely if he was left with no other choice. And there is nothing I can do other than maybe beg him on my knees if that's what he wants to see. Amusing situation, isn’t it?”
“It is fucked up,” Jessica says from the side. “Who even is that jerk? What asshole did he come out of?”
“It’s complicated, and better for you guys not to know too much. I will tell you only a bit more before I return to the tutorial,” I say and lean back just enough to see the sky through the massive ceiling window.
There, far in the distance, the moon is visible in the blue sky. Using mana to strengthen my sight, I observe the cocoon and the mana signature of the shape of a spider inside. A huge spider. I recognize it, of course, though Septa used to be much, much smaller and cuter when I saw her in the Academy.
Taking my eyes off it, I look back at Channeler. “Can you give me all the data, family locations, and that stuff?”
He nods. “Yes, I will give them to you when you decide to leave.”
“Good. There are things I want to ask you to prepare before I return to the tutorial. Snacks, laptops, solar panels, Izzy wanted a drone too for a while, a tablet, a few more smartphones, a DSLR camera, and ebooks, among them as many sciency ones as you can. You can also add things the scientists found on mana as well. Oh, and a detailed timeline of what happened on Earth while we were in the tutorial, some music tools for Maya, and plenty more. I will give you a list. There is a lot.”
“I can gather that all easily in a few hours.”
“There is also a guy named John Murray. I will give you his description, so please find out who he is and send 200,000 to his bank account. You have that much cash, right?”
“Is this some sort of mind game? Is it one of your bullies, the people from the tutorial were betting you would torture the moment you return to Earth?”
“Who do you guys take me for?”
“I refuse to answer. But yes, I can do that easily,” Channeler says.
“Great. I don’t have that much time, so I will stick around for an hour longer before I check on my mom and the families of the others. Before returning to the tutorial, I will return here for the stuff.”
“By the way, it’s eerie that you have your eye trait activated the entire time. It gives me goosebumps.”
“What a nice way of you asking me to turn it off for the normal people. Well, it’s too bad. I evolved my trait, and now I can’t turn it off.”
“Oh...”
"I think it looks cool," Jessica says from the side.
“While I'm in Beyond, it threatens to melt my brain from the sheer amount of information on mana wavelengths. Though here on Earth, it is much easier to handle.”
“Certified party pooper,” the woman smiles.
It amuses me a little. After the looks I got in the common area in the last minutes of the tournament, this feels better. There, even some people from Hell difficulty were plenty scared, that much I could sense from their heartbeats.
Channeler coughs, and I switch my attention to the screen. There, a high-resolution recording shows me entering the 4th event with two metallic cones shining in front of me. Though I don’t remember it, I’m there smiling for some reason. With interest, I watch the video that shows a blinding light and an explosion. There is Adrian, surrounded by his figure-thing, and a skeleton flying through the air around which flesh starts regenerating in bursts of golden flames.
Like some maniacal lich, that skeleton keeps clacking its teeth, and the superheated air of the explosion warps around it.
The cameraman and people around him shout in excitement and sheer shock. Someone shouts, "Go, go Mana maniac!" Another person shouts, "Is that a fucking mushroom cloud?" "Nukes? Nukes!?" and plenty more. There is even some voice screaming at the top of their lungs, "Nice bakery!" for some reason.
But after the fight ends, those words grow quieter, and although many people are shouting, some murmur hesitantly.
I watch as Channeler closes the file and then goes to YouTube, where he searches for a certain channel. There, he sorts videos by the newest, and a similar short to a video that we just saw starts playing, though this one has flashy edits added to it. There is heavy bass music and some animation. For a moment, when the video zooms in on my skeletal face, the frame freezes, the music stops, and a pop-up asks for a subscription before the music unfreezes and the video continues. All synced to the music.
“Of course, that guy already made an edit. Knowing him, in a day or two, there will be a much more heavily edited video instead of just a short one,” Channeler sighs as he looks at me, likely reading my confusion. “The tournament ended, and there were plenty of people from lower difficulties who wanted to participate before clearing their last floor. So now, a few days later, after the end of the tournament, there are plenty of them appearing, and of course, with videos, items, materials, and all that stuff.”
“That makes sense, I guess,” I say.
“Yes,” Channeler nods almost absentmindedly and clicks on the short video to play again in the background, listening to the song only. On his computer, he opens a messaging app. “I’m messaging the others to prepare the things you asked for. By the way, you might not know it, but if you come in contact with a normal human, they will be what we think is connected to the system and awakened.”
I remember the man called John I touched, and the cute dog, Vivi.
Channeler continues to explain, “The time when it shows varies, sometimes in a few minutes, sometimes in days. We have a theory that it is faster the stronger the returnee is. You being from Hell, difficulty will likely take minutes for someone you touched and maybe half an hour for people close to you. We are still not sure, but it could be an area around you, about the size of a smaller city, that gets affected.”
“Oh.”
“Yes, oh,” he nods. “But you couldn’t have known. Also, we think that awakening continues to spread from people who came in contact with returnees. If they meet an Easy difficulty person, they might spread awakening only a little, but meeting or touching someone like you, they might spread it to hundreds, thousands, or even have their own ‘field’ of awakening.”
I look at Jessica, who smiles at my expression, and then ask Channeler, “What does it do to people?”
Finally, he looks away from the screen, done sending messages, and turns off the video. “You see a system notification that tells you about awakening. It says: ‘Congratulations! The earliest participants of the tutorial have completed their induction, and Earth will begin its awakening. More information will follow once the tutorial concludes! Welcome!’ Then, if you know what to think or what to say, you can summon your status of level 0, and also check on your two innate skills. If you kill a monster, you level up. You can even enter a dungeon to level up. Some returnees are beginning to be hired to awaken rich people and teach them, or help them to level up.”
“I could do that too, or heal and make millions, but instead I decided to heal our precious Grumpy,” Jessica says.
I sigh. “Yes, yes. Don’t worry, I will let Lily know. And since we’re talking about it, let’s give a healing mark to Grumpy.”
As I say that, I move towards her and the cat. While I do so, I awaken the mark Lily placed onto the back of my pale left hand, where it appears.
“Are you sure?” Jessica asks. “She didn’t get to examine his body or modify her healing mana...” As if realizing what she is saying, she stops and laughs shortly. “How dumb of me. I guess even without all that, she is better than anyone else from Earth.”
I nod and touch Grumpy, who growls while glaring at me.
Grumpy is an entirely black cat with differently colored eyes. One of them is yellow, and the other is blue. His fur, though, now lacks the pitch-black shine it might have once carried, and his movements are slow and tired. He constantly keeps sniffing at the hand where the mark is placed, as if recognizing something in there, and slowly his growls turn to quiet, tired purring.
As I put my hand on his head, he presses against it and closes his eyes.
The healing mark in the mana disperses with such gentleness I almost don’t notice when all of it is emptied and gone, and when I pull my hand back, Grumpy lies there sleeping.
In a quieter voice, I say, “Lily said it would be too dangerous to try to heal him on a deeper level, so she made it to strengthen his body and do some simple healing. Would you believe that she has worked on it since Floor 1?” I almost snicker. “She also couldn’t explain how it works, though Sophie kept trying to put it in some fancy terms. Lily just said it will make Grumpy grow bigger and get a stronger body so he can take care of himself. Once she is back, she will do it properly and give him his old form back. Biscuit allowed her to study him a little, so it will be interesting.”
Jessica blinks. “How big?”
“I don’t know for sure, she said maybe like a Labrador, at worst as big as a horse. She also asked to take care of him as he might be scared and confused by the change.”
The woman mumbles something that sounds like it will be her getting scared when I pet Grumpy one more time before standing straight.
“Now, please, tell me where my mom is.”
Comments
Edelweiss
some suggestions based on what I translate certain wordgroups to to make the dialogue feel more realistic, normal text -> altered text. - - in normal text outlines places where i've made changes in the altered text. - - in altered text outlines the location of the alterations. I sigh. “Yes, yes. Don’t worry, -I will- let Lily know. And since we’re talking about it, let’s give a healing mark to Grumpy.” -> I sigh. “Yes, yes. Don’t worry, -I'll- let Lily know. And since we’re talking about it, let’s give a healing mark to Grumpy.” “How dumb of me. I guess even without all that, -she is- better than anyone else from Earth.” -> “How dumb of me. I guess even without all that, -she's still- better than anyone else from Earth.” Grumpy is an entirely black cat with -differently colored eyes-. -One of them is yellow, and the other is blue.- -> Grumpy is an entirely black cat with -heterochromia-. One of them being yellow, the other is blue. His fur-, though, now -lacks the pitch-black shine it might -have once- carried, -> His fur - - lacks the pitch-black shine it might -once have- carried, and his movements are slow and tired. Would you believe that -she has worked- on it since Floor 1?” -> Would you believe that -she's been working- on it since Floor 1?” Lily just said -it will- make Grumpy grow bigger and -get a stronger body- so he can take care of himself. Once -she is- back,-she will- do it properly and give him his old form back. Biscuit allowed her to study him a little, so it will be interesting.” -> Lily just said -it'll- make Grumpy grow bigger and -give him a stronger body-/-strengthen his body- so he can take care of himself. Once -she's- back, -she'll- do it properly and give him his old form back. Biscuit allowed her to study him a little, so it will be interesting.” “I don’t know for sure, she said -maybe like a Labrador-,- - at worst as big as a horse. She also asked - - to take care of him as he might be scared and confused -by- the change.” -> “I don’t know for sure, she said -he'll grow to be at least as large as a labrador-, -and- at worst as big as a horse. She also asked -that I get someone- to take care of him as he might be scared and confused -from- the change.”
caeven
just how big is nats ass for this shit to be mentioned THAT often? holy shit.
Memelord Steambath
Yes
Peter Smith
Watch as he makes a damn scouter for her
Hugh Peeble
So wait… Vivi and her owner will awaken as will anyone that he rode past on the bus etc… also wouldn’t Grumpy biting him have accelerated Grumpy being awoken and now won’t Lily’s mark turbocharge that?
Nemesis
Mana is his phylactory
Nykyrion
I really, Really hope Nat ordered a bunch of sign language books so he and maybe some others can talk to Tacita
jordicl
both. A lvl 0 as physically strong as a lvl 50 should be able to level really fast after all.
Ivan Jelenić
No, only competition for more pets.
Ivan Jelenić
\o/
Ivan Jelenić
Need army/colonel reaction to the point blank nukes video. XD
Nick
Im blanking on who Kevin is
13L00D13ANE
First 'i' is a 'y'. Lynthari
Kirin
Thank you for the chappie!
Cretzel krend
I hope Nat doesn't forget about Kevin's family
YaBoiiSloth
I think that does contribute to the initial infatuation. Between his attitude and those eyes she probably felt right at home around him lol
Schmidt
Is heterocromia common in cats? The fact that both grumpy and nat has it is interesting, although I guess that explains why lily was so drawn to nat
WINTEX
He still has coordinates of the LisLis planet.
Nemesis
Maybe she's afraid that it is more easily broken? Or perhaps she doesn't know about them
Nemesis
Cathaniel
trainedturtle
Hi cerim im curious why does izzie want a DSLR and not a mirrorless? Theyre rich so she can definitely afford it lmao
trainedturtle
wait thats a really good observation
Nemesis
Was Lily's healing mark just a grand plan to get Nat to awakening Grumpy so he can level up and extend his lifespan? 😜
DarkRain
yes unfortunately we dont get to see it
Arnon Parenti
Nuke? Nuke? What do you mean Nuke? Why am I being obliterated? Givine Doom vibes.
Arnon Parenti
I just hope Nat bought some coordinates for an abandoned world and is going to claim it's core just so the much stronger Biscuit can stay earth's greatest protector.
Tanean
I just realised, if Adrian is tech savvy enough (or even know what tech is since he's been isolated for a while), he will be able to see previous tutorial "Mana daddy" videos. I don't know how he will react, but him seeing a white haired Nat might make him realize that Nat knows a lot more than simply him being a reincarnator.
Mads jæger
New persona Lich-thaniel confirmed
Ken Horne
I would say his situation changed. He got strong enough to be more forgiving without risking himself
Jeo2134
Envy / Tyven’s pet spider. Champion level vessel
Michael Williams
So, Nats other reward was the trait upgrade token that he used off screen on his eyes?
Irithyll
Who/What is Septa the moonster? I can't remember 😅
Fdrugc
Tftc
Fdrugc
Tftc the cat is like Nat
Gravitea
*waves hands in the air in happiness*
Subliminary
Speaking of “protagonist” I’ve brought this up before but will bring it up again for discussion amongst us avid fans: How do we feel about the softening of Nat over time? 2nd floor Nat *literally murdered people* and now 7th(?) floor Nat is comparatively a tamed animal. His drive toward change for *himself* hasn’t changed, but the tone of the entire series has shifted over time.
Andrew
Thank you!
Subliminary
so weird. just as others commented last chapter i *feel* like these chapters are short but they are not; we are just so invested in the developments on earth and our protagonist finally circling back to “the real world”
jax rammus
<3
Oaktree
No officer I don’t have someone locked in my basement writing a book why would you ask such a thing.
Stoney
TFTC! These are too short but that's only coz i'm greedy. I love every one of them.
Adrian Rake
Thank you for the chapter. So, Nat and other participants of the tutorial are spreading the disease called the System. Nice concept 👍
Audrey WJ
He's literally Grumpy haha, I wonder how Lily would react to Nat as a Lynthari, I don't think I'm spelling that right but you know what I mean 🤣.
Val the mysterious Jedi
Champion level gots to probably awaken a whole continent
Lance Beam
This!!
Audrey WJ
So Adrian came back to make an early power play, I'm very interested in what he's going to do and how his own awakening field is probably super huge and starting a chain reaction like a virus spreading 😂😂🤣, Hello welcome to the tutorial! Would be the worst and best day of my life.
Lance Beam
TFTC. The reactions to the nukes are unfolding as I hoped they would. Cerim please show us the Joint Chiefs of Staff briefing the President :)
Oaktree
We are still not sure, but it could be an area around you, about the size of a smaller city, that gets affected.” Next day Breaking story the state of California ( or wherever they are) suddenly “awakened” yesterday we’re getting calls all over asking what the tutorial is and what skills are. The government is asking us to remain calm…. Pov channeler: Well so much for introducing people to the system slowly.
Ansordia
Love where the story is going... The only complaint I could possibly have is that 😜 you should be locked in a basement Cerim and do nothing besides sleeping, eating and writing.. But that would be inhumane xD also the quality of writing would 100% degrade. 😜 (if it wasn't obvious this is more an intrusive thought than anything else) What I would have thought that he evolves mana phsyice... Wouldn't that have made him into an elemental or... He didn't do it as it would have been a shortcut to power? Probably something like that. Anyway love what you are doing keep up the good work!
frankie doerr
Biscuit is going to have competition for strongest animal on earth if lily just supercharged grumpy
Griffin Boustead
Thank you for the chapter
BlackRazaras
Thanks for the chapter
Rene Duvall
TFTC!!!
ShyviaAngel
Bo estate i somehowfeel like Nat is more Epic from this chapter no idea where it is from and im certainly putting the wrong word on the feeling but damm it so.ehow hit
Daf High-Voltage
Tftc
Xyminimal
Happy Birthday!
Teratos
tftc, glad to be reading my favorite novel in my birthday 😁😁
wackyguyvibing
Tftc
vEnviouz
TFTC!!!
Claro reyes
Tftc!!!
