The next morning, Kiana woke atop a tree, her gaze drifting over the half-risen sun hovering at sea level. The golden semicircle, mirrored perfectly on the water's surface, formed an almost flawless circle.
"A new day… which means the favorability system's reset too, right?" she murmured to herself.
The daily cap of the favorability system was only around two thousand points—Kiana almost forgot the exact limit. After yesterday's grind, Mei's Crimson Armor had reached a two-heart favorability level, and Kiana had immediately received the corresponding gold coin reward from the achievement task. Now, she was aiming for the three-heart threshold—but the required points had doubled, and it was going to take more effort than before.
Switching to the Crimson Armor, Kiana carefully retrieved her phone from her chest with both hands. Whatever she was planning next couldn't be seen by Ai-chan.
She placed the phone on the ground and covered it with an oversized leaf. Her cheeks flushed for reasons she didn't fully understand.
"Still… feels embarrassing," she muttered.
Yet she hesitated not at all.
"I'm doing this for the mission… for the mission! Important things must be said twice," she whispered to herself, almost hypnotically. Her hands lightly rested on her soft chest, softly **. Even though she'd prepared herself mentally, the sensation was sharp, making her gasp involuntarily. A rush of guilt—and a strange thrill—surged through her.
"Captain… what are you doing?"
Ai-chan's slightly disdainful voice broke through from behind.
"Eh? Ah… uh… girls are really a headache. These breasts are huge… my shoulders are sore," Kiana immediately blurted, feigning ignorance. She raised her hand to massage her shoulder, thankful that her back was turned—Ai-chan didn't see the subtle movement.
"Is that so?"
Ai-chan's phone floated slowly in front of Kiana, suspicion etched across her face, as if she doubted Kiana's story.
"…Of course it's true! Otherwise, what do you think I'm doing, Ai-chan?" Kiana's head ducked guiltily, unable to meet her friend's eyes.
"Never mind. Just a reminder—the mission system's refreshed. Daily missions are ready."
"Oh, right," Kiana replied, nodding and wiping a cold sweat that didn't exist. That scare earlier had been intense—what if Ai-chan had realized what she'd been doing? Perverted, much? Luckily, this time, Ai-chan hadn't caught on. But Kiana silently resolved to keep her distance in the future. A surprise like that could ruin her composure.
"Alright… breakfast first," she decided.
Kiana plucked a chunk of elk meat hanging from a branch. It was a little cold, but she didn't care. She just wanted to eat.
Soon, breakfast was handled. Kiana retrieved her phone to check today's daily tasks.
In the top-right corner, her commander level had reached level [-], thanks to her afternoon of hard work the day before—slaying seven or eight elk in succession.
Kiana realized that focusing on her own level first made achieving tasks easier. She hadn't gone hunting the rough red spots like wild boars yesterday; instead, she deliberately sought out lower-level targets to level up efficiently. High-level achievement tasks could wait.
And anyway, could any creature in this world survive her [-] combo? Even Kaido, one of the Four Emperors, known as the strongest being alive, wouldn't be able to resist her consecutive attacks. The real question, of course, was whether she could endure a hit from him herself… but provoking Kaido for practice? Ha!
After reaching commander level five, her Crimson Armor naturally followed to level five. The White Training Armor reached the same after Kiana used the basic learning chip that had exploded. Kiana had an obsessive streak—any armor she owned that lagged behind others in level just didn't feel worthy of her affection. Every piece mattered equally in her heart.
At her current level, she could also learn a few new skills. The Crimson Armor had already unlocked the branch of the Dodge skill: Instant Slash—a move that significantly improved mobility when combined with a dodge.
As for the White Armor… Kiana wasn't ready to invest in it yet. She wanted to perfect the Crimson Armor's infinite evasion first.
She also didn't have enough gold coins. She had spent a lot upgrading weapons. The Pulse Taidao had been upgraded to initial three-star, level 25, but couldn't be enhanced further until the weapon itself evolved. After each evolution, the maximum enhancement level rose, but past gold and materials didn't carry over—a frustrating system.
Kiana stared at the sword icon on her phone. Four stars represented the weapon's evolution status—three lit, one dull. Two smaller stars behind the main stars indicated further evolutions. After two more evolutions, the final star would shine, increasing the weapon's maximum level. Currently, Pulse Taidao was at level 25, stuck at its first evolution threshold. All it needed now were materials for evolution.
She silently hoped today's quests would provide them. Opening the mission system, she found:
Mission [-]: Destroy three enemies using the Yayi Armor. Reward: [-] gold coins, Valkyrie Chariot Armor, [-] mission points.
Task [-]: Acquire a gold coin from the home system. Reward: [-] gold coins, [-] mission points.
"…Just two missions today? That's manageable." Kiana slipped her phone back into her chest and swept the hair from her forehead with her left hand, exuding an unintentionally alluring air.
"Looks like we're going to be busy together today, Yu Sanjia," she murmured with a faint smile.
If you want, I can also polish the dialogue in a slightly more Western anime-light-novel style so the inner monologue and Kiana's "boy trapped in a girl's body" voice comes across even sharper and funnier for readers.
Do you want me to do that?