Chapter 100: Hidden Quest Rewards

The celestial throne room of El’Rock rested in a state of absolute, tranquil splendor. Golden morning sunlight spilled unimpeded through the grand alabaster archways, illuminating the starry obsidian floor and throwing warm, geometric reflections across the eight stone pedestals lining the grand aisle. Outside, the clear void sea glistened like starry liquid silver beneath the lush, emerald drift islands.

Raphael sat on his bed in his room, wearing a pair of shorts, leaving his upper body bare. Now that he was free from the potential enslavement of the system, he started acting more like a human.

Beside the bed, on a sofa, Vanessa sat with quiet, majestic grace. Her dark rose-thorn mantle settled softly over her shoulders, and her staff floated just out of arm’s reach.

A soft, golden chime echoed through the silent expanse of the room.

Raphael didn’t need to call out to the system. The moment the annexation of Sector 4’s automated refinery stabilized within the domain’s sub-spatial grid, a series of glowing, radiant golden notifications materialized in the air before the dais.

He had ignored it the other day as he wanted to rest and think of his next course of action. He was now a king, a domain host whether he liked it or not. He needed to do something, and he had a plan in mind. But for now, he wanted to focus on the hidden quest rewards, something unexpected.

[HIDDEN QUEST EVALUATION COMPLETE!]

[Quest Title: The Sovereign’s Foundation (Hidden Trigger)]

[Objective Achieved: Liberate Sector 4’s primary industrial refinery, neutralize rival A-Tier corporate assault teams, and assert total territorial dominance while maintaining True Self Harmonization (100.0%)]

[System Evaluation: Host successfully achieved complete strategic victory without succumbing to synthetic monarch corruption or sacrificing human sovereign integrity. Exceptional execution recorded]

Raphael leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees as his sharp silver eyes scanned the golden text. A quiet, amused smirk touched his lips.

"A hidden quest..." Raphael murmured, his voice carrying clearly across the room, drawing Vanessa’s attention, but she didn’t speak. She could tell that his focus had moved to the system, pushing the awkwardness away a bit. "So the system registers non-corrupted strategic victories as hidden achievements."

"A testament to your true path, My Lord," Vanessa spoke smoothly, her voice filled with quiet admiration as she looked up at the golden script. "The false script expected you to act as a cold, unfeeling slaughterer. By claiming the refinery with absolute authority, yet preserving your human will, you forced the system matrix to re-evaluate your sovereign worth."

The golden interface flickered, expanding into a magnificent, detailed reward summary that hovered directly in front of the throne dais.

[HIDDEN QUEST REWARDS DISTRIBUTED!]

- Sovereign Credits: +1,000 SC (Sovereign Credits)

- Authority Points: +10 Points

- Common Grade Gacha Cards: x5

- High Grade Gacha Card: x1

Raphael inspected the rewards carefully.

His eyes lingered first on the Authority Points. In the structural framework of domain hosts, raw attributes like Strength, Agility, and Intelligence dictated physical capabilities and mana capacities.

However, Authority was a unique, higher-dimensional stat as it directly governed the range, pressure, and absolute command of his Sovereign’s Aegis and the overall stability of El’Rock’s spatial boundaries. Authority was also what was needed to have control of his female knights, apart from loyalty. Ten points of Authority were a massive leap, equivalent to several months of passive domain growth.

"One thousand Sovereign Credits, ten Authority points, five Common Gacha pulls, and one High Grade," Raphael listed quietly, feeling the subtle surge of power as the ten Authority points integrated directly into his soul matrix.

Instantly, the air inside the room grew perceptibly crisp. The spatial constellations rotating in the cosmic dome overhead spun with a slightly tighter, more refined gravitational rhythm. The physical boundaries of El’Rock anchored themselves even deeper into the fabric of space, expanding the domain’s passive sanctuary aura by several miles.

Vanessa gasped softly, feeling the immediate shift in the keep’s environment. The purple light cradled within her staff flared with a richer, more harmonious tone, aligning effortlessly with Raphael’s elevated presence.

"Your authority grows more absolute by the moment, Sovereign," Vanessa said, dropping into a subtle, respectful bow. "The stone of this keep breathes easier under your feet."

"And these," Raphael said, gesturing toward the floating holographic cards that materialized below the reward window.

Five bronze-bordered cards glowing with a soft white aura hovered on the left side of the screen, representing the Common Grade Gacha pulls. Floating on the right side was a single, larger card enveloped in a dense, shimmering golden-and-silver light: the High Grade Gacha Card.

Raphael leaned back against the headrest of his bed, completely focused on his system, so much so that he forgot how awkward the atmosphere was some minutes ago. He woke up with Vanessa standing over him as usual, but her face was red. He sat up to ask her what was wrong, only to realize that he was almost naked, with only his shorts keeping his nakedness intact. That had made the situation awkward... after all, they weren’t kids. They were adults, and they knew certain things.

Right now, though, Raphael was in a world of his own, the earlier situation thrown out of the window. In his previous life, the life of an unawakened young man sitting in a dark, cramped apartment, the concept of a ’gacha’ had been a trivial piece of digital entertainment used to numb the reality of being weak and forgotten. But here, within the divine architecture of his living citadel, these cards were physical manifestations of concentrated spatial probability, drawn directly from the higher-dimensional vaults of the system matrix.

"Five commons and one high grade," Raphael murmured, a calm, expectant glint flashing in his silver eyes. "Julian’s intelligence feeds confirm that Apex Guild has pulled back to Sector 1 to fortify their positions. They expect us to strike immediately or negotiate."

He reached out his right hand, hovering his fingers over the floating holographic cards.

"Let them fortify," Raphael said softly, a cold, confident smile gracing his features. "We will build our strength, refine our domain, and unlock every asset at our disposal. When we march on Sector 1, it won’t be a corporate skirmish... it will be an absolute takeover."

"By your absolute command, Lord Raphael. Shall we proceed with the draws?"

Raphael flicked his wrist, bringing the five Common Grade cards and the single High Grade card directly in front of him.

"Let’s see what the foundation grants us."