The Innkeeper-Novel

With a confused look on her face, Mary said, “I… genuinely have no idea. The only information I received from the Inn says, and I quote, ‘While at the Inn, one is protected from the influence of destiny’. Destiny is a very… abstract concept. I guess we’ll have to wait till you reach a higher realm, or develop your own understanding of destiny to fully understand what this means.”

Lex frowned. He could guess what destiny meant, but his understanding of destiny was heavily influenced by Earthly media and culture. In the context of the universe at large, it may have a different meaning. Either way, since the Inn provided protection from the influence of destiny, then he did not need to worry about it. Unless his destiny was actually very positive, then he felt like me may be missing out. But, again, this was based on his understanding of destiny as perceived by those on Earth. The reality may be different.

Putting the matter aside, he looked at the newest unlocked feature for the system, Special quests. Currently, there were no quests available in that tab, but the description of this feature was very interesting.

Special quests were ones that would become available to him from time to time based on special circumstances or during special occasions, and he could choose whether he wanted to accept them or not. Furthermore, the rewards for special quests were not predetermined, and he could actually specify what he wanted. His request may or may not be accepted, but would definitely be considered and influence the final reward.

That was it. That was all the information he was given, without any knowledge of what would qualify as a special event or circumstance, and what kind of quests he could expect. So far, all his quests were related to the Inn in one way or another, but Lex felt like this might not be the case for special quests, after all, his normal quests could handle those matters. Only time would tell.

Then finally came one of the most curious matters which was his System upgrade, or rather the lack thereof. It had been blocked, for some reason, and his reward had been replaced. There was no information whatsoever about why his upgrade was blocked or what caused it.

“Hey Mary, any idea why the system upgrade didn’t work?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, confused.

“The system upgrade I got as a reward. It was blocked, and I got a different reward instead. Any idea why that happened?”

Mary looked at him curiously, then seemed to go through some records in her mind.

“I’m sorry Lex, but my records don’t show any system upgrade other than the destiny protection one. The only remaining reward I see is the Bathroom robe.”

Lex frowned as he thought about it. First, the upgrade was blocked, and then, according to Mary, he never received an upgrade in the first place. There was something fishy going on, but like so many other things when it came to the system, Lex could only sit back and wait till he got more information.

He turned his attention to the set equipment. He had no idea that his various equipment were a part of sets, and this opened new doors for him. For example, his Fancy Monocle was already amazing. If it was a part of some set, then he could only imagine what its effects would become once worn together. Lex visualized himself wearing his Fancy Monocle, a Fancy Top Hat alongside a Fancy pocket watch, strolling in some forest, decimating wolves wherever he went. Realistically, he knew the system would never give him something OP, but one could dream.

With a smile, he woke up from his daydream and viewed the Bath robe and read its effects.

Bath robe:

When worn, the host enters an extremely relaxed state, as if just coming back from a day at the spa, boosting the host’s comprehension. The host can use it to comprehend new techniques, understand difficult concepts, make various plans, etc.

Lex smiled. As unusual as it was to be wearing a bathrobe while working, he could see this benefiting him greatly while he planned various aspects of the Inn. He just had to be sure not to let anyone see him working like that.

Then he checked the set ability of wearing the Bathroom slippers and Bathroom towel at the same time.

Bathroom slippers:

Entering different areas requires different kinds of preparation. Equip the bathroom slippers while leaving the Inn in foreign environments to protect yourself from hazardous environments. Note, the slipper only provides protection from the environment and does not act as a defensive item.

Bathroom towel:

pᴀ(ɴᴅ)ᴀ ɴoᴠᴇʟ Don’t you hate it when you get something disgusting on yourself? Cleaning up is such a hassle. The Bath towel rids the user of any negative statuses that are affecting the user via the skin, i.e. poison, paralysis paste, petrification, tracking powder, bad makeup etc. Can affect Foundation realm and below.

Bathroom set:

When all bathroom accessories are worn together, the Host is cleansed completely from both internal and external factors. Internal factors include soul poisoning, artificially induced inner demons, constipation, indigestion, bad breath, etc. External factors include tracking techniques, poisons, curses, body odor, dandruff, wrinkly skin, etc.

Note: Please collect more items from the Bathroom set to enhance the effects of the set.

Remarks: Since the host is too lazy to shower, the system has provided a solution. Please maintain a high standard of hygiene.

Despite being used to the system, and despite ascending to a higher level, giving him complete and total control of his body, Lex could not stop his lip from twitching as he read the remarks. He was an extremely clean person! No one had ever complained to him about body odor! If the system were a person, Lex would kick its behind!

Still, the set seemed extremely useful, especially considering there was no restriction on taking it out of the Inn. The original Butter Knife, now known as the Fruit knife, despite its amazing ability could not be taken out of the Inn. This would be useful to him when he was out exploring other worlds if he ever got into a precarious situation.

Slightly curious, Lex equipped the Bathroom set to see how it feels. The robe, warm and soft as it was, released a gentle energy that Lex felt wash over his body and pass through him. It was like being massaged by the hand of a hundred angels, and when the energy disappeared, Lex felt extremely refreshed and… lighter – both mentally and physically. It took less than a second for him to recall the set also cleansed him in case he was… constipated… and now he suddenly felt physically lighter…

“System, you are a goddamn pervert,” Lex said loudly before he removed the robe and moved on to his next task. He could not help but stop to notice that he smelled like Lavender.