Reboot: Mechanic

Although initially frustrated by the status that it had listed to him, Shi Tian soon composed himself.

He realized that it wasn't a bad thing to know that reputation could now determine his allies and enemies efficiently. 

If his reputation was positive, then it meant that they are at least on good terms. And naturally, those on the negative meant their hostility was high as hell and most likely wanted him dead. 

'Phew, at least now I know the White Syndicate had known about me and that I'm not really safe. It seems they were able to investigate me and that I have been too careless.' Shi Tian thought to himself.

This was practically a reputation blessing, allowing him to learn critical information.

And now that he knew about this particular information, it would be pathetic and foolish of him to not think of a counterplay, much less plans to conceal his information.

Information always played a crucial part in terms of any type of battle. After all, whoever held the most information would naturally have the advantage in a battle. 

Glancing at his status screen for another few minutes, Shi Tian made sure to read through it multiple times and realized the description of him had turned for the better. 

He was no longer referred to as an amateur, but host, and it was giving him a kind warning to not be conceited. 

'So the status screen seemed to be a sentient being or is it actually just robotic?' Shi Tian wondered silently, still can't find a single clue about this mysterious status screen.

Nevertheless, he knew the status screen was helpful and was synchronous with his body and experience. Thus, he didn't need to worry much about it harming him since it would have done so in the beginning when he was still a weakling.

Time slowly passed by, and Shi Tian had since lost track of time on how long he had waited.

After waiting for god knows how long, Shi Tian was dumbfounded by a sudden projection screen dropping down from the ceiling.

Twitching his mouth, he was in complete disbelief.

So after all this trouble of going through security measurement, he won't even be able to see the Crimson Mage face to face. 

However, Shi Tian couldn't be any more wrong when the projection screen was turned on. 

Forget about face-to-face, he couldn't even see what the Crimson Mage looked like. 

After all, the screen displayed an anonymous cover of the person, meaning it was completely shadowed, unable to determine any type of features that the person had. 

This was something usually done by the media when they wanted to interview a whistleblower or witnesses that didn't want to show their face to the public and had this method as incognito. 

But you would have thought if this was the end of it. 

When the person behind the projection screen started talking, it was a voice generated by machinery, meaning it wasn't even the Crimson Mage's real voice.

Wanting to laugh at how surreal this was, Shi Tian managed to compose himself and kept his cool. Even if he was receiving such a treatment, all Shi Tian could do was grit his teeth and go through with this. 

Who told the Crimson Mage to be such a powerful being?

If he was powerful enough to deter any enemies, then he would be able to do such a thing too and none would utter a complaint. 

"Good to see you, Nathan of room 404." 

"Yes, it's good to see you too… Crimson Mage?" Shi Tian replied somewhat awkwardly, unsure of how to address the other party. 

With how secretive the Crimson Mage was, all he knew was the title and nothing else. 

Not even the name, but there was at least one thing he knew. And that the Crimson Mage was a female, thanks to Old Man Chao's full admiration and commentary of the Crimson Mage's beauty. 

Of course, Old Man Chao could be gay, but he doubted it when he noticed how horny he was back at the stall where they first met. 

When they first met, he had subtly noticed Old Man Chao was watching adult content that revolved around two women. 

And while Shi Tian was in deep thought, the Crimson Mage began talking. 

"Hmm, I was expecting a more domineering person or somewhat strong person. Your appearance certainly surprised me slightly, considering how weak you are but managed to attract such powerful enemies into my territory." The Crimson Mage said straightforwardly. 

What made it more heartbreaking was that the Crimson Mage wasn't even trying to taunt or jab at him for being weak. The tone of speech used was completely void of any emotion, and merely a basic judgment at first glance. 

Smiling bitterly, Shi Tian kept silent as he didn't know how to respond to that kind of statement.

Was he supposed to disagree with the statement?

That would be retarded to do considering the Crimson Mage was stronger than him by a lot. 

Then was he supposed to agree with the statement? 

But what kind of fool would admit themselves for being so weak? That would actually require them to be inherently stupid to actually admit such a thing. 

Meanwhile, the Crimson Mage didn't seem to be wanting to hear a response from Shi Tian.

"At first, I wanted to interrogate you and wondered if you rented a room in my territory for a motive, but seeing you now. I found it pointless. You are free to leave and return to your apartment, but a fair warning. The enemies this time are quite powerful, so if you leave my territory, the risk is yours to face." 

The Crimson Mage said before turning off the projection screen, leaving a dumbfounded Shi Tian in the large room. 

Throughout the conversation, or if it could even be counted as a conversation, Shi Tian felt he was played like ping pong, being thrown around back and forth. 

Coming all the way here, only to realize it was pointless because he was deemed weak, was really bizarre. 

'Why am I here… just to suffer?' Shi Tian questioned himself.