Becoming The Strongest Using My Would-You-Rather System!-Chapter 33 - Would You Rather?

Theo woke up to someone shaking his shoulder.

’’Uhh?’’ he let out, dazed for a moment.

’’We are at the final stop,’’ a warm voice said. ’’I’d love to let you sleep here, but I need to pick some more brave warriors up.’’

Theo blinked a few times, the fog slowly clearing from his mind.

"Oh... right," he muttered.

He pushed himself upright, his muscles immediately protesting after the long night.

The elderly driver gave him a friendly smile as Theo stepped off the bus.

"Fighting out there at your age is very brave," the man said with a kind smile. "But make sure you give your body plenty of rest."

Theo couldn’t help but smile, throwing his forked spear over his shoulder.

"Thank you," he said before turning away from the bus.

The vehicle pulled off moments later, leaving Theo standing on a busy street.

Civilians were pouring out of the nearby shelters, filling the sidewalks as they slowly made their way back home after the long night.

As Theo began walking toward the apartment building, he felt countless stares fall on him.

Only then did he remember he was still covered in dried blood and sand with a spear resting over his shoulder.

It didn’t take long before the building he’d only just rented came into view.

As soon as he pushed open the doors, two voices immediately called out for him.

"Theo?!"

His mother rushed toward him first, pulling him into a tight hug before he could even react.

"Are you hurt?" she asked quickly, looking him over from head to toe.

"I’m fine," Theo said, raising his hands slightly. "Just tired and dirty."

His father let out a relieved breath from the kitchen.

"Thank god," he muttered.

After a few more worried questions and reassurances that he was completely fine, Theo finally escaped toward his room.

The moment his head touched the pillow, the world went dark again.

Only after hours passed did Theo wake up again.

He groaned softly, stretching his stiff muscles as he slowly sat up.

’That feels better.’

His body still ached, but the splitting headache was finally gone.

’System,’ he thought. ’Let’s see how much time I have left...’

A transparent screen immediately popped up in front of him, displaying the familiar line of text.

[Cooldown: 00:01:02:14]

’’About an hour left...’’ he muttered. ’’That’s perfect.’’

His body was still covered in dried blood and sand, leaving an absolutely abysmal smell lingering around him.

Theo didn’t hesitate to run to the shower and jump under for a deep clean.

Hot water ran down his body, washing away what felt like several pounds of waste.

’’That hits the spot,’’ he said, letting out a deep breath.

For several minutes, he simply stood there with his eyes closed, even feeling the tension in his body loosen up slightly.

After turning off the shower, drying himself off, and throwing on a fresh set of clothes, Theo stepped back into his room.

Theo barely made it two steps inside before his stomach growled loudly.

"...Right," he muttered.

Now that the exhaustion had faded slightly, the hunger hit him all at once.

He grabbed his phone from the bedside table while heading toward the kitchen, quickly glancing at the notifications that had piled up while he slept.

’Messages from my parents, Owen, and even Iris,’ he thought, scrolling through them one by one.

His parents had left behind some prepared food before leaving for work, while Owen was just curious if he was still alive.

’But Iris...’

Her messages were a little different.

’’Thank you for your help yesterday,’’ it started. ’’I doubt I could’ve lasted through the night without you there.’’

’’Also, you don’t need to come to the beach for the next week or two. The military is cleaning up now together with the national guard.’’

Theo let out a quiet breath.

’’That’s nice.’’

Hearing his stomach rumble again, he opened the fridge and grabbed the prepared meal before sitting back down.

As he took the first bite, he reached for the remote and turned on the television.

The news was already covering the aftermath of the beast tide.

"Authorities estimate that several thousand creatures were eliminated during the night-long battle along the coastline."

’’Casualty numbers among hunters and soldiers are still being confirmed, though it is predicted to be nearly two times higher compared to the last level four beast tide.’’

The news station flashed a few images of the beach across the screen.

Massive craters from where the cannons had hit, scorch and burn marks everywhere combined with hundreds of corpses.

Theo stared at the screen silently as he chewed his food.

The news station didn’t show any human corpses, barely even covering the fact people had died there to protect them.

’It doesn’t sit well,’ he thought. ’But I guess they can’t show that kind of weakness on television.’

Just then, his phone rang.

Theo raised an eyebrow, watching Owen’s name light up on the screen.

For a moment he glanced between the phone and his food, clearly contemplating his next choice.

Finally, he let out a sigh and picked up.

’’What’s up?’’

’’DUDE, YOU’RE ALIVE!’’ Owen’s voice echoed through the phone, forcing Theo to pull it away from his ear.

"Yeah, yeah. I’m alive," he said, taking another bite of his food.

"I just saw the news!" Owen continued, his voice still loud with excitement. "That beach looked like a damn war zone. Were you actually there the whole time?"

’’Pretty much,’’ Theo replied, smiling slightly.

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line.

’’...That’s insane,’’ Owen muttered.

Theo’s smile didn’t fade, despite plenty of bad memories flashing through his mind.

’’I’m able to use my earth shield spell now by the way,’’ Owen continued. ’’It won’t be long before I join you in killing those creatures!’’

Theo chuckled softly, shaking his head.

’’Let’s slow down a bit on that,’’ he said. ’’I’d rather not have another beast tide anytime soon.’’

Owen snorted on the other end of the line.

"Fair enough," he said. "Still, just wait. We’ll soon do other missions together.’’

Theo smiled faintly, leaning back in his chair.

"I’ll hold you to that."

There was a brief pause before Owen spoke again.

"Anyway, I’ll let you rest now since you practically sound half-dead."

"That’d be nice," Theo admitted. ’’I’ll call you back after getting some more rest.’’

With that, the call ended, letting him sit in peaceful silence again.

Lowering his phone, Theo glanced at the transparent screen floating in front of his eyes.

’That took a bit longer than expected,’ he thought.

[Cooldown: 00:00:02:11]

’’Just two minutes...’’ he muttered. ’’Not enough time to go to the park.’’

He pushed aside his plate and leaned back slightly.

’’Let’s hope it isn’t something destructive again.’’

Time ticked by slowly, each second making him more nervous.

Finally, the timer vanished and lines of text appeared on the familiar screen.

[Would You Rather—]

Option 1: Earn 30,000 dollars per day for a year, but every time you see a spider, it grows 20% larger than the last one.

Option 2: Earn 10,000 dollars per day for a month, but once per day you will be teleported three thousand yards into the air, then returned to your original position one centimeter before hitting the ground.

Theo stared at the screen for a moment.

"...You’ve got to be kidding me."