<h4>Chapter 196 Loans</h4>


    Seeing the curiosity in Angelica''s face, Alex smiled and said, "Well, since you''re so curious, I''ll tell you now."


    "As you heard me say, that ce is called Dragon Diner, a very good restaurant."


    "What makes this restaurant specialpared to others is that the food they serve is made using dragon meat!"


    "Dragon meat?!" Angelica eximed in surprise.


    As someone from the capital, even though she''s only from the slums, Angelica still knows quite a few things.


    Dragons, a creature that can be said to stand at the top of the food chain in the world.


    It possesses great strength and can destroy countries in a matter of seconds.


    That is Angelica''s impression of dragons based on the things she learned about them.


    So, hearing that there is a restaurant that serves dragon meat, Angelica felt a magnitude of shock.


    Her reaction caused Alex to chuckle once again.


    Then he said, "When you eat the food there, you will be more shocked. So, let''s stop standing here and go to Dragon Diner!"


    With Alex''s words, the group started moving, going in the direction of Dragon Diner.


    After walking for a while, Alex arrived at the ce where he found Dragon Dinerst time.


    But when he arrived there, the sign for Dragon Diner was nowhere to be found.


    On Earth.


    Pearl City''s City Center.


    At this time, a lot of people had gathered at the za.


    It was a bit chaotic at this time because of the sheer number of people that havee to this ce today.


    And the reason for them all to be here is because of something that the local government of Pearl City has announced yesterday.


    That is the CADP or Citizen Alter Dimension n.


    This n hopes to recruit a few citizens of Pearl City and help them get started with entering the Alter Dimension and be yers.


    Of course, each one of them is being interviewed and filtered.


    That''s the reason why they are here.


    Those that are sessful, can proceed and enter Alter Dimension.


    However, everyone that will be able to pass the interview will then be listed down to make sure that no one will cause trouble to society in the future.


    In the za, there are dozens of booths where people are being screened one by one by people from the government.


    In one of the booths, Rose Raven, Kris'' aunt, is also conducting a screening as an interviewer.


    "Okay, we will just call you if you pass the interview to proceed to the next step."


    At this time, she just finished interviewing another aspiring female yer.


    After the girl left, Rose slumped on her chair and sighed, "Hais, I''ve been sitting here all morning and it''s making me want to go out and move around my body."


    "Why did dad even assign me here?"


    Rose felt a little frustrated.


    Rose is actually a very outgoing type of person.


    Instead of staying indoors, Rose prefers to go out on an adventure, climbing mountains, fighting monsters, exploring jungles, etc.


    So, being stuck here to interview people felt a little boring for her.


    Rose remained still for a while before she suddenly sat up.


    Then, she muttered, "What if I escape from here?"


    Once she started thinking of that, the idea started to grow more and more in her mind.


    Soon, Rose has finally made a decision.


    "Alright, I think I really need to get away from here!"


    Just as Rose was about to execute her escape n, a girl who''s roughly in herte teens or early twenties entered the booth.


    "Uhm, excuse me."


    "Ah, pleasee here."


    Seeing that, Rose can only dy her n.


    In her mind, she thought, ''Well, this will be thest one anyway. I''ll just finish this and run away!''


    The girl walked closer to Rose and sat down on the chair.


    Observing the girl from behind the table, Rose noticed that she seems to be the timis type.


    Tapping her finger on the table, Rose said, "We will now proceed with the interview, please introduce yourself."


    Timidly, the girl said, "Uhm, m-my name is Jopay, 19 years old."


    Jopay then proceeds to tell a few more basic informations regarding her such as her family details.


    Once she finished, she looked up at Rose and waited for her to say something.


    Crossing her fingers together, Rose seriously said, "Then, please tell me why you want to enter the Alter Dimension."


    Hearing that, a hesitant expression appeared on Jopay''s face.


    Noticing that, Rose became curious.


    ''Hmm? That''s unusual.''


    ''Previously, when I asked that to the previous interviewees, they either had a longing expression or an ambitious one.''


    ''I wonder what''s causing her hesitation…''


    Even though she was curious, Rose didn''t urge Jopay.


    She just sat there, waiting for her to say something.


    Finally, after a few minutes, a determined look appeared in Jopay''s eyes and she seemed to havee to a decision.


    Lifting her head, she looked directly into Rose''s eyes and said, "Excuse me, I have something important I want to say."


    "Hmm? What is it?"


    Taking a deep breath, Jopay said, "Actually, I think I''m already a yer."


    Hearing her words, Rose paused before raising an eyebrow.


    She fixed her sitting posture and said, "What do you mean? Please exin."


    At her words, Jopay started exining.


    The thing is, about a month ago, a translucent screen suddenly appeared in front of Jopay.


    At first, Jopay thought she was just hallucinating and she even went to a psychiatrist to get her head checked.


    However, after some tests, she appeared to be healthy physically and mentally.


    Then, yesterday, when the government released some information about Alter Dimension, Jopay came to a realization.


    She is like those yers described by the government!


    After listening to everything that Jopay has to say, Rose stared at her and with a frown, she said,


    "Your ''World System'' has already activated on its own?"


    "Is it called ''World System''? Then, yes." Jopay nodded.


    Rose leaned back to her seat and crossed her arms with a thoughtful look on her face.


    There was silence in the booth for a while.


    Jopay started bing fidgety because of the silence and was just about to say something.


    But Rose suddenly stood up, startling her, and said, "I''m not sure how this could happen. So, I''ll bring you to my Dad, he knows more things than me."


    Saying that, Rose walked out from behind the table and headed towards the exit.


    "Ah! P-please wait!"


    Jopay hurriedly got up and followed Rose out of the booth.


    …


    Days passed by since Alex and his group started their journey back to Kupido Town.


    Along the way, Alex passed by a couple of cities that he had also passed by before.


    Because of that, other than the first night, Alex and his group didn''t really camp outside and just rented some rooms in an inn.


    Alex chose to sleep in inns this time because there are kids in the group.


    Anyway, today is already their 6th day on the road.


    "We''re about to arrive in River City. I know a good ce there, I''ll bring you all thereter."


    Alex said while looking at the 4 siblings on Ferri''s back.


    Hearing that, Angelica and her brothers became curious about the ce Alex mentioned.


    Ferri also had an expectant look on his face as he visibly increased his speed.


    Noticing that, ze looked at Ferri nkly before also increasing his own speed to match Ferri.


    After a while, a big river gradually became visible within the group''s sight.


    It didn''t take long before the city wall of River City also became visible.


    "We''re here, River City!" Alex said.


    At the same time, Alex also remembered thatst time, he ran away from the people of that Dragon Diner where he atest time.


    Thinking of that, he muttered, "I remember, I didn''t pay when I ate therest time. I should pay them properly when I go back this time."


    When he first went to Dragon Diner, Alex ran away because he was afraid that those people would do something to him.


    However,pared to him at that time, Alex right now is already multiple times stronger.


    Just his stats alone have already gone through a magnitude of change, what more if you add his powerful skills.


    Anyway, that''s the reason why Alex has the confidence toe back to Dragon Diner this time.


    When entering the city, Alex was stopped by the guards.


    "Stop!"


    "Please show your identification card!"


    Obediently, Alex stopped on his tracks, took out his adventurer''s guild card and handed it to the guard.


    The guard inspected it a bit before handing it back to Alex and allowing him entry.


    "Here''s your card back. You can enter."


    "Thanks."


    Taking back his card, Alex pointed on Ferri''s back and said,


    "By the way, I also have some kids in mypany but they don''t have identity cards."


    When he said that, the four kids sitting on Ferri''s back showed themselves to the guard.