The Innkeeper

New Quest: The Midnight Realm is property of the Midnight Inn, but the realm is also home to countless others. As the Innkeeper, you can be magnanimous, but you cannot be unknown in your own home. Inaugurate the new location of the Midnight Inn, and make yourself known across the realm.

Quest Reward: Activation of basic Inn services.

Remarks: For your own sake, do not procrastinate… for once!

Lex read the quests and was thankful that he had not received one of the punishment quests he was told he would get. But maybe, in some way, this was a nearly impossible quest to fulfill! That was because, ordinarily, all he needed to do was spread his aura as the Innkeeper and it would suppress those who felt it.

But at the moment, the effects of the Host Attire were limited to the territory of the Inn. How was he supposed to make himself known across the entire realm?

As it turned out, it was not so hard. It only took him a moment to come up with a possible solution, but he had to be sure it would work before trying it. He couldn't afford to make himself look idiotic, at least while appearing as the Innkeeper.

Although he could not ask the system himself, he had a trusty intermediary for the process.

"Mary, if I use Inter-realm broadcast to… broadcast to the same realm, will that work?" he asked.

Inter-realm broadcast was the feature that allowed him to connect to the Crystal realm from the Origin realm, and possibly any other realm he unlocked. It caused a delay, but it allowed golden keys to be used across realms. Theoretically, it could also enable other features of the Inn.

So if it worked, then it would be very simple to spread not only his aura, but his image and his words across the entire realm.

Mary appeared before him, this time dressed as if she were cosplaying a cave woman.

"Most of the Inn's services are shut down, including the Inter-realm broadcast. You can manually turn it on, but that will take away from the amount of time you have with the Host Attire functioning."

"Is the guest registry shut down as well?" Lex asked suddenly. That was one of his major concerns for the new realm. Using it as a spatial anchor, he had been able to teleport over. That was all good and well when he needed it, but he did not want the spatial coordinates of his new realm being broadcasted out to a bunch of random people. It was not the kind of thing he wanted to leave to chance.

"Yup. Basically, other than aura suppression, realm support and housing, none of the other Inns functions are available. Realm support, by the way, means it's supporting those guests whose cultivation level is above what is allowed by the Midnight realm."

Lex nodded. He guessed as much. He was now ready to get on with the quest but first, he could not help but feel curious.

"You mind if I ask you a personal question?" he asked, hesitantly.

"Go ahead, though whether I can answer or not is up to the system."

"No, I don't think the system will have a problem with it. What I want to ask is… as the previous owner of this system, which is a pretty high level, you must have had a very high level yourself, right? You also probably lived a very long time? So… is there any particular reason you dress up like this?"

There was too much he didn't know about the universe? What if there was some kind of benefit to dressing according to certain circumstances?

Mary burst out laughing.

"I cannot comment on the system or my level, but there's a very simple reason why I dress up. It's because I want to. Doesn't this kind of getup match the setting of entering the primeval period of a new realm?"

Lex did not know how to respond. Why did Mary seem more like a teenager than some unbelievably powerful being who was even able to interfere with the system right under its nose? The very system that could teleport across the universe and control a newborn realm, even in its injured state!

Lex shook his head, but then closed his eyes as he composed himself. This was a big moment, he wanted to go over what he was going to say.

After a few moments, once he was ready, a projection of the Innkeeper appeared above the Midnight manor and immediately attracted the attention of those who were observing the chances.

Of the guests and workers, very few of them were awakeas most of them were deep within their meditations. But it did not matter. What was more important was that as the Innkeeper spread his aura, it slowly but surely filled all of the Inn's territory, freezing every animal, beast, plant, or basically anything alive with even the most basic of instincts.

The aura was warm, and calming, as usual. But at the same time, it was monumentally massive, consuming the entirety of their attention. It was not threatening, but it demanded their entire focus.

Then, like the flip of a switch, the same aura filled the entire realm! Though, admittedly, the aura expressed outside the boundary of the Inns territory was greatly subdued in comparison, for the sake of the realm itself.

But that did not change the fact that, in that moment, the entire realm was frozen still.

Lex did not mean to drag the matter on. As the Innkeeper, his every public appearance was short and to the point. It was a persona he purposefully created, and one he intended on maintaining.

That was the sole reason, and not at all because he did not want to waste his time keeping the Inter-realm broadcast active.

"Some of you may already know me," he began, softly. He did not need to raise his voice when his words automatically carried to every living being in the whole realm.

"Most of you will not. I am the Innkeeper, but that hardly matters. What is important, however, is that I have created this realm for my inn - the Midnight Inn. The Midnight Inn is a place where travelers from all over can come to rest and relax amidst the vicissitudes of life. It is a place free from worry and strife, and welcomes all to enjoy its warmth.

"With this new realm, the Inn faces a new beginning. With this realm, the Inn has become a unique place in the universe. A mysterious place, cut off from the machinations of other forces, and free from the obligations and duties that come with being tied to others. With this realm, the Inn will finally become a place that welcomes any who seek refuge, whether it be during their travels, from the fatigue of daily life, or from some other burden they have carried too long.

"But as the Inn grows into the mantle it has claimed, we cannot forget those who also call this realm home. To you, who have inhabited these lands for years untold, the Inn also opens its doors, if you wish to come. But if you wish to continue your way of life, as your ancestors did before you, then you will not be disturbed, as long as you do not disturb the Inn. You may continue to live as you always have, in this realm I created."

Lex paused, as he considered if he wanted to add anything else. This speech was much more difficult than it seemed. As the Innkeeper, he could not make any promise he could not keep. He wanted to say that his guests will not leave the territory of the Inn, but he could not say for certain that would always be the case.

He also wanted to say that the Inn won't encroach upon their territories. After all, this was a growing realm. New lands would eventually come for him to occupy if he wished. But still, he could not say for certain that the Inn wouldn't need to grow, and that he may occupy more territory.

While he wanted to stay true to his conscience, he also had to be ambiguous enough to accommodate any eventuality in the future. When it came to ambiguity, there was nothing greater than the domain of fate.

"With this, the official establishment of the Midnight Inn, the destiny of this realm will forever change. It is up to those who wish to grasp it, to seize this opportunity once and for all."

There, a perfectly open-ended sentence that could mean anything he wished. He withdrew his aura, finally disabling the Inter-realm broadcast.

Although his speech was barely over a minute long, he was sure that the time it took away from the availability of the Host Attire was greater than that.

A familiar tingsounded in his mind, but before he could check it, he along with every other guest and worker, were finally teleported away from the platform in the sky, and to the Inn.

A flood of information rushed into Lex's mind, about the new limitations of the Inn, and this realm as well.