Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

Chapter 1020  Making a Deal with Reina

"Uhh… well… it\'s like a challenge to me."

"…" Reina simply stared blankly at Rudy, seemingly unable to understand Rudy\'s reasoning.

"To simply put, it\'s like an obsession to find out the truth. I don\'t know if it\'s your doing and you are playing dumb. Whatever it is, I want to find out," Rudy answered in a low voice.

\'She is right. Why am I so willing to help her? I don\'t know her, but I want to… help her. It\'s like I would feel sad if something happened to her or this waterpark.\' Rudy uttered inwardly.

Rudy facepalm himself and thought, \'What\'s wrong with me? Why am I acting like a… simp. Well, not really. But I feel attracted to girls. I understand Alice because she is my childhood friend. But Janet too? Well, okay, she is hot. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

However, this girl…\' Rudy shot a quick glance at Reina and continued, \'She is a complete stranger to me, and yet I feel like impressing her.\'

Rudy rubbed his thumb on his chin and wondered, \'Could it be something related to my time travel? I am an adult in a teenager\'s body. My hormones could be running wild, causing me to list after every girl I interact with.\'

While Rudy had figured out the basic cause of his attraction toward girls, the main reason was obviously something else.

While his memories were sealed, his feelings deep within couldn\'t be contained.

After giving it a deep thought, Reina agreed to let Rudy help until her official team arrived.

"Look, if you want anything in return, tell me now because I won\'t give you a dime afterwards, even if you solve the issue," Reina asserted.

\'Yeah, it\'s understandable. If a stranger comes up to me and wants to help me for no reason, I would have my suspicions and I would obviously distance myself from that person.\'

Rudy decided to get a reward instead. However, he wasn\'t sure of what he wanted. He didn\'t want money and he wouldn\'t ask for something inappropriate.

After giving it a quick thought, Rudy proposed his request.

"If I am able to find the issue, I want free access to the reserved pool for today. And if I can solve that issue before your team arrives, I want unlimited access to the reserved pool."

Reina raised her brows and squinted her eyes.

"A few minutes ago, you said you don\'t want anything. And now, you have a very brazen request." She squinted her eyes even more and asked, "Could it be that this was your plan all along? Perhaps, you are the culprit and this is your way to to—"

"I will stop you right there." Rudy stepped forward and closed his distance with Reina. He was so close to her that if Reina wanted to move, she wouldn\'t be able to until Rudy allowed her to.

"What do you think you are doing? Mind your personal space," Reina warned him.

Rudy locked his eyes with Reina and uttered, "Listen, miss."

"I am listening."

"I am here with two of the most important people in my life. They were feeling uncomfortable in the massive crowd. If they ask me to go back home, I will.

However, they were looking forward to this day and I don\'t want to disappoint them. Of course, I can come again next week or whenever this issue is… resolved. But that experience won\'t be the same.

I am sure you understand what I am talking about. Though, obviously, it wouldn\'t affect you or your business in the least if you lose a few customers; you would gain a dozen more. But know that I won\'t let this slide and there will be consequences."

"Is that a threat?"

"Obviously not. It\'s just something I…" Rudy let out a sigh. "Leave it. I don\'t know why I am feeling this way. Forget what I said. I will leave the park with my friends."

Rudy turned around and began walking towards the door.

"Wait!" Reina called out to him.

"Hmm?" Rudy glanced at Reina without turning around fully.

"I am up to your offer. You can do whatever you want to find the issue or solve it until my team arrives."

Reina shrugged and continued, "If you manage to solve it, I will give you the reward you ask for; free unlimited access to the reserved pool."

"Oh? Why sudden change of heart?" Rudy asked curiously.

"I am simply free and want to pass time. Even if you find the issue and manage to solve it, I would still put my team to check into the matter to make sure it doesn\'t happen again."

"Fine by me. I am not losing anything and gaining something," he chuckled.

After a brief silence, Reina cleared her throat to get Rudy\'s attention and said, "Actually, I want to make some changes in the rewards."

"Here we go…"

"You will have unlimited free access to the reserved pool. However, if another party has reserved the pool, you won\'t be able to use it."

Rudy had no intention to use the reserved pool or come everyday to the park. He could come once a month if his friends were ready.

"Deal."

Rudy asked Reina to check her computer to get more information, but he couldn\'t find any malfunction. Which could mean two things.

Either the issue was not related to anything technical, or the issue was intentional and well hidden by a shady trick.

Rudy looked at Reina and said, "I need access to your servers, if you don\'t mind. That\'s the only way to find out if the data was truly tampered with."

After giving it a thought, Reina nodded, "Okay, I will take you there."

"Huh? Take me where?"

"To the servers."

"Wait, you have physical servers here? Are you an idiot! You should have opted for the cloud servers!"

"Even the cloud servers will have physical servers somewhere in the world. I consider my choice better and safer."

Rudy left the office and followed Reina to the backside where there was no soul in sight. The path had various doors and turns and the actual server room was underground that could only be accessed via elevator.

Standing outside the server room and waiting for Reina to unlock the door, Rudy sensed something strange that made him frighteningly curious about what was inside.