The Innkeeper

Had this been a year ago, just the thought of how much he had to work would have sent him into a procrastination spiral. Sure, he wasn\'t as irresponsible as some other people, but it would have required great effort on his part, nonetheless. Moreover, he would have probably smoked before he got started as well, though he had always tried to limit himself with that habit. To be clear, it was not the cancer or possible health risks that made him reluctant to smoke too much, but the fact that he heard it affected taste buds. He loved food just too damn much to diminish the experience.

As if to keep the positivity coming, it was around the same time that his quest to set up a tribulation room was considered completed, and he got the reward.

Quest Complete! The Host\'s rewarded is being calculated:

- Reward upgraded for improving survival chance by 21%

- Reward upgraded for raising Inn\'s prestige dramatically

Reward Rank: B+

Reward: Lightning vessel, Firefighting gloves

Remarks: The real tribulation is the price for the room!

Lightning vessel

A small container in the shape of a lightning bolt. It can be used to store one strand of a unique lightning bolt!

Firefighting gloves

Gloves that let the wearer touch fire as if it were a physical entity!

The rewards were simple enough, and considering how he had to provide materials to upgrade rooms he designed himself, he felt they perfectly fit his needs. After all, he had a lightning and fire tempering room, and he would need various kinds of those elements if he wanted to upgrade the room.

Lex was almost afraid to admit it, but everything was going extremely well. No one had tried to crash his event, and there had been no arrogant third-generation spoiled brats coming in to pick fights. Soon he would master enough of his spirit sense to meet the emperor confidently, and most of all, his event was going really well.

Everything was going so well, in fact, that Lex decided to actually take another break. So, on the third day, he teleported out of his office and reappeared as Leo, standing in front of a racing track. Yes, he had signed up for an individual race.

Moreover, he planned on winning the race, and competing in the Midnight Inn Grand Prix. For these preliminary races, everyone got the same standard golf cart. Of course, standard here meant the standard for the Inn, not the standard golf carts on earth.

Xeon, a drake refiner who long ago once upgraded Gerards golf cart, had now, finally, become an official Inn employee, and he was the one who set the standard for the Inn by personally upgrading each cart.

The reason it took him so long was because Lex was vetting his ability and totally not because Lex forgot that he existed.

But all of that was irrelevant at the moment. \'Leo\' got into his golf cart and looked around himself. The track he was on was one that he had no part in designing, so that he wouldn\'t have an unfair advantage. After all, he wanted to win as fairly as possible. Sure, he was more familiar with the mechanics of the incoming traps and bonuses, but everyone had been briefed thoroughly plus the races had been going on for a few days now so everyone should also know them all.

There were 3 rows of golf carts in front of him, with 3 carts in each row, and several rows behind him as well. Everyone was placed according to when they signed up for the race, so there was an element of luck involved here, but there was more than enough time and opportunities to negate that starting luck.

To win the race, there was only one thing you had to do. You had to be the first person to complete 3 laps. There were only a few rules of the race, besides the obvious such as no getting off the track, the most significant one was that no one could attack other cars using spiritual techniques or otherwise. All techniques could only be used to defend, that\'s it. You could not create traps, speed up, slow down, do anything other than defend.

That was because the race itself would provide more than enough methods to attack, anyway.

Leo revved the engine for his golf cart, though the cart was very silent so no one could hear anything. Lex felt the vibrations of the engine though - he definitely felt them. Looking around, he did not see anyone familiar, which was perfect. He wouldn\'t need to hold back out of courtesy.

A loud buzzer went off, announcing to the crowd that the race was about to begin. A massive red crystal appeared above the race, which, a few seconds later, turned yellow. All eyes were focused solely on the crystal, and the moment it turned green, the race began.

The initial acceleration of the cart was much greater than most of the riders anticipated, Lex included, but he adapted much quicker than the rest. Showing no hesitation, Lex slammed into the car in front of him to push it to the side. He was planning on getting first, and he wouldn\'t do that by playing nice.