XK22 felt overwhelmed with enormous joy. For a Virtual Assistant like him, being helpful to the Players was the focal point of his entire existence. In addition, if we wanted to be completely honest, the settings with which he had been initialized had many points in common with the most common characteristics of the childrens. So, being the center of attention was certainly giving him a lot of pleasure.

[Mr. Roberto, Mr. Alex... I will answer all of your questions. One at a time, one at a time, please]. He then said putting his little paws forward and showing a cuddly contented expression. Although he didn't say it out loud, inside he began to panic slightly because he didn't know who he should answer first. In a way, it was like seeing a toddler struggling when faced with the fateful question, "Do you love Mommy or Daddy more?"

A small, and hairy, ray of sunshine in that decadent world; at least as far as I'm concerned.

Fortunately though, XK22 didn't have to worry too much. In fact, while the umpteenth theatrical display of cunning was taking its imbecilic course, the kind Camilla, first removed from the battlefield by Mario, went to rummage through the objects inside the magic box until she picked up a small box of fine wood. Her eyes fell on it almost immediately, since most of the rest of the stuff in there were the usual water bottles and canned food.

"Oh..." Attracted then by the exquisite workmanship of the small container, the girl didn't think twice and cautiously opened it, ignoring most of the chatter and nudges she heard coming from nearby. Once it was uncovered, however, another light similar to that of the Level Increase exploded like the flash of a firecracker would have done, forcing the poor innocent soul to cover her eyes.

[Data acquisition in progress. Please wait...].

Meanwhile, shifting the attention of the rest of the gang, the System's voice accompanied by a translucent notification reverberated within the minds of everyone present.

[Awesome! Awesome! My compliments! My compliments!] Quickly reacted XK22, the only one who currently knew what had happened. "Huh? What the fuck is it now?" Roberto then asked politely in response, cursing the Lord himself because he was tired of dealing with more bullshit. The little furry creature didn't mind and, on the contrary, turned in his direction tapping its little paws and explaining in a cheerful tone: [The System is determining the specifications of your new System Item! And since it is coming with such a notification, it means that it is at least a Rare or Super Rare Item. Congratulations! Congratulations!]

In the meantime, the light quickly became less blinding, quickly turning into a kind of cloud that resembled the moon when it shines far away in the night sky. Mario breathed a sigh of relief and stopped clenching his fist, thanking the heavens that no new Monster was making its appearance, since he wouldn't have had the strength to take another fight head on.

[Analysis Complete. The System Item has been identified as: Ring of the Great Child. Possessed skills: Undeserved Prayer. Rarity: Super Rare. As a System Item with a Rarity higher than Rare, the Item will be for the exclusive use of a Player. Analysis in progress... Analysis completed. Player Choice in progress... Player Choice completed. Sending Object...]

Then, as soon as the voice announcement was over, what was left of the luminous orb floating in the air took flight with a speed that was truly incredible. In a moment, it soared upward to the roof, then veered several times into a spiral trajectory, and finally cut straight down to a point not too far from where it had started; just a few meters beyond the group's position, just behind a column. And right there, a moment later, another brief flash made there both his coming and his departure, without creating any other scenic effect.

"Well?" Roberto then asked, fascinated by the pointlessness of most of the events described in the last few paragraphs, which he thought must have been done that way just because it was cool. And, perhaps, he had a point there.

In any case, from behind the pillar, a petite, trembling figure slowly began to make her appearance; a girl that the Players recognized effortlessly. "Sabrina!" Camilla shouted immediately, squeezing her eyelids more than once so she could clearly see who it was, still going at her despite still running crooked every now and then. Alex had seen a lot of drunk friends but never his beautiful one, which is why he immediately bothered to run after her for safety, afraid that she might hurt herself given her lack of habit.

"Look how cute they are... One leaves and the other runs right after her." Commented the now much more amused Roberto in the meantime, giving a poke with his elbow to his companion Mario and adding, "Oh, we get them hooked up, like tonight? I have become a fan of the romantic comedy by now and I feel like placing bets on it. Come on, come on, come on...", taking care to say his bullshit in the manner that contained as much handicap as possible.

Mario avoided throwing gasoline on the fire. Fatigue was getting the better of him, although the idea of betting on Alex's private life was intriguing, but he refused the offer anyway. He still had some pity left in his chest when it came to matters of the heart and not much testosterone.

Anyway, back to more serious matters; the three young ladies had already had time for pleasantries and were already on their way back to rejoin the Assistant and the other two. The poor Sabrina actually didn't even have time to fully understand what was going on when Roberto pulled out the Terminal to check the Ability of the new toy.

[Ring of the Great Child. Possessed skill: Undeserved Prayer. Rarity: Super Rare. Undeserved Prayer: The Skill possesses a single effect. Through a short Cast Time, the user gains the ability to heal himself or another Player. The Cast Time depends entirely on the user's abilities. Direct contact is not necessary, but the maximum distance depends entirely on the user's abilities. Cost in Mana: 4. Cost in Energy: None.]

The same notification window peeped into the visual space of the entire gang, prompting a particularly wide grin on the face of the dear cancer-in-training. "Now we're getting started," he said immediately afterwards, welcoming the lucky girl with open arms.

She, of course, didn't see that as a good sign. Even though she had missed the Assistant's speeches, the System's notifications had updated her on the current situation. In fact, to be even more precise about it, the girl had walked out of her hiding place after the System's metallic voice had informed her of the Boss' death. Being swept up in a strange light had put her in fear and made her go back to hiding behind the first thing she had around, but she quickly realized she wasn't in any danger.

"Hey! Get off of her! Hands off! Hands off!" Into action came the marble-assed bodyguard, also known as Camilla for simplicity's sake, blocking the advance of the ever-burning walking cigarette before he could get too close. He, however, smart as a whip, ignored the warnings and craned his neck forward to get a glimpse of the new System Object, quickly finding his right wrist locked in a tight squeeze.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! My shoulder! Don't pull! Don't pull you'll rip my shoulder off!" He then complained with a mixture of suffering and exaggeration, urging more than necessary and forcing first Alex to intervene and then, given the futility of the latter, Mario himself who had come out of the fight more battered than him.

"Spread out! Come on! Come on! The referee has spoken. You can resume after the bullshit, now is not the time. And don't you get back in the fight! You damn fool..." I'll let you guess which one of the two had been the one to restart the corrida, as I doubt it needs to be said out loud by now. Anyway, in doing his job, the big guy used too much force and instantly felt a twinge of pain at chest level, severe enough to make him grit his teeth and block his breath.

"And as it was meant to prove," Roberto meanwhile returned to say, nicely giving his back to the bad cop, held by a not-so-convinced Alex, and adding almost immediately, as he looked at his wounded comrade who had now dropped a knee to the ground with a nice crashing sound, "You're worse off than you wanted to show, aren't you? You've taken a lot of shit from a smart-ass with man boobs. A terrible view by the way. We didn't even get the slightest satisfaction. Shit, it would have been weird the other way around, wouldn't it?"

Surprised by the turn of events, the married couple stopped fighting and instead stood by Roberto in case their help was needed. Mario, after all, weighed quite a bit, so if it became necessary to have to move him maybe the three of them wouldn't have gotten away with it without a struggle either.

"Oh, well. I guess the developers of this crap planned for something like this. They gave us a way to heal the wounded at the end of the day. Am I right, XK22?" Roberto stepped back into the spotlight, calling out to the much furry Assistant who had meanwhile already taken to trotting in their direction.

[I'm sorry, Mr. Roberto. I don't have the privileges to get the information to answer your question. Perhaps I could help you with that if you unlocked Information about the System (Part 1). Without acquiring at least those System privileges I cannot confirm or deny anything]. Said the little creature once he reached his destination, feeling a bit down in spirits as everyone's eyes were now focused on Mario instead of him.

The only ones who noticed that hint of envy were Roberto and Sabrina, but neither of them thought to investigate the matter. On the contrary, Roberto passed the matter over without the slightest interest, going instead to look for Sabrina, telling her: "Would you like to give it a try? If it works out, I could use a little adjustment too. My shoulder is killing me. In fact, Alex's hand could use some work too. I wouldn't want to have lunch with that stuff in front of my eyes," pointing first at Mario with his thumb and then at the other idiot with his index finger.

Always better to say, since depending on how one experienced it, the monologue just recited might not say much. In fact, the tone the boy had used had not been even remotely abrupt or authoritarian. In fact, you could even say that the voice that had come out of his mouth would have been perfect for ordering a cold beer at the bar; cheerful and dazed to the point.

To Sabrina, however, it didn't exactly sound that way. As much as he was kept in check, the way the boy's eyes were staring at her made her a little bit repulsed. It was as if he was looking at a beautiful piece of meat. Sure, for once, it wasn't tits or ass that had put her on the gallows, but the unpleasant feeling still remained.

Even if we were to be moralistic, however, I would like to see how many other people in this world would have reacted differently. And no, the two lost in their own company do not count; bear with me. Stuck in an unknown place, without a source of food or water insured and without even the shadow of a medical facility or staff capable of doing their job. In short, as much as in video games the class of supports, specializing in treatment or other help, could even be pitied; now that they could no longer piss on the wet, having someone able to do, by all accounts, the doctor, became a valuable subject. Plus, given Alex's bad example, Roberto currently saw about a fifty percent chance regarding Sabrina actually being able to activate her Skill. There was still too much to discover about the System and too few Credits available to buy the information. However, if the experiment had a positive result, Roberto would have to rethink Sabrina's importance in the Team, and he would no longer have to hope for a future where she had enough Mana in her bag to use her [Warm Hug], a Skill that no one knew the power of yet, and instead have a critical resource immediately in his hands.

Little things. But, fortunately, Sabrina was able to ignore it, worrying instead about Mario's health who had protected her in her time of need. It was a small leap in the void for her to expose herself in favor of the boy, but she only realized it when all was said and done.

"I'm going to try now, tell me right now to stop if I feel any pain," she then said after advancing and reaching the rusty giant.