Face-Slapping System

216  The Poor Roland

After he calmed his emotions down, Roland took a cursory glance at the price of the cultivation items and in the end…

He just decided to close his eyes again in pain.

There was no other reason other than them being so expensive. It hurt his heart realizing how poor he was.

The desired item was in front of him, but he could only take a glance at it and not be able to obtain it.

It was so near, yet so far.

With that, he realized his obvious needs for face-slapping points. It was the most valuable currency for him. Not only would he need it to level up and go stronger, he also needs it to augment his other lacking aspects such as practical knowledge and skills.

However, the problem was that he could only wait for opportunities to present themselves before he could earn face-slapping points. This was an obvious weakness that he doesn't have a solution to. He could only grumble under his breath regarding this.

Knowing that he would not be able to afford them now, Roland decided to make a quick scan on the available items that he wanted to buy in the future before ignoring their existence.

He could not even cultivate right now, much more create these items. His priority was also to enhance himself, so he would also not blindly buy the cultivation items just because he fancied them. Face-slapping points were currency that was very valuable and was hard to come by, he must be frugal on spending them so as to not regret a decision in the future.

'My priority at this moment should be to search for ideas on how to access this so-called Heaven Energy so that I can start cultivating, only then would I be able to create these enviable items inside the System store as well… Roland thought to himself as he sorted out what he should do next.

According to what I heard from Razor and Carrol, this place is simply not a place suitable for cultivation. Fore City simply doesn't have any heaven energy and they even called this place a barren one. I should ask Carrol next time if going to a High-Grade City would mean that Heaven Energy would be present… He added.

He also turned to look at his current points, and seeing it made him even more depressed and realized how he was.

In the end, he just closed his eyes as he patiently waited for them to arrive at their destination.

However, a few minutes after doing so, he opened his eyes again as he turned to look at his left side, or more precisely to Janine, who also happened to have her eyes focused on Roland at that moment.

Caught red-handed, Janine immediately turned her eyes toward her front, seemingly focused on driving. Acting as if her eyes had always been on the road, and not on Roland who was beside her. Only the rapid beating of her heart remained obvious, as though it would rush out of her throat at any moment.

Badump! Badump! Badump!

Only the sound of her heartbeat resounded on the loud silence that pervaded the air.

Her eyes focused ahead of her, however, Janine could tell that Roland was looking on her way at this moment, silently staring at her without making a sound.

"Is there something in my face?"

Finally, Roland broke the silence as he asked gently.

Earlier, he realized that someone was looking at him while his eyes were closed. Due to his enhanced senses, Roland was quite sensitive to this, allowing him to determine that it was Janine who was constantly peeking at him. Besides, it was only the two of them inside the car so unless there was a ghost, it should be Janine who was constantly looking at him.

Her reaction after he caught her red-handed was a clear confirmation of his guess. The only question he had was why she was doing it.

"N-n-nothing…" Janine answered, her voice clearly flustered.

Clench every opportunity that you encounter. Take the initiative…

Stacey's words echoed in her ears at this moment.

'But how?...' She cried inwardly, not knowing what to do.

Even constantly glancing at Roland already needed a lot of courage from her, how much more if she truly became as bold as what Stacey suggested.

Roland nodded his head, as he closed his eyes once again.

Janine's actions were quite strange, however, Roland was not as clueless as he appeared to be.

He clearly noticed her actions earlier. Back when he was still at high school, he would always encounter something like this from the opposite sex.

It was only now that he realized that Janine might have truly taken a liking to him.

Roland sighed, ignoring this baseless opinion. There was no need to be complacent about this. His conjecture might be wrong but regardless, if he was right, he knew that it would only cause Janine's heartbreak in the end.

Roland could only hope that it wasn't as he thought as he closed eyes to rest.

More than two hours later, Roland woke up, as if he sensed that they were already near their destination.

With the Boogle Map, there was no way for them to get lost along the way.

Roland looked through the window and realized that he didn't find the place familiar. He did not find it strange as it was already years since he left Tree Town. A lot would already change in a month, how much more a period of a few years.

"Where are we now?" Roland asked.

Janine took a glance at her phone and said, "W-we're only 1 kilometer away from our destination. We could have arrived there sooner but I did not expect the road here to be this rough. I-I was afraid of waking you up so I could only slow down to lower the bumpiness inside the car."

Roland nodded his head and expressed his appreciation towards her consideration. In fact, part of the reason why he woke up was due to the bumpy ride. However, the road towards Tree Town was not maintained so it was normal that the ride was bumpy. If Janine did not consider Roland's comfort, perhaps he would have woken up in advance due to discomfort.

As he expressed his thanks, Roland also noticed that Janine was no longer as tense as earlier. Although her way of talking was still stuttering a little, Roland could tell that her emotion was no longer as pronounced.

He nodded his head, thinking that it was a good thing.

Meanwhile, due to the uneven road, Roland was no longer in the mood to sleep. Instead, he looked through the window and as he looked at the passing scenery. Gradually, he spotted a familiar huge tree, indicating that they were already near their destination.

The next moment, Janine did not disappoint as she stated that they had already arrived.

The lot that the System has rewarded was situated in the southernmost part of Tree Town. It was a remote place that had no road built yet.

Up ahead, Roland could only see a small road formed from the trail of people going to and fro to forage in the forest. As it was no longer accessible by car, they decided to go there by foot.

Trees formed a neat line in front of them, as if a marking of the path that was formed naturally. Thick bush and weeds surrounded the small path as Roland and Janine walked forward slowly, the latter walking while constantly checking her phone.

Roland was also high on alert as he trekked forward, who knew if there were any snakes or other wild animals along the way, the path they were trekking was quite full of overly grown bushes and grass after all.

Ahhh!-

Suddenly, an involuntary yelp resounded behind him. Knowing that the yelp was from Janine, Roland, who was high on alert, immediately reacted. He hurriedly turned around to assess the situation, only to realize that Janine's body seemed to be falling down at extreme speed towards him.

Without even thinking, his body moved on its own as he took a step forward to catch her body before she hit the ground.

With his speed and reflexes, there was no way Roland would fail at such an easy task.

Janine's arm immediately clung around the solid object that she grasped while falling down, only to realize that it was actually Roland's body.

Just as she was about to let go of her hand, she realized that Roland had already firmly held onto her, preventing her from falling to the ground.

A tinge of blush appeared on her cheek, Roland ignored it as he asked worriedly while helping her up, "Are you alright?"

Having been freed from Roland's 'embrace' Janine pursed her lips as she nodded gently.

"I-I just got tripped by that small log," she said, a hint of embarrassment was present in her voice.

"Alright, just be careful. This path is filled with broken twigs and small logs, just watch where you are stepping next time," Roland said, not taking her clumsiness to heart.

Upon saying that, he proceeded to walk forward, but at the next moment, he realized that a hand had already grabbed his forearm.

"C-can I hold on to you… a-along t-the w-way?" Musterring up her courage, Janine finally let out the words that she wanted to say.

Roland nodded his head, thinking that it might be safer that way as well.

Following the Boogle Map, the two of them finally arrived at the plot of land that was rewarded by the system.

Ahead of them, Roland also saw a few people in white shirts and black pants surveying the area.

Thinking of the System's previous antics, Roland guessed that they might be the previous owner of this land, or perhaps, the land surveyor specially hired by the System.

Without thinking too much about it, Roland walked forward and decided to approach them.