Becoming The Strongest Using My Would-You-Rather System!-Chapter 34 - Right Choice?

Theo stared at the screen, his eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at the system panel.

’’What the hell are these options?!’’

He leaned forward slightly, rubbing his face with one hand before looking back at the exact same floating text once again.

’Ten and thirty thousand dollars a day....’

It wasn’t like the rewards were unwanted. No, it was the contrary.

’But what are these... challenges bound to them,’ he thought, scratching his head.

Each spider you see grows twenty percent larger than the last one.

Theo frowned, his mind churning.

’’How many spiders do I even see in a year?’’

He thought about it for a moment.

There are always a few around the apartment, especially in the summer.

Then there are also ones outside, and possibly even counting spider-like creatures from dungeons.

’’If that’s the case, who knows how many I’ll see,’’ he muttered as he tried to picture how quickly these spiders would grow too large.

’Wouldn’t they be able to grow to the size of buildings really quickly?’ he thought, his frown deepening. ’How strong would such a spider be?’

What’s even worse was that there didn’t seem to be a growth limit to these spiders at all, which meant they could become as big as an entire city... or worse.

’’Okay, this one might be a little problematic.’’

Theo leaned forward again, his gaze shifting to the second option.

Once per day you will be teleported three thousand yards into the air and returned to your original position one centimeter before hitting the ground.

Theo stared at it silently.

"...Three thousand yards."

He slowly tilted his head back and looked up at the ceiling.

"That’s almost two miles..."

His expression stiffened slightly just thinking about it.

’’Isn’t that just absolute hell too?’’

The image of falling from the sky already formed in his mind, sending chills down his spine as he thought about hitting the ground.

It would be just like those dreams where you fall and wake up at the very last second.

Theo fell silent for a moment, rubbing his temples softly.

’’...Why are both of these insane?’’

He leaned back again, staring at both options as he calculated how much either of them would earn him.

’The spider one gives me well over ten million dollars within a year, while the falling one gives me three hundred thousand in a month.’

The gap was immense... but the drawbacks were obvious too.

While the falling one didn’t seem to actually hurt him, the spider option could. If spiders did reach an insane size by sheer chance, he and a whole lot of other people would be dead.

’I can’t be blinded by greed and risk my life like that,’ he thought, letting out a sigh.

’’I’ll go with option 2,’’ he said out loud.

The screen lit up in a green color, all the previous lines of text replaced by only two short sentences.

[Choice made.][Separate cooldown installed.]

The first holographic screen closed, another one with two cooldowns on it opening almost immediately.

[Cooldown: 00:04:23:49:23][Daily Descent: 03:49:23]

Theo blinked once, his gaze locking onto the new screen.

"...Daily Descent."

His eyes narrowed slightly as he read the timer again.

’’It needs to be done before the end of today already?’’ he muttered, his smile slowly disappearing.

The joy of being able to earn ten thousand dollars each day vanished instantly.

Just because it was the better option did not mean he was excited about this one.

’I don’t like heights,’ he thought. ’And certainly not free falling from two miles high.’

His gaze drifted back to the timer, watching the seconds tick down steadily.

He exhaled slowly. ’The system said it’d save me before I hit the ground, right?’

Theo stared at the screen for a moment longer.

’’To hell with it,’’ he said, pushing himself up. ’’I should get this out of the way as soon as possible.’’

As he stepped to the center of the room, he felt his heart pound faster and faster.

He clenched his fists tightly, his eyes locked on the system screen in front of him.

’I really hope I don’t regret making this choice...’

With that, he pressed on the Daily Descent line.

For a split second, nothing happened.

Then—

Everything around him changed.

The room around him had been replaced by a dark blue sky. Beneath him, a tiny familiar city was lit up by lights.

Theo’s eyes went wide, his stomach dropping immediately.

’’Fuuuuuuuck,’’ he yelled as he felt his body fall downwards.

The wind roared all around him, making him unable to hear anything.

’’I regret my choice!’’ he shouted, his body violently being jerked around by the wind. ’’Systeeeeem!’’

Theo flailed instinctively, his arms shooting out as if trying to grab onto something.

The ground underneath him slowly got closer and closer, each building growing taller and broader in his eyes.

Theo’s breathing turned uneven, his chest tightening as panic started creeping in.

’What if the system doesn’t stop?!’ he thought, his heart racing.

The panic spread rapidly, fear taking over his body.

’’This is going way too fast...’’ he shouted, his voice instantly swallowed by the roaring wind. ’’I’ll actually die!’’

The city underneath him was no longer small.

He could see streets clearly now, even the cars driving on them.

’’No, no, no...’’

The rooftop from his apartment complex came into view, rapidly growing larger.

Everything in front of his eyes blurred together, the rooftop filling his entire vision.

Theo clenched his teeth, his entire body tensing up instinctively as if preparing for impact.

’I’m going to die—’

In the final second, it seemed like time slowed down.

The building’s concrete completely filled his vision, every crack and detail clearly visible.

Then, the world around him changed again.

Theo found himself standing back on solid ground in the center of his apartment.

He stumbled a few steps forward, his head spinning from disorientation.

Then he collapsed onto the floor.

’’I’m... alive—!’’ he gasped, his voice shaky.

For a moment, he just lay there.

His body trembling uncontrollably, sweat soaking through his clothes.

His heart pounded so hard it felt like it might burst out of his chest.

’’....What the hell,’’ he muttered hoarsely.

Theo rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling of his room.

His body still felt like it was falling.

’Man, that final moment,’ he thought. ’I can’t believe I’m going to do this for a month.’