Tyler stood in his new home. He was on the first floor, in a room tucked away in the far corner of the house. A single small glass window offered a view of the overgrown garden outside. The wooden floor was dusty, untouched by the years, but otherwise undamaged. He surveyed the room, his hands resting on his waist. "So… where exactly do I put the bed?"

With a thought, the bed shimmered with a bright light, then materialized near the corner of the room. The shop had also sold him some blankets and pillow, which were neatly arranged on the bed. The bed was just big enough for one person, though still spacious enough for him to stretch out and toss and turn.

He sat on the edge of the bed and opened his System Inventory, the familiar interface appearing before him. He thought to himself, *Right, I have the Adas tree and holy water now.* He realized it had been some time, *That means I can craft more materials that I couldn't craft back then.* A wave of new crafting recipes, things he hadn't been able to attempt before, flickered into view before him. He scrolled through the list, his eyes scanning the ingredients. *Ah, I have some of these materials…*

He stopped at the Alchemy recipe for a Defense Potion. *Alright, a Defense Potion… let's start with that one.* Tyler muttered, "System… craft Defense Potion."

The System panel sprang to life before him, the recipes disappearing as the crafting process began. It loaded quickly and then read "Crafting Successful."

Tyler opened his palm, and the potion materialized there. The vial was filled with a dim, almost ethereal white liquid. He held it up, examining it in the dim light of the room.

His curiosity piqued, the System panel appeared before Tyler, displaying the potion's details: Weak Defense Potion: Temporarily increases user's Defense by 30 for 5 minutes.

Tyler looked at the description, a slight frown creasing his brow. "Oh, just 30? That's kind of disappointing… And only for five minutes." He paused, reconsidering. "Well, 30 is still a lot, though. I shouldn't be disappointed. That defense increase would be like… me leveling up fifteen times, so yeah…" He then thought, "But… can I stack these?"

The System panel flickered to life, then displayed: Potions cannot be stacked while still in use.

Tyler felt a touch of disappointment. "Oh well. At least it's still useful." He made the potion disappear back into his inventory. He then leaned back onto the bed, resting his hands on either side of him. He sighed, a wave of weariness washing over him. "Man, I think I can just craft all of these tomorrow." He realized, "I'm not physically tired. I feel like it's almost impossible for me to be super tired nowadays." But mentally… his mind felt like it needed to rest.

Suddenly, his shirt shimmered with a blue light and vanished into his inventory. "I wish that this leveling up would also increase my mental durability and decrease my mental fatigue," he thought, "but it seems it can't. This thing just… works physically."

He pushed himself back on the bed, using his arms and legs. As he sat up, he thought, " All that walking, and signing the documents, and everything… it certainly took a lot of time." He looked out the window, and saw that the stars and the moon were already visible. The world was dark now. He was alone, but he had a place of his own. He was finally able to sleep in his bed. And that was what he intended to do.

But somehow, in the utter silence of his new home, a pang of loneliness resonated within him. Back in his world, he had been accustomed to sleeping in the same room with his brothers, growing up, before they moved out. Then, right after that, he had shared a room with Mike. And then, he had slept under the same roof as Grone… And now, he was alone.

The house was quiet. Too quiet. Tyler had always been used to sleeping with some level of background noise. Not the kind that was distracting or that would wake him up, but just… something. He didn't like absolute silence. He rested his hands behind his head on the pillow and sighed. "It's so quiet…" He thought. "Not even a bug. Now that I think about it… I rarely see flies in this world. You see them here and there, but they're like the rarest insects to come across… not to mention mosquitoes. I haven't even seen any." He paused, then continued, "But back in my world, it was crawling with all sorts of bugs…"

He then considered, *It must be because of the Demon King… and what happened.* After all, Grone had said it had changed their whole world, affecting everyone and everything. He yawned, stifling the thought. "I don't have to think too much about it… I just have to go to sleep." He closed his eyes, letting the darkness embrace him, and drifted off.

After what felt like only a few hours of the night, Tyler felt something. He didn't feel like opening his eyes, the pull of sleep still strong, but a sensation tugged at him. His chest… it felt warmer, and slightly heavy. Almost as if… as if there was something resting on it.

Tyler slowly, reluctantly, opened his eyes. And there, resting on his bare chest, was a small, vibrant green creature.

The small, green creature was looking directly at him, smiling, its large eyes filled with an almost unsettling affection. Its small, stubby arms were spread wide, as if embracing him. As Tyler fully registered the creature, his heart gave a painful jolt.

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"What the hell?!" he yelled, the words exploding from him. He instinctively rolled off the bed, hitting the floor with a thud. The creature, startled, yelped. It was a small, thoughtless sound, more of a surprised groan than anything else.

Tyler scrambled to his feet as the creature, surprisingly agile, clung to him, its tiny arms still wrapped around him. "How the hell… Get off me!" He grasped the creature's head with both hands, attempting to pry it away, but the tiny claws held firm. The pressure on his ribcage was uncomfortable, even a bit painful. With a final, desperate heave, he managed to push it off, using more strength than necessary.

The force sent the creature flying. It slammed into the closed wooden door with such force that the door splintered and shattered, sending wood fragments scattering across the room. Tyler was breathing heavily, his heart pounding in his chest. *What the hell? How the hell did that… thing… get in here?*

A sudden memory flashed in his mind - the creature turning to blue dust, as if it had died. *It..I thought it was dead!*

The creature, however, simply reappeared from the other room, its eyes now closed. It was smiling, its face radiating pure, unadulterated happiness. It launched itself towards Tyler, arms outstretched, like a child eager for a hug.

Tyler, utterly dumbfounded, took a step back. But the creature pursued him. He turned, still backing away, and jumped onto his bed, putting distance between them. The creature also jumped. Tyler quickly jumped off the bed, moving backwards again. The creature mirrored his movements, unwavering.

Tyler pointed at the creature and said, "Hey… stop." His voice, still a little shaky, held a command he didn't know he possessed.

The creature looked at Tyler, its cheerful expression immediately dissolving. Its face crumpled, morphing into a mask of utter sadness. Its arms dropped, limp at its sides, as if ashamed.

Tyler, surprised by the reaction, lowered his hand and asked, "How the hell did you get here? Aren't you supposed to be… dead?"

Suddenly, the System panel appeared before him, displaying: Congratulations: User has achieved a Main Achievement. Used Primal Subjugation. Achievement Unlocked: I Have a Pet.

Another System panel appeared. Then, a third: Achievement Unlocked: More Than Just a Pet. User has obtained the rarest pet.

Tyler stared at the panels, his mind racing. "Whoa… wait… so… it didn't die back then? If it didn't… what exactly happened to it?"

The System responded: Pet was undergoing a Purification Process, clearing all traces of the Demon God's aura, making the pet a suitable partner for the user, its master.

"A cleansing process?" Tyler whispered, trying to make sense of it. "So… that's where it was the whole time?"

The System responded again: Pet was temporarily housed within a hidden compartment of the Inventory.

The System panel then disappeared and another popped up: Congratulations, User has achieved one of the Five Main Objectives: Use Primal Subjugation. Reward: Pet Skill: Appetite.

Tyler felt overwhelmed. It was all happening too fast. He was trying to understand, but the information kept coming, each new piece adding to the confusion. He was shocked, but it was a pet. He needed to understand what was going on.

The System panel then reappeared, displaying: The user can now view the pet's stats. Another panel popped up alongside it: View Pet's Stats?"

"Um… okay. View," Tyler said, still reeling from the information overload.

The panels rearranged, presenting him with the creature's status:

SPECIES: Goblinth (Female)

NAME: (N/A)

RANK: G

LVL: 1

CLASS: (N/A)

HP: 50/50 MP: 50/50

STR: 50 AGI: 50

DEF: 50 STM: 50

STATUS: Healthy

Skills: Appetite Lv1

*Wow! I can actually see its stats…* Tyler thought, his eyes widening. He looked at the species, "Goblinth." His eyes then widened as he saw its gender. "Wait! You're… actually female?"

The Goblinth, its arms now behind its back, and its heels lifting up and down slightly, its face beaming with a cheerful smile, did not understand the question. Tyler didn't know how to respond. He looked back at the "Name" entry. It didn't have a name. He thought, It doesn't have a name…

He saw that it was Level 1, and its stats were all 50. And it has a skill… Appetite… He muttered to himself, "It's stats are all 50, but it's a level 1… My stats were lower than that…

The System panel disappeared. And then another one appeared, simply reading: "Name?" It clearly wanted Tyler to name the pet.

Tyler looked at the Goblinth on the floor. It was smiling, its face radiating happiness.

He thought, *Man… I should pick out a name…* He scratched his head, his mind drawing a blank. *I don't know how to name things…* He decided on a name that had come to his mind, simple and straightforward. "Joy. I'll call it… Joy."

The System panel instantly changed, displaying: "Joy." Then, it disappeared.

Tyler, standing in his newly purchased house, looked at Joy. *Well, this is… a lot.*

Another System panel appeared, displaying: The user must choose his pet's class. Tyler saw that the Class space was currently empty, indicating that it was waiting for him to make a choice.

Tyler thought to himself, *The class? I can just… choose for it?*

The System panel above the other one changed, displaying: Correct. The user can choose to assign a class, or leave it unclassified, allowing the creature to potentially learn a variety of skills through absorption.

*What does that mean?*

The System panel disappeared, both of them, and another appeared: Appetite is a skill that allows the pet to gain the abilities of equipment it consumes, primarily equipment crafted by the user. However, this effect is only activated when accessories are eaten, and is subject to a one-week cooldown. The skill can level up, decreasing the cooldown period.

Tyler's eyes widened at the information. *Whoa… a skill that allows it to permanently gain an accessory's effects… that's incredible!*

He looked at the creature, who was still looking at Tyler, its eyes filled with a mix of curiosity and anticipation. Now, the creature was looking at Tyler as if it was anticipating something, as if it was holding back. Tyler then looked at it. Joy looked at him with puppy-dog eyes, and Tyler said, "What?"

The creature opened its arms again, as if wanting a hug. Tyler thought, *This again? This is pretty weird…*

Joy then put her arms down, and then she lifted one of her little legs up and kept sliding the big toe onto the ground as if she was drawing something, but she was just swirling it around in a circle. And she looked ashamed. This meant that she wanted his approval.

Tyler simply shook his head, his gaze flicking back to the System panel. He thought, *If I pick a class for it… I might limit its skills. I'll have to change its class at some point, but…* He then said, "System, I'm not choosing a class."

The System offered no response, leaving him in a slightly awkward silence. He sighed, muttering, "Ignoring me again, huh?"

He put his hands on his waist, and looked at Joy. "Joy," he said softly.

The little Goblinth perked up, its face instantly brightening. With a wry smile, Tyler opened his arms. Joy, practically vibrating with excitement, launched herself at him, landing on Tyler's chest and wrapping him in a tight hug.

"All right," he chuckled, returning the embrace. Joy sighed, the sound more a contented hum.

"You know," Tyler said, "I thought you… died earlier. I thought you were gone… and that you had taken my skill with you."

Tyler then walked to his bed with Joy still clinging to him, and sat there, his legs dangling off the edge of the bed. "I'm glad you're here with me," he said. "Tomorrow… we'll go hunting together."

Joy took a deep breath, exhaling a warm puff of air onto Tyler's chest, then rubbed its cheek against him, closing its eyes. Tyler smiled, thinking, *This is… a little weird… but… I'm getting used to it.*

And then, with that, he slept.

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