A long while later, Tifa fell asleep deeply. Aiden, holding her smooth body, started checking the system notifications from the previous night.
In truth, after staying in this world for over a month, Aiden had almost forgotten he even had a system. If it weren't for the system suddenly dinging in his ears after he killed the Cloud controlled by Fate, he wouldn't have remembered at all.
He opened the system interface, and a flood of messages popped up.
Aiden skimmed through them, then asked in his mind, 'System, how many more days can I stay in this world?'
[The host can return at any time, but considering you still have aftermath to deal with in this world, your stay has been extended by one month.] The system's voice was as emotionless as always, but still made Aiden feel some sentiment.
'What a great system, it doesn't force missions, even thoughtfully leaves time to wrap things up. It's just too wonderful!'
After nodding in satisfaction, Aiden continued to ask, 'This time returning, how many people are we taking?'
He still remembered that when the Resident Evil and Black Lagoon storylines ended, he could only take back characters who no longer had follow-up plots, such as Roberta, Fabiola, and Manuela, those three. Characters like Ada, Jill, Revy, and Balalaika couldn't be taken back because their storylines hadn't ended yet.
And in this world, he had already replaced Cloud as the protagonist. Although Sephiroth had returned to the Great Hollow and said he would no longer randomly descend to destroy the world, the Midgar plot was only the beginning of Final Fantasy VII. There was still a long story ahead. He wanted to know how many people he could bring back this time.
[The host can bring the following characters back to reality this time.] As soon as Aiden asked that question, the system displayed several avatars in his mind.
Aerith, Tifa, Jessie, Scarlet, Yuffie.
Not more, not less, exactly the five female characters who were close to him.
'Aerith can be brought back too?"' Aiden froze for a moment. Although he was delighted, he was also a little surprised, because as the only Ancient in this world, if she was gone, there would be no one left on this planet who could communicate with the planet's will and control the Lifestream.
[She is no longer the only Ancient in this world.] As if seeing Aiden's doubt, the system began to explain.
' Huh?' Aiden froze again. 'No way, isn't her mother dead? How can there be another Ancient? Besides, I haven't even touched her yet, she's not pregnant, how could there be a second Ancient?'
[She is currently in Hojo's laboratory,] the system continued to explain. [Because of Aerith's uniqueness, and to make it convenient for the host to bring her out without affecting the future of this planet, this system specifically controlled Hojo to use Ifalna and Jenova's cells to create an experimental body. However, this experimental body currently has no consciousness. But after the host takes Aerith away, it will be granted consciousness and continue to guard this world.]
'So that means, system, you can directly interfere with this world's storyline?' Aiden caught the key point.
[This is an exception, so this system took action,] the system's voice carried a tone like it was seeking praise. [Making slight changes to the plot world that benefit the host is within the allowed rules. Besides, this system exists to serve the host.]
'System, you're really great.' Aiden had never figured out why the system chose him, but at this moment, he sincerely said those words.
[Thank you for the host's praise,] the system's voice remained neither sad nor happy.
After ending the conversation with the system, Aiden once again sorted out his thoughts. And he also figured out why the system allowed him to directly take away all the plot-related characters this time.
Now, both presidents of Shinra had been killed on the same day. The Turks and the Public Security Maintenance Department had been crippled.
Among all of Shinra, the one with the strongest power was Scarlet, who had a large number of special forces under her. And Scarlet completely obeyed him.
At that time, he could let Scarlet issue orders to reduce Mako reactor extraction worldwide and instead use other energy sources. In this way, the planet's Lifestream would no longer be excessively consumed like before.
And after breaking free from his fate, Sephiroth had also promised him not to launch a world-ending plan again, so the crisis of planetary destruction was over.
This way, Aerith no longer needed to bear the mission of protecting the planet.
Moreover, the system had also prepared a new Ancient for this world to replace Aerith. Even if something happened later, there was no need to trouble Aerith again.
After solving the problems of Shinra and the planet's future, Aerith and the others were completely liberated, which is why the system said they could all be taken away.
Once he understood this, Aiden felt incredibly happy. That slight bit of worry in his heart disappeared completely.
After kissing Tifa on the forehead, Aiden closed his eyes again and started to rest.
When Aiden and Tifa got up again, it was already near noon.
The two took a shower together, then ate something simple, and left the room, heading toward the bar.
When going downstairs, they ran into the landlady, Granny Marle.
Seeing the two come down together, Granny Marle enthusiastically invited them to have lunch with her.
However, before they got up, Aerith had called, saying that she and Jessie were already waiting at the bar. She even teased that they were still not up at this hour, was Tifa secretly eating again or something. Hearing that made Aiden feel a bit guilty. If they delayed any longer, Aerith might get even more annoyed, so he directly declined Granny Marle's kind offer.
After saying goodbye to Granny Marle, the two continued walking toward the bar.
At this time, Shinra's broadcast could be heard everywhere on the street. The broadcast was playing the inauguration speeches of Shinra's new president Scarlet and new vice president Reeve, and also announcing new policies.
Perhaps due to the new policies, the nearly deserted Sector 7 had seen a return of many people. The streets visibly became more lively. Many people gathered around the broadcasts or TVs, listening and discussing what kind of impact the new policies would bring.
'In the future, Midgar will become a truly prosperous city.' After hearing some of the new policy content, Aiden knew this was definitely the work of Reeve, who used to be Shinra's city planning director. As the only good guy in Shinra, he was much better than the previous presidents.
———
One month passed quickly. In this month, Aiden did many things. For example, he accompanied Tifa to her hometown, Nibelheim, and went with her to pay respects to her parents.
He also accompanied Yuffie to Wutai. Although the little girl was a bit chuuni, she was shy and didn't take him to meet her family. Instead, she took him around, showing him the scenery of Wutai.
He also visited Jessie a few times. Each time, her mother warmly received him and even specifically booked a hotel room for them in one of the plate hotels so they could be alone.
So that night, Aiden had a wonderful evening.
Very quickly, as the system-given one-month stay time ended, the day to return to reality arrived.
With the appearance of white light, the system's voice rang in Aiden's ears.
[Ding, storyline experience complete. Beginning return to the real world.]
[Ding, plot world progress marked. Since the main plotline has ended early, the timeline of this plot world will now proceed normally.]
[Note: The host may use reward entries to re-enter this plot world at any time.]
[Ding, memories of the real world have been added to Aerith, Tifa, Scarlet, Jessie, and Yuffie.]
[Ding, memories of Roberta, Fabiola, and Manuela about the real world have been modified. (Fixed a past plot bug).]
[Ding, issuing plot participation rewards…]
[Ding, returning to the real world…]
———
When he opened his eyes, Aiden had already returned to his bedroom in the real world and was lying on the bed, just like before he entered Final Fantasy VII.
However, lying beside him were not only Roberta, but also Aerith and the others brought from the plot world.
Just like when he brought back Roberta and the others, Aerith and the rest were also in a deep sleep. Because the bed was small, the women completely filled it up, leaving not even a bit of space.
Aiden got up from the bed and glanced at Roberta. The head maid was still sleeping sweetly, the blush on her face still not faded, making Aiden's heart stir.
Although for Roberta, Aiden had always been lying beside her, for him, he hadn't seen Roberta for more than two months.
But after thinking it over, Aiden still held back. After all, several women suddenly appeared beside him. Roberta hadn't woken up, which proved they had all been affected by the system and were in a deep sleep. He didn't want to take advantage of her like that, it would just be simple venting without her cooperation.
"I need to change to a bigger house in the future," Aiden muttered. Then he carried Roberta to Fabiola's room.
After tucking in Roberta and Fabiola, Aiden came to the living room, lit a cigarette, and opened the system interface.
The system's plot participation rewards are only issued upon returning to reality. He wanted to see what he had received this time.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y