The Sex Beast System (The World Of Systems)

Chapter 204: Task Two (Part-1)

“Okay, this wasn’t as difficult to find as I thought,” I say, looking up in awe.

It is nighttime, and I am standing outside the Morcyne art museum. Like most other structures in the Elf kingdom, this museum is also built inside a tree, but it is still impressively large and decorated.

It is also near the Tree-Palace. I have come to realise that all the prime real estate is around this area— with rich-people houses and bougie establishments nearby.

So, it makes sense for the museum of the richest Elven family to be here.

“Phew…”

I am not even stealing the painting today, but I am still nervous. Something-something about a guilty conscience, I guess.

I jog up the stairs leading towards the intricately carved entrance gate. But as I get close, I notice that there is a small ticket booth nearby.

They charge money to enter it!?

[Duh, the museum is privately owned. What did you expect?]

So, I am forced to steal and spend my hard-earned money while doing so!?

Sigh…

I take out my wallet and walk up to the booth. There’s a bored-looking elf sitting there, scrolling through his phone.

“One ticket, please,” I request of him.

He looks up, and stares at me as if I’ve disturbed him from doing something incredibly important.

“Tsk, the museum closes in thirty minutes,” he says before looking back to his phone.

“Eh… okay? Can I get my ticket?”

The elf rolls his eyes.

“The museum is big. You won’t be able to see it all in half an hour,” he tells me exasperatedly.

“Who told you I want to see it all today?”

“…”

He shakes his head, putting away his phone.

“That would be three gold coins,” he says, lazily putting the paper ticket on the counter.

…what?

Three gold coins!? That’s three thousand Yeux!

Is this fucking Elf trying to rob me?

[Classic pot calling the kettle black!]

…

“Do you want it or not?” The Elf asks.

“Sure…” I say grudgingly, taking out the money while thanking Ashrine for the salary.

Arguing now would put too much attention on me, and I need to keep a low profile. I am even wearing a face mask and a cap to cover up my identity.

Taking the ticket, I leave the elf to his merry scrolling. A guard is sitting right at the ornamented entrance gates as well, who simply glances at my ticket before letting me in.

Okay, I am in. Let’s start observing…

From the inside, the museum is just as impressive as it is from outside. It’s basically a huge hollow cylindrical space with a ceiling so high that I can barely see it.

Instead of proper floors, there is a giant spiral stairway going all around the wall, with hundreds of artistic items— like paintings, statues, bonsais, etc— placed along the way up.

As for the security, there isn’t much of it present. Except for the lazy ticket vendor and the guard at the entrance gate, I have yet to see another obvious-looking employee.

[Not just employees, there aren’t any visitors here either.]

I mean, it is near closing time. And I guess that ticket vendor is kinda right. It is a massive place to explore just in thirty minutes.

Anyway, let’s find the painting.

I quickly walk towards the stairway, and cannot help but notice the statue of a sleeping dragon at its very bottom. Right above the statue, there is something floating mid-air.

“567…”

It’s a number written in magical golden ink.

Just to be sure, I quickly open the message I received from the thief, checking the number of the painting I have to steal.

Fuck!! 07!

I have to climb all the way to the very top to get to the painting!? Twice!?

For some reason, I thought the numbering would start from 01, leading upstairs. But I guess I was expecting a little too much from my luck. It never disappoints when it comes to fucking me over.

[Stop the monologue and start climbing. The museum may close before you even reach the top.]

I know…

And thus, I start running up the stairs without minding any manners.

On the way, I pass all sorts of remarkable magical art-pieces, and any other time, I would be gawking at all of them— just for the sheer monetary value they represent. But now, I am not even looking. Instead, I am searching around them, trying to locate the security cameras or anything similar used for observation.

Unfortunately, I cannot locate anything. All I can do is wishfully hope that they don’t exist and the security here is actually as shit as it appears.

As I keep climbing higher up, I notice a couple of things. First of all, I am not getting as quickly tired as I dreadfully thought I would. Perks of levelling up, I guess.

And second, I am finally seeing people. Their number keeps increasing the further up I go. From the way these elves are carefully observing each piece of art, I guess they’ve all been here since early morning today, and are now finally at the top.

I am even getting multiple disdainful glances as I rush past everyone, probably because I am not giving the art the attention it deserves.

250, 200, 150, 100… 50, 40, 30…

Almost there. My legs are finally starting to hurt badly, and it’s also getting difficult to keep running uninterrupted due to the crowd.

15, 13, 10, 9, 8… and finally!

I reach exhibit number 07! The painting I have to steal! I take a moment to catch my breath before looking at it properly.

And I get taken aback for a second.

The painting is… pretty risqué. There is a man and a woman, both completely nude, intimately drawn, and wrapped around each other with a multi-colour swirling background.

The thing is, it’s a magical painting, so both of them are moving in a rather bold way.

And even weirder are the dozen people standing around the painting, carefully observing the couple as they fuck. It’s like they are watching porn together.

Standing a bit far, I inconspicuously wait for this group to leave before approaching the painting. I only have a few moments of private time with it before the next group of people arrives.

And that’s enough for me because I only want to confirm a couple of things— if I can even touch the painting at all (or if there’s a barrier protecting it), and whether or not it’s been magically attached to the wall behind.

Because if so, the difficulty of this task would increase exponentially. I mean, it’s already pretty difficult; I have no idea how I am going to carry this thing out of here with all the people present, but anyway, let’s focus on one thing at a time.

To test, I first look around to make sure no one is paying attention, then discreetly touch the frame of the painting.

Success! There is no barrier!

Next, I gently push it to the side to see if it moves— and it does! So, it’s not stuck, either!

Phew… that’s one less thing to worry about.

I move the painting back to its proper position and step back.

Now, let’s do a final search for cameras to see if I can find any before heading back down.

[Hey! Look at the painting!]

Huh?

I look up, only to see my life quickly turning into a horror show.

All the edges of painting 07 are on fire.