Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

"Whatever it was that stopped us, it doesn't seem to work anymore."

This was such a simple statement, yet it came bearing the news that the woman we picked up simply couldn't believe.

'Just like that?' Her face seemed to scream, as she alternated her stare between the maglev's windows and my face, occasionally looking over to Fay and Claudy as if to check if they were laughing, to see whether I was trying to prank her or not.

Yet, neither Fay nor Claudy acted or made faces that would indicate any sort of foul or even silly play.

In the end, all she had to do was to look outside, right through the windows going all across the maglev, in the general direction our vehicle was going.

The uniform-looking squares that formerly made up all the space ahead, to the sides and behind us, have now given way to the slight deviation that one could expect from any other plain in the world. An occasional ditch ran across a small bunch of bushes.

A tiny, young tree grew here and there, exhibiting the great resiliency of life, even if its life would come to an end the very moment any of the zones of direct starlight would pass over it.

'Is it because we kept going, regardless of how much it was trying to stop us?' I thought, trying to crack the secret of this place.

After all, up until this point, even though we were obviously nearing the end of this damned place, my system had yet to announce the completion of any of the paths of my main quest!

"So we are leaving this plain, just like that," the woman muttered, finally convinced by, surprisingly, a complete lack of anyone's reaction to my words. Your next read is at empire

The news struck her so hard, she recoiled all the way back to the seat that she was so happy to leave just a few moments ago.

"Yeah, just like that," I admitted while rolling my eyes, making use of the fact my face was turned to the front to hide this momentary expression. "That is, if you ignore all the trouble we had to overcome on our way here."

With the rear view of the maglev displayed on the screen and no windows whatsoever at the back of the hovercraft, its designers decided not to include a simple rear-view mirror.

There was no use for the battle pilot to be able to constantly check the state of the entry ramp, after all. Yet, in this particular case, I couldn't really tell whether the woman native to this side of the plain reacted to my words in any way or form.

And in all honesty, I didn't really care enough to put the effort necessary for me to turn my head and take a look.

"I don't really know whether we will have any trouble crossing the edge or not, so, just to be cautious…"

This time, I looked over. And a short glance over Claudy, who never dared to release his straps even when we slowed down to a more reasonable speed, I locked my eyes with the local woman.

"It's Isera," the woman muttered before looking down at the free four pieces of the security belt. "And you want me to bind myself back?"

Hearing the exact choice of the woman's words, I simply rolled my eyes.

"That's not how I would put it, but yeah, you got the gist of it," I replied, only for the belts to stop my dodge when Fay dolled out a light punch to my side.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"What?" Slightly baffled, I looked over.

"You know what," she replied with a small pout on her lips and eyes locked on the edge of the plain ahead.

"I…" I took a deep breath, filling my mouth with air to stop myself from replying on autopilot, "I can only guess but still, I apologize?" I leaned my head over my shoulder while pushing the control shaft of the maglev slightly up, only for Fay to instantly follow up on her stick, angling the hypermagnets to bring out the most of the increased power.

"If it's about binding, I'm not really into it but if you want me to…"

Another punch, this time to my shoulder, effectively closed my mouth, pushing me to focus on the task ahead.

'Well, I can't say she's wrong with trying to get me to gather my attention,' I thought, shaking my head to push all the unnecessary thoughts out of my head and pull all my attention towards this last stretch.

This was when most would lower their guard and rejoice at the prospect of escaping the plain. At this distance, we weren't really any further than when I ventured out into the plain on foot, only serving to increase my confidence in the easy completion of the task. And in turn, that only makes it easier for me to unknowingly fall prey to yet another of this place's tricks.

'Let's focus, then.'

I removed all the unnecessary thoughts from my mind and zeroed my attention in on this very last, and potentially most dangerous, stretch. I even pushed the control shaft further down a bit, bringing our acceleration near the current limit of what the damaged power transmission system could allow.

Then, I saw it. A mere reflection, born from the compounding flashes of lights that added up and allowed me to peer back into the ship without actually looking over.

And for but a fraction of a second, I could see Isera, once again, staring intently into her pendant.

'Wait, is she crying…?'

"Focus," Fay barked, more to set my focus back on the right track than to call out my slight mishap.

And so, right as we neared the northern border of the starlight plain… I pushed the shaft even further down, bringing our acceleration up to the current limits of what the Maglev allowed.

Normally, it would be hard for anyone to pinpoint the exact moment of passing over the starlight plain's border given the speed that we were moving at, the result of our short yet rapid acceleration. But in my case, it was easy.

Because as if something within my system finally clicked, this strange gift of mine finally woke up from its slumber, only to produce a short, yet extremely impactful message.

[Main Mission "Starlight Plain": Easy route completed!]

[Unlocked: Fourth and Fifth stage of evolution]

[Unlocking: Amassed experience]

[Unlocking: Affinity: Starlight]

[Evolving Affinities: "Darkness" and "Starlight". Stardark affinity obtained]