"Haah!" Eliot woke up for the second ti, panting, his shirt soaked with sweat.
[Welco back... Eliot]
At first, he was startled by the voice, but then the mory of his near-death experience returned, and he rembered the system.
"System?" he asked, sitting up abruptly.
[....]
"...What exactly happened last ti?"
[You lost consciousness and were on the point of death. I intervened to save your life when the situation beca dire.]
"What specifically did you do?" he pressed, needing concrete details.
[I traded your Starter Package for Genetic Points to aid in neutralizing the poisoning.]
"Starter Package?" He frowned, already having a strong suspicion of what that implied.
[Yes. When the user activated the system, a package was automatically generated. Its contents were unknown to , intended only for the user to open. I cannot state what it contained, as the reward was random.]
"So, you traded that package to save ?" he asked.
[Exactly. That was the only option left. You have yet to complete any missions since the last one, and therefore, you had no available Genetic Points for to use.]
"I... see," he finally said, letting out a heavy breath, and ran a hand through his damp hair.
Slowly but surely, the world ca into focus. However, just as before he lost consciousness, sothing was still fundantally wrong.
"Why is the sky gray, System? And where is the sun?" he asked, looking up at the oppressive, unchanging ceiling.
[The chanics of this world are still unknown to . I cannot give you a credible reason for this abnormality, but I suggest you accept it as it is. It is not reality, after all.]
"You’re right," he conceded, then stood up, brushing dirt from his clothes.
The forest was clear and easy to navigate, but it was also entirely devoid of color, like an old photograph from the 1980s.
Monochro.
He then looked down at his hand. "I have color... but this world doesn’t," he thought, the contrast between his skin tone and the environnt imdiate and striking. He could not accept that the creator would exclude such a thing without a clear objective. Color was what gave life and definition to everything. There was no way this was aningless; this lack of color had been implented with a purpose—sothing he was determined to uncover. Perhaps that discovery was the key to escaping this mysterious world.
"Sys— Hmm, what’s your na?" he asked, stopping himself from using the generic title.
[I have no designation.]
"Is that right?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
[Yes. You are free to call whatever you want.]
"Fine then. I will call you Nadia."
[Understood.] The system’s voice accepted the new na without inflection.
"So, Nadia, what happened to the monster from last night?" he asked, taking a careful look around his imdiate environnt.
Since the place was colorless, there weren’t many details that imdiately stood out. However, what he could see indicated an intense beatdown had taken place on the very ground he was standing on. He could see nurous trees snapped cleanly in half, their upper halves missing completely. And he couldn’t miss the huge, round, black mark where he was currently standing.
A burnt mark, perhaps?
[It was taken care of] was the sterile response he received.
"Taken care of?" He frowned, reaching down to touch the mark. His finger ca away with a dark residue. "What exactly did you do?" he asked once more, his patience thinning.
[It was taken care of.]
"You said that before," he responded flatly.
[It is the only response I can give you. There are things you still do not have sufficient permission to know.]
"Fine. Then tell what I can know," he said, walking towards a thick tree trunk and sitting down, waiting for his explanation.
[Understood. For now, the only privileges you have access to are: Status, Trade by Barter System, and Genetic Altering.]
"Explain each one," he ordered.
[Understood.]
[Status: Status contains your information, from na, level, and other mundane information, down to statistics for Stamina, Strength, Agility, etc. It also contains the user’s affinities, bloodline if any, and other critical data.]
[Trade by Barter System: This is a trading system where the user can exchange sothing of value for sothing they want in return. For example, last night, I had temporarily traded your eyesight in the left eye for the ability to negate the poison. The effect was temporary and was reversed shortly after the monster had been dealt with. However, it did cost quite a lot of points to process each transaction, even the reversal process.]
[Genetic Altering: This is a system by which you can slowly level up and grow stronger by altering your statistics with what is called GENETIC POINTS (GP). GP can be acquired from completing missions, achieving specific milestones, and through exchanges, just as was done with your Starter Package.]
[Missions: Missions are entirely based on the system matrix algorithm in respect to the strings of fate, of which the rewards and penalties are random.]
With that thorough explanation complete, Eliot took a mont of silence to digest everything before speaking once more.
"How much GP do I have left?" he asked, dreading the answer.
[TOTAL GP: 3]
"Great. So I’m essentially out of currency too," he muttered, frustration evident in his voice.
[It was required for the exchange. I would also advise you to take extre caution this ti on how you dive into danger. I am out of options to save you with the current lack of GP.]
"...Sighs," he just sighed deeply and massaged his forehead.
"This is going to be an extrely long ride," he said, then looked up once more to the gray sky.
"Show the Status, Nadia," he commanded, and in response, a translucent blue screen shimred before his eyes.
[Understood.]
However, what followed only made him frown deeply.
"Shit."
Reviews
All reviews (0)