Alex woke up with his head pounding like he had a bad hangover after a wild party. He was still in darkness, confirming that he had not been rescued yet.
"Hello Alex," a voice said.
"Whoa, who's there?" he shouted frantically, looking around like an owl.
"I am Khos, keeper of the records. The greatest lifeform to ever exist, praised by all, helper of the strong, and suppressor of the weak... blah blah," Alex heard.
"Stop, fuck, stop shouting so loud," Alex said. "Where are you speaking from? I can't see anything in this darkness. Also, isn't that supposed to be the opposite?" He thought, hoping he wasn't going mad and hearing voices due to lack of air.
"I am right in front of you, Alex. And no, you are not hallucinating. I am very real."
Alex looked around while standing up, confirming that he was no longer under rubble and surprisingly, he was healed enough to walk without hurting. The cave was lightly illuminated by glowing grass and mushrooms on the roof. After standing, he started walking around to find the source of the voice, which he was now sure was coming from behind him. He stretched his neck and looked back, finally spotting a small dot of light right in front of his rear. As he moved to look closer, the dot moved along with his backside.
"That's not my face... that's my ass, and you call yourself the greatest lifeform? You can't even distinguish face from ass."
For now, he decided to accept that a glass bead could talk. Things were already weird enough as far as he could tell. He started walking around to explore the cave-like place he was in.
"Maybe I died, and this is my personal hell. But what the heck is this talking thing? My personal demon, butler, or torturer? Wait, wait, wait, did I die and reincarnate with a system, like in those novels?" he thought.
The cave was large enough to fit a football field with a dome-shaped stone ceiling. There were a few holes letting in light but not enough to make things clear.
"I am neither of those things. I am a... well, yes, system might be the best way to describe me," Khos said. "But what is a novel?"
"You did that before as well. You can hear my thoughts and read my memories? Is there anything about me hidden from you?" Alex asked, checking the cave wall. It was not smooth but had no sharp corners. It looked consistent and unnatural.
"Yes, I can hear your thoughts, but only at a surface level. You were thinking of me as a system very loudly. I also speak directly into your mind. You don't need to say anything aloud to communicate with me. Once the blood ritual is complete, I am bound to you." Khos informed.
"So, where is my status screen? STATUS, SYSTEM, LEVEL," Alex shouted loudly, but nothing happened.
"Hmm, no, not like that. I am more of a system that provides systems... a super system, yes, I like that. You can call me super system," Khos replied after seeing his antics.
"Ah no, that doesn't suit you at all. But moving on, can you tell me what happened and where the hell I am?" Alex asked.
"Yes, I can. You are currently on a small meteorite that collided with Earth right after the first one, which caused the accident you were involved in—and I was as well. Since you were unconscious, I took it upon myself to form a shield around you to protect you from dying on the impact of the second meteorite. I am sad to inform you, but Earth is going through a great peril currently."
"Whoa, that's some deep shit. I guess I was lucky to find you. How am I even breathing if this is a meteorite? Is there a way I can go back to Earth? ,and I am pretty sure it was a plane that caused the accident" Alex said, sitting down after inspecting the cave and finding no way out of the darkness.
"Hope my little sis is alright... well, she's on the other side of the planet," he thought.
"Yes, there is a way, but as you are now, you cannot travel there. Once you choose a system based on the skills it offers and the type of system, it might provide you a way to eventually travel back to Earth—if that's what you want. I suggest you make this decision with full awareness. A system defines the life of a god after all."
"I am not a god though..." Alex said after an awkward pause.
"What?"
"In the brief moment I scanned the planet called Earth, I saw buildings as high as mountains, metal boxes flying, magical talking mirrors, monsters of metal... How could a world of non-gods have that?"
"I'm not sure if Earth is a world of gods or not, but I am pretty sure I am human. Now, can I get that system you were talking about?" he said, "and start my isekai journey," he thought.
"No, no, you see, this does not make sense, human. I set the course toward the highest density of divinity, and I landed on the correct path according to my logs. Hence, Earth should be one of the greatest planets of gods—a heaven. After all, this place is surrounded by a dead zone, and no mana exists here. Humans existing without mana is, in itself, impossible. Only gods prefer to live in such places, as divinity does not interfere with the energy of the dead zone," Khos started explaining.
"Hey, hey, cheer up. I am sure there is a solid explanation for this. We can find it out together, don't worry. By the way, do you have anything to eat? I'm hungry enough to eat a horse right now," Alex said.
"Yes..., you are right. Now that I am free from the chase of that evil mana bomb, I have time to figure things out. Very well, human, just think about what you want to eat loudly. I will create it for you." Khos replied after a brief pause.
"What? You can do that? Alright," Alex said. "Well, let's not look a gift horse in the mouth," he thought silently and started thinking loudly about the food he wanted.
"Let's see, just get me a medium pizza with cola."
"I will need you to imagine the taste and all the details of this food in order to create it exactly."
"Oh, I am doing it. Does this work?" Alex asked.
In the next second, his order appeared in front of him—smoking hot pepperoni pizza and chilled Mexican Coke.
"Yes, that's it," he cheered.
He was going to his favorite restaurant to get this when he got into the accident.
"Never thought I'd be eating this again. Thanks, my friend."
"I will need you to repay back in energy once you start cultivating. Let's get back to your system ceremony after you have had your meal. Human or not, now that I am bound to you, we will need you to get something good if we ever hope to get on some planet with people."
"Can't you take us there, similar to how you came to Earth?" Alex asked while taking a big bite out of pizza slice. "this tastes exactly how i remember, i need to scam this guy to always be with me, my own instant cook" he thought silently.
"Sadly no. I lost all my free energy while traveling toward Earth for about a billion years. Right now, I only have enough energy to load two level 7 systems."