Stopping in front of his bed, putting his head downward, and with a grunt that was entirely for show, Anthony lifted the entire king-sized bed with a good but also heavy mattress on top of it, with sheets and pillows.
Surprisingly, he was able to lift the bed and he found that he wasn't struggling even a bit; it was quite easy. Not only that, Anthony felt like he could hold it up in this position for quite a while without any problem at all.
"This... what the hell? This is real, damn!" Anthony spoke out loud in surprise, but mostly in uncontrollable excitement.
It wasn't like he was previously unable to lift up his bed like this. Well, he really wasn't able to lift it even an inch, and even if he gave his all, he could barely hold it up a centimeter or two.
After all, the entirety of the bed was made up of oak wood material, and was quite big and hence quite heavy. And that was not adding the weight of the mattress. All in all, the total weight he was lifting here was easily about 200kg.
But now, after waking up from one evening sleep, he was suddenly able to lift up such heavy furniture without struggling at all, and quite easily at that. His surprise was understandable.
"Wait a minute," he suddenly thought of something, something he was very familiar with. That familiar trope began to scream in his mind.
And that was his vast stash of countless web novels that he had read, through which he knew exactly what this whole situation was and what was behind this sudden change he felt about himself.
"Hah! I knew it! This all of this—the changes within my body, this sudden surge of strength, and that magical view that my eyes are now able to see—all of it could only be the work of a System!" A wide, utterly self-satisfied grin spread across his face at the thought of this.
But then again, he questioned this situation, and for a moment he thought that this was one of his fantasy dreams. For all of this has happened multiple times with me: just when I think fate has turned around, I find that all that was a dream. Could this one be a dream as well...?
Nah, it can't be, for all this was too real. But he rejected it this time at the thought of his father's broken nose? And his mother's anger? All of that was very much so real, and even him lifting up the bed, all of this is far too real than his regular visits in the dream realm.
But then again, how the hell did this happen? Where is this strength coming from?? It can only be real and not a dream...
While he contemplated the reality of the situation, Anthony missed that his thought process was happening at an increasingly faster rate. All of his contemplation didn't even take a second; it was as if time had slowed down for him.
Then suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted in the middle of it as a sound came—a sound that he was very much aware of! DING!!
The sound was very much sharp, melodic, and perfectly pitched as it rang in his mind, just as it was explained in all those novels he had read. It was the classic, unmistakable notification chime that only a system produces when it makes its appearance.
Hearing this sudden sound, he couldn't help but come out of his contemplation and accept this as a real thing and not some fiction of his. Finally accepting it, he became even more excited as a grin broke through his face.
Finally, Anthony couldn't hold all of it inside, and his excitement burst out as he spoke up: "Damn it, this is really a System! It's finally arrived, and the System is even making an entry like those in novels! Hell, this is totally and completely golden finger classic style appearance!! So cool!!"
All of his doubts about this being a dream were gone, just like that, with this sound.
While speaking these thoughts out loud, he then suddenly froze. His eyes, that were already wide open with all the anticipation that came along with the appearance of the System, began darting around the room. He had finally confirmed that all of this was real as it can be: his strength and the changes in his eyes.
But he hadn't delivered the inspirational monologue... um, well, not particularly inspirational to others, but to himself. Like every great protagonist had done so. After all, they all had recounted their years of suffering as they waited for this opportunity, right?
"Hey! Hey! Hold! Wait! System, wait! Wait a second before you appear!" Anthony yelled frantically, waving his hands in the air as if to stop a runaway train. Taking a deep breath, he added, "Let me say the opening line like the others do in the novel while they receive their own system... okay!!"
Taking a deep breath once again while closing his eyes for a moment, thinking as he goes through the stash of novel content stored in his mind—something he somehow can remember to almost perfection, but not his subject materials; heck, it was even a struggle for him to remember them the other day, much less long-term like with novel contents! Pushing this thought aside for now, he focused on what matters now that his golden finger was finally here.
Opening his eyes with a steady breath and positioning himself in the middle of the room while adopting a posture that was about 50-60 percent noble despair and the rest was just terrible acting. Finally, with a sigh and an emotional face, he showed just how much he has suffered without this golden finger once again.
"Oh, cruel fate! After eighteen long years of wait in this struggle-filled world that I have walked in as a vessel of unfulfilled potential... for the eighteen long years, crushed and scolded by the world under the suffocating weight of my miserable existence..."
Anthony, as perfectly as he could, modulated his voice as he tried for a sob but landed closer to a strangled cough.
"The suffering! Oh, those numerous and endless sufferings!" Anthony continued on as he pointed at his perfectly comfortable, white, and unbruised body underneath his clothes. "My mother, she... she slaps my butt tens if not hundreds of times a week when my results come! This tyranny!
And my father... he dares to admit me in a tuition for maths, physics, and chemistry at that! This is also a tyranny!"
"The sheer, unadulterated scolding I have received! How can one innocent soul like me can endure such... such emotional abuse?"
He then moved on to academics, his voice rising to a shaky crescendo of despair. "And the teachers, those heartless educators who demand ease and attendance! With relentless pressure to learn things when they don't teach it a good way themselves... loading us with homework and more homework! Specifically those maths teachers, they are demons, I tell you, demons!
It's impossible for them to miss a day in the school, no matter if there has been a flood or natural disaster, they always make their appearance, dammit! All I could do was to bear with all of this to survive in the crushing oppression of the standardized curriculum."
Finally, he spoke of his tormentors, which he never had (fortunately, he was good at avoiding these things, but he still cooked up something). "The bullies... those bullies in the middle school to now high school... they... they once snatched my lunch!
And called it lame and not good while sucking their fingers! Oh, such a humiliation! That wound I have carried for this many years... waiting for this moment, waiting for you, System, to finally make your appearance and change my fate and destiny for once and avenge myself!"
He threw his arms wide, while his face had long become a mask of astonishment and despair upon recalling the mishaps of his past. "Now, finally, through these trials and tribulation, through all of this unbearable suffering that I have suffered emotionally and physically, you are here!"
The System, which was waiting to make its appearance, and even its main consciousness which had sealed itself deep within Anthony's Sea of Consciousness, trembled faintly at Anthony's shamelessness. It was as if even it, the main consciousness of whatever it was, had not expected that it had found a shameless and self-centered host to bond up with.
The trembling ball of white energy encased within a deep blue shield made up of countless runes and chains finally settled once again, like nothing had happened a moment ago.
It was as if the white sphere of light just couldn't deal with it. It had already bonded with such a master, much less now that it had also sealed itself. So, it would be better to sleep and let the narcissistic master do whatever he wants to do. When it wakes up, and if Anthony still didn't get some sense in his mind, it will deal with it himself when the time comes.
Meanwhile, Anthony, who was unaware that the entity (which was also his Golden Finger) had vowed to teach him a bit about how to be a civilized and less narcissistic person, was still standing in the middle of the room with all the anticipation of the Golden Finger activating. He had already said what he wanted and couldn't wait anymore.
"C'mon, System, appear quickly! I can't wait anymore! The wealth—I want it right now!"
Suddenly, a panel appeared in front of him with a voice and words soon appearing and filling the panel.
[System Initialising… User Authentication Complete… Host Acknowledging Complete]
[System and the Host are now bonded together]
[Ding]
[Binding Complete]
[Host, please name the System and give it your personal touch, and as you do, just feel good about seeing how narcissistic you are!]
The System's secondary consciousness took a jibe at Anthony's own self-centered nature.
"Hey! Who are you calling narcissistic, huh? I'm not narcissistic..." Anthony, feeling exposed and seen through, stomped as he spoke. "Huh, go away! I'm not thinking about it! Let me name you first."
Scratching his chin, he thought, "Hey, how about 'OP System'?" he said, thinking about a particular novel where the MC had given the same name to the system of his own creation. But soon, he shook his head. "Nah, that won't be my personal touch..."
"How about 'Tech System'?" he mused. "But I don't even know if you have technology knowledge and a blueprint, so it won't be good..."
Then suddenly, as if a light had lit up in his mind, a name came as he thought about the sudden strength he felt coursing through his body, as well as the magical view his eyes could see—like a divine god for whose eyes nothing can be hidden.
"Let's go with 'The Divine System'... yeah, this is quite good. Hey, System, you like it?"
['Divine System,' huh? Well, not a shabby name. Okay, we will go with that.]
[Ding]
[Name Registered]
[The Divine System is at your service, narcissistic person.]