[Ding!]
The sound echoed deep within my… mind?
Huh?
No, seriously, what was that annoying sound?
…I had no idea.
It chimed in like one of those annoying pop-up notification sounds that smartphones made when messages dropped.
Except.. this one was in my head.
Am I not dead?
[Congratulations, mortal!]
A monotonous voice rang deep within my mind, echoing through every corner.
The sound of the voice was mechanical, like that of an AI or something similar. But strangely enough, the voice had excitement etched into it.
I was starting to wonder why I still had a mind, and why said mind was even sentient in the first place when I was supposed to be dead.
The only sure thing was the fact that the voice I heard was very, very different from the one I argued with earlier.
I low-key needed that confirmation.
The confirmation that I wasn't completely insane.
[You have achieved a great feat!]
The voice continued, and I calmly listened. There wasn't much an already insane man could do to stop the auditory hallucinations caused by his own rapidly burgeoning insanity.
[The dying wish of your soul — once the dwelling place of the Primordial Guardian, Olephus — has recalibrated the trajectory of the grand tapestry of fate!]
Seriously, what the hell is this crap?
I can't even see. It's still fucking dark.
[Fate, the ever-capable and ever-evolving database of the universe, has plucked at the strings of plausibility!]
[Mortal, the universe honors your once-guardian soul.]
[Your wish has been granted.]
[The strings of plausibility have fastened the dawn of the inevitable destruction of planet {Earth}!]
[The universe groans in amusement.]
…Can I die peacefully now?
[The universe has rewarded you — the one who has brought it great joy.]
[Take your rewards. Open your eyes, mortal and enjoy your wish. The destruction of this world is underway.]
…
Utter silence.
The voice finally stopped. And I regained my strange peace which was really refreshing, causing my brain — which was still alive for some reason — to pulse with palpable satisfaction.
But still, something didn't feel quite right. And I had a question.
Two questions. No, three actually.
First, what the fuck was actually happening?
Second, was I really dead?
And third, what was that voice?
Seriously, it–
[Ding! Rewards received.]
[Systems Initializing…]
Okay, fuck this.
Immediately, my eyelids fluttered open. And much to my amazement, the pain that ached behind them was no more.
I blinked, taking in the sight of the brilliant sun rays that shone from the clear sky, devoid of those thick clouds that came with winter.
And for a full twenty seconds, I just lay there, unmoving.
"I'm… alive?" I whispered, my shaky voice etched with swimming, poignant disbelief.
I furrowed my brows as I stared, ignoring the blinding rays and even ignoring the small tears that rolled down my cheeks as a result.
My body became accustomed to the pain. And that probably explained why I didn't realize earlier that I was still alive.
It was because, a few.. minutes? Hours? Ago, the pain my body endured defined it's sole purpose and existence. And now that pain was long gone, and its echoes had vanished.
Even the harrowing, skin-tingling cold that came with the winter also vanished.
Now, my entire body felt light and healthy. Like I was in peak condition.
Oh, but there was no way someone as underfed as me was in 'peak' condition.
Nah.
It was just that energetic satisfaction that came with recovery. It felt like my entire body became brand new, even my heartbeat grew more relaxed, drumming softly within my chest.
I let out a soft sigh.
Under my head, the school bag still lay. Warm and relaxing, like a pillow of sorts.
I raised my hand, stretching my palm to filter the rays of sunlight from entering my eyes.
I'm still alive.
My lips stretched, forming a bittersweet smile.
"And no snow," I said, my voice carrying a tender tone.
This is nothing short of a miracle.
As I thought about that, my smile faded and my forehead wrinkled as my heart tensed up.
Miracle?
[Ding–!]
My heartbeat immediately spiked. It drummed wildly against my ribs as all the hairs on my body stood on end.
I focused on the sight before me with widened eyes.
My already raised arm pierced through the middle of it, so I assumed it was kind of holographic.
But still, it imperfectly blocked the rays of sunlight from entering my eyes, and its shadow was cast on my face.
A glowing blue, translucent game-like interface.
A screen.
What…?
What am I even looking at right now?
[Daily sign-in system initialized!]
The words were boldly written on the screen.
'System'?
The word felt eerily familiar. And it triggered a creeping sense of deja vu within me.
I was pretty damn sure I had heard that word somewhere before.
No, I meant.. I mean, everyone must have heard of the word 'system' before. It was a common word after all. But what I meant was..
System.
[10x multiplier system engaged!]
"System…" I pondered, my eyes trailing away from the… supernatural sight. "Where have I.."
Suddenly, my mind flashed with realization.
"Aha!" I exclaimed. "I remember it was something Margie.."
As I mentioned that name, I paused. And a bitter smile played on my lips.
It was something my sister was obsessed with back then. I think she called them 'webnovels.'
She was always cooped up in her room, and her eyes were always focused on her phone.
We were the only ones left back then, when the money mom and dad left behind hadn't been exhausted. When we could still afford rent, school fees and the rest.
Margie changed as our mom died. She lost her smile and became more reserved and reclusive. And always on that damn phone.
But I let her be. It was her only way of coping with mom's death, after all. She was only fourteen.
Back then, the only time she ever had a smile on her face was when she explained details of her favorite 'webnovel' to me. And those were on rare occasions when I had finally gotten her to speak with me.
She went on and on about how the protagonist, who lost both his parents to a car crash, was blessed with a leveling system, and how that system changed his life in a world that was attacked by monsters. A world where he was weak.
Now that I think about it, the protagonist sounds so much like me. So much like us.
Man, this system of a thing really stirred up some bad memories.
It was actually because of that webnovel that she ran away, and I never saw her again.
We were running out of money, and she needed money to unlock more chapters to support her 'favorite' author.
I couldn't afford it, she couldn't bear it. We argued, quarrelled. And she ran away at night.
[Leveling system initialized!]
As I heard the voice, I blinked. And my mind snapped, abandoning the dreary memories as I focused on the blue, glowing interface.
"A system, huh."
Wait, what?
"Three systems?!!" I yelled out. And the overload of shock caused me to sit upright immediately.
The system followed my vision as my gaze turned away from the sun.
It seemed like it was inherently projected in my sight.
Wait. Does that mean that all those things I heard while my eyes were closed were true?
Is the world really ending soon?
No, more importantly,
I stared at the floating message on the system.
~Daily sign-in available. Sign-in at Gando alley of City H, Y or N?~
[Time remaining until world end: 00:05:29…]