1 Robert's Past (Prologue 1)

On a platform made of a single unbroken piece of obsidian, a pentagram glows faintly red.

If you were to look toward the center of this pentagram, you'd find a cute small girl. She sits quietly with her legs tucked underneath her as if thinking about something.

Oddly she is wearing clothes that seem to be several sizes too big. The loose clothing reveals her captivating collar and flawless pale skin.

Her silky white hair runs to her lower back and creates strong contrast with the dark black surface. Using her little hands, she plays with her long sharp ear as if fascinated by it.

With her blood-red eyes, she stares intensely at her reflection in the polished floor. Suddenly she shows a small smile revealing two sharp little fangs.

With a small whisper, the beautiful girl says, "That will be my name."

________________________________________________

~ The Night Prior. ~

My name is Robert Adams.

My first name, 'Robert', is a name randomly given to me by the state after being abandoned at a hospital's emergency room entrance. My last name, 'Adams', was given to me by my first set of foster parents. I've never really liked my name, but changing your name is a huge hassle, so I never bothered to do it.

My appearance, you ask? It's average. Light brown hair, brown eyes, and a face most people forget as soon as they look away. If you ignore my odd childhood, I'm just your average guy.

But if you want to know about my childhood, it wasn't exactly what you would call a "fun time." I spent my early life bouncing around the foster care system until I was legally an adult. Why did I never find a suitable permanent home, you may ask? Well, that's because I was known as the "horror child" among the state foster care system. Although no one ever called me that directly I had overheard the adults calling me that name.

Anyway, that brings us to how I received this little nickname. My first set of foster parents, the 'Adams,' was a young couple somewhere in their later twenties. I guess they would probably be the closest thing to family I ever had. It was during this time a certain clown movie was causing a craze.

I was young at the time and watching cartoons, an advertisement for that particular movie came on. Watching the ad, I felt a sudden wave of exhaustion, causing me to lose consciousness. Next thing I remember, I was in the arms of a police officer. He used his hand to cover my eyes, and they rushed me to the hospital.

That afternoon while sitting in a hospital room, the nurse turned on the television. It seemed whoever stayed in that room before had left the TV on the local news channel. I saw a still shot of the front of my home while the news reporter went on to explain what happened. According to the news report, my foster parents were found in the front yard with their stomachs and throats stuffed with balloon animals. It wasn't until hours later that a police officer approached me and told me my foster parents were in "an accident."

The death of my foster parents seemed to be just the beginning. After that, I would have bouts of severe mental fatigue or sometimes even total loss of consciousness. Every time this happened, it would always be followed up by some strange event. Everything from disembodied footsteps, to apparitions, or even furniture flying across the room. Nothing as big as the first incident ever happened again, but due to the other occurrences, I never stayed in a single home for very long. I mean, who would want to adopt a child that came with a squadron of poltergeists?

At this point, I think anyone could figure out why I was called the "horror child."

In an effort to alleviate my situation and using my child-like logic, I decided to fight back. How would I challenge my supposed poltergeist? By reading and watching every horror story, I could find, of course. Does that not make sense? Well, in my young little brain, it seemed like the greatest idea I ever had. My logic was that this must keep happening because I am scared, so how do I not be scared anymore? By experiencing so much horror-related material that I would become numb to it. Not surprisingly, things got much worse.

Finally, the state took me to a psychiatrist, and I was prescribed a few different medications. Somehow the medication worked. How can a drug solve a poltergeist? I don't know, but it worked.

Regardless, the damage was done, I spent all my life never letting anyone get too close.

Life went on, and with the help of public funds, a few scholarships, and a large amount of debt, I went to a public university. After four years, I received a bachelor's in civil engineering. I proceeded to work in the United States for a while and eventually got tired of the routine. Thus I decided to apply for a job abroad in Japan.

I am two years into my three-year Japanese work visa, so I have more or less adapted to my work life and living environment. Currently, I am leading a small team of engineers in finalizing a set of designs for a few bridges in the area around Tokyo.

Turning my head, I look toward the girl standing next to me and say in Japanese.

"Alright, Akari, you can go home now."

Akari is an intern that usually helps with small things like printing and organizing. She is eighteen, still in college, and the daughter of the owner.

With doubtful eyes, Akari turns toward me.

"Mr. Adams, are you sure? Don't we need to finish putting all this together?"

By this time, everyone excluding Akari and I have gone home for the night.

"Yes, go on, it's getting late. Besides, all that's left to do is send a few emails and prepare postage for some plan sets."

With some hesitation in her voice, "Okay, if you're sure, I'll leave now."

"Have a good night."

Glancing back once more, Akari grabs her coat and leaves.

"Shouldn't take too long to finish what I need to do."

Suddenly an ethereal voice sounds in my head.

[Ding!]

[Task Reminder]

[Main Task: Ancient Goddess

Task Objective:

1) Go to women's restroom, enter the farthest stall, wait for the system to trigger event.

2) ???

3) ???

Task Reward: System Permanently Bound to Host

Failure: Loss of System]

This is the system. Two days ago, it appeared along with this weird task.

When I tried to ask questions, it would only ever say.

[Host there will be plenty of time for questions after the completion of the task.]

The system came to me on a Saturday, and I had no plans of sneaking into the women's restroom to test whether or not the system is a hallucination.

But tonight is the night. With Akari leaving, I should be the only one left.