11 Ch 11 - The System
Ren opened his eyes.
A field filled his vision. White clouds drifted through the sky and the ground beneath him was filled with a soft green grass. Sitting up, Ren blinked.
'Is this heaven? Am I finally dead?'
He shifted his gaze, seeing mountains and forests in the far distance. About 10 meters in front of him stood a plain wooden door.
'This must lead me to my next life' Ren thought.
Standing up, Ren was confused. He was sore all over and looking at his limbs, he found scratches and scabs.
'Shouldn't heaven feel...different than this?'
Shrugging, Ren moved forward towards the door. Before opening it he stopped. 'It was an okay life. Right up to the end where it wasn't.'
Feeling ready to move on, he grabbed the door's handle. Only it wouldn't budge.
'Shit!' Ren thought in panic. 'Am I not worthy enough!?'
He heard a tone play in his head, and soon his vision was filled with a blue display. On it he could see words.
[Exit unavailable until initiation is complete.]
[Proceed with initiation? {Yes, No}]
'What the hell is this? he thought, wondering why heaven would have some dumb rule like this.
[This is 'The System', designed by *** to ***.]
[Error: Host status too low for more details.]
[Proceed with initiation? {Yes, No}]
'Woah! It can read my mind. I wonder if it can see - wait! Don't think about that, don't think about that.' Ren panicked, not wanting to show heaven his current thoughts.
[All host memories and emotions have been scanned. Feelings of embarrassment are irrelevant.]
[Proceed with initiation? {Yes, No}]
"...Shit." Ren said, unhappy that his privacy was gone. "Can't hide from god I guess."
[Host is incorrect. This system is not the 'heaven' nor 'god' as identified in the hosts memories.]
[Proceed with initiation? {Yes, No}]
"Then what are you?" Ren asked, curious as to what was happening.
[This is 'The System', designed by *** to ***.]
[Error: Host rank too low for more details.]
[Proceed with initiation? {Yes, No}]
"Geez. Guess it can only answer to a limited extent. Sure, yes. I'll do this initiation thing. I'm dead anyway."
[Correction: Host's status is currently alive.]
Ren sat down and began to read off of the display.
[Thank you for beginning initialization.]
[The current host has been linked and, depending on current status ranking, can access the abilities of 'The System'.]
['The System' has many abilities. These abilities can be seen by accessing the system database.]
[Abilities in the system require energy. Energy can be obtained from the user and from connection points.]
[Current world connections: 1. When connecting to a world, the host will select a location where energy is available for 'The System' to collect.]
[Failure to do so will cause 'The System' to become dormant. In this case the host will need to increase their energy level until ample energy is being provided to 'The System'.]
[Current system status: 2 hours remaining.]
[Each connection point requires energy to stabilize. Current amount of connection points available: 1.]
At this point, a green display popped up in Ren's vision.
[Current goal: locate a suitable connection point.]
Following the green display, a red one flashed.
[WARNING: Death of host will cause system collapse. Cation recommended.]
With that, Ren heard a 'click'.
'I guess the door is open now'.
Ren felt overwhelmed. He was alive, at least according to this system he was.
"What happened to the Grinner and the caves I was in?" he asked aloud.
[Previous host was forcibly disconnected from 'The System'. Dimension collapse and system reboot was required for survival of 'The System'.]
If that was true, then the Grinner was dead? And he had taken the dimensional space from it. What luck!
'I guess I am lucky after all!' Ren thought to himself.
[Host scan commencing...scan complete.]
[Host luck stat: 0]
"..." Ren was shocked. "Ughh, what is a 'stat'?"
[Accessing....Complete. Host Status Display:]
__________
Name: Ren
Race: Human - Gender: Male
Class: {None} - Subclasses: {None}
Status Effects:
- Injured {Physical stats may not accurately represent current ability}
- Mental Strain {Mental stats may not accurately represent current ability}
- Emotional Strain {Personality stats may not accurately represent current ability}
Attributes: {Str 8, End 6, Dex 10, Int 5, Wis 8, Cha 4, Lck 0, Mys 1, Rec 3, Wil 10}
Talents: {2}
- [Oppressive Aura] (inactive): Slow mental and spiritual activity of your opponent.
- [Demons heart] (active): +2 to all physical stats, can be upgraded
Skills: {1}
- [Demonic gaze]: Identify the status of others at or below your own rank.
Rank: 0-1
Evaluation: {"pathetic, pitiful, feeble, lacking, needs drastic improvement"}
__________
[End Status Display.]
Ren was silent. He didn't like the evaluation at the end.
"You go through what I just did and see what your 'evaluation' is like you piece of shit!"
He punched the display in the air, only to have his fist pass through it.
In truth, Ren was worried about his current strength. If he wanted to survive, which he did, he would need 'drastic improvement' as The System had identified.
Two things on his status did confuse him though. Demons heart? Demonic gaze?
At that moment, the memory of having his eyes destroyed went through Ren's head. Slowly, he raised his hands to his eyes.
'I can see? Why can I see?'
[Host's vision was impaired. Repairs were made given current tools and energy levels. Due to low energy levels, hosts heart was replaced as well to ensure system energy requirements were met.]
Ren wanted to puke. If that was the case, then there was only one thing's eyes and heart available.
"Mirror, I need a mirror." Ren shouted, his voiced raising it's pitch and volume.
[Current excess energy: 2]
[Energy cost for basic mirror: 2. Purchase? {Yes, No}.]
"Yes!"
[Creating...complete]
[WARNING: Objects created in dimensional space with excess matter cannot be removed.]
The air shimmered in front of him. Soon, dust gathered from the earth below and took the form of a simple mirror. Once complete it fell softly to the grass.
Hastily, Ren picked it up to observe himself. Sure enough, staring back at him were two familiar yellow slitted eyes.
