2 The System

He was terribly tired of his life. All of those around him have their good life, successful in their ventures, just like the people who adopted him. While him, on the other hand, was suffering from bad luck. They mistreated him, and they were not supposedly be blessed yet it was the other way around. It turned out that the victims were never given justice by the heavens and the bad ones prosper.

"Will it be better to go back there?" He asked himself.

After a matter of seconds, he answered his own question.

Strongly, he shook his head, "Of course not, I've been treated there worst than a dog. I might not die there from hunger but I might die from fatigue and torture."

It had been 3 years since he left there. But whenever he felt so down, it would often come up his mind. However, he would never consider it and would immediately reject that thought.

He was walking on streets as he was looking for some available and possible work as he was just fired yesterday. Even if bruises and cuts blemished his face, he was still hoping that someone would accept him for at least an instant or a short term job.

He got fired.

That was the very reason why he went to that place yesterday. It was to calm himself up, to inspire himself and have a tip of the sun's beauty and brightness. Sadly, bad luck still followed as if it would forever stick to him like an innate tail.

He was fired as he accidentally freed all the cats and dogs out of their cages or it might be right to say that his bad luck caused it all. It did not even let him to have a one day pay as he only started to work that day, working for two hours only before the incident happened. Then, the owner furiously fired him after seeing the cages clean and empty.

He then took the initiative to leave the shop, as the owner was so angry that his eyes wanted to burn him alive.

He was so embarrassed to asked for the two hours work pay even if he was left with empty pocket to have a ride home.

And he was walking on the streets, hoping that he can do something to fill his grumbling stomach.

Got curious, he stopped. There seemed to be disturbances on the street. The crowd were shouting as if seeing a live show happening.

To his surprised, suddenly, there was a handgun making its way to him. He was too surprised to evade it. He was just standing in one place, with mouth open as if waiting for a fly to come in. And he lift his hand unconsciously to protect his face in case it may hit him.

He unconsciously closed his eyes as the gun was coming to him. It was too obvious how scared he was just by seeing a gun. With it coming to him unexpectedly, he was a hundred times scared. His body might be glued in one place but his heart was thumping wildly as if already running in his stead.

Many were shouting,

"Catch the thief!"

"Stop the thief!"

"Shoot him!"

The gun unexpectedly landed in his point finger at exactly in the hole where the trigger was. His finger fit in and a little of force was exerted from it, it was just a little pull and the purpose was for his finger to get rid of it yet it was surprisingly enough to click the trigger.

Then a 'BOOM!' was heard.

Just when he realized what he did, his eyes grew big; shocked, afraid, full of disbelief and terror expecting something bad had happened.

His hand was shaking, too afraid of the result of what he had done. He immediately threw the gun, badly wanted to get rid of it. He knew he touched something forbidden and was not supposed to be touched. Most importantly, he did something against the law and he could be jailed due to it.

He felt horrible inside, scared that all he wanted to do was to run as fast as he could without looking back to the damage he had done. Even if his leg hurt earlier as he walked for few kilometers, the pain disappeared instantly.

He was beginning the run yet he was stopped by a voice.

"Young man please stop!"

Conflicted, he somewhat slowed his pace. He was still running but in this pace, he could not go far and can be caught anytime.

He gritted his teeth. 'Why is this happening? Worst, if I hurt someone this time or might have killed one.'

'What a life. It's good as dead.'

He did not know how to react, whether to cry or laugh. He felt conflicted. Should he stop or not? But he felt his conscience bothering him. What if he hit someone?

To a crowded place like this, where large number of people like to go around, it was highly possible.

Later on, an unexpected series of applause was heard. Cheers and praises of admiration then followed. A person in uniform of white, a guard, came to him with a grateful expression.

"Thank you for lending a hand." The person in uniform said smiling.

'What just happened?' He was completely clueless to what was happening.

Finn did not know what to say. He did not know what to react. 'Maybe they should inform me first what great thing have I done?'

Finn gazed his eyes to where the half of the crowd was looking as half of them was looking back at him. The rest was looking on a certain direction and he followed their gazes.

There he saw a man lying on the street, ridden by a huge sign board that was likely cut or it was right to say shot.

"Wow!"

"What a great young man!"

"A precise shot! Amazing!"

Praises was continuously heard from the crowd. But something must be wrong with his body as he felt so weak and dizzy, then he slowly fell down.

The ring that he could not remove for years shone with a mixed of white and yellowish light. Then, a wisp of light came out of the ring. After the light came out of it, the ring turned to ashes.

But there seemed to be a malfunction in his head. His eyes only saw these phrases.

System Integrating...

Processing...

Commencing...

That was all he saw before it all turned black. He did not even have the time to process his mind about the happenings.

Before the crowd came near him, the light was already on his forehead and it instantly vanished as if it never really existed.

After hours of being unconscious, he woke up. With brows furrowed, he rubbed his eyes. Then, he held his head with his two hands, trying to ease it as it slightly hurt.

Completely awake, he was confused realizing where he was and why he was in this place.

"Wow, I think I'm very lucky this time as someone had a heart to send me in a hospital. Has the sun rose from the west today?" He chuckled as he only treated the events of his life as joke.

If someone saw him, they might find him crazy for talking to himself. But it became his way to relieve himself, not to be depressed and it became effective for years of application. Maybe if he didn't have this kind of personality, he already made a suicide years ago. Besides, he was the only one in the room or at least that was what he thought.

"Yes, you're quite lucky." A man's voice was heard out of nowhere.

Then something popped up in front of him that made him stupefied.

Then something popped up in front of him that made him stupefied.

Name: ???

Level: 0 (10 Luck Points to level up)

Strength: 1.09

Agility: 1.53

Intelligence: 1.03

Stamina: 0.9

Luck points: 2

Then he heard that middle-aged man voice again and it seemed to be so happy.

["It's good to be back! Eh? Why do the points seems so small? How unfortunate! How! frustrating! How infuriating! I got into a weak body!"]

Got stunned for a while, he was able to calm himself a little yet still panicked. He gaze from left to right and became wary of his surroundings.

"Who are you? Where are you?!" He said loudly while his eyes where restless.

Afraid of the unknown, he was moving backward until his back reached the headboard. If anyone saw him right now, they would think that he was a lunatic talking when no one was around. The room was devoid of life with only a bed and medical equipments, of course, with him as exception.

["Kid stop it before someone see you. It will be troublesome to start doing business when people knew the owner was crazy."]

He became conscious with his words and minimize his voice. "Huh?"

["Can you not speak using your mouth? Speak using your mind. I am in your mind, stupid!"]

But it was still hard for him to process it all.

"How come..." He answered confusingly.

["I am in your mind, planted and deeply rooted. From now on, wherever you go, I am there as well. You and I are now inseparable till your death."]

He did not believed the voice. He even chuckled and shook his head. "Looks like I hit into something hard, now my head is full of hallucinations."

He messed his hair up, then he pulled it, and he knocked his head many times with his weak fist.

"There, there, it came back to normal again." He felt relieved as he could not hear the voice anymore.

He got confused when he got a glimpsed on his hand. The ring that he thought would stick on him on this lifetime, was lost.

"What a pity, even a thing cannot even endure to be with me." He felt pity for himself and laughed.

But his mind betrayed him as he heard the familiar voice again.

The old voice chuckled. ["Are you trying to joke kid? Self-deprecating are we? Well it looked a little funny to me who was in slumber for a hundred years."] Then it paused, but only to laugh out loud.

["By the way, forget about the ring. It's useless anyway. Let's get to the real thing."] It added. It coughed as if trying to sound serious.

["Now that I am here, even if you're the lousiest man alive or the weakest, I can surely let you shine and stand tall above many."]

'What an arrogant thing' He said in his mind. He frowned, still not believing much. But he somehow liked what it said.

Then an unhappy voice was heard. ["I can hear you."]

He was stunned and decided to stop saying things in his mind.

["Are you stupid enough to forget what I said seconds ago? I can hear what you're saying in your mind, naive."]

"What are you?" He asked to clarify his doubt. He hoped that it was not a lost soul or something supernatural. He was not fond of horror entities, really.

["I am a system, idiot."] The system proudly said. And if it had a face, he could already imagined it all chinned-up.