1: System (1)

There's something about dying in such a definite yet slow manner that makes one peaceful, in a way.

Eva lifted her legs closer to her chest as she thought to herself. She had just spent the entire night huddled up in the corner of the shack she calls her home, trying not to freeze to death.

Although used to harsh living conditions having been orphaned at the ripe age of 10, it just seemed that this year's winter was too cold for her weak body to endure.

Ever since the small fire she made in a pot from the last scraps of wood and parchment she had collected earlier had gone out, she'd run out of methods in trying to warm up her numb fingers. She'd been placing them under her knees, under her armpits, blew puffs of breath on the skin, and for hours she'd continually struggled just so she doesn't feel like they'll fall off sometime in the night. Of course, these were all accompanied with shivering and chattering teeth, making the effort to warm herself even more of a fight.

It had been in the middle of mindlessly doing these things that Eva realized her breathing had become too shallow, and the strong heartbeat that had been amplified by the deafening silence of the night, was actually becoming fainter by the second.

Both of these, coupled with the feeling that she's merging into the hard ground beneath her, she realized that her body will be giving up soon.

She was first washed with an overwhelming sense of fear and then sadness, both of which actually didn't last long. That was because soon, as if her body recognized that her state of panic was causing her to lose more precious energy, she felt a rush of calm enveloping her mind.

After the peacefulness took over, Eva focused her mind once more as she recognized this as her last remaining moment. She resolved to making her senses known to her in the last remaining minutes of her short life.

She proceeded in taking the sight in front of her fully. She knew that the next time she closed her eyes, she will no longer have the strength to open them once more.

Not having the strength to move her head, she just stared at what she could make out in the dark in front of her. What she saw was her small home, a simple shack two meters across, made of wood, with nothing inside save the pot and a single plant in the opposite corner of the room.

Albeit small and empty, this place had sheltered her from rain and animals that would have otherwise tried to take advantage of her malnourished body.

Tuning into her sense of smell, the sweet, familiar scent of the flower comforted her, feeling as though there is at least one living thing who will witness her passing.

Her eyes locked on the peculiar plant. It was the single material thing she owned aside from the clothes she wore. With its large but thin petals with vibrant colors, and leaves with spiked edges, it looked like a flower you would see thriving under the blazing sun. But to her surprise, it only bloomed when winter came, and only at night.

Remembering that the plant had been in her posession for a few months now, she thought to herself that she still didn't know what it was called. Despite having asked around every single person in her neighborhood, she was disappointed to know that none of them had known its name and origin. Despite the disappointment, Eva was actually not very surprised because afterall, it was a gift from a rich man.

Feeling her eyes droop down, Eva was starting to give in to the eternal sleep that had been forcing into her consciousness for quite a while now. As a feeling of absolute cold took her childish body, Eva's last thoughts were that of the single memory of warmth and joy she remembers.

It was from such a well-dressed man walking dangerously near the slums that he scared the entire neighborhood into thinking that a powerful cultivator was going to wipe them all out.

Eva has had the same thoughts as everyone else run through her mind for it happened all too often that power-hungry egomaniacs inflict terror in villages for shallow reasons like showing off.

Bending to her knees, Eva shakingly picked up a rock in case they'd be attacked. Seeing this, the rich man stopped in his tracks and had just stared at her in amusement as she raised her indignant face, with rock firmly gripped in one hand.

They both knew the rock couldn't have done anything to him, if the man was indeed a cultivator, but she shrugged and decided that in the end, it was the act of defiance that would matter to her. So imagine Eva's surprise when the rock disappeared from her hand and was replaced by a small potted plant. Afterwards, the man gave her an approving smile and promptly vanished in thin air.

Despite the phenomenon being only mildly surprising since she had been aware of wizards existing in this world, a gasp still left her lips and she fell butt-first on the ground when it happened.

"Who was he? I didn't even get to say thank you." Eva repeated the question to herself she had asked many times. The memory faded from her mind and the last energy of life left her body.

The silence of the night was undisturbed following Eva's passing, but approximately 30 seconds later, Eva opened her eyes as she took a loud and sharp intake of air. Followed by successive coughs and the pain of having all the blood rush back into every part of her body attack her senses, she quite haven't heard the frantic beeping sounds increasing in pitch in her head.

It wasn't until she jumped at the sound of man's voice did her mind come into focus.

"What the?"

"System successfully installed. Welcome, Eva."