Acceptance

***

He opened his eyes. Nova was outside. It was pouring it down. He looked around. He was in the middle of a crowd, who were looking up at a hologram. The projection was dark but some figures were visible.

Nova narrowed his eyes. It was...him? The man on the screen was headless and lifeless on the ground before two men with bloody weapons.

'I'm....dead? But I'm right here...'

He looked down at a puddle on the floor. His hair was now a shade of mahogany instead of black and his eyes were crimson. The clothes on this new body had a sense of dullness to them and....

Nova pulled the collar of his shirt down, and spotted a scar that wrapped around his neck, sewn together with stitches.

He was slightly different. That system had changed him.

'Speak of the devil.'

The screen had appeared again.

*BLIP*

[ Project:Karma has been officiated.

Status Window

Name: Nova Matsui

Age: 25

Level: 1 (0/100)

K-Lvl: ---%

Mana: 100/100

Strength: 3

Agility: 4

Sense: 2

Desire: 2

Items

No items are available.

Skills

Eminence -> (More details)

Rage ->

Quests

No quests are available. ]

'Woah...There is too much to read.' Nova stared at the window. He scoffed at his stats, but quickly glanced at his skills.

'Eminence, and Rage?'

[ Skills

Eminence - Engulfs your victim in fear. *Cost: 50 Mana *Cooldown: 5 hours

Rage - Buffs stats. *Cost: 100 Mana *Cooldown: 24 Hours ]

Nova could not believe what he was reading right now. This magical screen was going to change his life. When he looked back up at the projection, his previous body was being dragged away and the broadcast was concluding. The crowd applauded before scattering.

"Serves him right for killing those people."

"What a awful person."

"What a disappointing death."

"He deserved worse."

"Excuse me, are you alright? You've been staring into space for a while."

He immediately whipped his head around. It was an old woman.

"Yeah, I-I'm alright." It seemed she couldn't see the mysterious system in front of Nova. He questioned her.

"Did you see what happened to the man?"

She made a disgusted face.

"Yeah. It's a good riddance of a failure like him. His life wasn't enough to pay for his sins. He's gone though. That monster won't be able to cause any more havoc." She grinned at him.

Nova turned away. His face was full of anger. She didn't even know the whole story, yet she despised him. His blood began to boil.

'They think I'm a monster. I'll prove them right.'

He proceeded to walk away.

"I got to run, so have a nice day."

She waved him off, and headed in another direction.

As he walked, he looked up into the dark sky. His thoughts were still all messy. He still couldn't get his head around the whole system.

'This is it. Nova Matsui has been reborn. I'm a new man.'

[ +1 Desire. ]

'Desire? I wonder that even means.' Nova sighed before he set his path home. Right. Home.

***

"This day just can't get crazier..." Before his front door, was a note, and a bag of clothes on the doormat.

<This is the third month now. I'm kicking you out. Don't bother coming back.>

'Great. What now?'

For the past 3 months, Nova had been avoiding his rent. Well, he wasn't able to pay it.

'I guess the Landlord was finally sick of me, like everyone else is.' He sighed, as he grabbed the bag, and took off down the street.

*BLIP*

[ New Quest Unlocked.

Side Quest

Feels like Home: Search for a suitable residence fit for a King.

*Duration: 7 days.

*Failure: Death. ]

Nova stared at the system in disbelief.

'Oh my....'

His eyes scanned passed the screen once again. There was no way he had enough money to afford a house never mind a palace at the moment. How was he going to get a house in 7 days? And failure results in death? 

'Is this stupid system even able to kill me....?' 

Nova gulped. He was not about to find out. It saved his life, so why wouldn't it take it away? As soon as possible, the man pulled out his phone and searched for housings that he could afford.

"140,000....125,000.....150,000.....these are too expensive..." While he muttered, he wandered towards the Central Centre - A place where all job enlisting and whatnot took place. Funnily enough, CC wasn't is the middle of the city. The Night Tower was. It was tall building, reaching never ending heights, and no one but Government Officials were allowed to enter it. The entrances were heavily protected by Military Bots, and infested with traps.

***

Noise from all angles hit Nova like a bus when he entered Central Centre. Bustling crowds in each street, and holographic advertisements covering the skies. But, his destination, was a busy shop called <Raid Transfers>. Upon entering the shop, he could see how neat it was. There were no shelves or isles full of items. No, what could be seen, were tables with tamed robots on one end of them. The reason for Nova's visit was to sell the cores he earned. Since the rest of the party died, he got the full pay. Nova approached a bot and handed his cores to it.

"I'd like to sell these." He said.

The bot mechanically nodded, and took the cores. "You will receive 15,000 Jules. Will that be in cash or card?"

"Card."

"Kindly tap your card onto my hand." The bot extended its hand. A ding was heard as Nova did so. "You have received 15,000 J. Thank you for shopping. Please visit again," It said, while Nova left the building.

His next stop, an items shop. Here he would buy a weapon and a few devices that could help him in future raids. That was his plan, to continue doing more raids and buy a house. The fit for a king part...He was going to worry about that later.

This shop was much more stuffy, with something shiny everywhere you look. Many Raiders come here all the time, yet the shop was always stocked up with items. 

A silver silenced pistol caught Nova's eye. It was like love at first sight. He bought it instantly, using up 1,000 J. Leaving the shop after purchasing some gadgets as well, the man made his way to the outskirts of MoonLight City, where he'd temporarily use an abandoned building as his place of stay. He decided on a large scrapyard, where a big enough deserted factory would his humble home.

Nova sighed, putting his things in a corner of the factory. The week had been a wild series of events and now, he could finally relax. Well, not yet.

A figure began to approach him. It was too dark to see the figure's appearance, but Nova was clearly able to see the rifle red dot being pointed at him.

He raised his arms in panic and called out. "Hey, wait, don't shoot!"

The figure's voice was deep, and dangerous. "State your purpose."

"Please, I'm just here to sleep...honestly."

The silhouette slowly lowered his weapon. ".....Who....no, what are you?"