3 World 89: Possibly Defective
Heavy currents of air surrounded Jiang Xiuran's body as gravity pulled him rapidly towards his impending doom.
With a furiously beating heart, Jiang Xiuran closed his eyes tightly, not daring to see his own fatal splatter on the fast approaching ground.
...
Eh?
...
Suddenly, he felt a sense of weightlessness. A few seconds had passed... did he die already?
He hesitantly cracked open his eyes, lashes fluttering in a frightened manner, and immediately got dumbfounded.
Oi, is this wuxia or josei?
"There are some novels in other worlds that used the genre interchangeably. This underhanded scheme by others is quite popular if I recall correctly."
Ahh, ok... I'm not a fucking woman QAQ!
The reason for Jiang Xiuran's current mindbreak was this alpha male before him.
Sword-like brows, high-bridged nose, hard and sharp aristocratic features, thin yet angular lips, and a no-doubt muscularly strong build clad in full-blown onyx armor with intricate gold designs, it was basically tailored fit for a demon lord.
What made the man even more terrifying was the deep crimson eyes that stared directly into his own, as if piercing his soul, forcibly embedding and intertwining with it. This scene should've terrified or repelled Jiang Xiuran, but he unexpectedly felt a surge of intense warmth rush through his chest.
Nevertheless, this confusion made way as his manly ego was bruised, beaten, and crushed into oblivion at the mere sight of this diabolic man.
To add insult to injury, the man was carrying him securely princess-style... in mid-air. There was even a full moon on the background setting to complete the entire romantic picture. Huh, it got dark already?
Oh, look at the stars, it's so numerous.
System tactfully remained quiet, not even deducting points from its master's cursing in consolation, as it bowed its head in pity. This man found its master again.
A whistling sound caused Jiang Xiuran to tense.
Boom!
He didn't know what happened exactly but a semi-transparent circular shield surrounded them, with remnants of an equally semi-transparent attack dispersing into nothingness.
Jiang Xiuran's panicked widened eyes stared at the calm crimson eyes. Blood-lust crept into these diabolic orbs as it narrowed imperceptibly, carelessly glancing from where the attack came from.
The assassin from before hurtled towards them, sword gleaming in a hideous green aura. The blade swiftly hacked down...
... before it exploded into a fine powder in a mix of dust and embers, along with the assassin.
Jiang Xiuran felt air got stuck in his throat. His mind stuttered to a stop.
He wasn't the only one who saw this incredulous scene. From up above the cliff, the bandits chasing him got scared out of their wits, dropping on their asses in horror, before desperately fleeing like swine.
"Breathe," said the diabolic man in a low baritone voice. His earlier assumptions of this man being the demon lord seemed to be true.
"My lord!"
Several of this demon lord's men rushed up to them as they landed softly on the ground. With the man still carrying him in his arms... he tried to get off him, but the man held him in a vice grip. It was like pushing against a cold, hard wall. Jiang Xiuran closed his eyes and turned his face on the man's armored chest to avoid the gazes of the subordinates. He felt his face burn. Embarrassment threatened to gobble him up.
"Kill them," the man commanded, already moving towards his mount.
With that, the night was filled with agonized screams of hopelessness and terror at the slaughter that followed, and the sky illuminated in a beautiful orange hue as an inferno blazed into the bandits' den.
Bundled up in a new cloak to ward off the night chill, Jiang Xiuran was safely ensconced in the demon lord's embrace as they rode the demon lord-worthy warhorse, leading the retinue of soldiers - or, more like a battalion - as they continued forth towards their destination.
System... (ಥ﹏ಥ)
"... my deepest condolences..."
*****
"In basic terms," said System, slowly and patiently, as if talking to a small child. "You host, I system. You do tasks, I give points. You gain enough points, You go home."
"I seriously want to bash your head right now."
"200 points deduction for threatening your System."
"Oi!"
"Sigh, why did I get such a defective host?" System lamented, feeling sorry for itself.
"Did you just say 'Sigh'?"
"As I was saying," continued System, utterly ignoring Jiang Xiuran's statement. "Every task assigned in the past, at present, and in the future would have a point range of 50 points for an E-level task, 100 points for a D-level task, 250 points for a C-level task, 500 points for a B-level task, and 1,000 points for an A-level task," explained System, skillfully listing down the guidelines.
"Of course, there are higher levels, but at the moment, you have no hopes of accomplishing them. You are far too weak in your current state. Have no fear, all accumulated points not expended in the past worlds had been, and will be, carried over in each consecutive world."
He felt his eye twitch severely as System explained the point system.
"So, you're telling me... that you just deducted thousands of points worthy of multiple A-level tasks within the first 24 hours I came to this world."
"When taking the official and regulated point system into account. Yes, I did."
He suddenly felt like vomiting buckets of fresh blood.
Jiang Xiuran beat his chest as he forcibly calmed himself down. Eye twitching severely once again as a side effect of - no doubt - already quite high blood pressure, he asked, "How many points do I have anyway? Or, better yet, how many points do I have left?" He had an ugly expression on his face. He got angrier by the second whilst trying to smile.
Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts.
"You have accumulated approximately 265,300 points."
"Wah, really? Then, I just need to complete a couple more worlds, right?"
"This is actually your 89th world already-"
"89th?! Are you fucking kidding me?!"
"I would not prefer the interruption, quite impolite if I may say so. Alas, another deduction of 200 points is in order."
"Your mother! Just stop it with the deductions!"
"I would if you refrain from swearing. It's like a little buzz in my ear," replied System, in that pompous tone it favored, "annoying and vulgar."
Jiang Xiuran had an ugly expression on his face as he tried to refrain from making a sarcastic retort. Just to deduct hundreds of points, who knew what inane excuse this System would come up with the next time.
"Wait, wait, wait, hold on." Jiang Xiuran lifted his hands up as he finally realized one important thing. "You... you said I'm in the 89th world..."
"I believe so, yes."
"Then why don't I remember anything about the dozens of worlds in the past?" Jiang Xiuran felt a sense of foreboding fall upon his shoulders.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"... you don't know do you?"
"... classified informatio-"
"-Pei!" Jiang Xiuran stopped and grabbed the back of his neck as it ached severely at this annoying as hell System. "How the hell do you expect me to believe that you can send me back to my own world when you don't even know this extremely vital info?"
"Sigh."
"Stop saying 'Sigh'! Just do the damn thing."
"I did say you are defective," stated System, ignoring Jiang Xiuran once again. "There is no part in the System's handbook and guidelines about a host getting their memories to reset. I'm afraid it's entirely on the host's side, your side, on why your memories from the past worlds didn't carry over."
"... it's me?" Jiang Xiuran rubbed his temples as he tried to process everything System said. He didn't know if the System was being honest, but he personally felt that this System entity didn't mean him any harm. Even so... "You're telling the truth?"
"A System never lies," System resolutely replied, pride and dignity clear in its voice.
"Then... can you tell me the different worlds I went through?"
"Classified information."
"What? Why not?"
"Classified information."
A major migraine threatened to break out in Jiang Xiuran's head, that's why he ignored System for the moment, lest his temper explode again.
"You said I have to complete tasks... what exactly is my task in this world?"
"I thought you would never ask," System began, an odd tone in its voice. "However, nothing is free in this world. If you want information regarding the history of the body you're currently inhabiting, then it comes at a cost."
At this point, Jiang Xiuran was physically and mentally exhausted, he simply said, "Say the price."
"To know the history of this body, it would approximately cost 10,000 points."
"That much?!"
He was just about to berate System again when the door suddenly opened, revealing the man he dreaded to meet. It's only been an hour! What the hell was with this man ah!
