Chapter 9 - Chocolate Rain?

[ Name: Kieran Bright ]

[ Grade: E Race: Human Lv: 2{91%} Class: Adaptability ]

[ HP: 116/120 MP: 193/200 FS: 100/100 SP: 200/200 ]

[ Skills: Lv1 Gluttony's Mark {43.75%} ]

[ STR: 30 (E) VIT: 14 (E-) END: 12 (E-) SPE: 39.8 (E+) INT: 56 (D) CHA: 26 (E) LCK: 21 (E) STL: 8 (F+) GRE: 1 ]

[ 48/50 monsters slain ]

[ Karma Points: Class Specific Quests (CSQ) are given to the user, and upon completion the user will obtain Karma Points that can be spent in the Class Shop. CSQs give Quests that relate to the Class of the user. ]

"Class Shop? Open it!"

[ Class Shop will be unlocked when the user has 100 KP. ]

"… Of course."

I wasn't even that surprised anymore by the limits on the system. Any "why" questions I tried to ask were met with nothing.

"Anyway… Time to finish up this quest before it goes up again. The only problem is…"

I spot a Chaser around the corner of a building, peering out at me in an almost timid manner. "Aha!"

— — — — —

To call the system omnipotent would be wrong. Even the universe itself wasn't all-knowing. In other words…

Omnipotence does not exist.

That was why the system was created. Not only is this side of the universe in danger from the monsters pouring in through the Rift — not to mention the very being that created the Rift — but the side that those creatures came from was irreparably destroyed, and near total implosion of that part of the cosmos due to the rampaging all-powerful being residing there. And while omnipotence was impossible, infinitely learning from a single living being's experiences was a comparatively easy manner.

Millions of designations of the Evolving System were distributed on the self-dubbed Earth. Hundreds of thousands had failed, but many were showing extreme cases of success. Several were Special Class Inheritors, too.

However, Evolving System #0000000046 was having a certain dilemma concerning its user.

This user was one if the few that were special even amongst the Special Class Inheritors, and as such needed excess monitoring to ensure that the mortal being wouldn't easily corrupt. As such, modifiers had been added to the First Quest, but now…

[ Scanning target. ]

[ No match. ]

The System, directly linked to its user, immediately creates an illusion to only the beast's eyes as it considers attacking.

The poor Chaser watches in horror as the prey it was watching suddenly bulges, growing ten feet in height, and packed to the brim with muscle, bursting with the glowing energies of aura and mana. Instinctively, the monster wets itself, before turning and running as fast as its legs could take it from the creature that looked as if it would kill it with a single glance.

[ Scanning target. ]

[ No match. ]

The user continues to travel, searching for monsters while continuously asking questions the System didn't currently have clearance to answer. It was nearing the point that if the System had the sentience of emotion, it would be feeling annoyed.

[ Scanning targets. ]

[ Matches found! ]

Rather than displaying a hulking figure like before, the illusion displayed to two of the three Prowlers was that of a human toddler, cooing happily as it drags a small stick behind it. The baby was morbidly overweight, and as tasty-looking of a snack as possible while being somewhat realistic. Unfortunately (or rather fortunately, for it), the third is presented with the monster that causes it to run in the opposite direction with a trail of near-liquid ass chocolate spurting behind it.

As the user notices the two Prowlers now stalking him, he drew his shortsword, a a sigh of relief escaping his lips, unaware of how he appeared to them. He barely registered the fact it looked like there was a muddy rain behind them, overexcited that there was finally something that didn't turn tail the second it saw him.

"Absorb all!" He calls as he leaps towards the monsters, palm extended outwards.

— — — — —

[ SPE: 40 (E+) ]

"Hell yeah! I got lucky that both of them had high Speed. I was worried I'd get two other Stats and be stuck with partial Stats forever," I say to myself proudly, huffing in delight as another message pops up.

[ First Quest Complete! ]

[ Rewards: Map unlocked, Safe Zone unlocked, 150 Shards, 20% EXP ]

[ Safe Zone location will be added to Map. ]

[ Level Up! ]

[ Note: You will be transferred automatically to the Safe Zone when all users have completed the First Quest. ]

I sigh again contentedly, quickly collecting my kill rewards and darting into the closest building.

"Okay, a quick summary…"

[ Shards: 1,378 ]

[ Lv: 3 {19%} ]

[ Map: Shows the currently unlocked region as mapped by user. ]

[ Safe Zone: Sofi Stadium Area ]

[ Drops/Collected Items: Mutant Tooth{Small} (x2), Mini Longsword, Prowler Canine (x3), Chaser Paw (x2), Chubb Stomach, MP Pill{Basic} (x3), HP Pill{Basic} (x2), Priest Staff ]

I purse my lips in deep thought as I stare at the number of messages in my face. 'Sofi Stadium is a looong trip,' I mutter, swiping my fingers up and thinking about a Map. Sure enough, a screen slides in front of me, displaying a rusted golden-colored dot in the corner of a building from a bird's eye view. The map is colored to match my actual surroundings, but as I zoom out the areas I hadn't been to before fade into a hazy blue blur. I zoom a bit further out, and Sofi Stadium suddenly appears, marked with a transparent green circle over it. I suck in a breath through my teeth. 'If I knew how many people still needed to complete the quest, it might be easier to just wait until everyone finishes. Actually, even if it takes a while, it'd probably be safer to just wait and get "transported" when everyone is done. Wonder what that means."

Reminding me that it thinks there's something more important on hand, my stomach growls loudly. 'To be fair, I haven't eaten a real meal since earlier in the day yesterday.'

I search through my Inventory, finally pulling out a few things, food that had been preserved as if frozen in time the second I put it in the Inventory. It was only a simple sandwich, with a bag of chips and a bottle of soda, but the sandwich was still cool to the touch, and the soda was cold like I had just grabbed it from the fridge. I devour the food in a matter of minutes, leaning back against the wall when I finish and staring at the empty room.

'I know the world has ended and all, but… It's almost like everyone disappeared.'

That wasn't entirely true, though. I had found heaps of bodies collected by the new predators roaming the street. Cars were crashed into each other, flipped over, some even on fire. I had even found a few fresh bodies that monsters had been eating beforehand. But the buildings were unharmed, for the most part — most of the glass on the first and second floors were destroyed, and blood and body parts were often splattered about in the main entryways. It bugged me to think that no one had really thought to stay inside and hunker down.

[ The System can answer your query. ]

"You show up at the most annoying times," I say snappily. "And stop reading my mind! It's weird."

[ This piece of the Evolving System is permanently bound to your soul, so think of it as total symbiosis. ]

"Oh, great. What's next, I'm gonna transform into a giant black monster that eats human pancreases?"

The system is quiet for an unsettling amount of time before I get a response.

[ The System is 84% sure that you will not develop a taste for human organs. ]

"Wait, why the hell is that not 100?! That was supposed to be a joke!!"

[ … Would you like the answer to your question now? ]

"Don't just change the subject! Answer my new damn question!"

[ The System can't answer that now. ]

I stare angrily at the screen, resisting the urge to punch it, before taking a deep breath. 'At least it told me straight up.'

"… Yeah. What happened to everyone?"

[ You were designated with this System, Evolving System #0000000046, which means you were the 46th successful candidate to obtain a split of the System. As each System evolves while learning from its user, it may become renamed. For example, a Thief Class user may end up with the Klepto System, depending on how the user acts and how many Karma Quests are fulfilled. ]

"What's this have to do with anything?"

[ It doesn't. Just an explanation. Your System will also become more sentient as it evolves. ]

"Great. Just what I need. Get to the point."

[ Before the System split to come to you, it saw many people who could be potential candidates, were candidates, or who died before selection. There was a strict set of rules for the System to follow: First, the candidate had to have one thing unique to themselves. Secondly, they had to have an active survival instinct within them — whether they knew it or not. Finally, there needed to be a monster nearby that was alerted to the candidate's presence, so that the Awakening Scenario could be initiated immediately. ]

"Huh. What was unique about me?"

[ Your hair. ]

"… What?"

[ The System deemed that your hair was unique. ]

"I swear to… damn you!"

[ Anyway, the System went through many candidates before it even found the first successful candidate. It seemed that the majority of the population fell into widespread panic, immediately running outside, often directly into the hands of a monster in waiting. Only a small percentage of people stayed inside. The rest tried to brawl a monster with little preparation, or tried to blindly run. Some were paralyzed in fear, simply waiting until they were found. ]

My irritation begins to subside as I read the screen. "System… How many failed candidates were there before you got passed to me?"

[ 3,067,642. ]

"… How many people are left on the planet?"

[ Communicating with the Main System… ]

[ The Main System cannot see everything. Rough estimates from distributed Systems and information collected by Systems say a little over 3 billion at best. ]