03 - The Updated System

"Get up!"

I heard a sharp voice telling me to get up, which pulled me out of my sleep. I had forgotten that sleeping wasn't an option. When I looked up from the white table where I was drooling, I saw the judge looking at me with some thoughts. He spoke again with even colder eyes:

"You can go home now. Your punishment period is over."

Finally, I can go home and rest. Damn, today was hell. The two guards who were in the front of the door came and released my handcuffs. Now, I can feel my hands. These cuffs are dangerous. The minerals that are used to create this will suck mana like a never-ending hunger and were designed to neutralize all kinds of hand movement. As I got up from my chair, I couldn't resist smiling at the small judge. When I walked towards the door, he was still standing in the same place near the table and just when I was about to exit the room, he called to me.

"Wait"

I turned to his voice. The two guards who were with me went to the same place in front of the room. He asked me.

"What were you doing yesterday?"

'What? He's asking this question now?' Normally, the LAW-House will do a background check for every criminal they caught. It seems like today's LAW-Guards were busy. The judge was still looking at me with suspicious eyes. He may have already activated his Lie-Detection skill. I told him earnestly.

"Yesterday was my birthday. I went to drink and afterward come home. Due to drinking more than usual, I don't remember that much."

The suspicious eyes that looked at me were now looking at me with disappointment.

"You can go now" – he told me.

I went ahead and didn't look back. I remembered that I haven't opened my system after I accepted that so I was curious if it was all just a scam. I walked to the AlWays stop and waited for my train to come.

When I was finally came to my apartment, I went straight for my bed. After comfortably laying on my bed, I opened my system.

[We are deciding on a power that is suitable for you. Please wait…]

Ohh, so I do get a power and this is not a scam. Interesting. I left the system open for a while, but the message didn't seem to change anytime soon. The sun has already set and there was nothing to do so I slept. My hungry stomach which didn't have its lunch woke me up soon. When I glanced at the floating message to check if I got a cool power. But...

[We are still deciding on a power that is suitable for you. Please wait…]

I see. That's what had happened. The reason why I still hadn't gotten the so-called powers is because of this? I checked the time,

'11.30'

It was still February 2nd. I thought my bad day had already ended but not. I was reminded by my stomach once again. After finishing washing my face, I went out for drinks.

* * *

Buzz, buzz... The alarm was ringing, but I turned it off. I had already been awake before the alarm even started. Last night was the worst nightmare of my entire life. The pain was excruciating.

It happened in the middle of the night. A hellish pain descended upon me, and my stomach made sounds I had never heard before. The feeling of my insides being ripped apart was unbearable. The pain was enough to kill me, yet it continued to worsen. Memories of my life started flashing before my eyes, and tears fell.

The first time I entered this planet, the first person who is kind to me, the time I spent with that person. All the memories of being happy, I started to recall them. I don't remember some of them, but they are flashing before my eyes. Perhaps I had forgotten them, and now I'm clinging to those memories just to stay conscious until my eyes were closed for good.

The morning yellow light bathed my face when I saw a bright sun accompanied by another dull star with it. When I sat on my bed, memories of what happened last night started to recall themselves. Pain and nothing more. But now there's something I have to check. I believe that my pain was related to the system. There's no other reason that my brain can come up with, but I wouldn't bring myself to open it. When I lifted my hand, I saw it was trembling. Yesterday was probably the luckiest and the worst day of my life. If there was any evidence left that showed I was the murderer, I was as good as dead.

What happened had happened and I don't want to think about it anymore, so leaving all the system behind, I started to exercise. Doing some exercise to get on to my focus had become something like a hobby of mine. Push up's, squats, sit-ups, side sit-ups, stretching, I did it for a while and before I knew it, my stomach started to rumble again. but this time I knew it was because of my hunger. There was nothing in the kitchen to eat, so I went outside to buy something. Anything right now.

Along the way, I got interested in eating a full meal and went to a restaurant instead. I ordered a full breakfast meal and some sides. As I was eating my food, a certain news, reported by a certain person caught my interest.

"On February first, on side streets of 5th cross, near Mangblock Apartment area, on a bar known as 'Darwin's Place' the residents have reported that, there was a big conflict between two groups which resulted in everyone dying on yesterday night. The bartender was also reported to be missing. The LAW-Guards have assured that they will investigate the reasons thoroughly."

The news was like pouring oil on fire to me. The reason why yesterday everything was a bit late, the AlWays, the disturbance on the Transportation truck. Well, now I know the reason behind it. I left myself wandering in thought and continued eating.

My brain was something like an enemy to me. It made me think, 'What if everything odd that was going around was somehow connected to me?' and now, sweat started to form on my forehead and my heart started to race. The spoon I was holding was also trembling. Today was the 3rd of February. The day before yesterday was my birthday and I remember that I went alone to enjoy a few drinks. I went to the nearest bar after coming home, so the nearest bar to my apartment was... 'The Darwin's Place.'

Fuck. I was there when that happened. But I don't remember anything. I shoved all the food into my mouth and left the restaurant after paying. I rushed towards my house.

I sat on my bed and started to think. Yesterday night was… the worst nightmare. But what happened on my birthday? I was in a state where I don't know what to do. But I can tell that there's something wrong. I feel it in my heart; in my spine; in my everything. No matter how I look at all the recent events, somehow, everything is connected to me. I brought up my remaining courage and finally decided to open my system.

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[Personal Information]

[Players - Powers]

[Inbox (2)]

[Shop]

[System version – 1.1]

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'It has changed.' I thought. 'Drastically too,' To see which power I got, I selected the second option.

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[Players - Powers]

Player 32 - Rodreiger Beta

Level – 30

Crown – XXXX

Crowns Collected – 0

Power – XXXX(X)

Game – XXXX

Skills – Miner(B), Citizen's System(D), Information Window(D).

Power Skills – (XXXX - ) …

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I can see that I have two new skills and my Miner(B) was also raised a rank. Other than that, everything was 'XXXXXX.' My level was also raised to 30, but what about Power, Crowns, and Player 32? The one thing that made me bat an eye was the reward,

[Reward: Title of Highest being on Planet Earth - God (Authority Over Anything and Everything on Planet Earth)]

That's not the end, I think the Notifications and Messages are combined into a new window. I have two unread messages also.

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[You have been now altered and evolved to withstand the powers of a Player.

All your stats and System have been upgraded to meet Player Qualification.

Your Job is to collect all the Crowns from other Players by Accepting a Challenge-Game or Challenging them to your Game.

After each Game, When you win, you will get a Crown with powers from your opponent Player. Your powers and system will also upgrade to use those powers. If you fail, your Crown and Powers will be taken by the winning Player, all your skills will be transferred, and all your stats will be changed to default.

The more Crowns You will gain, the more powerful you will become. But other Players will also gain power over time.]

[You have been given an Event Quest. Check [Personal Information] for more information.]

[Personal Information]

Name - Rodreiger Beta

Rank – Player 32 (Crowns - 0)

Level - 30

Coins: 24,200

(Health - 60) (Strength - 40) (Agility - 30) (Mana - 25)

Location – Mangblock Apartment Area, City Neo-Gen, Planet Altria, Eden's Way.

---

My location as well as my level, stats, and everything have been upgraded. I'm not as weak as I was before. No matter how much I try to control it, the huge grin that was on my face was refusing to leave. As long as I'm strong, accepting this Player thing was not that bad. My thoughts were running like a train, but arriving at a single destination, 'World Conquer'. With a system like this, this thought will not remain as just my imagination but a possibility. I will not be as weak as I was yesterday.

When glancing up the remaining information, I was in for a whole other hell,

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Event Quest – Monster Raid:

There will be a monster raid near Neo-Gen City. Your job is to prevent the monsters from getting into the city. Kill the Horde Leader to end the Raid. You can earn coins after killing each monster. You can make allies and get help from them.

Maximum number of allies – 3.

Difficulty - BB

Location – Neo-Gen, Planet Altria.

Minimum Requirements: Level 34, 1 Crown.

Failure – if Failed, the Difficulty will rise to AA.

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Now I'm really fucked up, aren't I?