System (2)

"You're quite funny." Jia Hyson chuckles, "I don't hate that." 

The system was a little flattered. No human had ever called it funny. Most of them just cursed it and scolded it viciously. While it felt that Jia Hyson wasn't a good thing, he wasn't too bad either. 

[Well then, in the continued favour of not being hated, I shall refrain from going in circles. As I said before, I am willing to negotiate with you. While I admit that my initial plans were to put you in an unfavourable position, I have since reevaluated your intelligence and worth.]

Touching his nose thoughtfully, Jia Hyson contemplates for a moment before asking in a somewhat demanding tone, "Tell me what your deal entails." 

After all, he doesn't know how to leave this place either. Just as he may potentially have a way against this strange system, Jia Hyson was also very aware that he could be limited and significantly hindered by the system as well. In fact, he was confident that between the two, he was definitely the weaker party here. As long as he shows too much confidence or vulnerability, the control would fall easily into the system's hands. 

Both of them were difficult entities to each other, but the level of difficulty was different. However it couldn't be denied the struggle they would have against each other would be very real and very unpleasant. Therefore, to save themselves from unnecessary grief, it really was better to be friends if they could.

Of course, that was only if the benefits were good enough ah. Until they gain a mutual sense of trust and respect, maybe even some genuine positive feelings between each other, they will be like two predators sharing the same land, waiting quietly for the other one to expose their weakness and take advantage.

If he understood this, the Metempsychotic System also naturally grasped it. Maybe even to an even greater extent, given it was an incredibly high-level system beyond Jia Hyson's own comprehension of AI. 

[Currently the energy you have absorbed from me has overwhelmed your body.] The Metempsychotic System observes matter of factually. [This shows that while you desire my energy, there is a problem with your current way of absorbing it efficiently. Wherever world you came from has a different energy system. Thus your body, while admittedly capable, cannot currently accomodate the purest form of my energy.]

Jia Hyson touches his nose thoughtfully but says nothing, letting the system continue.

[However, under my calculations, there are two optimal ways for you to consume energy safely, albeit at a slower rate.] 

The zombie sneers. Of course, for the system, it is for the best he evolves slowly, but for himself, who has grown used to being the most powerful individual on the continent, the idea of improving slowly while the system takes the chance to find ways to protect itself from his is a very uncomfortable and helpless feeling. 

However, he knew he had to change his mindset and be flexible. His aim isn't to destroy but to coexist. While it wasn't ideal, he could not do much unless he found a way to take in this purer energy output, which would require time. 

[The first one is attacking players. As you are aware, they also have some of my energy, but it's contaminated and diluted in order to merge with their human bodies. Only with improvement through instances can they level up this energy and purify it, unlocking more powerful abilities and enhancements. From my analysis, you are some form of zombie so I'm sure this method would be very familiar to you.]

"Kek," Jia Hyson's lips curve up in a sinister and sadistic smile, his sharp teeth flashing like a razor being swung under the light of a scorching sun. "That's one way of putting it…" 

He hums, yellow eyes flashing thoughtfully as his greedy mouth involuntarily salivates, recalling the tastes of the players he had recently consumed. Well, it was still pretty good, and even that newbie player was, while not as satisfying or filling, fresh and crisp, like a juicy young lettuce. "But even then, I feel you don't have much weight in this condition." 

After all, it wasn't like the system couldn't make more bosses to kill more people; such a process was just giving away energy to Jia Hyson for free, possibly even at a net loss since more players killed by him meant fewer players for the NPCs to have. And while he couldn't assume too much, it was not unreasonable to think that the NPCs also relied on the flesh and blood of players to grow and sustain themselves in the instance. 

Such generosity, he didn't believe it at all.

[…Indeed. Just letting you have free rein on eating the players I've brought up is not very conductive to myself.] The system admits calmly.

[However, there is something you can do.]

Jia Hyson raises an eyebrow, "Oh~?"

[Quantity has never been a problem. However quality… that is harder. Those players who are the best of the best, improving their powers and becoming... more potent as a person, experiencing dangers and victories, trust and betrayal, they not only have more fully integrated my energy in their body, but their souls have also been tempered to a beautiful degree.] 

Speaking of this, the Metempsychotic system sounds a little fanatical, like a gourmet talking about his favourite meal from an exclusive restaurant in the heart of Japan's mountains on top of a tree, cooked by a blind monk who can see fairies. [Even if their bodies are broken, their hearts are broken, and their minds are broken, under the intense pressure and inevitable transformation through the instances, their souls will produce the best sustenance.]

[Unfortunately, not only are these individuals quite limited, but the ones holding the best quality of souls, when nurtured, become extremely strong. My process is fairer than others, and it's much easier to leave the world than other systems of mine.] 

"That's where I come in." Jia Hyson states without question. While he doesn't know the details, he at least comprehends what the system was hinting at. 

Before those players reach whatever goal they need to leave, the Metempsychotic system wants him, who has a unique identity as a player, to kill them when the system cannot. At that stage, the player would have been strongly integrated with energy and have a 'ripened' high-quality soul, allowing both of them to benefit from the hunt.

However, Jia Hyson was not taken by this so easily.

Because the problem with this exchange was that it relied on him being the one in danger while the system could just placidly sit around with it's mouth open. It isn't that he didn't believe in his strength but that he couldn't yet estimate the strength of others in this world yet. 

In the apocalypse, there were powers, but these powers were still very limited in variety. Being able to wield fire, water, and lightning. Controlling metal and plants and wood. Some had mutations of the basic powers such as desertification, or ice. Then there were the much rarer unique powers such as space, mind, and healing. 

While impressive, it was not as magical as the powers the infinite flow stories are capable of. Don't look down on those angelic monsters from before, the one that could wield a laser, as long as Jia Hyson was slower in both speed and regeneration, could really kill him easily, it was that sort of physics defying ultimate laser that could disintegrate whatever was in it's path. In the apocalypse, there was still a sense of logic and conditions. In a dry area it was harder for water users to summon water, with barren land the plants planted by a plant user were extremely weak, and so on. 

These rules and powers, Jia Hyson was familiar with, but here he had to relearn everything again. 

It was exciting but dangerous. If he rushed into things by attacking the bigshots of this world arrogantly, it would be his soul being eaten by this system instead. 

But of course, the benefits and entertainment value was undeniable as well. 

"What's the second method?"

[Simply put, it's Love.]

Jia Hyson's face froze, expression even more uncomprehending than when he suddenly appeared in this world. 

Love? What a familiar yet unfamiliar word. 

It was definitely something he hadn't associated himself with for a very long time anyway. 

[As you are aware, the so-called NPCs under my own hands, of course, have much purer energy.] The system patiently explains. Even if they were not equal individuals, they were equal in a sense; coupled with the previous praise, the Metempsychotic system was willing to be more detailed, especially in such an important topic of discussion. [Different energy can be pulled out via different manners, we are good examples of this.]

"How so?" Jia Hyson listens attentively, a faint furrow in his brow in both thought and intrigue. "Are we not both taking energy from people's lives?" 

He was familiar with the theme of infinite flow, and while the instances and protagonists tend to be unique, the system itself was usually at its heart, three things. A system that relies on the energy generated by fear from players and a system that relies on the death of players, and a system that was original made for some higher educational purpose that had malfunctioned to the worst degree. While the end result was pretty similar, there was always a slightly different taste depending on the type.

Fear-based systems will generally will have some sort of safety mechanic to prevent complete annihilation of players in an instance, such as if a certain number of players die the difficulty of the instance is adjusted, or if only one player is left the instance turns into easy mode. This logically makes sense as the system needs people to feed fear on and thus a long-term sustainable farming plan is more preferred. It's technically easier to survive but also brings out the plot point of ruthless people who use this loophole to kill off fellow players in order to make their chances of survival easier.

Systems that prefer killing are more domineering, while adhering to the rules, these sort of systems would usually be more autonomous and can actually try sabotage others as best they can. Instance wipeouts are neither common or uncommon, and the difficulty is usually more random compared to the other two systems, as unlike those systems that want to slowly increase difficulty to either cultivate or extend the fear harvesting, the killing system just wants players to die, die, die. 

Finally there is the third type of system that generally follows either of the previous two in terms of origin, an is generally more rigid. This system usually does not have a selfish motive but rather was a result of some sort of problem. 

For example, it was originally an educational system, a horror game system, or a system meant to train the military's ability to handle stress and fear. Then due to reasons it became corrupted and resulted in the current unlimited flow system. This allows there to be unique themed elements in the system play style that may not be common in the other systems, or a fairly consistent sense of morals in the instances, but also means that the system is usually much colder and lacking in more flexible thought due to it being truly more of a program then anything else. 

In Jia Hyson's opinion, this system with such obvious killing machines like the previous angelic monsters and his previous words about eating souls felt more like the second type of system. The sort of evil thing that cuts the flesh and drinks the blood of others to sustain itself. However the name of the system could not be overlooked, and his intuition tells him that the way this world works was a little different to his current and admittedly very limited and generalised understanding.

After all, even if he's read a lot in the past, it's not like he's ever experienced such a thing in reality.

[I am capable of both.] The system says proudly, it's voice enjoying the focused attention of the handsome zombie. [However, on the topic of taking lives, we both take different things from their death. The flesh and blood you crave in contrast do not serve much purpose to myself, what I want is the souls, something from my understanding is still intangible to you.]

[If one could explain very simply, you and many of the others in my domain are the lions and snakes, hunting the prey in various ways. But as a system, I am akin to a vulture, only looking forward to the dead remains that the predators are not interested in. Therefore with that in mind it is still very suitable to coexist with you. However for yourself, you are surely not as happy with this status quo which is why I will offer you an additional alternative.]

"And this alternative is… love?" Jia Hyson says with some doubt, the last word dripping with slight disdain. It wasn't that he didn't reject love, but it was simply that during the apocalypse where the human hearts would often show the darkest sides to themselves and others, his already rather weak faith in this illusionary emotion had faded into a shade of nothingness. 

[It is one of the few emotions consistently stronger than fear.] The Metempsychotic system was not annoyed at the other's doubt. It was a system full of horror after all, if the apocalypse slowly showed some of the worst aspects of humanity, it had seen all of them and more. However, it also had seen some very touching and profound things as well, things that could make even itself be moved with great emotion.

Those beautiful things will always make the soul much sweeter after all. 

[Love is admittedly hard to capture as it's a culmination of various emotions, and not necessarily the same combination. Affection, obsession, loyalty, dependence, willingness, sincerity.. different people will have different versions of their love. After some adjustments to the data, as long as you reach some level of love with those under my employ, you can 'eat' this energy in smaller and more digestible amounts.]

While it sounds hard to believe, Jia Hyson had to admit it was a tempting offer. However, he can't just let the system lead him on completely. 

With narrowed eyes, his mind tries to recall the previous words the system had said. As an author, he was a little sensitive to words. For people, it was normal to slip up and make natural mistakes in their wording, but for a powerful system they should not. At the very least, Jia Hyson had to assume that every word choice was deliberate. 

"'Others in your domain' and… 'Under your employ', are these different?" He questions carefully. After all, the wording of 'employ' was strange in itself. This implied that bosses were being paid or something, rather then just living with no awareness they were part of a bigger world. Not to mention if they were different, then that meant there is a separation between these… he hesitates to call them people or NPCs, but either way it seems the ecosystem of this place was truly more complex then expected. 

Complexity shows how fleshed out the system was, making Jia Hyson regard it even more cautiously and with continuously growing fascination. After all, if the system was as cliche as a novel, it would be too dull. 

At the same time, the system also felt another small spike of appreciation itself for Jia Hyson. However appreciation was one thing, trust was another. [You aren't wrong.] It says with a faint undertone of praise, before going cold. [However, unless you agree to the terms, I am not obligated to explain.]

This was fair. Such information was insider knowledge into the workings of the system. If it gave Jia Hyson this information, he would probably look down on the other's IQ as a result. To be honest it was unexpected that the Metempsychotic system would even acknowledge that his guess was correct, it seems the system was really willing to give him quite a bit of face. 

With that in mind, Jia Hyson smiles and moves the subject back to the topic on hand, "So how would I be able to 'eat' this love? I assume I can't eat them the same way as players right~?"

[You can consume the love via exchanging fluids.] The system smoothly replies, [The form of kissing or acts of carnal debauchery, or, if sexually is not your thing, then taking their blood is also a viable option.]

Jia Hyson: '…' He suspected it but didn't expect the system to be so blunt. 

[Don't look down on this system.] The Metempsychotic system suddenly says with a bit of energy, [My aesthetics are very good. Many instance bosses are really good looking, super good looking!]

[From the mermaid king with long flowing hair like a river reflecting the ocean night, the beautiful Queen of Hearts who has a super sexy hourglass figure and a face that makes you want to cut off her head and keep it to stare at it every night, and even those who are a bit ugly the bodies are usually very good like the Bloody Butcher who is muscular everywhere! If you are interested in the unorthodox types as well I also have many that I feel are still very pleasing to the eye for those with unique tastes like the milder lizard people, to those monsters with multiple limbs and tentacles, there are demonic beasts, eldritch horror like existences, robots, shapeshifters…]

Hearing the system get more and more excited, with the sense of bragging becoming so prominent in it's voice, Jia Hyson could practically taste the pride, the zombie emperor didn't know whether to laugh or cry. 

He felt a bit like the system was suddenly less imposing and more like a pimp trying to harass a customer into entering a brothel. 

However… thinking of handsome men and women with scales, extra limbs, wings, tentacles and fangs… not to mention the variety of ghosts, ghouls and monsters out there… 

Well, it was indeed very exciting! (∩❛ڡ❛∩) ♡