The Imperator System

Within the gargantuan dark forest of Anfang, behind a trunk of a giant tree, was a fat young man who had recently woken up from his immediate and short-lived deep slumber. He squinted his eyes while looking at the dark branches from above and quietly muttered.

"I'm back."

"I left the dreamscape and the hallway of memories."

His name was Dante, and he didn't know what to consider about his recent experience. Was it a nightmare or a dream? Maybe both? In any case, since he had awoken. It was time for him to continue on in the marathon.

Though, he couldn't help but wonder how much time had passed since he lost consciousness.

'Maybe it hasn't been that lon-'

*[𝐓𝐢𝐧𝐠!]*

Before he could continue his thought, a ringing chime echoed throughout his mind. It was a familiar chime, making him wonder if he had heard it before. Thinking about it for a short while, it didn't take seconds for Dante to realize.

"This is the chime that sounded before I lost my consciousness."

―<●>―

-[𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧(𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝)!]-

-[𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞(𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝)!]-

-[𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧(𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝)!]-

―<●>―

To Dante's surprise, a digital notification window emerged before his ocean-blue eyes. His lips were partially opened as he was shocked beyond a certain relief. This was the first time he saw a digital notification window. Something unique to systems.

'Oh, god.'

'Can't believe it's real.'

He thought to himself as he slowly placed his hand beside the digital notification window. He moved his hand left and right, only to see them pass through the window. The digital window seemed to be not solid and also didn't appear gaseous.

This might mean that he was the only one that could see it since it might be a product of his mind.

"Well, this is for the better."

"I don't want anyone seeing notification windows or even my status screen. That would be too bothersome."

Dante uttered as he stopped lying on the trunk of the giant tree and stood up. He started stretching his body and yawned out loud. The notification window appeared to be loading something, so he picked up the rifle and waited for new information to arrive.

―<●>―

-[𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭(𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞) 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫.]-

-[𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞.]-

―<●>―

New messages within the notification window popped up. The system welcomed him and told him that the entire activation would take time.

He wasn't impatient regarding the subject of the system. So waiting for a short while didn't bother him that much. Though, he was curious about what to do with the corpse.

Dante turned his gaze toward the corpse of the monster he had previously killed. It was still coldly lying on the ground as a corpse. Nothing appeared to have scavenged it, which was a piece of good news as he needed it for experiments.

The flare he had thrown out and the smoke bomb had already concluded on their jobs. The gleaming light faded, and the mist of smoke slowly dissipated into the surroundings.

The dark woods were slowly returning to what it was. A dark forest full of lurking monsters that might attack or stalk their prey.

"But… I expected to be afraid once again."

"Yet, I don't feel that much fear."

"Is it because of the circumstances where I killed the monster and the situation in the hallway of memories?"

Dante raised an eyebrow while slowly mumbling about it. He was calmer than before as if he had grown used to the darkness around him. The training in the military of his past life didn't help him that much with his primal fears. But this marathon test gave him a leap.

It looks like he really was changing into someone better than before.

―<●>―

-[𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝!]-

-[𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝]-

―<●>―

This was what Dante had been waiting for. He wondered if the kill he had done before gaining the system would be accepted as a slain enemy. If it does get accepted, then would he be given two choices on what to do with the monster's corpse?

His questions were waiting to be answered.

He waited as patiently as he could, calmly stopping himself from getting over-excited regarding the subject. He looked at the notification window as it carried on with its messages.

It didn't take time as the long-awaited notification messages finally materialized before his eyes.

―<●>―

-[𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 (𝟏 𝐆𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬 𝐊𝐫𝐲𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐬)…]-

-[𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫?]-

―<●>―

It was the choice he had been waiting for ever since he had heard of it from the dark figure. The ability to pick whether or not she should conquer or devour the corpse she killed. The emergence of this choice was exciting, though numerous thoughts thoroughly entered his head.

'Conquer or Devour?'

'Devour will eat the corpse turning it into both experience and biomass. It can provide me a lot of things, such as the increase of attributes or levels. I have only one question, though. Is one corpse enough? Is it enough for an attribute increase or even level up?

'If not, why would I pick devour when it doesn't give me the immediate reward I need for the marathon test.'

The first problem Dante tackled was the devouring problem. It was a way for him to grow his body and status. Speaking for the long term, the devouring option would be the solution for his future.

But would there be a future if he can't even reach the goal of the marathon test?

'Now, about Conquer.'

'Conquer will subjugate the corpse of the monster turning it into my subordinate. While it wouldn't be stronger than me. It provides more immediate options for me in the marathon test. I can use it to hunt more monsters and instead use them as the devour choice.'

'I guess I already have the best choice in mind.'

Dante's battle of thoughts concluded as he sighed to himself afterward. He looked at the monster, or what the system called Gigantis Kryftis. It seems to be the name of the creature.

Standing before it silently and coldly, he looked around the dark forest to see nothing which was expected. While surveying his surroundings, Dante couldn't help but smile to himself. Instead of a peaceful and genuine smile, it was rather a scary one.

"Instead of moping around because of the fact that I couldn't gain any allies due to my infamous title. I should just create allies of my own. Absolutely under my will and will never disobey my orders. My own slaves."

His words were cold and sly as they echoed throughout the dark forest. It took a while for Dante to take hold of himself, which resulted in him covering his face with his hand. His eyes widened in shock, and they were a bit shaken.

'What was that?'

'Where did that come from?'

'This is becoming problematic.'

Dante furrowed his eyebrows while lowering his head. There was a problem in the reincarnation situation he was in. He wasn't born as a baby and instead inhabited another body. It looks like possessing a body that was not his own had its implication.

"I should do more research about this after the marathon test."

He mumbled as he looked at the notification window and gave a reply.

"I pick (Conquer)."

―<●>―

-[𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧.]-

-[𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.]-

-[𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬...]-

―<●>―

After the messages of the notification window, the monster corpse in front of Dante began gleaming with the radiance of the silver light. The cold corpse began restoring itself to its former form with every drop of blood returning to its body.

It was reviving.

From… The dead.