System

In the pitch darkness, all was silent and still. The void felt so peaceful yet worrying- like gently falling into a bottomless pit. The silence and soft gentleness might put you at ease... but won't you worry about the unknown?

Starfire slowly opened her eyes as though just waking up from a sweet slumber. She stretched her body as it felt so stiff, before looking around to observe where she was. Everything was dark and she couldn't even see her own body.

'Wait... I remember that bomb exploding... do I still even have a body?' she thought as she wondered for a brief second if some mad scientist had managed to salvage her brain and put her through some weird experiment when a voice suddenly sounded in the darkness.

[You are not in some experiment. You just died human.] It said as two white dots appeared in the darkness. Perhaps the unknown entity's eyes?

It observed Starfire as she paused for a second, expecting her to lament her death after the information sunk in but instead she let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew! I'm not in a weird scientist's game," she said, relieved and the unknown entity let out a sound of confusion.

Starfire looked at the two white dots that were the only source of colour in the dark void and shrugged. "Well, life was boring anyway, so this is way more fun! I even got to such an unusual place," she said with a smile as she twirled around to gesture to the space around her.

{I have never heard a human who is sane saying that it is fun to die.} The entity shivered at the thought. {Scary.}

Starfire tried looking around again before asking, "So where am I anyway? And who or what exactly are you?"

[This is a space- almost like a waiting room, where I am meant to inform you about what is going on] It said and Starfire nodded, gesturing for it to continue.

[So yes, you are dead. I am a system who helped you and now you will be going from world to world to complete quests and-] The system was cut off from its listings as Starfire laughed.

"Really?~ That sounds like a lot of fun. I accept!" She said with a grin that took the system aback.

[But I didn't even...]

"Mhm?" She rose a brow and the system just went silent, deciding to sulk in its mind instead.

{She didn't even allow me to tell her the reward she gets after...} If it could, it would have gone to a dark corner in the space to crouch there and sulk. {I couldn't even brag about myself and how powerful I am to bring her from the dead...}

Starfire noticed the system was silent for a long while and the two dots seemed to have dimmed in sadness. 'Could it have not wanted to be interrupted?' Starfire thought as she stared at it and decided to comfort it with praises as compensation.

"Oh my!" she gasped and the system's attention was fully drawn back to her. "I will have you know that you are very powerful in my book for being able to bring me this much fun!" she said with a sweet smile but rather than the system getting comforted, it felt more depressed instead.

{She didn't even praise me for bringing her here but instead for letting her have fun... what type of praise is that?} The system grumbled in its mind. Little did it know that the compliment was a very special one in Starfire's book.

[Anyway] It started, tossing its depression out the window so it could complete its work.[Since you accepted, l am now your system and you are my host. I will take you to your personal system space now.]

All of a sudden, they were in a different location entirely. The space was all white but had a beautiful bed, table, computer, and some other materials. It looked like a surreal space version of a bedroom.

Starfire looked around the place but saw no sign of any other presence. "Weird. I wonder where the system is," she murmured thoughtfully when a voice rang in her head.

[I'm right here in your mind, host.]

"Oh. Alright."

[Yes. Shall we take a tour around your new place?] It asked and she nodded.

It lead her by using directions and explanations when needed to give her an interesting mind-like tour around her new space before moving on to answer her queries on information she needed to know.

"Ah," she paused as something occurred to her. "Won't I need to call you by a name though?"

[Oh! I suppose you could, host. What would you like to call me?]

She thought for a moment and finally replied, "How about Little que?"

[Alright.] It replied before continuing. [By the way, this place is your space where you will rest after completing missions. You also have stats that you can level up with experience points you get from future missions. Would you like to view your stats and see what it looks like?]

"Yes please," she said, letting out such an adorable smile that the system couldn't help swooning a bit.

{This girl is so cute! How is she even the top assassin?}

[Just a moment. Your stats shall be displayed now]

A floating semi-transparent display appeared in front of Starfire.

[Name: Starfire

Codename: Mystic S

Age: 16

Charm: 90/100

Intelligence: 93/100

Strength: 95/100

Stamina: 85/100

Fighting skills: 97/100

Stealth: 87/100

Other abilities: Hacking, Assassination, Martial arts, Cooking, Licking sweets, Smiling no matter what, Photographic memory, Multi-tasking... [some abilities might not yet be discovered /are too much to fit in the screen.]]

The system was shocked at her high stats. [Wow! I didn't expect your stats to be so good before you even start your missions.]

"Thanks. I suppose I wasn't so sought-after in my world for no reason," she said with a little flip of her hair.

[That is true. I still did not expect it to be this good though.] Awe was oozing in its voice which made Starfire smile a bit.

'Neither was I honestly,' she thought with a little shrug.

[You should be more confident in your skills. After all, you are the host of the number 1 system- me.] It said with a flattering yet cocky tone but Starfire dismissed that as she faced a more serious problem.

"You can read my thoughts," she said in a matter-of-fact tone but Little que still responded anyway.

[Yes, I can. Since I am in your head, I can read your surface thoughts but you can't read mine.]

"Can I block you out?"

[Of course. It depends on how strong your mental strength is though. The stronger you are, the easier it will be for you to block me out.] He explained and nodded in understanding.

[ Well, do you want to go to your first world now then, host?]

"Are you trying to scam me?" Starfire asked with a terrifying smile which almost made little que cower in her mind. " You didn't even give me the beginner's package before sending me off. Are you so forgetful... or perhaps stingy?"

The system laughed nervously before responding. [ Oops! Umm... Well, since I am so awesome, you won't only get one thing] it said cockily as if trying to hide the fact that it forgot. [I will give you two items: a potion that can bring anyone on the brink of death back to life and a special rub that can stop any type of bleeding. You also get the bonus of picking any one of the skills I will show you now that will be added to your skills.]

"Alright," her threatening smile eased up and she nodded. "Show me."

[>Skills<

Acting

Makeup

The four arts

Dressmaking]

She looked over the sets of skills carefully. "So what does the make-up skill do?"

[ You can simply use it to make you or anyone else look like an entirely different person. An alternate name for that can be "the art of disguising" but it is better since water can't wash it away and it feels real. You can even make a slim, handsome man look like a fat, ugly man. Oh! Also, water can't wash off the disguise which makes it feel even more real.] It explained and Starfire's eyes sparkled as she selected it.

[ Alright, has been selected, host. See you in 50 years!]

"Wait! Do you mean I will take 50 years to learn this?!"

[ Yes, host. That is the average time to learn this particular skill. Different skills take different times to complete since you will be taught the skills and it is up to your ability to learn the skills that determine the time it takes for you.]

"Well if you had told me that earlier, I wouldn't have bothered with it yet. Why would I spend 50 years in a space school?" She was not happy with the arrangement and Little que decided to take the path that will get him in less trouble.

[ Oops- I forgot. Sorry. And bye!!!]

He chose the path of sending her away as fast as possible.

Starfire started glowing as her body gradually disappeared and instead of frowning in anger, she smiled sweetly. "You will get payback," she whispered and then disappeared from the spot.

The system was silent for a while before clearing its throat [Well, that sent a shiver down my spine... Hopefully, she would have forgotten about this by the time she completes her skill training and gets back.]

[...]

[Hopefully...]