System

Thirty minutes? One hour? Two hours? David didn't know how long he ran. Not that he cared anyway. As long as he stayed moving, it would be difficult to locate and capture him.

After who knows how long, he came to a stop on a hill overlooking an abandoned structure. He did not have any destination in mind when he escaped. He planned to run until he discovered a cave or well concealed place so that he could hide and plan his next steps.

The monastery in the distance however, did not fulfill the condition of being concealed. Though it stood head to head with some of the surrounding trees, part of it was exposed, and its crimson roof made it stand out within the verdant sea.

'I totally forgot about this place,' he thought while descending the hill. His memories of the monastery surfaced as he gazed at it, granting him valuable information to aid in a decision.

'This is where the season five finale fight took place. Fyers is likely aware of it. But even if he isn't, it's too exposed. I'll stay here for the night and look for a safer place tomorrow.' He analyzed and decided before picking up the pace.

Upon reaching the structure, he avoided the front entrance and circled it to find an alternative way inside. He found a row of wooden windows interlaced with creeping plants and chose one at random.

With a few precise cuts and a rock, he cut away the vines and broke the window. Maintaining a tight grip on the knife, he climbed in headfirst and sent a cloud of dust up in the air with his ungraceful and awkward landing.

A musty and woodsy fragrance tickled his nose. Cool air circulated inside the dim hall, offsetting the heat of the sun rays peeking through the windows and holes in the ceiling. Planks of wood lay scattered on the ground amidst copious amounts of dust and rotten leaves.

With measured and careful steps, he explored and checked the lower floor. He found nothing to suspect any recent activity, however this did not make him happy, as there were two more floors. His worries turned out to be unfounded as the situation proved to be the same on the higher floors.

No one had been here in a while.

Upon completing the inspection, he felt the urge to just lie down and forget everything. However, he settled for sitting and instead plopped himself down near a wall before leaning against it. Throwing his head back, he closed his eyes and released a deep long breath. The day's events had taken their toll, despite the impressive work of his healing factor.

First of all, he died and "woke up" in a white room where he spoke to a strange being made of light. Somewhere after that, he lost consciousness again and regained it beside a dead body being pecked at by birds. Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse and weirder, he got caught in a trap net that ended up with him being tortured.

Truth be told, he still reeled from it all. He felt tempted to deny everything and just sleep in hopes that he'd wake up to realize none of it was real. However, the cruel sensation of Wintergreen's blade sliding across his throat told him otherwise.

He'd indeed be reborn, and in the DC universe no less. Thinking about Wintergreen activated the weird sensation of apathy again, but he welcomed it. There was so much to unpack, and this… ability would make things easier.

After Guardian sent him away, he hoped to meet the entity who reincarnated him, yet from what transpired, he or she did not share this sentiment. 'Whoever it is, they just took my soul and shoved me in this body,' David reasoned as he looked at his reflection on the small blade, 'Oliver fucking Queen.'

'Why him?' he wondered, trying to understand the entity's thought process. 'What do I possibly stand to gain from being stranded on an island as Oliver Queen?'

As if to answer his query, a monotone voice, not unlike Guardian's, echoed in his mind.

'Conditions met….'

'Activating system…. 1%, …3%, …9%...'

A white screen accompanying the voice lit up in his vision, earning a startled jump from him. With a firm grip on the knife, he went on alert and whipped his head around to ensure the sound didn't come from his surroundings. As he did that, the white screen followed his vision, calming him down further.

How could he not recognise this? His "Cheat," or as the Chinese call it, "Golden Finger" had appeared! He assumed that the healing factor and the potential spark was all he had to aid him in this life. However, this assumption had just been disproved.

Once again, he'd assumed wrong, and he loved it!

'Killing System Activated,' the voice resounded once again and the white screen cleared up to reveal some information.

Name: Oliver Jonas Queen

Strength: 2 (Your lifting strength and the amount of force you can exert)

Agility: 3 (How fast and easily you can move)

Durability: 1 (Your damage, wear, pressure, and pain resistance)

Vitality: ∞ (Your ability to work and live. Your stamina and life force)

Senses: 1 (The degree to which you perceive stimulus using the faculties of sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch, proprioception and vestibules)

Mind: 4 (The degree to which you can retain, recall and process information)

Available Points: 2

Abilities:-

1) Killer Instinct

2) Ultimate Regeneration

3) Inventory

David took in the information, making his expression lose its brightness. The joy at receiving a golden finger had vanished.

'Killing System? The entity reincarnated me because he sensed a kindred spirit in me. But doesn't that mean he thinks I like… killing? I've never killed anyone!'

Unfortunately for him, his mind refused to side with him as the memory of two soldiers blocking his path surfaced. Back then, he'd been in a hurry so he didn't pay close attention to the soldiers before and after shooting them.

Now in a calm and relaxed state, he relived a vivid recount of what happened. He waved and fired the gun at point blank range. The soldiers' protective vest did their jobs, however some of the bullets went a little higher and found their way into places where no amount of medical attention would change their fates.

Their survival was out of the question. As he processed this, the emotions he expected to accompany this realization did not manifest. No shame. No guilt. Just a deep, subtle satisfaction that the damn soldiers had died.

'What is wrong with me? Why am I glad about this?' he thought and blinked a few times, his countenance darkening even further. His expectations at the consequences of taking another life were not met in the slightest.

They were rather overturned, making him question his sanity. 'Am I going crazy? Did the torture do something to me?' He wondered for a while before releasing a derisive chuckle.

'Of course it did. Who feels good about something like this? Psychopaths that's what.'

At this juncture, he began to understand why he got chosen out of god knows how many people: he could kill without remorse.

'What a weird and morbid criteria,' he thought with a shake of his head, dismissing the urge to try and comprehend the entity's thought process. 'Who knows what goes through the minds of such entities?'

Gazing at the abilities listed in the system, he brushed the unnecessary thoughts aside and focused. 'I don't care about any of this. I'm just glad to be alive. As for what the entity wants, it just so happens that I want the same thing.'

The world then lost color as he began to leak a subtle killing intent. 'Fyers and Wintergreen. You just wait...'

Going through his supposed stats, he noted the various numbers and tried to calculate what they signified. He had one point in durability and senses. Two in strength, three in speed, four in mind and last but definitely not least, infinity in vitality.

Considering that his senses and physique were no different from that of an average person, he deduced that one point represents what an average, untrained person possessed under normal circumstances.

This made the strength and speed values somewhat understandable. However, the speed value made him doubt he was as fast as three average people. Its multiplicative factor had to be different from the others. The mind value, though, left him scratching his head. 'Well… it could be,' he reconsidered as his mind dredged up some memories.

'In the show, they did say he dropped out of college due to lack of drive. Besides, when he became a vigilante, he displayed knowledge and expertise in many areas. Explosives, tactics, poisons, languages, hacking and medicine. Not to mention, he even became mayor at one point.'

Still unsure, he looked at the mind value one more time and uttered, "It makes sense…I guess?"

Choosing to focus on something else, he skipped the self-explanatory vitality stat and settled on the available points. 'It should be from the guys I killed. But really? Just two?' He mulled with a sigh. 'This god really wants me to kill...'

He then moved further down and settled on the first ability: [Killer Instinct]. The system responded to his desire to know more and a box with more text opened up beside it.

Killer Instinct:

[When an intent to kill is generated, the user will enter a state of apathy and gain the required instincts and guidance to kill whomever they want dead. The ability will remain active for as long as the user maintains an intent to kill.]

Short and precise, this little piece of information shed light on what he had been experiencing. 'So this is the reason. And here I was afraid I was losing my mind.'

Thinking back to Fyers, a boiling rage like no other filled him. But it disappeared just as fast as it came, fading like mist in a strong breeze. Feeling the familiar coldness envelop his mind and being, he mused, 'This thing is no joke…. I just wish it was permanent.'

To keep it on at all times would require him to keep the object of his hate at the forefront of his mind. Considering the circumstances though, that was something easy to do. Anytime he calmed down and the world returned to normal, he'd just think of those two assholes, and the world would become cold once more.

Moving onto the next ability, he focused on Ultimate Regeneration with conflicted emotions. Had it not been for this thing, this life would have been over faster than his first. However, this same thing brought him so much pain that he also wished he never had it.

Ultimate Regeneration:

[You cannot die by any means: be it a grievous injury, terrible disease, or lack of sustenance, your mind, body and soul can heal from any damage. You will only die if your soul is annihilated.]

'Wow… What did I do to deserve this?'

For a second there, David doubted the source of this ability. So far, his gifts and their sources had been pretty clear. Potential Spark came from Guardian and his supposed master. The system obviously came from the entity, as even the first ability in the system was [Killer Instinct], which gave his theory more weight.

This [Ultimate Regeneration] however, stood out like a sore thumb. 'Well, not really,' he realized. He hadn't checked the last ability. Putting his theory on hold, he shifted his attention to the final ability.

Inventory:

[Inside your soul, a secluded place has been created by the soul energy absorbed from your kills. This space can store any object(s) as long as their dimensions do not exceed it. More soul energy will increase its dimensions. Current size: 2 cubic meters]

'I knew it!'

This system used the souls of those he slew to empower him, and the inventory followed a similar path. This bolstered the confidence he had in his theory. However, right below the [Inventory] skill, he saw notifications and mentions of rewards.

His theory could wait.