The Start of the New Year

{AN note: shows a lot of the system here and the skills but I won't do that most chapters}

{Some ideas were taken from some novels but this is not a full copy, just some little ideas it wont follow the plots of the other novels at all, enjoy the read}

Death.

Death, a thing that is feared by everyone in birth and at old age.

People think about it all the time but in the end, the thought does not help in the slightest.

But most of the time people are not met with a life or death situation so their worries are for nought.

If a life or death situation did appear and you were thinking about it then it would still be useless because no matter how much you think, no matter how many events go in your mind, in reality you would respond differently most of the time.

But what happens when the whole world gets thrown into one at the same time, well needless to say, the world will be in chaos.

What to do in such chaos? Well it depends on what type of chaos. Starvation, a deadly virus, or a world ending calamity.

But what if a new type of chaos appeared, one that caused the world to have no government, no rules, and no laws.

This chaos is basically made for all kinds of people, evil or heroic.

In this chaos, I want to survive, I of course don't want to die. No one wants to.

So I will manipulate who I need to and use anything to survive, that's my way of living and that way will not change even on the brink of death.

I'm not evil, I just use whatever possibility to survive.

And in a world full of chaos, everyone wants to survive. Especially me.

So.

Let's find out.

One inch at a time.

On how I survive this pitiful world of chaos.

***

December 31st 20XX

***

I felt cold, as darkness surrounded my sight.

My body felt heavy from sleeping for a while so I felt it was time to wake up.

I started opening my eyes as a cold wind passed through the alleyway I was in, making me shiver.

A newspaper was on top of my head as I could smell the ink and dirty paper on my face, I reached out and grabbed it before lifting it up.

{December 31st 20XX}

I groaned as I read it and threw it to the side. I don't have any money to sleep in a comfortable place, plus this slum is my best option for someone like me and it was new years.

I plan to meet with Jen around 2 when New York CIty celebrates the new year but I need to get money first and this day was the perfect time for that.

{AN: I honestly don't know how New York celebrates the new year but this aligns with the story so just think of this.}

I got up and bent my back as my handmade bed got messed up from the movement making me sigh.

'I can fix it later, they produce newspapers awfully fast, that date should be today and it's only around morning time, probably around 9am.'

I thought, remembering the date in the newspaper.

I looked around me as the gray stone wall with rusty pipes was on both sides of me, a sound of water droplets sounded near and echoed through the alley as broken down houses were on the outsides of the alley way.

I looked over to the puddle near me which showed itself looking at me, I had dark messy hair and I had black eyes devoid of emotion, I was wearing a dirty shirt and fitting jeans. I was not too tall and was around 5'11, but I was skinny and malnourished with a slightly chiseled face. {Mc looks is posted here and in the chapter section}

'I need to dab on my appearance more but she probably won't mind'

The slum is where I live, people who are the outcasts of society and it was near New York City. Surprisingly, this part of the city was going to be renovated to suit the city, but due to the unstable land and frequent trembling, they decided not to.

I was named Arius by a name tag which was on the basket that I was in when I was a baby. My parents just dropped me off at the orphanage and they also called me a cursed child in the note, it was honestly annoying since I didn't even know what I caused to be called a cursed child. And that note along with my black eyes and hair led the orphanage to call me that too.

From the moment of my birth, I was hated, just because my name meant death and I brought bad luck. The orphanage also thought it was a bother to have such an emotionless child, families just wanted checks for money from having me.

I realized this in my first home, I was abused and even when I told the authorities about it, they laughed it off like a joke. That was the moment I realized I was not needed in the world.

Now this did not change anything, I didn't even mind it, after all it was true so I 'tricked' the family into burning their house down accidentally, just put a gasoline can near a car and match, made the lid open and for some reason a match just fell into the convenient open gasoline container. I won't go into detail but it was fun to watch and I made sure no one could see me when I did it.

It was easy thanks to the male guy trying to adopt me being a smoker and a mechanic mixed with a fire int eh garage, it was so convenient. So here I am, I did not get adopted after that since my reputation as the cursed child grew and I got let out, even with the people accusing me of causing it, there was no evidence.

'Why am I remembering this now? Oh, well. How much money can I make today? Maybe stealing? No.. I need to have someone help me, it's hard enough to do it alone.'

I kept thinking as I stretched for a bit, I was skinny compared to regular people but I kept up with exercises. Just food is hard to come by here and I needed some help to get some new years money for Jen and me. Jen was my childhood friend, the only one who did not care about me being a cursed child and she lived in the same slums as me since we hate laws and manipulate people, so being here is perfect.

I suddenly remembered that there was one person I could use to help me.

I looked up at the boiling sun and decided to use that person. He just settled into the slums, so no connections to people here and he hasn't probably eaten that much since he arrived. I can use that to my advantage.

I looked beside me, it was where I slept and near that area was my black bookbag. I went and opened it to reveal some water bottles and canned food.

'One should be enough for him to trust me, and he is starving, this is perfect,' I thought as I grabbed a water bottle and went out of the alley.

Going down the row of houses with the dirty smell attacking my nose and trampling on the trash litter around. A lot of people eyed me with caution as I hummed along. I lived in the slums for six years. I'm currently 23, took a year to get here though and among the six years I have known how things work here through that I made a reputation.

Although it's a bad reputation but I never minded it, all these people helped at one time and backstabbed me the next so who cares.

Walking along I looked for the old man who recently settled here and found him sitting down eating the last piece of bread he has.

'Three days since he settled and he had no money left and only had two pieces of bread along with a tiny bit of water, good thing I waited, this makes him desperate and if his personality is easy then if I push a little he should accept with some guilt but survival overcomes all'

I thought happily as I approached him and handed the water bottle to him.

I smiled at him as he eyed me with caution as he slowly reached for the water bottle and grabbed it in a hurry, he started gulping it down in a hurry.

I showed a fake smile at the man who gulped down the water like a bottomless pit.

'How should I make this happen? He's desperate and in need of money so it might be easy. But I got to see his personality first.'

While thinking of how to make the old man help me, he finished the water bottle and handed it back to me, as he stood up.

"Thanks kiddo, it's been hard on me these past few days. What's your name?"

His voice was raspy and his teeth were yellow but it seems he's friendly enough.

"Arius, yours?"

"Ronald, thanks Arius but in a place like this why would you waste valuable things like water on a poor man like me?"

I smiled at him warmly "Of course, it wasn't for free. You just need to do something for me. And I promise that you'll get something out of it."

The old man looked at me with seriousness in his eyes like he knew my intentions.

"Look, young man. I don't do any bad dealings."

As he said that my eyes seemed to glare at him for only a second as they returned to their normal look the next second.

"Ronald, listen. To survive here." I stayed silent for a moment. "You got to do some bad things, stealing is the least evil of all of them and you need food, just look at you, imagine just what a wallet could do. You can get filled up, maybe get some blankets and a warm fluffy pillow, imagine it, the warmth when you decide to lay on the cold ground which makes you shiver."

As I said this, Ronald began to imagine it but quickly shook his head.

"Loo-"

I cut him off.

"Listen Ronald, I need food! You need food! So just one time please, no one wants to help me in this place, we both die if we continue this.. so just one time, just once! I beg you!"

I put my hands together and closed my eyes acting like I'm serious.

The old man was in conflict with himself but seeing my 'act' he decided to help once.

"F-Fine, I help but only once! After this go find a part time job and get yourself up from this place, young people shouldn't have to live this way."

I grinned inside my heart as he fell easily to my acting.

I said and the man just smiled.

'I do what I gotta do to survive, although I could probably steal by myself it's nice to have someone you can frame.' I thought as I got up.

"All right! This will be the last time I ever do this so come follow me."

The old man nodded at my words and slowly got up.

"I'm only doing this once, ok?"

He said in a stern tone and I nodded with enthusiasm.

'After you taste the sweet dessert, you want to do this again, everyone does. If we get caught, I just need to blame it on you, a win-win situation.'

I thought to myself as we walked for about thirty minutes before coming upon a whole new world, it was the city full of people walking and wearing different outfits.

'The scent of money.'

I looked at the old man who saw the people going back and forth with expensive clothes and could see eyes of conflict.

'At least he is an easy minded man, if it was a justice type then I would be bickering for a while.'

I ignored his inside conflict and explained how this would work.

"Alright, here it goes, you just need to bump into a man, not a girl, in most cases girl causes more attention than man because of how dirty we are, once you bump into him make sure its to the side near a building, less people might see it, after you bump into him try to keep conversation while I pickpocket him and make sure to keep him agitated, that's the most important step."

"I g-got it."

He was hesitant and I gave him a thumbs up.

It was new year so a lot of money can be taken today so we should be cheerful.

So we executed the plan.

We went as planned with a few mishaps, but in the end I stealthily got a wallet full of cash, if he messed up then I would have blamed him but if not then we would be friends, after all might as well keep him around if he could help me get money everyday.

Going to the slums in high spirits I was excited over the money we got.

"Haha we are rich! There must be over 500 in here, here take some"

I handed him 200$ as I took 50$ dollars out but stopped midway because of a sudden voice.

{Downloading System onto New host}

Suddenly a voice was heard inside my head and then a sudden headache.

'What system!?'

{□È̴̺͖͎̕r̴̞͕͙͒͆̕r̸̦̙͐͝͝o̴͖͙͛̓͆r̴͓̺͍̀̿□, System injection too early. Auto Fixing…Requesting…Access Granted}

Suddenly a wave of pain hit me.

{Injecting aura through body…Acquiring skill {C+:Aura Mantle} to help host handle new aura }

I felt nauseous as a wave of sounds hit my head. The old man from before looked worried as I leaned up against a wall near me, I massaged my temple hoping that it would ease the pain a little bit.

I felt warmth and felt like I could run a mile at the same time.

{Fixing…Complete, You have been selected as one of the Chosen One's.}

{□□È̴̺͖͎̕r̴̞͕͙͒͆̕r̸̦̙͐͝͝o̴͖͙͛̓͆r̴͓̺͍̀̿□ System injected too early, using countermeasures.}

'What the fuck?'

I yelled in my mind as a blue transparent window like in video games appeared.

{Taking life records… Completed: all records have been turned into current skills}

_____________

{Name: Arius.}

{Status: Malnourished, Hungry}

{Lv: 0 {0/1000}

{Achievements: None}

{Class: None}

(Affiliated God Apostle: None)

{Titles: The Cursed Child, Manipulator, The First one.}

{The cursed Child: Cursed from birth but even with that you lived your own life: +5% Stats except for luck which increases by 3%}

{Manipulator: You manipulate who you want while also not getting in trouble: +10% Proficiency in upgrading skills and their proficiency}

{The First One: You were the first one by accident: +10% Quest rewards}

{Standing: Chaos-Neutral}

{Aura: 0/130}

{Gcoins:0}

{Traits:

{Selfishness: You do anything for your own cause: When sacrificing someone or using someone for your own good all rewards in the current quest will be upped by 10%}

{Skills: {E+:Acting(0%)}.{C+: AuraMantle},{D+:Persuasion(0%)}.{S: No mistake},{S+:Observer}{Ex-x: Error, God interface downgraded),(B+: Enduring mind and body){SS: The Early player}

{Note: Some skills have proficiency which will be shown in (0%) once it reaches (100%) that skills could possibly be upgraded or it becomes maxed out and powerful}

{Skill Rankings: F-E-D-C-B-A-S-SX-SS-EX}

{Any letter with - means its an incomplete skill}

{Any letter with a + Means the skill could grow to a higher rating or can combine with another skill}

{Quest: None.}

{Stats:

{Unallocated Stats: 0

{System uses systemized humans as a comparison and not normal humans so most humans will have similar stats to you when being compared}

{Please take into notice that titles and skills are not affecting stats right now, they will when the game starts}

Strength: 9 {Below Average}

{Measures the strength and power you have}

{Agility: 7 (Below Average) }

{Measures how fast you are}

{Intellect: 11 (Below Average) }

{Every 1 turn into 10 mana unless you have items that affect Aura or intellect}

{Aura Compatibility: 3 (Horrible) }

{Aura compatibility is when you use aura, the volume and efficiency of the aura depends on Aura compatibility.}

{Vitality: 5 (Horrible) }

{Measures how fast you can regenerate and how much your body can handle also increases other functions as senses, how the body can handle certain things, and bodily functions}

{Endurance: 7 (Below Average) }

{Measures how well you fend off against both physical and magical attacks.}

{Luck:6 (Horrible) }

{Luck measures items drops and rolls, also affects chance skills}

{Rating: Horrible, the host has the lowest stats. Almost every stats are useless except your intelligent stats, you really used your head too much. That's how horrible these stats are, you just got lucky with the titles and skills}

{Options:}

Item Store:

Item Wheel:

_________________

Seeing the whole screen, I ignored the old man talking to me and just was shocked at this sudden event happening.

{Taking in life records and skills, showing class and beginner skill choices}

{Beginning Classes Opened:}

{Normal Class: Warrior.}

{Normal Class: Mage:}

{Normal Class: Scout:}

{Normal Class: Ranger}

{Beginning Skills opened}

{F:Fire(0%)}

{F:Sense(0%)

{F:Dash(0%)

(F:Block(0%)

Seeing them I was in non-belief at the situation.

'Am I dreaming, what is this!? Fire? Magic like bro and classes? Ugh and injection too early, that means other people will get this if it's real.'

I screamed in my mind, like magic for real who believed that and what's this all about?

{Host choose within ten seconds or an option will be chosen for you}

I just want the voice within my head to stop, my head feels like it's exploding so I did not have the mental capacity to click an option.

I slowly looked at Ronald and pointed at the screen that was in front of me but my movements were sluggish, I needed to confirm that I'm the only one seeing it first.

"Can you see this?"

At my question he shook his head and looked at me, confused.

"You mean the wall?"

That's when I came to the conclusion that no one can see this floating window other than me.

"No… I must be seeing things."

I arch my back as I stood myself from leaning against the wall.

"You.. should get some things for yourself."

"Are you sure? You look pale."

"Yes, You should get going now.. Good job today, I'm fine, I just haven't eaten anything today, also I'm going to meet someone so I have to leave anyway."

{Skills Persuasion and Acting are in effect}

Ronald nodded and looked at his cash before scurrying off.

I still felt like my head was tearing apart, So I closed my eyes and calmed myself down. I was sweating from the headache that I suddenly got but soon both of those went away.

I opened my eyes and still saw the blue screen floating in front of me.

I just sighed before hearing another noise inside my head.

{Host has completed hidden achievement: Hidden Class unlocked by not picking a starting class}

{Rare Class: Negotiator}

{Host has Completed hidden achievement: Hidden Skill Unlocked by not picking a starting skill}

{C-:Aura Veins}

{!: Skills: C-:Aura Veins and C-: Aura mantle, can be merged, do you want to merge them?}

Boxes appeared in front of my face and I just felt like I might have heard too much talk about novels and such before I heard something that sounded like a timer.

{1 hour before New Year begins, tutorial will begin in 1 hour: Randomizing tutorial: Finished...Mutating Zombies:}

{Tutorial will last for Three Weeks: Quest: Survive}

{Rewards and ranking will be decided upon the quest completion and how well you did}

{Game Master of American Servers: Necrosis)

{Starting Countdown {01:00:00}

A bunch of ringing notifications appeared within my head as I read through the messages.

'I need to get to Jen if this is truly real and I'm not going crazy then this world is going to change but it might just be perfect for a crazy bastard like me after all the current world filled with laws are annoying.'

I smiled sinisterly as I slowly went back to the merging question, even if maybe this is just a dream, I might as well try it.

"I accept."

{Merging both skills = {B+: Adapting body of Aura}

I suddenly felt cold as my veins turned red and I couldn't breath.

I grabbed my neck in a rush and tried to breathe but couldn't.

{Reforming Body to accept the skill}

All my bones crack as black ooze slowly came out of my skin and a wretched smell overcame my senses.

Soon pain assaulted my whole body as I laid there twitching and scratching.

It took ten minutes for the horrid pain to stop and two minutes for me to gain my senses.

'This is... really real'

I thought as I felt more powerful than before, feeling it when I clenched my fist.

I also became skinnier.

{Vitality increased from a 5 to a 8}

{Implementing hidden class to fit host: Negotiator}

{Rare Class: Negotiator: All people you talk to can be persuaded more easily by 20%. Items and Rolls cost 10% less, increasing intellect and luck by 3 points. Skills given: C: Contract: Can make a contract that will bound people and yourself by an oath, if they or you break that oath then they shall receive the punishments written on paper, it does not work on monsters and cannot be forced upon the person}

{C: Contract: Can only be used once a month, can be used to take the skills of the other person if they break the oath also the contract cannot be anything, it has to have limitations which is fair for both parties. Aura Cost: 100 Cooldown: 1 month}

I sighed and checked my skills

{Passive Skill E+:Acting(0%), You can act and fool some dumb people.: Effects: Improves acting by 10%)

{Passive Skill D+:Persuasion{0%) You can persuade people easily. Effects: increases you charm and persuasion abilities by 5%)

{Activational Skill S :No mistake: If facing something that is a chance or percent then you could possible use this skill to make that chance 100%:Aura Cost: 0 Cooldown: 1 month}

{Activation Cost S+:Observer: When using this skill, you can see the other person's status window and through the host's wishes can only see the information he wants. : Aura Cost: 1 per a second. Cooldown: none)

{Passive Skill: Adaptable Body of Aura B+: A body that circulates, and absorbs aura much better then normal humans, can also adapt to certain areas and attacks: Effects: +100 Aura Capacity +5 Aura per a minute +10% Vitality, Endurance, Agility, and Strength.

(Passive Skill: Enduring Mind and Body B+: Your body and mind has endured a lot, this skill allows you to adapt and feel more use to new things while your body can get used to pain and new environments faster. Effects: +5% Vitality and Endurance, Agility, and Strength . Helps adaptability and enduring new events.: Aura cost: none. Cooldown: None)

{Passive Skill: The Early Player SS: You were the first player to receive the system causing this skill to originate: Effect: You learn everything faster by 20%, skills proficiency increase faster by 20% and All stats increase 10% faster when doing things that can increase them}

(Activational Skill: God Interface -EX: Error…..System registers you as a new god due to many error variables….Host can access god interface but cannot directly mess up the game or choose a player to make an Apostle, however host can talk with gods and access chat groups and map options, can also go as a anonymous user and talk to other gods personally : Aura Cost: None Cooldown: None)

Seeing all the skills and information from what I have seen so far, it seems the world has become a game for gods which means it might be the perfect world for me.

I then realized I felt more healthy than before and I'm much more calm.

'If this is true then I'm really lucky to get the EX rank skill even if it's incomplete. It will allow to me to spy on these so called gods and get some information'

While thinking this I slowly went to an area in the slums as I heard the timer countdown slowly before arriving upon a house which seemed better than nearby ones.

I slowly and hesitantly knocked on the old door twice to hear a girl.

"Who's there?"

A beautiful voice sounded from the house, it had power behind it and a scary tone but that just sounded like the normal her.

"Hey Jen, it's me Arius."

After I said that I heard a bunch of noise before the door opened abruptly.

"Hey Arius! Did you ge-"

She stopped mid sentence as she saw my withered figure.

"Are you ok!? Come in come in!"

She got behind me and pushed me in and then pushed me into a chair.

I looked up after getting pushed down to see a slender girl wearing a tight black shirt with a few rips around the stomach area and wearing old jeans. She had small breasts which was shown by the tightness of the ripped shirt. Her structure was slender but not too small as she was 5'7 only four inches shorter than me.

Her pure black eyes with flowing blonde hair that seemed to be messy and her light white skin matched her perfectly.{Her image here but imagine black eyes and how we imaged her}

"Jen, you need a new shirt.."

I said plainly at seeing the state of her shirt.

"We both know how hard it is to get a nice shirt without wasting too much money, but why are you like that and have you gotten skinnier, stay right there I should have some chicken noodle soup leftovers from last night, just sit here and I get some food ready for you."

She then turned around not caring about my opinion and went into the kitchen.

I saw her and tried to use the skill observer by activating the skill within my mind

(Registering Jen, no system yet making incomplete one with the host intentions)

{When observing 1 aura will be taken per a sec, you currently have over 100 aura}

After that I saw her status.

——————

(Name: Jen)

{Status: Concerned}

{Lv:0. 0/1000Exp}

{Achievements: None}

{Class: None}

(Titles: The crazy one: The loving one)

{The crazy one: Since birth has always been a little crazy, feels no empathy for those who annoy her: +10% Stats}

{The loving one: To those who accept her and don't look at her with luscious eyes: She boost those people's stats by 10% but only when she feels comfortable with them}

(Skills: (C+: Bloody June:),(D: Calm killer),(S: Natural fighter and killer),(A+ Aura DNA)(B+: Perfect Bond)(A: Fast Adapter)(E+: Cook(0%)){SS+: Demonic Blood Body(0%)}

{Passive: Bloody June: At the time of night: all stats increase by 5%}

{Passive: Calm Killer: In front of situations of blood or death, she shall not feel any discomfort}

{Passive: Natural Fighter and Killer: She find no problems with killing and get use to fighting very quickly: Effects: +10% Stats and when fighting something, she adapt to their style faster than normal people along with finding their weak points easier also have sixth sense}

{Passive: Aura Dna: The dna of the body is in synchronization with Aura: Effects: Aura is used 20% better, +10 Aura per a minute: +200 Aura Capacity: Other effects:}

{Activational: Perfect Bond: Can make a bond with someone increasing each others stats by 10% and can increase upon increased relationship but if one person dies, so does the other one}

{Passive: Fast Adapter: Adapts to everything very fast, if its skills or aura, even fighting, this person can adapt to everything}

{Passive: Cook: You can cook food very well}

{Passive Demonic Blood Body: When seeing a volume of blood, all stats increase by 5% and you go into a berserker form rendering all emotions useless: Strength and Agility Increase by 10% when against human opponents and 20% against monster opponents: Agility and Strength, Endurance, and Vitality are increased by 10%}

(Contacts: None)

{Party: None}

{Aura: 0/0 None since system has not been injected into this host}

{Trait:

{Yandere: possess the traits of a yandere: Plus 10% stats when wanting to skills someone trying to hurt her source of affection}

{Stats:

{Stats are not affected by skills until the game starts}

{Stats also affect certain things as explained in intellect, classes might need a certain number of one stats or some things can be un looked by having a number of one stat}

{Strength: 14 {Average}

{Note: Measures the strength and power you have}

{Agility: 15 {Average}

{Note: Measures how fast you are}

{Intellect: 8 {Below Average}

{Note: every 1 turn into 10 mana unless you have items, also helps with learning, understanding, and raising the proficiency of skills along with unlocking certain things like classes and so on}

{Aura Compatibility: 14 (Above-Average}

{Note: Aura compatibility is when you use aura, the volume and efficiency of the aura depends on Aura compatibility.}

{Vitality: 10 {Below Average}

{Measures how fast you can regenerate and take damage}

{Endurance: 10 {Below Average}

{Measures how well you fend off against both physical and magical attacks.}

{Luck:13 {Average}

{Luck measures items drops and rolls, also affects chance skills}

{Ratings: Her overall stats is excellent for a non-player and very rare to have such good aura compatibility, she will make it big one day, unlike Arius this majestic woman is more talented than you, she has a future but her talent for cooking is none but she will make a fine fighter someday.}

_________________

'Fucking hell, she's a monster, and whats with this fucking system ratings! Anyways I know she's scary since most people here dare not to mess with her, she has handmade bats with nails and knives all around. She is also the only person nice to me here because she is a childhood friend from the orphanage and I can say for certain I would not blame her or frame her, that's why I normally don't ask her to help me get food or money.'

"Did someone hurt you, Arius? If they did just tell me who, I would make sure they never do it again…"

Her voice was dead serious and her eyes had a red glare as I just took the money from my pocket and placed it on the table.

"Nothing like that, just came across something that needed your help, but I don't know if you believe me."

'Yandere huh, she does possess traits of one, hmm am I her affection? I don't mind but during this soon to come game I need to worry about other stuff.'

I thought silently.

She came over and sat a bowl of chicken noodle soup in front of me.

"I would believe anything you say, after all why would you lie to me."

She said with unfazed eyes as she handed me a fork.

Hearing her I smiled.

"Well, the world might just turn into the perfect place for us."

As I said that my smile turned into a sinister smile as she seemed intrigued, not minding my smile.

"How so?"

I looked to my side and smiled.

{Countdown has been complete, welcome everyone as a new years befalls you}

Suddenly a huge impact spread throughout the world and a sudden influx of aura spread throughout the world while some people on a higher plain watched from above with panels similar to the systems.

"The fun finally started."

A person in darkness said and the other beings agreed as they sat down on black chairs.

They were gods.