"Arck!" A sharp gasp tore through my mouth, and I woke up... again.
"Tsk." I clicked my tongue in annoyance. "What happened now?" I muttered, feeling my head pounding relentlessly.
"Where am I now?" I asked aloud, though the answer seemed to be painfully obvious.
It seems I'm still here.
"Haah..." I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "But where exactly IS here?" I asked the one question that had been bugging me for so long.
[Artens]
"Oh, I see… WAIT! WHAT?!"
Now I was dumbfounded for two reasons. First, it was impossible to be in Artens right now—that place was literally thousands of miles away from Arenford, which was just a short distance from the capital. And second… the voice.
"Who was that?!" I asked, though I had a rough idea.
[I don't know… I seriously don't.]
"Wait… come again?" I raised an eyebrow.
[I... can't remember anything... and I don't know why.]
Wait... is it messing with me? This isn't funny.
"Are you in my head?"
[I think...]
".... You think?"
[.... Yes?]
"Are you... a system, like in those fantasy novels?"
[What does that mean?]
"Okay... I will take that as a yes,"
[.... Okay?]
"So... you know nothing"
[... I just said that,]
"... Hahaha... This is fucking ridiculous!" I laughed in anger.
How and why does this keep happening to me?!
How can I have a system that doesn't know anything?! That's literally impossible!
"But… you just said Artens, right? How do you know that?" I suddenly realized in the midst of my frustration.
[I don't… the information's just... there.]
Its response made no sense. It knows things but also knows nothing? Great. I got a dud.
[I am not a dud, you fool.]
... Did it just call me that?!
'Wait... come to think of it… you sound awfully human. Shouldn't you be more like an AI?'
[I. Don't. Know!]
Now it sounded irritated.
Well, isn't this just great.
"Perhaps I should be the system, while you become me, since you seem more annoyed than I am about this situation!" I yelled, thoroughly annoyed. Why the hell was it irritated? I'm the one stuck with a worthless, trashy system that knows nothing!
[Fuck you.]
"..."
Well, thank you.
It looks like you can at like nag.
[Well... are you any better? With those stats, you might as well commit suicide and save me the trouble. At least then I could go back to wherever I came from… or better yet, get a useful user.]
"..."
"Haah... fine. At least, can you tell me why I ended up in this world?" I asked, lifting my head to face the sky as the mosaic of light splintered across my face.
It was already noon. Crazy.
Does this mean I slept through the entire morning? Probably.
[Well, yes... I think I can.] The system responded, sounding a little hesitant.
[You are the representative of the goddess Venera.]
"Hm, I see… WAIT! WHAT?!"
[Yes, a goddess]
A goddess?!
But...
...WHY?!
"Haah." I sighed again, rubbing my temples as I tried to wrap my head around the situation.
WHY DID I BECOME A RESPRESNTAIVE?!
[Well... it's a bit complicated to explain... and for some reason, I feel like the information I have isn't the whole story.]
"What do you mean?" I asked.
[The information I'm receiving doesn't seem complete. It's as if I'm being intentionally fed—]
The system cut off suddenly.
"Huh?" I blinked, alarmed. "Hey... what happened to you?" I asked, a bad feeling creeping over me.
[Ding!]
[It seems you do not have sufficient privileges to learn more about your situation.]
"What?!"
[Endeavor to level up to gain more privileges.]
[Ding!]
[Side Quest:
There is no adventure without a little confrontation with death.
Objective: Attend the Academy.
Reward: 150 LP.
Penalty: You don't want to know.
Time: 400:11:45:32]
"What the hell is this?"
[Your quest... and by the way, you should probably try to earn more LP. You're literally running out of life.]
"Huh?"
[Lifepoints.]
[1 LP = 1 day to live.]
[User's total LP: 38.]