Give Me Wings

Seated on a chair facing a balcony, Samuel took a cigarette and lit it, looking at the street below from his seat. He took a deep breath before sighing as he watched.

"I'm beginning to think investing my late teens and early twenties to that job might not have been the best idea."

The black-haired man of average height said before standing up upon hearing the sound of something hitting against the glass.

"Alright, alright, calm down all of you. I'll feed you in just a moment."

He quickly made his way downstairs, where several reptiles were caged. two snakes, an iguana, two chameleons, a baby crocodile, and a tortoise were all in different cages, all simultaneously banging their heads against the glass containers out of order, immensely perplexing Samuel at their behavior. He had assumed they were merely hungry, but they looked and acted like they were incredibly distressed by something he could not figure out.

All of a sudden, he would feel an immense shockwave spread through the room, which broke the glass and sent the man and his scaly companions crashing into a wall, and it was lights out right then and there.

Not even five minutes later, the man awakens while clutching his head in pain, his foggy eyes barely able to focus on the big blue screen before him.

[You are the 5th being to awaken after the world update. As such, you shall be granted a 3 privileges.

1. A chance to earn a high rank class.

2. One Rare rank item of the user's choosing.

3. One chance to change your $&-#@*+ when you reach level 20.]

The man looked at the text in front of him with great confusion, before taking a deep breath while his sight regained its clarity. He quickly stood up before asking a question, unsure if he would be heard.

"System? Should I call you that? What's happening right now?"

[Step outside.]

Samuel decided to do what it told him, but as he was walking to the door, a deafening roar made him freeze up in fear, followed by several loud crashes that shook the house with their magnitude.

'Not happening! If I step outside I'm getting torn to pieces by the things there!'

Samuel quickly turned back and took a seat next to his unconscious reptiles, deciding to check their conditions now that he could do so. Thankfully, all of them were only unconscious, so he could breathe a sigh of relief.

"System, tell me how I can earn that class."

[Kill the highest level creature you can find, preferrably above level 5.]

"Could I perhaps ask about how strong a level 5 creature is?"

[A level 5 human can crush a wood log into bits. A level 5 lion can cut through bone like it's butter.]

'So it's asking me to go on a suicide mission... Wait. Did it say level 5 creature?'

"So it just has to be a living thing higher than level 5? Anything works? How about a cockroach?"

[...Yes.]

"Hey hey hey hey what's with the reluctance in that answer? I can literally see the points before your answer."

[It is simply your imagination, user.]

The system appeared to have some sass programmed into it. Maybe he wasn't talking to a monotone AI, but a person sitting behind a screen watching every user that wakes up.

"One more question. Do I have the right to use any method to kill this monst- creature?"

[1. You are not allowed to be in a party with another creature.

2. You may not level up and only the first creature you kill counts. All damage has to be dealt by you, the surroundings, or a tool.

3. You must leave at least a wound on your enemy by a direct attack.]

"So I can't party with people or take advantage of a fight... Alright."

Samuel took a deep breath before making his way to the garage after leaving his pets on a couch. He hoped that his car still worked, and as bad as this idea seemed, attracting every hostile being with the sound of his car, it was probably his best bet at killing a killing machine, but he would not use it for that unless it was the worst case scenario.

"Please work, please work."

He begged, before giving a sigh of relief at the rev of the engine of his old 2009 car, shutting it off after a moment. As he got out of the car, an idea suddenly popped into his mind.

"I should go scout for- oh, my second privilege. System, tell me what I can ask for."

[It's self explanatory.]

"Yeah but what's the standard of a Rare item?"

[A kitchen knife or a crowbar count as common items, uncommon items are items that only provide a stat boost, and Rare items have 1 skill with them, along with 2 or more stat boosts. There are exceptions to this however, such as when the item is too extraordinary for its level, in which it will only retain the function that it was made for. Note that you may not take back your choice after it is made, or if it suffers any damage after the delivery.]

After reading the wall of text that appeared before him, Samuel began to wonder about what would be best in this situation. Maybe a sword to ensure an easier kill? Don't know how to use it. Wildly swinging it against a beast of such strength would be unwise. Maybe a flail or a mace? Decent, but probably not worth it in the long run.

The man deliberated several choices while leaning a wall for over an hour, before finally coming to a decision.

"Give me wings that I can control like my own body."

Was the choice that he came to after much hesitation. He'd thought about storage rings, magic manuals, and countless other tools. He decided to not go for a fully offensive plan and picked an escape plan as a backup instead. And to not be given wings he couldn't use, he added the last part, unsure if it would affect the results.

[Searching for "wings that I can control like my own body" in database. Please wait...]

[Please wait...]

[Found 4 results. Picking the one most suitable for the user's current situation.]

As the system finished its words, Samuel would see four wings materialize on the text box. The wings looked like they were cut out of the starry night sky, putting their new owner into a trance he would only snap out of once the text box changed again.

[All-Purpose Combat wings (Growth type): Created by the Unlimited Dimensions Trading company, these wings are designed to be the only thing their user needs, with options to fly, be used as clothing, or as a weapon.]

"These seem way too good to be merely Rare rank."

[User will understand once he puts them on. Reach into the screen before you to do so.]

Samuel could only shrug before reaching his hand into the text box. The moment he did so, he felt an excruciating pain that made him scream against his will.

"Okay okay I get it. How do I- Argh! remove them?"

[Impossible to remove. Please wait for the integration to finish.]

Samuel tried to stay as quiet as he could to not attract unwanted trouble, but the wings digging into his flesh and tearing his clothes open were too painful to stay quiet.

After what felt like an eternity, Samuel, sweaty and exhausted could finally stand up again as the wings on his back had wrapped around his body like clothes.

"What am I, a mummy?"

[Detected user to have used all of the privileges he can use now. Please activate your next privilege within three days or it will be revoked.]

As it said so, one final vibration shook the earth as the roaring ceased. One of the beasts outside had triumphed over its opponents, and he felt like he was next on the chopping block if he didn't get out soon.