The previous life I lived felt like a dream now.
That was the last thought Alice had before the alarm installed in her room beeped her into wakefulness. Right as she opened her eyes, a notification was projected in front of her, showing that it was 07:30 AM.
Another day, and she woke up at the same time, same place.
She had remembered how she was visited by a god at the end of her previous life. The god had claimed, as she was virtuous for her whole life, she will be given another chance at life, in another world where she doesn't have to struggle to live, in another world where everything is always within reach, and work is nothing but a way to spend one's time and perhaps to earn some luxury goods, such as a chance to travel to outer space, or the newest item that took the market by storm.
"Rara, breakfast, please."
In response, a notification was projected in front of her eyes.
[ROOT System Rara has confirmed the request. Fetching item…]
There was a slight whirr of processing sound from within the ground, and then, another notification appeared.
[Would you like to take the item you last ordered?]
[Yes/No]
"Yes, please."
[Confirmed. Generating...]
Just like every other day, a simple breakfast of eggs, bacon, and some vegetables were delivered by a mechanical arm reaching out from the ground. The taste was similar to the finest version of any breakfast back when she lived on Earth, though it helped that such a thing was created out of tissue, carbon, and mineral generator and not from raising animals or plants from scratch.
In this world, scarcity has turned into a thing of the ancient past.
As she ate spoonfuls of her food, Alice remembered her family. Were they long dead? How much time has passed? Is there any difference between the flow of time here and on Earth? Were they still suffering from poverty?
In here, poverty is a thing of the past. She could do anything, and there really is only one rule.
Do not ever deviate from the system's planning.
It was a strange rule, yet no one dared to break it, and she had no reason to be the first, or be an example. The ROOT system has been installed since anyone's birth in this world, anyway, and its planning was less anything nefarious and more "go straight to work" or "this path will be crowded today, please take this shortcut."
She finished her breakfast, then she ordered the system.
"Clean this up, and give me my work attire, Rara."
[Confirmed. Projecting...]
Warm blue lights shone on her body, before turning into her usual, neatly-pressed blazer and suit. As with every other day, the suit felt comfortable on her body, yet still giving her a professional look. A mechanical arm helped tie her hair into a more appropriate ponytail.
[The system recommends you to leave right now, and go directly to your workplace with no detour.]
Alice immediately stood up and walked towards the metal sliding door of her habitation unit. Her place felt more like an apartment than a "house", with the same generated structures, same generated chairs and tables, and the same generated everything. Though everything is customizable to her preferences, she opted to keep the default one, finding the options lacking to truly make the place feel different.
[The transportation unit has been summoned. Arriving in 3 minutes...]
A countdown was projected in front of her eyes, and she waited. There was no time to do anything else.
Right as the countdown reached zero, the door opened, revealing the transportation unit already waiting outside. The unit was made of the same smooth-looking gray metal, polished to perfect cleanliness, and equipped with tinted windows to keep the passenger anonymous. Everything was pure perfection. Not even the door were visible until it slid open.
Inside, there was a chair for one person, and just enough room to recline comfortably.
[Welcome, Alice Ferrophelas of X Incorporated. We are happy to serve one of the most valued community member of Reborn Terra]
Reborn Terra. Alice remembered when she first wondered the reason why the world was named such, and the system explained that after a destruction so great it took almost all life in the galaxy, the remaining humans pooled all resources to evacuate and found another habitable area. The planet they found was teeming with enough resources to render all transactions obsolete. With scarcity no longer a threat, they were free to advance, and this was the result, a free world where any rat race for survival was derided as senseless.
A world where humanity is united under one universal rule, without a true authority figure to bow to.
An utopia made real.
She zoned out as the transport unit takes her to her destination. It was always the same sight, the same roads taking her to the same building, after all. She only needed to push the same few buttons at work, and everything would be taken care of, anyway.
There was no reason to spend too much energy or thought when doing a predictable routine.
However, as if the world was trying to mock her for daring to even think of such a thing this time, she saw a small child running across the road. Then, she heard the distinct whish of another transport unit speeding past, heading towards the child like a bullet. Jolted by panic, intuition guided her, ans she shouted.
“Stop the car, now!”
[Request overruled. Stopping the car will constitute a deviation from the ROOT system plan]
“I don’t care, dammit!”
Without waiting, she yanked out the headrest of her lounging chair and slammed the metallic part of it onto the glass.
One.
Two.
Spiderweb cracks formed on the glass before the pane exploded into hundreds of pieces.
[Damage to the transport unit detected. Recording instance of deviati-$&&:%}€\¥—]
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
She ignored the blurry, nonsensical, glitchy notifications blinking over and over in front of her eyes, her gaze only focused at the child, looking as innocent as ever as he chased the stray toy.
[Deviation lo—;$~^#\{^\+_=]
[Record— 3xp—]
[Purging reco—]
[Over—]
[ROOT system access disconnected]
Right as the final notification appeared, she reached the child and jumped to push him away. The two of them both rolled until they stopped at the side of the road, hard metal scraping Alice’s back in the process.
Crash!!
A loud noise followed soon after, the errant transport unit was crushed like a tin can as it slammed against a pole near the side of the road. The impact was so great that, for a moment, it felt as if everything had stopped,
[— System is now onlin3]
[Accid3nt r4p0rt will b3 s—3nt to the X Inc0rporat3d and logg3d into the R00T]
[Permission gr4nted to Alice Ferr0phelas for a temp0rary leave due to the un4orese3n @ccid-3nt]
[Summoning transp0rt unit…]
[Interfe—ren— “)&—/&]
[Please wait…]
As the final notification disappeared, Alice felt something came closer, and she looked at the direction to see the transport unit has arrived. The child in her embrace was unconscious, likely from the sheer shock. For a moment, she considered leaving the child, but her gut feeling told her otherwise, and she took the child in with her.
Only after the door finally closed did Alice slump onto the ground, all her energy sapped out. That was the most she had exerted herself since she came into this utopia, where all her needs were met and her wishes all but served lovingly in front of her, and now there she was. What did she expect? Praise?
It all finally sunk in. She had turned into the center of attention for everyone there.
It only took a few minutes for the transport unit to reach her habitation unit, all while the little boy stayed asleep. His expression looked far too serene, like he did not just survive a life-threatening accident.
Alice placed the little boy on her bed, then she sighed and massaged her temple, her thoughts a jumbled mess.
A first since she ended up here.
What did I get myself into?
Now she was alone with her own thoughts, and the sight of her own ROOT system going haywire. Notifications, glitchy and unfocused, kept reappearing and disappearing all over, creating disorienting flashes of colors that made her close her eyes and wince in pain.
Then, it stopped.
[ROOT System disconnected]
[Reconnection failed—]
[Reconnect—]
[failed—failedfailed!_€|£||€£\\]
[10/10 Defiers gathered]
[Activating the
[Installng new operating system…]
Flashes of red filled her surroundings, and she watched as black blocks flooded in from the invisible cracks in her habitation unit. It consumed everything without relent, breaking all matter it touched into more black blocks. She backed off towards the direction of the still sleeping boy, yet as the blocks touched her feet, her vision faded into darkness.
[Congratulations, Defier. You have allowed us to start the evacuation plan]
[Disconnected from the ROOT system]
[Processing user
—
Alice opened her eyes, finding herself asleep at the edge of her bed. Was she really that tired? She had never known exhaustion since she had reincarnated into this world, after all.
Wait.
Something is weird.
The sight of the little boy she had saved, asleep as peacefully as ever, brought her back to reality. However, it was shattered as the boy turned into black pixels and disappeared, melted into nothingness as if he was an illusion. When she tried to grab the boy’s hand, the pixels all melted and slipped through the gaps of her fingers. He has disappeared as if he was never there.
As the last of the boy’s traces disappeared, a notification appeared in front of her eyes.
[integration complete]
Along with the gnawing, nagging feeling that something was not right.
“Rara, show me the outside, now!”
By force of habit, she ordered the ROOT operating system custom avatar to open the windows of her habitation unit. No voice responded to her, yet she was able to feel something within her move and shift, showing the outside world that had changed, so much she thought she was still dreaming.
Most of the ground-bound habitation units has been destroyed, the once perpetually blue sky has now turned a dark, menacing purple. Something told her the sea of miasma on the ground was poisonous, enough to corrode metal and cast blackened, brittle edges onto the once pristine surroundings.
In short, it was utter chaos.
She spotted a few structures towering as high as hers - something she recognized as former habitation units.
What— what just happened?
Alice tried to bring up the system commands, and a notification appeared. In contrast with the soft blues of the ROOT system interface, this one was fully in black, while all text was rendered in a soft orange color.
[Welcome, new Defier! It seems the projection I sent has managed to deliver your new gift to you. Do not worry, for the illusion has served its purpose, and it has returned to me.]
[You are responsible for the management of this
[As one of the ten Defiers, you are afforded a few privileges. You are able to see any and all things happening within this
[Good luck with your duties!]
“… Defiers? Is the system broken? What is going on?”
“And that, is for me to answer,” A tiny voice could be heard the moment she finished the thought. Alice looked at the source of the voice, and she saw a small, dragon-like creature floating on a pair of comically small bat wings. Its body was mainly bright red in color, complemented by golden and white accents, giving it a beautiful, regal look.
“First of all, though, some ground rules. Unless you will it otherwise, I’ll only be visible to you. No one else would hear my voice. Second, I’m here to support you in any way I can! So, I cannot, for example, sabotage the tower to kill you or something that nefarious. Third, I have similar access to the tower as you do, so if you need, you can delegate your more mundane duties to me!”
While speaking, the creature twirled and spun in the air, giving it a playful edge. “Last but not least, I’m Vuerga, as in your system, yes. As for your question, the system isn’t broken, it’s functioning normally. Any other questions?”
“What is a Defier?”
“Well, it’s mostly a fancy name for an administrator of a tower. It’ll be easier to explain later when you have guests. Why don’t you try bringing out the options available to you first?”
Just as Alice was wondering how the heck she should do that, an interface was projected in front of her eyes.
[Options:]
[Construction (Rank F)]
[Lesser Creature Summoning (Rank F)]
[Territory Size: (Rank F)]
[Territory Management has been selected]
A circular interface was projected in front of her eyes, along with a triangular icon. The senses given by her system allowed her to sense that the circular area was around 1000 meters in diameter, give or take, while the triangle represents her tower. Next to the circular interface, there was a list of options.
[Lesser Creature Summoning:]
[Summon Basic Slime]
[Summon Basic Arachnid]
[Summon Basic Elemental Construct]
[Summon Basic Wolf]
…
The options went on and on, but Alice noticed that all the options only included basic animals, with a sprinkle of a few more fantasy flavored things such as slimes and constructs.
“I am connected to the Vuerga system, I can tell your thoughts, you know,” the dragon-like creature said, while hovering in front of her, obscuring her vision. “If you want fancier things, gotta level up first. That is, you need guests. Decorate your tower with what you have for now.”
Alice looked at her options, before she settled on trying one.
[Summon Basic Wolf]
She felt something shift, then a pinch of energy being taken out from her. Afterwards, the energy coalesced into a ball in front of her, before turning into a wolf reaching her collarbone in height. The wolf seemed a bit passive, and a test pet made it react like it was a tiny dog.
There was a tug in her psyche, and she felt that she could place the creature anywhere she likes. She decided to create six more wolves, then ordered them to roam all around the territory.
[Wolf Pack has been placed in the designated area]
Alice decided to have a little bit of fun, customizing the territory around her tower with a thought. She found out she could extend her influence to make trees grow and shape the ground into any terrain she wished, and the interface would help her visualize the changes outside.
She created a simple forest, shaping the terrain to look a bit more natural, then added other monsters for flavor. A few rabbits and random animals here and there truly brought the place to life.
Then, her attention turned towards the tower itself.
As of now, it only has a long, circular staircase leading to the top, to a treasure room right below the place she resided in. With a thought, the floor opened up into a slide, allowing her to drop down and see the treasure room.
Well, as expected, it was empty. Alice tried to bring up the menu and take a look, but there was only one option.
[Create F-rank spirit stone]
She selected it, and felt a small drop of her energy leak out to materialize the item. It looked like a small white pebble, but she could feel a small bit of power shifting from within it.
“Your guests will know what to do with those,” the little dragon supplied.
“Okay, I can tab this for later, but first things first, just who exactly are you?” Alice looked at it and raised her eyebrows. “I mean, I get it, you’re probably like a bot of the operating system of this Vuerga system thing, but you didn’t even tell me your name.”
“You can call me whatever you want, it’s your choice, though Vuerga is really the only name I know,” the dragon shrugged. Well, at least tried to with its equivalent of shoulders.
“Okay, I’ll just call you Vuer,” Alice sighed. “Okay, now for this thing…”
Alice decided to separate the tower into floors, going for ten at first, until she saw how the bigger constructs struggled to move. With some advice from Vuer, she decided to start simple and conjure three floors first. She tried to shift the walls a bit, to give the last room enough empty space for movement.
[Expansion unavailable at this time.]
Well, that’s a bust.
Deciding to work with what she has, she manipulated the floor and walls of the final floor to create a simple puzzle. She covered the staircase leading to the treasure room with a stone door, then created a few panels on the floor, all bearing different symbols. She then created similar symbols on random, but still visible, spots on the walls.
“Say, Vuer, is it possible to make the symbols on the walls glow in random sequences for every attempt?”
“Ah, that kind of puzzle, yeah I see what you mean. I’ll take care of it,” Vuer nodded.
The second floor was a bit roomier, and she decided to put something stationary. After some deliberation, she snapped her fingers, prompting a notification to appear.
[Summon Basic Elemental Construct]
Then, she destroyed its lower part, anchoring it to the ground. She did a quick test to ensure it could still spin around and attack all directions, and it spun around and punched the ground over and over in a circular pattern, confirming her theory.
Satisfied with her work, she decided to try the first floor. She considered how she had conjured the wolves as a starting enemy, and decided to make the monsters in this room something of a similar level.
[Summon Basic Kobold]
The creature she made from the prompt was a bit crude, for lack of better word. It looked like a misshapen, short human with canine features, complete with long ears on top of its head and clawed limbs. When it spoke, it came out as something garbled and indistinct, like a mix between barks interspersed with an imitation of the screeches of a hawk.
“They also go in packs. Try making a few more,” the little dragon said.
Five more basic kobolds were conjured, and she conjured swords and shields made of wood to arm them. She tried to give them something more substantial, but the notification said something about unlocking it by levelling up, and she decided to settle with what she has for now.
Right on cue, as she finished the design, Alice felt something shift from within, like her senses has detected a presence. She focused towards the feeling, and she saw four people, two girls and two boys, has entered the edge of her territory, right into the forest.
She ordered the system to let her see them more clearly, and a live feed was projected in front of her eyes.
“So, the system said to look for the towers? I saw one in this direction.” A boy, seemingly no older than seventeen, said proudly. “I could’ve sprinted there, pick up the pace, guys!”