>> Welcome, The Emitter! Would you like a tutorial of the user interface?

[YES] or [YES]

Aster smiles thinly and sensing a running theme, she clicks on ‘YES’ once more.

>> Excellent! Please wait a moment.

Soon a simple progress bar appears on the screen, replacing the message box. The progress bar is slowly inching closer to the right and Aster can’t help shaking her head. Seems like even in this world, progress bars are still as bad as ever.

>> 45%...68%...99%...100%!

As soon as the progress bar reaches completion, the screen transitions, like blinds being open, into a whole ‘nother scene. Like a menu screen of a videogame, there were little icons that were neatly organized on the left and right side of the screen. In the middle of the screen was what looked like a character card of a familiar being that has Aster furrowing her brows. It was the shadowed figure from the drawing she picked up earlier. Here, it was simplified into a sprite of sorts, only showing the upper half of its body. It had its palms open in front of its chest, holding what looked like the blackhole surrounded by the white ring that sunk into her own palms earlier. Under the image were bolded fluorescent words, triggering a hint of apprehension and interest in her.

The Empyrean? Aster hums, contemplating what it could mean. If she remembers correctly, in her world, it was a term for the place highest in heaven. In other words, the dwelling space of a god. A shiver runs down her spine as she continues to stare at the shadowed being. It was no coincidence that it appeared twice now, first in that disturbing drawing and now on the garish, gold screen.

She curiously hover her finger above the image and tap its head. She watches as animated stars burst from the tap and couldn’t resist tapping it a few more times, laughing in amusement. Coughing and getting back on track, she glances over to the little icons before clicking on one that says ‘Abilities’. It takes her to another screen where it displays what she assumes was an explanation of her new-found abilities.

[Singularity] D-rank (EX)

// An undefined, astronomical object. Anything in its path is reduced from the value of x to zero. (It is a young existence that neither knows good nor bad; it only knows hunger and greedily fills the void left in it by its creator, ⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀. )

Aster tilts her head at the ranking and the extra information in the parentheses. It was strange that the blackhole was ranked so low when it literally destroyed her whole kitchen and caused her body to literally combust into flames. It was even powerful enough to explode flesh and grow flesh back rapidly. Perhaps then, the letter next to its rank represents its real potential. What fascinates her is that idea that it was alive and hungry, and thinking back to how it acted before, it may as well be accurate. She looks at the other abilities.

[Event Horizon] D-rank (EX)

// A boundary around [Singularity] from which nothing can escape it, even light itself. A point of no return. (Born out of necessity, this existence is quite loyal to its creator and is entrusted to capture the creator’s errors. It is also referred to as ⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀’s Ring; a promise between the Bright One and the Protector.)

Again, that mysterious being’s name was censored. While all its other titles were given freely—and there was an abundance of titles—the fact that its real name was hidden must mean something was preventing her from knowing it. ‘Why’ was left unsaid. Connecting everything from the shadowed being, to the voice, and to her new-found abilities gave her a puzzle still missing its pieces. Another ability catches her silver eyes, ironically.

[Eyes of ⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀] D-rank (EX)

// Allows the user to see quasar threads, traces left behind by Truth. These quasar threads are more commonly known as the seeds of Truth. (A mark of ⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀’s omniscience; with its eyes, the user can see pass lies and the illusions of the world. It can also sense the exact emotional state of others. But with knowledge comes greater pain, so take caution.)

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Aster narrows her eyes at the last part, feeling perturbed. Although she was no stranger to pain and having gone through the wringer earlier, it still isn’t great to hear that the continuous usage of her ability would cause pain. Regardless, the voice said that Aster needs to uncover the seeds of Truth in order to see it again. Maybe by then, she would get a name and all the answers to her appearance in this world. Of course, she could demand to know now and see if the voice would respond, but assuming she’s dealing with a powerful deity, she’ll likely get killed for disrespect. Something tugs in the back of her mind that says the deity wouldn’t kill her. She elect to click out of the ‘Abilities’ screen instead of addressing this delusion. She then clicks on the ‘Profile' icon and is greeted by an overwhelming amount of information.

[Aster Klein] D-rank (???) | “Little Star”, “The Emitter”...

- Status -

EXP: 410/500

HP: 450 + {5}

ATK: 300 + {5}

DEF: 150 + {6}

MP: 50 + {7 + 5 + XXX}

- Attributes -

Strength: 16 (D)

Dexterity: 22 (C)

Constitution: 20 (D)

Intelligence: 42 (B)

Charisma: 11 (D)

Luck: XXX (?)

AP: 0

Carefully, she takes it all in before reorganizing the information in her mind. The obvious is easy to navigate through such as her name and her titles, though she wonders why and how she received the first one. Much like an RPG, it showed her ‘status’ box and ‘attributes’ box, and reading through them was simple enough. What confused her was the numbers and allocations of them. Though, she at least was able to confirm that she was indeed a D-ranker.

Knowing that it’ll be useless to worry on her own, Aster clicks out of the ‘profile’ screen and clicks on something else, the ‘forum’ icon. A new screen pops up, neatly designed with a search engine, a few public chat-rooms with interesting names—like the Flame Emperor’s Embers [NO TROLLS ALLOWED]—and a side panel full of icons. There was also a post pinned to the main page as well, titled ‘Beginner Guide for New Users, v.3’, which seems promising. Once she clicks on the post it leads her to the full post, which is long and comprehensive. Scrolling down the table of contents, she finally finds what she was looking for. It was the link for an explanation for the ‘profile’ screen. Reading through it, a lightbulb went off in her mind.

Basically, Aster’s base stats—like HP and so on— are according to her rank, which is also affected by her attributes. Her base stats will increase to the next rank each time she gains the required EXP or experience points to level up. Her attributes on the other hand are each rank differently depending on the amount of AP or attribute points allocated. The max points an attribute can have is 100. There are also seven ranks according to the guide, the highest being S and the lowest being F. Which didn’t align with what she observed because where was rank EX? Was this rank not yet discovered? Anyways, based on the rank of your attributes, a certain amount of points are then added to your base stats. That still doesn’t explain the redacted number and rank after ‘Luck’. Was that bad or good, she had no idea. Still, she has questions left to be answer, but first, she needs to clean her kitchen and the charred corpse. Logging off from the system, she turns her attention to the mess before her and sighs, pulling up her sleeves. Time to get to work.

Aster then spent the next few hours cleaning her kitchen, scrubbing the ash and blood off her floors, the counters, the walls, and even the ceiling—to the best of her abilities. She sweeps the dust and debris rhythmically, mind settling into a calm trance. Next, she hovers around the charred corpse, unsure on how to continue, but eventually grabs a black trash bag from her kitchen drawers and shoves the corpse into it. As for the axe, she tentatively grabs for it and the belt that was slightly charred, but still in good condition, before looping it around her waist. Securing it in place and tying off the bag in a neat little bow, Aster then proceeds to drag the heavy corpse to her front door. Unlocking the door and pushing it open, she was greeted with a heavy onslaught of rain. Seems like the rain is still not letting up still. Grunting, she steps outside of her place for the first time and frowns at the eeriness of the apartment building she was in.

While it wasn’t unusual for people to be inside during stormy weather, it was the fact that she could tell that nobody lives here except her. It was isolated and as quiet as it got, but she was thankful for not having to deal with occupants sending her noise complaints and what-not. Wanting to quickly dispose of the corpse, Aster practically skips down the steps—the corpse hitting each one on the way down—and when she sees a dumpster, she couldn’t help laughing in relief. Fingers scramble to open the lid, slippery from rain, and with one final shove, the corpse disappears from view. She takes a breather, cold air billowing around her and closes her eyes, soaking in the rain. It felt like being cleansed of all things evil and dirty. Like she was pure and good once more.

Aster opens her eyes, the silver fracturing and glowing as she pulls out the red stone from her wet shorts. She inspected it once more before tucking the stone back into her pocket. As she walks back to her place, an idea starts to form in her mind. It was a risky gamble to let that idea fester, but really, what choice did she have? If she stays here, no doubt, other members related to the corpse would come snooping around and do something to her or worse. And as she promised to the real Aster previously, she would enter Steren Academy. If she makes it as a student, she’ll be safe from immediate danger, so it was worth it.

Swiftly, Aster enters her place and walks back into her room. Grabbing a duffle bag, she starts grabbing everything important and useful, like her phone, her documents, cash, and anything that made sense to take with her. She pokes around the room and eventually finds a heavy briefcase under her bed. Pulling it and clicking it open, she widens her eyes as her heart beats a little faster in surprise. In the briefcase was a pair of silver gauntlets whose luster was worn from continuous use and it was also stained with dried blood, both black and red. A lotus was also engraved on the back of the gauntlet. She carefully pulls it out of the box and puts them on with a sense of familiarity. Clenching her fists, she stands up and sling her duffle bag over her shoulders. Walking out of the front door, she heads towards her first destination, the black market.