'Huh, where am I?' a thought was born in the lonely vastness of an empty white space where only a flickering silhouette and an orb were floating aimlessly in its expanse.
The flickering silhouette begin to slowly stabilize into a young man's shape, and as this stabilization was occurring. The young man's cloudy thoughts started becoming clearer and clearer as he started to observe the weird situation he was in doubt and surprise.
"…" The young man opened his mouth and tried to exclaim his confusion. Yet no words came out of his open mouth painting a very desperate scene in this desolate space…
This young man was Robin Peterson, and he was going to have his life turned upside down…
Finding that he couldn't talk out loud, the young man tried to hold back his fear and worries to the best of his abilities and started analyzing his current situation internally.
'Is this a realistic dream? This must be it, but I never had a dream where I could think properly like this…' Robin wondered with a slightly relieved expression as he convinced himself that this was just an unusual dream, a dream that he will hopefully wake up from soon...
But then his expression shifted slightly as he looked at his almost transparent hands in disbelief and thought in his head 'Just what's going on with my current form and why can't I speak at all?'
[You can't speak because you are not in a physical state]
An ancient voice suddenly broke the silence within this emptiness startling the young man who instinctively looked at the only object in this lonely space. A black and white orb that had a soft glow emanating from it that would mesmerize the onlookers if the onlookers weren't facing a life crisis and full of panic at their current situation with their life at risk.
'Who are you? What's happening to me? What kind of dream is this?' asked the young man with a slightly fearful look on his face to the orb with unknown intentions and origins floating in front of him…
[Human code-19X39Z04ER03ZE13SD4G5T, this isn't a dream, as for why you ended up here, why don't you see it for yourself]
The ancient voice spoke again, and the moment it finished speaking, a screen-like object appeared in front of Robin, it resembled a projection but it seemed to be a lot more advanced in technologies than his previous world as he couldn't find any disruptions in the images shown to him.
In the projection, Robin saw that It was a dark winter night, the weather he last remembered outside his house before going to sleep and arriving in this confusing space and he could clearly tell that this was a depiction of his house.
He could see himself laying peacefully on his bed in one of the rooms. However, not long after he fell into a deep sleep tired from his long day of work. But it was then when a hooded person wearing a thick and long winter coat arrived outside of his house and started checking for any open windows suspiciously...
'Who's this person ? Quickly call the police!' Yelled Robin in his head believing that this orb can somehow hear his thoughts. However, this time he received no response from it. Only a creepy silence as the events around his house kept unfolding into the worst-case scenario he's fearing…
After testing all the windows for a while, to his disappointment, the hooded man found that all the windows were closed. So, he began testing the front door, but again, no luck as he found it locked and so was the back door.
The hooded man seemed to be contemplating something as he stood there silently in front of the back door of Robins's house causing his hopes that this guy that was lurking around his house will simply decide to leave... However, his hopes soon crumbled as he witnessed the next action of the hooded man who retrieved some metallic rods from his pockets, and as a professional lock picker, it took him no time to open the lock of his back door and enter his house as he watched in horror...
The hooded man took careful and clearly experienced steps to not make any sound and alarm the residents of the house which were Robin and only Robin so he felt his heart racing and he started screaming in his head as terror and fear overwhelmed him 'Please stop him! Please…'
He begged and begged, but there was no response, and before long, that man skillfully climbed the stairs to the second floor of his house where his room was.
At this moment he saw something in the eyes of the hooded man he never saw in any other human being before, it was a primal desire for murder! And it made him go blank from fear as that man stood like a shadow at the door of his room before he slowly started approaching his bed with careful steps.
Meanwhile, the Robin in the projection was still sleeping peacefully unaware of the malice that was eyeing him now from the side of his bed. Then he watched as a malicious grin appeared on the barely visible face of the hooded man, a twisted grin that would surely bring him a lot of nightmares for a future to come… if he had one.
'NOOO STOP HIM' Yelled Robing who finally broke from his frozen trance and begged that orb again to do something and save his life, but it was to no avail as he didn't get any response again so he rushed in anger to punch this orb
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
'You piece of shi-' He yelled in his head. However, the moment his punch was about to connect with the orb. Some sort of transparent barrier blocked him and threw him away causing him to fall on his back where he kept staring at the horror happening inside his house blankly.
After looking at his vulnerable body with his twisted grin for a while, the hooded man slowly retrieved a dagger from the inside pocket of his long coat and Robin immediately closed his eyes not wanting to see what was going to happen next…
Achieving its purpose and knowing that he didn't want to watch anymore, the orb suddenly cut off the projection and Robin heard its ancient voice echoing again in the empty space...
[Now you know why you are here, you were murdered by a serial killer in your sleep, if it can be of any reconciliation to you, that serial killer was caught thanks to your case; the investigators checked your house and found the hidden camera you use on your back door, and it actually captured the face of your killer when he was picking the lock and led them to his true identity...]
Robin's heart felt empty for some reason, He was an only child and his parents died in a car accident when he was still a kid leaving him to fend for himself in this hard and cold world,
And to add insult to injury, he never had any luck with women either, so he never truly found a partner to settle with and build a family together…
'Lived alone, died alone huh how great, but it indeed makes me feel slightly better knowing that the asshole that killed me was caught thanks to a random thing I did' thought Robin, trying to comfort himself and find a silver lining in this hopeless situation...
As for why he had a hidden camera installed on the back door of his house. It was because one day, his house was robbed by some petty thief so he made sure to install security cameras at the front and back of the house. But, as an engineer, he thought that he could go even further and do better. So, in his free time, He decided to actually add an additional hidden camera to the back door while keeping a visible one as a decoy.
But he never thought that this random act would actually end up catching such a big fish, a fish that actually ate his life away in a random night…
[A random act indeed, but the effect was splendid. It ended up catching a serial killer that has been going around murdering people for more than a decade and was never caught, Denis Clark, a man who murdered more than 70 helpless humans. Men, women, old or young, he had mercy for none]
'And why are you telling me all of this? How's this going to change the fact that I'm dead! You hear me! DEAD!' Yelled Robin back at this ancient voice that seemed apathetic to his situation...
The ancient voice wasn't fazed at all by his hysteria and replied calmly to his outburst
[A random act that brought some peace of mind and closure for thousands of people affected by this man's murders is still relevant and deserves rewards, that's why you are going to be sent to the world of your dreams and you will be granted a minor wish of your choosing!]
'Hmm! Are you serious?' Robin's heart started beating at the mention of such great and unexpected news, He had no one left behind to miss on his old world so if he could go to the world of his dreams… and with a wish no less!
'What kind of wish can I ask for? And do I choose any world I want?' Robin had a hopeful expression on his face suddenly forgetting everything that he was just murdered... 'maybe I could ask for divine powers like those I read in novels or maybe an overpowered system…' the possibilities were endless and He was starting to nerd out in his head as he thought about all the things he read and watched…
[No, the world is already chosen, as for the wish, you can't ask for immediate power, but you can ask for something with the potential to be great]
Robin was kind of disappointed when he heard that the world of his dreams was already set in stone so he thought 'So, I can't ask for a Rinnegan but I can maybe ask for an Uchiha bloodline huh?'
[That's correct]
'Hmm, something that has the potential to be great huh' He started thinking deeply about all the possibilities he could choose from completely forgetting the fear and panic he was feeling as he focused intensely on this task of choosing an ability.
'This is a chance that would never occur again so I need to choose wisely' and before long he come to a conclusion 'Nothing can beat the versatility and potential of a system. So, choosing a system-based ability is a no-brainer, but what kind of system?'
Robin thought and thought until he came up with something and said with and with a smug smile on his face 'I want the strongest system'
And the refusal from the orb came quickly [Denied, this request requires a high-level wish]
'Damn it, I really wanted such an op system that could make my life easier no matter what world I get sent to' Realizing that he wasn't getting such great power, he stated his next best choice with a disappointed face 'I want the gamer system'
'With this system, I can pretty much master anything and it grants me many helpful powers' thought Robin excitedly, yet the refusal came quickly once more with another disappointing response
[Denied, this request requires a medium-level wish]
'I wish to FUCK YOU, is my minor wish enough for that?' Robin yelled in anger in his head infuriated by how the orb kept refusing every single one of his wishes and the response from the orb took longer this time before it replied with a slightly narcissistic tone
[Denied, this request requires an extra divine high-level wish]
'Hah at least there's a price for you little bitch' Robin said smugly feeling like he finally got one on this orb until he saw it start vibrating which is the first time he saw it actually move and an ominous aura emanated from it as the ancient voice said with a threatening voice
[Wish needs to be picked in 60 seconds before the countdown ends, or it will be voided]
'Wait what are you talking about, this wasn't mentioned before'
[60, 59, 58…]
The voice didn't care about what Robin said at all and kept counting down slowly clearly tried to get back to him for his earlier comment... Robin started to panic and quickly said ' Common man I was just joking with you'
[55, 54, 53…]
'Fuck my life' Robin thought seeing that the countdown wasn't stopping regardless to what he said, and the seeing that time was almost over, He quickly said with a hurried face 'I want a system that grants me quests and rewards me depending on them'
This time the answer came the moment Robin finished speaking as if the orb didn't want him to change his mind
[Request accepted, the system will be granted once you reach the new world…]
'Finally, I-' however he couldn't even finish his thought as a dark portal appeared beside him and swallowed him whole leaving this space with a lone orb inside it and soon its ancient voice echoed through the empty space…
[What a weird human] This time, its ancient voice contained a hint of amusement…
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