After almost slipping from her surprise at the absurd situation, Natalie blankly stared ahead, looking at the blue boxes flashing before her eyes.

[To integrate into the System, please choose one of the following Class (es):

[Hero] - A hero chosen to save the world from destruction. As the first [Hero], you shall be unrivaled in strength, skill, or mastery of magic. You will forever devote your life to protecting the System from the Void’s corruption.

Do you accept this Class?

There are no other Classes available for you to choose from.]

None of this made any sense. The pain she felt when she rubbed her hands too much was still present. She also didn't feel any strong sensation like euphoria, profound sadness, ravenous hunger, nothing.

[Please choose a Class to integrate into the System.]

A new box flashed in, making her flinch. She stared at it for a while, unsure about what to do. But as seconds ticked by, a strong compulsion overcame her, making it hard to take her eyes off it. It became...mesmerizing over time. It was inviting her to accept it. Her trembling hand slowly reached up, almost touching it.

"Well," she whispered to herself. "It can't get any weirder than this...I accept." She tapped the class she was offered, and a loud DING! Sounded again.

[SYSTEM ERROR:

LEVEL-UPS REJECTED!

INTEGRATION INTO THE SYSTEM FAILED!

Reason: Insuficient ambient mana.]

[PARTIAL INTEGRATION INITIATED...]

[SUCCESS! PARTIALLY INTEGRATED INTO THE SYSTEM.]

[Status

Name: Natalie

Class: [Hero]

Level: [0]

Skills: [N/A]

Feats: [N/A]

Note: Please enter an area with denser ambient mana to fully integrate into the system.]

She couldn't help but laugh at the situation. All that trouble and fanfare for nothing in the end. It really seemed that she should be making appointments with a psychiatrist soon. With a sigh, Natalie pushed the situation out of her mind and went with the rest of her night.

After getting dressed up, moped the floor, and saying thank you to those who sent their condolences, she plopped on her bed. However, she couldn't fall asleep no matter what she tried. She turned, stared at the ceiling, and tried relaxing music, but nothing worked.

A warm sensation pulsed in her chest with every heartbeat. Her breath felt unusually hot. Her hands and feet felt restless, constantly moving. With an exasperated sigh, she picked up her phone and paled when she noticed only 5 minutes had passed.

With nothing better to do, she searched online for any useful meditation exercises. There was no chance she would do the ones Jason taught her. After picking up a reasonable one, she sat on her bed in a lotus position and began.

"Hope this works..."

With her eyes closed, she began to follow the pattern. Inhaling, making a motion with her hands, then exhaling. After a couple of seconds, she felt like falling into a rhythm. While she cycled through the motions, the warm feeling in her chest began spreading through her whole body. When it subsided, she took a deep breath and opened her eyes.

Her body felt light as a feather. Any minor discomfort she had before that faded away. She examined herself, noting that nothing really changed outwards.

"Huh, it's more effective than i expected." She nodded a couple of times and stretched. "Wouldn't mind feeling like this every day."

With a smile, she could finally put this day to an end and finally rest.

---

On her way to work the next day, she took her time to notice those details she usually disregarded every morning. The sun peeked through the buildings. The birds flew from tree to tree. The smell of the rain that came in the night and the puddles it left. Everything felt so...Vibrant.

Nothing major happened at her work either, other than some odd glances here and there. No call-outs for her behavior on the train or any rude customer during the day. However...

Natalie, your father is sick.

That text from her mother when she was in her lunch grounded her again. Her heartbeat quickened, her breaths were shallow, and her hands trembled. Feeling those emotions rising from inside, she did her best to maintain her facade. She excused herself and went to the bathroom, correcting her makeup over and over and over-

"Natalie?" A feminine voice came from outside. "Everything ok?"

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Yes, Alex." She gulped down, feeling a knot in her throat. "Everything is fine. Just...give me a moment."

"Are you sure?" The voice came back, not reassured by her tone.

"Yes! I'll be right back, ok?" Natalie said back with more urgency.

She took a couple of moments to calm her nerves. Taking deep breaths and loosely following the motions that she followed yesterday night. The warmth in her chest returned and spread across her body, helping her calm down. With a last, quick check of her makeup, she exited the bathroom looking much better.

A woman around her age waited beside the door. She had long, blond hair, brown eyes, and the same uniform Natalie used. She looked at Natalie with an unsure expression for a couple of seconds, before noticeably calming down after seeing that nothing major happened.

"Everything ok?" Alex said, putting her hands on Natalie's shoulders.

"Yeah." Natalie nodded. "Just received some news that didn't sit too well."

"If you need it, i can talk with Richard and explain it to him. Don't think he'll be opposed to you taking a break to solve that."

"Don't worry." She smiled at her. "I'll talk with him myself."

"Get better soon, then." Alex returned the smile and patted her arm several times before leaving.

The talk with her boss, Richard, wasn't too bad. The man agreed to let her take the rest of the day off to deal with her family issue. The caveat was that she had to repay those hours later. By the end of the hour, she was already in a taxi on her way to the bus station.

Traveling to their hometown was uncomfortable. Natalie had to use her facemask to shield herself from the smell of the cheap AC unit, as well as deal with the rigid seats. A visit to a spa soon slowly made itself into her calendar. The good thing was that it was only a 4-hour trek, and she didn't have a seatmate. The bad thing was...

"You can see her again..."

A whisper drifted into her ears. However, Natalie didn't flinch this time. With a sigh, she looked at the window, only to see Amelia's face staring back at her with a soft smile.

"Leave me alone..." Natalie said with a sigh.

She would be lying if she said that she wanted to see her. Hell, she almost agreed to whatever that thing was offering for a chance of doing so. But as some said, hindsight is 20/20. Something like that might screw her over if she readily agreed. Even the weird blue box thing maybe already did.

"What do you want anyway." She asked 'Amelia.' "What are you?"

"I am-"

At that point, she was startled awake by a hand on her shoulder. She silently stared at the culprit: A black, middle-aged man dressed as the bus driver.

"Miss, we already arrived." The man awkwardly took back his hand. "You didn't wake up when i was calling for you."

"Thanks." She nodded and began readying her things to leave.

"Is everything ok?" The man asked as she was making her way out. Natalie managed to see a flash of purple in his eyes.

"...Yes." She answered dryly. "Thank you very much." And left.

She heaved after getting off the bus, but nothing came out. She felt a strong sense of disgust in the presence of the driver. The weird thing was, nothing particular came to her as to why. He didn't smell weird or looked particularly ugly. She just...didn't feel right staring at him. With a deep sigh, she walked to her parent's house. Thankfully, it was near the bus station, even if the sun made the walk a living hell.

"Guess I need to start using umbrellas again..." She mumbled as the house appeared in her view.

It was a 2-story white house. It had a front yard with several trimmed bushes, flowers, and a small cobblestone path to the door. And separated from the neighbors with a white fence. She rang the bell a couple of times until an old woman answered. She was smaller than Natalie by a head, had brown hair like hers, with some streaks of white, and sagged skin due to her age.

"Natalie?" The woman asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi, mom." Natalie gave her a hug. "Did you expect me not to come after reading that?"

"Reading what?" The woman was still confused but returned the hug.

"About dad." Natalie stopped the hug and looked at her with a confused expression. "That he's sick."

"Oh." She opened her eyes a bit in surprise. "Wonder who told you that, but yes, your father is in our room."

Natalie was a bit taken aback but decided to not pursue the matter. It was neither the plane nor the time for that.

"So, what happened?" Natalie asked, following her mother.

"He's feeling weak. Been in bed for a couple of days now." The old woman sighed. "I tried to bring him to the hospital, but he's too stubborn. Maybe you can help me knock some sense into him."

"Really hope so..." Natalie massaged the bridge of her nose. "Why can't he just..."

"You know your father, dear." Her mom sighed, patting her on her back. "Still, it's nice to have you here. Thanks for coming."

"How would i not?" Natalie gave her a weak smile.

Natalie gently knocked on the door to her parents' room three times before entering. But seeing her father sitting on the bed took her by surprise. If her mother was telling the truth, he should be resting.

"Natalie." The man stated, looking directly into her eyes.

A new wave of panic began to surge from within. Her heartbeat accelerated, her grip on the knob tightened, a knot formed in her throat, and a feeling of nausea assaulted her. Extricating herself from his intense gaze, Natalie looked at the rest of the room, feeling an odd presence inside it. She noted that her mother's phone was beside her father, as well as his revolver. Her gaze returned to her father's eyes.

Deep, purple eyes. Like the most precious amethyst.

"Y-yes, father?" She stammered, feeling the pressing need to abandon everything and run away as fast as she could.

"I was waiting for you." The man answered in the same tone. "Are you ready to have a conversation now?"