[Synchronization Complete]
[Launching Initiation Sequence]
[Partial Key Detected ………..]
[Supporting Functions Unavailable ………..]
[Displaying Minimal Interface ………..]
Overseer System
Name: Alan Ross
Class 1: Trainee (Knight path) [25%]
Attributes:
* Strength: 2
* Agility: 3
* Constitution: 2
* Intelligence: 10
* Wisdom: 13
* ???
Skills:
* Identify
* Inspect
* Search
* Danger Sense
* ???
[Features Unavailable]
What the hell? Alan thought.
He couldn’t make head or tails of what happened and froze in place. He blinked his eyes, checking to if he was hallucinating. When the screen remained, he paid more attention to the details written on it.
Is it quantifying my abilities?
Waving his hand, he tried to touch the screen, but nothing happened. He examined the reactions of everyone present in the room. Most of them watched the fight while some of them stared at his actions in confusion.
Clearing his throat, Alan straightened himself and focused on his attributes. The first four were self-explanatory, but he couldn’t understand wisdom’s function. It was also the attribute with the highest value.
A sudden pop-up interrupted his examination.
Quest: [Advance in the Knight Path]
You are currently one of the weakest beings in the world. Become a squire to afford more protection.
Rewards: [Unlock Hidden Functions] [???]
Before Alan could digest the explanation, another pop-up appeared in his vision.
Quest: [Master of the System]
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
To gain complete control of ???, finish absorbing the key.
Rewards: [Unlock Hidden Functions] [???]
Progress: 5%
Alan could at least understand the first mission. The second one made no sense. What was the key, and how was he supposed to absorb it? He didn’t even understand how he made 5% percent progress.
The number of bizarre things happening around him kept increasing. On his first day at training, he activated a machine while having no idea of how he did it. Then came his unnatural progress. Since other people trained at a similar rate, he never considered it seriously but started to wonder if he should.
Next came the ability to dodge Maur’s surprise attack. Lastly, a digitized screen appeared in front of him, displaying many incomprehensible things. It was the icing on the cake of the weird things happening to him.
Putting aside the bizarre scene, the sheer number of question marks present on the screen baffled him. The person who designed it definitely failed his computer science degree.
It didn’t come with an instruction manual detailing how to operate it. Alan had to figure it out himself. He tried various ways to remove it from his vision to no avail.
Unable to do anything, he focused on the attribute values. Without a benchmark, he didn’t know how they stood in contrast to other people. His intelligence and wisdom stood disproportionately high. He wondered if his reincarnation had anything to do with it.
Moving down, his eyes fell on the skills section. The criteria for classifying something as a skill escaped Alan. He trained with weapons and had horse-riding classes for the past 25 days, but his proficiency in either of them wasn’t displayed.
He gazed at the level 11 skill, trying to figure out what it did. It was futile as there wasn’t anything he could work on.
“How long are you going to keep standing there?” Maur’s voice shook him out of his stupor. Looking up, he saw everyone in the room staring at him.
What do I do? Alan thought, panicking.
He didn’t have a way to close the system, and walking around with the thing hanging in front of his face was bound to cause problems. Can you stop bothering me and get out of my face?
The screen responded to his thoughts and vanished. It was so sudden he stood still in surprise.
Maur sneered at the unresponsive Alan. “Do you want a written invitation?”
Shaking off his stupor, he joined the others. Most of them stared at him with a mix of different emotions. His imagination ran wild and he began to wonder if they saw the system.
“Nice fight!” Adrianna whispered.
It took him a few moments to understand she meant the match against Trent. “Thanks.”
After everyone finished sparring, he went and picked up a sword. Compared to the other weapons, the one he wielded looked like a kid’s toy. A normal sword measured about three-fourths of his body length, making learning with it difficult.
Joining the others in training, he let his mind wander. He had to figure out the origin of the strange events happening around him. As Maur said, they may not be a good thing. Unless he could be certain, using any of them was dangerous.
Another pop-up appeared, making him jump.
New skill discovered.
Gathering data.
Would you like to add Sword Mastery to the skill list?
Yes No
“No,” Alan said.
Congratulations, Sword Mastery
He stared at the notification in incomprehension. Didn’t he say no? How the hell did the system interpret it as a yes. He cursed the creator. Not even the oldest computers made mistakes like that.
The disregard for his opinion further reinforced his belief in the dangers behind the system. He had to get rid of it as soon as possible.
“Listen up,” Maur said. “There are five days left till the end of the initial training period. It’s time for you to decide whether you will serve the Ross family or choose a different path.”
“If I decide to leave, do I have to pay for everything I used, sir?” Jod asked.
“No, they’re all for free. The Ross family’s showing you their goodwill and giving you a feel of the benefits you can receive by swearing your loyalty to them.”
“Can I receive the top prize, even if I don’t want to join?”
Maur sneered. “You would like that, wouldn’t you? Only those who want to serve the Ross family will be eligible to participate in the test. It’ll be conducted a year from now. Don’t slack off, or your chances of winning will be zero.
“Also, it’s time to decide your future paths.”