Chapter 6 - The System

Adam felt nothing; his mind was completely blank, and all he could recognize was his body drifting aimlessly in a dark space, the void itself, unaware of how long he had been in this state. However, amidst his stupor, he noticed a white point in front of him, something that began to make him regain his senses little by little until he could finally lift his gaze, coming face to face with the hollow visage of the female specter—the last thing he saw before passing out.

“Aaaaahhh!”

He woke up with a scream, cold sweat covering his face. Confused and frightened, it took him a moment to regain enough composure to discern what he was seeing right now. However, when he could, he recognized where he was and who was looking at him, surprised.

“Hey! Hello, my friend.”

It was Drake beside him, greeting him with a smile, something that shook Adam a bit after realizing he had returned to the completely white room. He quickly glanced around to notice how relatively close he could see the other members of the group. Kazue was a little further away, shouting things in Japanese to a big screen. Li was behind her, noticeably annoyed until he noticed the boy had awakened and began to approach. As for Leila... She was nowhere to be found.

“What… What happened? My… My body!”

The newly awakened boy stammered, remembering what had happened in his last seconds awake and starting to touch all over his body, but it was weird, there was no residual pain nor visible marks even though he was on the verge of dying. With a worried look, his blonde companion only replied with a sad grim face.

“Well, it was rough. We all woke up almost at the same time with a very severe headache, but you, on the other hand, were one step away from death. No, it's better to say you were practically dead, according to what Mr. Li told us. In his words, it was a miracle that you still had enough pulse for the system to heal you.”

System? It seemed that while he was unconscious, several things had happened, so Adam wasted no time getting up, making sure he was alright, and attempting to inquire about what had happened.

“For how long was I unconscious?”

“Oh, not much, only like one hour after being healed, even though we were talking with Mr. Li about what happened during that time, he may seem like a person with a bad temper, but deep down he's a good guy. He explained in broad strokes where we are and what he knows about the place. I think it's best if you also talk to…”

But the words of the young blonde were interrupted by a sudden scream.

“Hey!”

The exclamation, noticeably laden with anger, came from Li, the suited man, who had approached the position of the two young men. After finding himself only a few steps away, he grabbed Adam by the collar of his shirt and lifted him very roughly.

“Mr. Li, please calm down!”

“Shut your mouth! now, you will tell me what the hell happened there, why Teo didn’t return and you were almost dead!”

The man's annoyance was palpable and seemed to be directed towards the student, demanding an explanation of what had happened, something Adam understood but took a moment to react to due to the surprise of the aggression.

“Mr. Teo was… He was… Killed.”

“Tell me what happened!”

“Ri-Right…”

Seeing that keeping him in that position impeded his speech, Li finally released him, giving the boy a moment to compose himself as he coughed slightly. After that, still rubbing his throat, he proceeded to recount everything he remembered and had observed after the roar of the giant beast rendered them unconscious, from the moment the scarred man used that strange function again, passing through the letter 'F-' above his head, to the appearance of who undoubtedly was the accursed undead empress.

Despite seeming furious and frustrated upon hearing all that, Li's next comment was surprisingly unexpected.

“Stupid Teo, I told him it was dangerous. The next story will be even harder, it will be impossible without him. That bastard had to mess it up and leave me with all the work with just some rookies, damn it.”

More than saddened by his companion's death, he seemed annoyed by the extra work it entailed, which left the two youngsters perplexed. But before either of them could say anything about it, the man spoke again.

“Alright, follow me. We'll have a crash course. I need you to be at least somewhat useful for the next story or we will all die this time.”

Adam understood some of what had been said, as he still remembered the small instructions that the late Teo had given him during the journey through the destroyed city. While this saddened him a little, it was outweighed by the immense curiosity he felt at the opportunity to finally understand what was happening.

“Okay, you girl stop searching and come here, I will teach this guy the same as you both and then I will explain in detail the rest.”

“はい, はい.”

(TL: Okay, okay)

Next, Adam was instructed to position himself at the front, where a multitude of white cubes were stacked side by side.

“Reach your hand towards one of those cubes and tell me what you see.”

The boy obeyed without delay, and to his amazement, a screen identical to the one Kazue had been glancing at just moments ago appeared in front of him.

⌠Welcome to the System⌡ ⌠Opening Main Menu⌡ ⌠Greetings, newcomer! Step into the realm where your wildest dreams become reality. Your journey to unlocking your true potential begins now.⌡ ⌠►Search⌡ ⌠►My Status⌡ ⌠►QOL Menu⌡

A virtual-looking tab suddenly opened, welcoming the user and displaying three options, which Adam read aloud as instructed.

“Good, use your finger to select the third option.”

Said Li, wasting no time and with a somewhat hurried tone, to which the boy obeyed without much thought.

⌠▼QOL Menu⌡ ⌠►Plot Device Store⌡ ⌠Let's have fun together: 0pts⌡ ⌠Make it fair!: 0pts⌡ ⌠Let me see, please: 0pts⌡ ⌠Heal up: 50pts⌡ ⌠I don’t want to be here anymore: 1000pts⌡ ⌠I give up: 100pts⌡

Upon doing so, he could see how the chosen option opened a list as a subsection, which left him impressed and even more curious than before. However, before he could read aloud the options available, the man behind him gave further instructions.

“Ignore the Store, for now, and select the second option, it should cost zero points and it will ask you for verification, just agree to it.”

Growing impatient about what would happen next, Adam selected the option that said 'Let's have fun together' feeling puzzled by the peculiar name and confirming that it indeed seemed to cost 0 points. Were these the points Teo had referred to as necessary to purchase the strange revolvers he carried? Everything seemed to indicate so.

⌠▼Let's have fun together: 0pts⌡ ⌠”Communication is not everyone's forte, unfortunately”⌡ ⌠Are you sure you want to buy “Let's have fun together”?⌡ ⌠YES / NO⌡

Adam didn't hesitate to press the YES button, finally connecting pieces in his head after reading the small comment the system had added when selecting the option. He was sure that was the key to the language inconsistencies all this time. Immediately after accepting, a faint glow enveloped his body, and he felt a slight warmth pass through his throat and ears.

Stolen story; please report.

“Congratulations! Now we can talk all we want.”

Kazue suddenly exclaimed, excited about everything that was happening and using perfect English, unlike how she had been speaking before.

“*Sigh* Yes, that option will translate in real-time everything you read and hear into the language you understand the most. Now, I'll briefly explain the whole deal about points and stories before we proceed.”

Said Li, while Adam closed the floating window at such a comment, he still wanted to continue exploring the options, but he was more interested in understanding the basics of the situation he was in at the moment.

“The place we're in doesn't have a name; some call it 'heaven’, others 'hell' or 'purgatory’, but I don't believe any of it. It feels more like being trapped in some sort of sick game... Anyway, what you've been handling is the system. I'll tell you more details when we get to that, but the most important thing is that you remember what happened when you arrived here.”

“Ah, yes! Do you mean the floating window with a short narrative and the voice reading it, correct?”

Said Adam, receiving a nod from the man.

“Yes, those are the 'stories' or 'scenarios' we have to face periodically. They only give us a brief summary of the theme and teleport us to that place, after which we must end the plot somehow... It never tells you exactly what to do; it's a frustratingly ambiguous nuisance, and we're left to guess.”

That explanation aligned with what they had experienced so far; however, it seemed very strange that they were given such vague guidelines to finish the story. Shouldn't there be some sort of mission or guide to follow somewhere? Something didn't quite add up. Meanwhile, Li continued.

“At the end of the respective story, we're given some rewards depending on our performance. I'm not entirely sure what guidelines it follows to award points because I've seen very noticeable disparities in past missions. However, very occasionally, they also give something known as "merits," and that's the first thing I want you to check.”

Adam was a bit overwhelmed by everything he heard, and he also found it strange that both Drake and Kazue remained silent and even appeared calm and smiling, as if accepting all this were easy.

“Select the 'QOL Menu' option again to minimize it, then go up to the 'My Status' button. Check what it tells you and say it aloud. Your situation was quite unusual, so I want to verify. Normally, you should have around 100 points accumulated like these two, or even half of that, since I used 50 of your points to heal you... Oh, right, if you remember, in the previous menu, there was an option called 'Heal up'. It's the only one you can use on someone else with their points, not yours. Usually, it requires the recipient's acceptance first, but being unconscious does it automatically.”

Adam then understood why he had woken up completely healthy and what his blonde companion had wanted to tell him. This system seemed a bit more intuitive than he originally thought. That said, he turned his attention to the menu that would reveal his status, expanded it, and began reading the results, sounding increasingly confused as he progressed, much like the others present.

⌠▼My Status⌡ ⌠Welcome Adam Scholar⌡ ⌠Points: 450p⌡ ⌠”No Name” team - Rank: E⌡ ⌠Merits: D merit x1⌡ ⌠Potential: D⌡ ⌠Titles: “Ghostmarked Warden: Bound and Cursed”⌡ ⌠Do you need more info? Be imaginative⌡

“What!? Let me see it… Think about letting me see it so it enables the shared screen.”

Li exclaimed, unable to believe what he had just heard, taking a few steps to verify what the boy had just said. He read and reread it many times while the other two youths behind him looked on with surprise and admiration. Almost a minute later, the man in the suit stepped back from the window with wide-open eyes.

“This is nonsensical. Even though we have yet to determine exactly how the story ended, this is impossible. You got 500 points, a merit, and even a title. The system even considered you with D-rank potential.”

“What are those ranks?”

Adam didn't clearly understand what he meant by that, as while it seemed that the system operated some kind of internal categorization, he couldn't infer what it truly meant without an explanation. Li was so absorbed in his surprise and disbelief, that he seemed less angry than he had been moments ago, so he responded to the question without much thought.

“Merit and ranks, in general, are categorized on an alphabetical scale, from F to A, with F being the lowest and A being the highest. I've only seen one person with an A-rank potential once during a... Never mind, but it's normal to start with an F-rank potential; even I’m stuck in E-rank despite having gone through six stories so far. Ridiculous.”

“It’s true, we both had F-rank potential and got 100 points each with no merits or titles.”

Drake commented softly, wanting to calm the situation, while the Japanese girl beside him seemed annoyed by the whole unfolding.

“You know what? It doesn't matter. Maybe it has something to do with Teo using his 'Plot Device' and being killed before it took effect, and the reality is that you've had the luck to reap the rewards... Fuck it, let's go immediately to spend your points. You'll have to gear up as much as possible for the next mission, you'll be with me on the frontline.”

Li seemed to avoid thinking further about something that didn't make sense to him. After all, nothing made sense in that infernal place, so, he simply decided to make the most of that rookie for the next story they had to face. Having someone with that amount of points right from the start was something he could use to his advantage.

“Minimize your status and click the first button: 'Search', you'll find three options; ignore the last two and enter the first one. It's a special skills and items searcher; it has anything you can think of and a points price for each one. However, the first thing I want you to search for and buy is a skill called '[Analyze]'. It's the most basic of the basics and doesn't cost much. It will help you see at least a little information about things in the same store because they don't have a description, only a name.”

Understanding what was being asked of him and marveling at the prospect of finding answers in that store, Adam entered the submenu and searched for the requested item.

⌠▼Search⌡ ⌠▼Dream shop⌡ ⌠"You're not very creative, huh? Well, it's always good to have some inspiration, browse at your leisure"⌡ ⌠Search bar: ⌡ ⌠Filter bar: ⌡ ⌠►Idea Forge⌡ ⌠►Merit Exchange⌡

At the right point, he wondered how he could properly type on the screen if there didn't seem to be a keyboard, yet it was just a matter of thinking about it when the word appeared on the search button. This again surprised Adam, but it didn't stop him from proceeding.

⌠Search bar: Analyze⌡ ⌠Analyze Lv1: 30pts⌡ ⌠Are you sure you want to buy “Analyze Lv1”?⌡ ⌠YES / NO⌡

Upon pressing "YES" something unusual happened. A sound very similar to coins bouncing could be heard directly in his ears, surely indicating that the purchase had been made correctly. He was ready to ask how to use the skill when a second screen popped up in front of his eyes, one that didn't seem to belong to the store.

⌠“Analyze Lv 1” is being affected by "Mark of the Damned Lv10"⌡ ⌠“Analyze Lv 1” is being forcibly transformed to "Cursed Vision Lv1"⌡

What? What had just happened? Adam didn't understand what was going on or why that message had appeared, but before he could say anything, he felt a slight warmth in both eyes. Everything within his field of vision took on a turquoise hue. He quickly turned to his group and noticed it: in front of them were floating screens, completely legible to him.

⌠Cursed Vision Knowledge⌡ ⌠Name: Kazue Rima⌡ ⌠Potential: F⌡ ⌠No additional info is available⌡

⌠Cursed Vision Knowledge⌡ ⌠Name: Drake Shaw⌡ ⌠Potential: F⌡ ⌠No additional info is available⌡

⌠Cursed Vision Knowledge⌡ ⌠Name: Li Jie⌡ ⌠Potential: E⌡ ⌠Treasures: Lesser Demonic Grimoire (Replica) - Rank F: No additional info available. ⌡ ⌠Skills: Unknown Skill Lv2: No additional info is available. Unknown Skill Lv1: No additional info is available. ⌡ ⌠No additional info is available⌡