[Unread System Logs: 1]

[Would you like to view them? Y/N]

Neraxis stared at it for a moment before clicking the "Yes" button, and immediately, a wall of text assaulted his sight.

[System Log 1: Anomaly]

[Subject 1 is showing signs of awakening, but he's not nearly there yet... How do I boost his progress?]

[Hmm? A skill like that? It won't work; he's incompatible.]

[How? Oh... I see. That is indeed a good idea. Hell Scythe has some similarities to it.]

[Sure, I'll log it. Aka, save the last 10 minutes. It's valuable information.]

[Why? Don't like the nickname? Well, deal with it.]

[Anyway, what do you suggest we do with him? He is not following the script in the slightest... Do you think he doesn't know about it?]

[I know, right? He should have been informed previously, no? After all, Hell Scythe would be a skill that suits his needs in a way.]

[It's enough. He will get the other skill once he completes his task. Don't you want to descend faster, huh, Aka?]

[Fine, fine. I'll finish the log.]

[Subject 1, Neraxis. Showing signs of disobedience, still in the early phases though. Is asking for an overpowered main skill. Seems to lack intelligence. Memories are unlocked, and he has been debriefed on his task.]

[Huh? What do you mean that's not the full log?]

[Fine... Subject showed signs of self-awareness. A class 1 anomaly. Eliminate once the task is finished.]

[System Log 1: Finished]

Subject? He stared at the messages with widened eyes. It seemed like a conversation between two people; however, he could only perceive the messages of one person.

He did find out that the other individual's name was Aka, though he felt like that was some sort of pet name.

The two mentioned some kind of descent and that he was a subject—perhaps some kind of test subject that was supposed to have no will and follow their orders.

Or at least he thought they referred to him; not many people were named Neraxis in the world. His parents had quite the naming sense.

It also raised a question about the skills he supposedly asked for and how he was given Hell Scythe instead. It really was a mystery that, instead of answering some of his questions, raised many more.

Neraxis felt conflicted; however, there was not much he could do in this situation. After all, he was still weak—the bottom of the barrel. A mere G rank, one that would not even be able to kill a single monster.

Most monsters started off at F rank. Only humans had the G rank since they were inherently weaker.

So now I have to watch out for otherworldly bullshit while also dealing with new problems... This is just fantastic. He thought as a tinge of anger stirred within his heart. He proceeded to walk up the stairs and back into his room. It would take a bit before the food was finally finished.

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However, as he lay down on his bed, he couldn't stop thinking about the system logs.

If they were indeed system logs, then that meant that whoever was on the other side talked directly with the system.

Aka is short for system? Doesn't add up. He rolled on his bed, finding it hard to get comfortable.

While rolling, he noticed a laptop on the nearby desk. It was one he had for a while; its specs were a bit outdated.

Nonetheless, Neraxis shot up from the bed and immediately turned the laptop on.

He flashed a bright smile as he noticed it was still working, and it was connected to the internet as well.

The first thing he typed in was 'Purple tower,' and upon doing so, a bunch of images popped up on the screen, displaying the same tower he had seen outside.

However, the strange part was that it was located in different cities across the globe. It seemed like it was not limited to only one location.

Neraxis scrolled through all the information and realized every single city that had at least one million residents had a tower sprout from the ground, with the first one appearing in the year 2300.

He scrolled through all the necessary information with a frown on his face. It was like a rift-type structure but in segments. It had floors, and nobody knew how many, and each floor held some type of trial...

There were some articles that housed tutorials on how to complete some of the trials, but it only lasted until floor 10. Apparently, your performance was evaluated, and from floor 11 upwards, the difficulty varied from person to person.

None had the same trial. There were similarities but never the same.

As he scrolled, he noticed that, while abundant, the information focused on trials and strategies as though heavily monitored by a third party.

Neraxis rolled his eyes at the sight and searched up one more thing—one that had been gnawing at him ever since he saw William.

'Who is the strongest awakened?'

As he pressed enter, a list of people appeared—a top 100 list, to be exact. It detailed the names and ranks of the people on there. However, their ranks were something beyond his wildest expectations.

Not a single person in the top 100 was below S rank. It seemed practically impossible. After all, even after many years had passed back then, there was not a single sighting of anyone being above A rank.

However, there was one person who was S ranked, and that was him, though he did not go flaunting it around. It would have put a bounty on his head.

But now, there were at least 100 people who were S ranked, and to top it all off, the top five were SS ranked, which seemed even more unreal.

Scarlet Rose, Nightshade... Birdwatcher? Logan Pierce, and lastly... Blank? Neraxis gazed at the entire top five. It seemed like Scarlet Rose was deemed the strongest, while the person calling themself Blank was supposedly the weakest of them all.

Or that's what the website said, at least. You could never truly trust the media.

Just as he was about to look for more information, he was interrupted by a shout.

"Neraxis! Food is ready!"

Right... He deleted the history and closed the laptop before heading back downstairs and into the kitchen.

He had nearly forgotten about the situation at hand and the fact that his mother's personality had changed completely.

But as he stepped into the kitchen, he noticed his father, Roskaris, who was also sitting at the table and conversing happily with both his mother and sister.

His looks were also similar to theirs in the sense that he was like eye candy to women. However, his eyes were green while only his hair was white like the rest of the family's.

For some reason, he appeared a tad bit buffer than Neraxis remembered.

As he noticed Neraxis coming through the door, he waved at him with a smirk. "Sup, big guy. What place did you get?"

"...It wasn't a placement exam," Neraxis answered while trying to maintain a composed expression. He sat down by the table. It seemed like they were having some spicy barbecued pork ribs.

It was difficult to stop himself from drooling at the sight, but nonetheless, with the many experiences he had in life, he persevered.

"Sylvia, you hear this? Not a placement exam? What kind of bullshit academy did we send him to?" Roskaris said as a loud laugh escaped his mouth, making it seem like the air around them was vibrating.

His laugh suddenly stopped as his mother, Sylvia, sent a kind-looking smile at Roskaris, though it seemed like it was hiding a deeper meaning. "Honey... Calm your mana. Also, it's the best academy in the entire country."

Roskaris immediately quieted down and put one of the pork ribs into his mouth, not speaking any further.

But as Neraxis locked eyes with his father, he saw him wink and give a thumbs-up.

Pft... I wish they were like this back then too. He smiled and picked up a rib. He owed it to himself to at least enjoy this little moment of peace.

After all, tomorrow, he would be doing some training.