In an unknown part of space a male could be seen, his appearance suggest he is middle-age but somehow gives off an immeasureable amount of power and wisdom that anyone his age should not have.

This being's expression is currently not befitting of the power and wisdom he emanates as he is travelling at great speed, far surpassing the fastest things known to man. And the reason this being is traveling at that speed? Well, that could be explained by the distortion of space around him while, the center of the universe shrinks, as if it were compressing.

'I have less than a second to get out of this universe, if i am unable to do so within that time i'm absolutely sure that the explosion from the compression will not leave even a single speck of my disintegrated body. There is only one way out of this.'

And so after the being finishes this thought, circles with complex patterns similar to magic circles surround him as a crack in space appears in front of him. He does not hesitate and flies full speed to the crack.

The explosion occurs at that exact moment and quickly catches up at the being.

.

.

.

.

In what we know as earth, inside a house there is a man resting on a chair. He is facing a window where the grass and trees bask in the sun. Following the grasses and trees' example, he sips the hot coffe beside him as his focus is directed at his book. If anyone were to see him, they'll likely feel themself enveloped in the tranquility of his appearance. But..

Inside his mind, contrary to his appearance is war. In his head a large amount of people is fighting against a single person. And unlike what people would expect, the man is on his way to slaughtering the opposing enemies like they were a bunch of helpless chil- errm, chickens.

'That was an amazing fight scene, loved the way the author was able to portray the main character's." Laiz, the main character sighs as he admires the scene in the book. That's right he was reading a book in a character's point of view, something he regularly does as his habbit.

After finishing another round of chapters, he stands up and gets another set of clothes, getting ready to head out for a run.

'I'm gaining some weight these days..'

Laiz goes outside and starts running. The pathway he is taking requires no turns so he focuses on his breathing. This is something he has learned online called meditation this was very useful to him as he was able to soothe many negative emotions he has accumulated from the not so bright moments of his life.

"Breath in... Breath out... Breath in.."

Laiz's focus on running and meditation is interrupted when something appears in front of him when passing a park.

"... Weird.. It looks like a distortion"

Laiz mutters as he stops a few meters away from the cluster of darkness. His eyes narrow, switching his focus from running and meditation to the distortion.

'This looks dangerous... And i'm curios'

Laiz chooses to stay, ignoring his mind's torrent of danger alerts instead following his sense of curiosity.

Just after Laiz's decision to stay a person shoots out of the distortion, flying a few meters at amazing speeds before violently crashing into a tree, breaking it in the process.

Laiz is left dazed for a few seconds before coming to his senses. Laiz observes the person, he notices that the person is missing a few limbs and has burn marks all over his body.

'What the hell..?'

This thought passes as his body kneels without his consent.

Laiz is left puzzled as an invisible force acts upon him. He forces his body to move to his will. Eventually Laiz regains his control, forming a few sweats in the process. Laiz looks at the being, suspecting it was the source of that heavy force.

'hmm, now..'

Laiz grabs a random stick from the ground and pokes the being, something incredibly stupid to do to a being that comes out of distortion and assumingly able to emit great amounts of pressure even with such injuries. Laiz has always been a passive troll, no matter what situation it was but this.. If a person were to see his actions, they'll probably curse at his stupidity and start running full speed at the opposite direction.

'Got to be careful, who know what'll happen when i touch this being'

Laiz ignores the simple options and bravely, or stupidly pokes even harder at the being. By this point the imaginary person observing his actions has already surpassed his limits and was running away from Laiz as if he was crazy. Just as Laiz was about to poke (hit) some thing he shouldn't

"..Ughh.. What are you doing?"

As if sensing the being could fell ominous danger, the being regains conciousness. He is dazed and fuzzy for a second but, as if a switch has been flipped his cloudy eyes is replaced with a clear and sharp reflection as he questions Laiz.

"Making sure you are alright"

Laiz replies blatantly.

"..."

The being remains silent before replying with an amused laugh.

"I see, thanks for the thought"

The being thanked Laiz calmly.

"No problem"

The being chuckles at his stoic relpy. After the chuckle, the being looks at the surroundings. Laiz, seeing this could not help but notice the beings eye, it gave a vacant and distant color, as if he could see everything. When the being faces Laiz again he asks a question.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

"May I ask you somethi-"

But before the being could finish his sentence, he covers his mouth with his hand and goes in a coughing fit. What his hand reveals is blood. The being notices Laiz looking at him confusingly

"On my way here, i knew that i was gonna die. But before that i had to pass on my inheritance. A dead person will have no use for such things after all"

The being explanation gave no shock to Laiz. In his mind this situation was cliche among the books he read. The being was shocked to see no reaction from laiz, from what he could tell this world did not have a source to cultivate power and was completely ordinary. The being looked at Laiz's eye intensely as if looking for something, a desire.

"..I thought i was gonna need to settle down for a few years to find the right person but look what landed into me, a dreamer."

Laiz was very confused by the being. He was asking himself: Who tells their story so suddenly! Are you an NPC?

The being, guaranteed that the person in front of him was the one he wanted, introduces himself.

"My name is Oswald, One who has reached the peak of power and may be considered the emperor of all. I will give you power, a power that has helped me reach the Apex of life"

Oswald's voice takes a sharper tone from his previous one as power exuded in his voice.

While Laiz thought that Oswald's voice did give off authority and power, his speech left him cringing.

"That is, if you want to. So I ask do you want power or maybe an adventure OR.. do you just wanna dream forever?"

Laiz's thoughts was focused on Oswald's last statement. He knew Oswald was reffering to him, to that he was annoyed but he could do nothing but swallow his annoyance in as he had to had to relucantly agree on that judgement.

Laiz looked at himself the same way, he was enduring the boring and dull life he lived by reading books, putting himself in the main character's postion. He felt their sadness, experienced their excitement and shared their achievement. He didn't want to go back to his boring life where he did the same things again and again and AGAIN. He was not some robot that repeated it's code repeatedly and he never wanted to be one. Laiz took a deep breath, his eyes looked brighter and his expresion was opposite to his usual i-don't-care face.

"May i ask how this power of yours will help me?"

Laiz's carried himself politely while asking repectfuly

Oswald ignores his injuries and observes Laiz again, before smiling warmly at him and asks a question.

"Do you know what rpg games are?"

Laiz smiled brightly at this question, unable to hide his exitement. He has read more than enough novels to know where this was going.

"Yes, i know what they are. What of it?"

Although Laiz was sure it was the same or something similar to the sytem he heard read about in novels, he was sensible enough to not make assumptions and asked for information.

Oswald couldn't prevent the increase in intensity of his smile. He was nodding in approval of Laiz's actions.

"My creation takes the concept of systems found in those games, this sytem will allow you to personally view and control your information and progress. It includes the functions such as Status, Skills and a lot more. I'm sure you're familiar with this concept. So I ask you again.. Do you want an adventure?"

To Laiz the answer was obvious.

"I do!"

Laiz's answer seem to please Oswald as his smile brightened even more, even Laiz felt creeped by this.

"Alright, come closer"

Laiz does not hesitate and comes closer to the Oswald.

As Laiz comes closer Oswald takes notice of Laiz's hand grasping the stick. Oswald could sense something ominous within that stick when it was in Laiz's hands. He ignored this feeling.

Oswald's index and middle finger glowed with power before pushing it toward Laiz's forehead.

'..I don't feel any differe-'

Before he could finish this thought he felt a large amount of pain coming from his head. It felt as if a thousand needles decided to poke his head.

Laiz leaks out some shouts of pain for a few minutes before turning silent. He laid in the grass, wet due to sweating and breathing heavily.

"You didn't say anything about that painful process.."

Laiz states accusingly after recovering enough energy, feeling sour from the uninformed pain.

'Although, I should have probably expected this. It happens when receiving cheats in novels after all..'

"I didn't? Well you can count that as payment for poking me earlier"

Oswald replies to the accusement nonchalantly.

'Power comes with a price after all..'

Laiz sighs, queitly convincing himself not to punch and poke the stick in the head of the already-injured Oswald.

"Anyway, what comes next?"

Oswald's expression is replaced with a sad smile before coughing out blood in his hand.

"As i said i dont have much time left, the system will tell you the rest.."

A frown overtook Laiz's delighted expression and despite the statements gravity, Oswald was able to plaster a carefree smile.

"Don't look so down now. I'm way too tired and old to keep living anyway. You shouldn't interrupt an old timer's rest you know."

Despite Oswals's words Laiz's frown stayed on his face. Even though he had just met Oswald a few minutes ago he offered an oppurtunity he was desperate to have. He offered a chance to leave his current life, and a chance to do greater things.

So naturally he'd feel bitter at seeing Oswald die in front of him.

Seeing Laiz like this Oswald shakes his head and says

"I have experience a lot of things during my youth up to now, in fact i think i have experienced too much. I have had struggles against strong foes and overcame them, experienced love which blossomed into a family."

Oswald looks at Laiz in eyes and so does Laiz.

"My children.. I've seen them grow from an innocent child to a capable adult. At that time i always thought i would die before them and that i would leave seeing their sadness and conviction. What i instead saw was their fear and vulnerability when they saw they're mother and my lover die in front of them. WHAT I INSTEAD SAW WAS, NOT MY DEATH BUT THEY'RE DEATH!"

Oswald's powerful and carefree demeanor was now gone, instead replaced by the tired and vulnurable Oswald.

"It's been a long time since that happened, from there i basicly lived my life fighting lifelessly... Honestly, i just want some rest"

After a few seconds of silence, Laiz coud do nothing but sigh. It was impossible to change Oswald's decision after hearing that story.

"..I see.. Then i hope you get the rest you want and.. thank you for this chance"

All Laiz could do now was wish him luck and say goodbye.

"Well, i hope you find something in your journey, farewell.."

As Oswald's eyelids slowly close he takes his last breath before finnaly dying. Unknown to Laiz, the sun was now setting and so the beutiful and bright orange light covers them both. Laiz takes a deep breath, appreciating Oswald's kindness. Unfortunately this magnificent scene was ruined.

"..Uhh,"

An awkward cough was heard by Laiz. Laiz was dumbfounded when he looked down at the supposedly dead Oswald looking emberrassingly at him, something no 'dead' person should be able to do.

".. Yeah.. I'm a lot.. Healthier than i thought.."

Laiz looks at Oswald silently, deadpanning.

"..haha.. Well, since i have this much energy left i might as well bestow you one more gift.."

Oswald laughs awkwardly before pushing his index and middle finger towards Laiz's forehead.

Although Laiz was wary of the pain that most likely will come after this, he still let Oswald's finger touch him.

The pain this time was less painful and Laiz was able to withstand it silently.

When the pain has subdued Laiz felt like there was something in his conciousness, so intinctly he put his focus in his head. What he found was a thick leather book, Laiz gazed HARD at the book, as if it would speak and tell him what was inside the book.

Laiz put his focus back to his body and asks Oswald what the book contains.

"That book has all the notes i have taken down from the enlightment of the laws in the universe."

That was all Oswald could muster as he rapidly loses energy.

"Looks like i'll leave this time, huh?"

Laiz looks at Oswald.

"Hmm"

Oswald couldn't help but smile at that respond.

That was Laiz's last image of Oswald before he died: A man with a soft smile on his face as his eye shine brighther than the sun before diming.