“Abuse of the System will not be tolerated. [Officer] [God] Luminas Lopez, you are stripped of your role of Officer for your crimes. From now on, you are a Watcher,” Ebas proclaimed. “Furthermore, you are ousted from Florna. You should be thankful this is all you’re getting for fighting another Officer.”

You are Guilty.

[Role]: Demoted from [Officer] to [Watcher]. Privileges lost:

* Banishment

* Materialization

* Dematerialization

* Mind Control

* Spacetime Control

* Advanced Status Editing

* Minor Invincibility

[Species]: [God] has changed to [Fallen God - Human]

You have been expelled from [Florna - Realm of the Gods].

The realm around me swirled and shifted, even as I attempted to speak. To object. It was too late. I popped into a gray, static abyss. A place that defies all logic. There was no light, yet I could see. There was no gravity, yet I was falling. And falling was all I could do or feel.

----------------------------------------

I woke up to a notification like I always do.

[Privilege]: [Sleepless] reactivated.

A simple preference in the System, a change to automatically reactivate [Sleepless] when I woke up. I rarely slept. When I do sleep, I do it because I want to, not for necessity.

I hadn’t had a dream in years. Yet when I did, it was always this scene.

It was decades in the past, and I don’t know why it’s the only thing I ever dream about if I do have a dream. Sure, it pissed me off. It was relevant too, as it was the only reason I was stuck as a Watcher.

I wasn’t that upset about it though. I still had a lot of [Privileges] as a Watcher. And most importantly, even if I was pretending to be an Elite, I was safe. Safe from the assholes that make up the Privileged. The Watchers exist for a reason, after all.

The roles in this world were simple. Most people were Commons. Everyone starts as a Common. No matter what species, you are born Common. Despite what the humans believed, it isn’t any easier for a single species to level up.

After the Commons, you had Elites. Those over level 150 are recognized by the System and become Elites. This is where the System begins granting [Privileges], features you are given access to, just because you’re strong. The idea was those who are strong could govern those below them with their [Privileges]. Simple, but brutal. This was the reason nearly every Privileged was an asshole.

Elites are granted a single [Privilege], which is the ability to [Appraise]. You could identify anything and anyone. The caveat was you had to say it audibly, and it wouldn’t provide the full status of people.

Finally, as most people would say, there are the Privileged. The quote-on-quote final role in the hierarchy, and the final goal for everyone. If you reached level 500, the system made you a Privileged. Simply by becoming a Privileged, you gained access to a bunch of [Privileges]. They could hide their level from [Appraisal] with [Level Obfuscation]. They could silently [Appraise] with [Silent - Appraisal]. They didn’t need to sleep, with the same [Privilege] I used, [Sleepless]. Using [Messaging], they could instantly communicate to anyone they want, although the recipient also needed [Messaging] to send things back.

The Privileged could also easily kill anyone more than 500 levels below them. Simply direct a focused [Aura] and they were dead. Combine that with [Minor Invisibility], and the fact that they were assholes, which means they simply went around sometimes, killing anyone they felt like. Thankfully, Privileged was as far as most people get, or even know about.

Watchers. My current role. We watch. We prevent system abuse. The one phrase everyone knows. The only thing that keeps the Privileged in check. As far as most people know, something watches them. The message that shows up to anyone with a [Privilege]. Every year.

Abuse of the System will not be tolerated.

And for those who ignore that warning? We can take away {Levels} and {Skills}. For serious or repeat offenders, we [Lockdown] their System. That meant no System for them. We were the [Angels] (or in my case, a [Fallen God]). By becoming a Watcher, we became something… more.

Finally, there was one more role that someone could theoretically get. Officer. I used to be an Officer. They were the ones who kept watch over us. The Watchers. Officers are [Gods]. They, for all intents and purposes, had full control over everything. They were invincible to most attacks due to [Minor Invincibility]. The only thing they aren’t is omniscient.

Officers were entrusted with one final secret. As a former Officer, I also knew it. The Architect. The one who designed and built the system. The true god among everything. The role has been useless for centuries now, with the Architect staying far away from here. He had access to other universes, after all. Why stay in a small and gloomy universe when there were bigger, better ones?

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I sat up with a sigh, the blankets falling around me. Both Officers and Watchers aren’t exempt from the one rule: Abuse of the System will not be tolerated.

Watchers had no real task, except to punish those we stumble upon abusing their [Privileges]. We didn’t have to look around for them; that was the Officers’ job.

For me, that meant simply pretending to be an Elite, and picking up random jobs in the Mercenary’s Guild. I had nothing better to do, and it was a great way to earn some coins. The couple of decades I’ve spent there have gotten me the highest possible normal mercenary rank of S.

I stepped outside of the apartment I was renting, for the last time, and weaved through the crowd to reach the Mercenary’s Guild. The streets were extra busy today, as merchants had a shouting contest with each other. Whoever was loudest had more people hear them.

Inside the Mercenary’s Guild, I noticed a ton of requests on the message board. I was taking an escort request to Akurtum, and moving there. It’d already been a decade in Chaustein. People were going to start noticing that I wasn’t aging, and the only people who aged slowly enough were those whose level was over 500. For every one hundred levels, you age slower. When you look the same for a decade, you’re definitely into the 500s, and I didn’t want to be associated with those bastards. People hate you but are too scared to do anything. It overall wasn’t pleasant.

I found a simple escort request, taking the route through Chaustein Forest and the Akurtum Mountain Range.

The monsters in Chaustein Forest were generally pretty tame, and anyone over level 300 could usually deal with them. Which is to say, less than 10% of the world’s population. Most people never made it past level 400 in their lifetimes.

“B-ranked escort to Akurtum City? The journey starts today and lasts a week. Your pay is 10 silver, and you’ll be working with one other,” the clerk queried.

I confirmed, “Yes.”

“You can meet with the merchant outside, near the city gates. Be there in an hour,” the clerk dismissed.

I exited the Mercenary’s Guild and wandered over to the wagon where I was meant to meet up with the merchant. On my way, I picked up an expensive meat skewer, as my last meal in this city.

[Privilege] [Silent - Appraisal]

Seasoned Quikit Meat Skewer

A meat skewer made from quikit, seasoned.

It smelled and was delicious. Quikit is a G-ranked monster, notoriously hard to catch. I had to pay a silver for a single skewer!

Before I knew it, I’d finished my meal for the day. The higher the level you were, the less you had to eat.

“You’re the second escort for me, lass? I wasn’t sure if we’d get another one before we left,” a disgruntled merchant said to me when I showed him my mercenary badge. “S-rank is impressive though. Surprised you’re taking on a request like mine. You can call me Britt.”

“I’m Lauren!” Lauren piped up beside him. She was A-rank.

They both seemed like nice enough people, so I grinned. “I’m Luminas. I’m looking forward to traveling with you!”

“Good. We’re a few minutes early, but we can start heading out now,” Britt said. “Hurry it up. You both can hop in the wagon.”

“Okay!” Lauren chirped. She was a little too happy for someone supposedly A-ranked. After all, if you were A-ranked, you’ve experienced the horrors of the stronger monsters out there. I let it slide for now.

Not saying a word, I climbed into the wagon, as it rolled to the front gates.

“One-way return trip to Akurtum City. No cargo, two escorts,” Britt supplied to the gate guard.

“Standard procedure is to [Appraise] everything. That alright with you three?” the gate guard asked.

I grunted in approval, while Lauren chirped a “yes”. Britt just nodded. Gate guards are required to be an Elite. This was one of the reasons why.

The gate guard fired off three appraisals. “[Privilege] [Appraisal]. [Privilege] [Appraisal]. [Privilege] [Appraisal].”

“You’re good to go,” he concluded.

And with that, I was saying goodbye to the city I’d lived in for a decade. Again. It has been seven decades. Seven decades since I fell, since I became a Watcher. This was the seventh city I’m leaving. It never gets any easier, does it? This time, at least, I didn’t make any friends. I made sure of that. The first two times, I’d made that mistake. Never again.

The wagon rolled on the paved wheel in silence. The merchant drove the wagon, steering the horse in front.

Then, Lauren spoke up. “So, what are your plans in Akurtum?”

Silence.

“Hellooooooooooo?”

I sighed. “I’m planning on living there and joining up with the local Mercenary’s Guild.”

Lauren tried to poke me. I dodged every attempt. “But that’s so boooooooooorrrrrring. Is there anything fun you’re planning to do? Maybe fight a dragon? Loot some ruins?”

Sounded like pain. I’d probably just do some odd requests, and taste the food items. Mostly meat skewers “No.”

Lauren, thankfully, sensing my reluctance to talk, went to bother the merchant instead.

“What about you?” she prodded.

“No.”

I watched as she poked Britt, rather successfully. “Fuck off, you twit! I’m trying to concentrate!”

This finally caused Lauren to pout and sit down in the back, letting out a large sigh.

A couple of minutes later, we entered Chaustein Forest. During the rest of the day, Lauren kept trying to talk to us. I finally gave in, and we talked about food for the rest of the day.

The next day, I took out a chess set and played with Lauren just to quiet her down. Chess was an incredibly old classic, introduced by the Architect. Of course, nobody else knew about its origins. You weren't a mercenary if you didn’t know how to play. It was one of the only sources of entertainment on boring, long rides.

“We’re entering the Akurtum Mountain Ranges. Be on guard,” Britt called out.

Immediately, I flipped the chess set over (I was losing, somehow).

“Got it,” I replied.

“HEY! I was winning! That’s cheating!!” Lauren whined to me.

Unlike Chaustein Forest, the Akurtum Mountain Ranges were full of C-ranked threats, with occasional B-ranked monsters and even A-ranked monsters. There were even rumors of a S-ranked monster living deep inside, although nobody has ever confirmed it.

It was a dangerous 4 days across the rocky mountains, and landslides weren’t uncommon.

A tunnel was being made through the mountains, but until that was done, escorts between Chaustein and Akurtum were at minimum B-ranked.

A roar in the distance interrupted my musing, and a flock of krirds flew away. Krirds… C-ranked monsters usually didn’t run (or fly) away that fast, unless something warranted it. Something A-rank.

“Britt. Faster. There’s something dangerous over there,” I said.

“You sure, missy?” he asked.

“Yes. That was a flock of krirds.”

Britt immediately understood the danger, but it was too late. Something was chasing us, and fast. And I couldn’t detect it with my {Skill} {Detection}. A skill I’d maxed out.

I turned around, and with my {Skill} {Far-Sight}, I attempted to [Appraise] it.

[Privilege] [Silent - Appraise]

I stared in horror at the result.

T̸a̶i̴n̸t̶e̷d̶ - Lvl ???

?̷̧̼̤̳͗͊?̸̱͇̘͂̕͜?̴̨̖̘͍̒̀͝?̵̤̬̹͂?̶̫̚͝?̶̬̚͠?̴͖̅̃̅?̵̯̎̈́̾?̷̩͌̕?̴̞́?̵͍͓̹͗͗̚?̸̨̫̝͖͋͠

I saw something new for the first time in centuries.