"Hey."

"Heeyy…"

The playful tone echoed from somewhere unseen, a high-pitched and teasing voice reverberating through the pitch-black darkness. Leo groaned softly, his eyes fluttering open to a different place entirely. The darkness was thick, almost tangible, and he felt a strange sensation of weightlessness, as if he were floating in an endless void.

He tried to look around, his eyes struggling to pierce through the impenetrable blackness. "Who's there? Where am I?" he called out, his voice sounding oddly muted in the void.

The voice giggled, the sound bouncing playfully around him. "Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot this is our first time talking. My name is Aya," the voice introduced itself, the name lingering in the air like a soft melody. "I'm one of the engineers."

"Engineers?" Leo repeated, confusion knitting his brow. "What is this place?"

Aya's voice chimed again, this time with a hint of amusement. "Welcome to the Pipeline, Leo. This is where system users are brought, at least their consciousness, during system updates or similar activities."

As the words sunk in, Leo couldn't help but notice the striking similarities between this surreal experience and his previous job on Earth. He had worked in software development, where the software development cycle, including various pipelines, was a daily reality. The pipelines were integral processes that took code from development to production, ensuring everything worked smoothly before release.

In this strange, dark void, Leo's muscles began to relax. Understanding dawned on him, and the tension that had gripped his body eased. "I see... So, this is like a system update pipeline," he mused aloud. "But this forced update... it's bad practice. What if I had been in the middle of a battle or an important quest?"

Aya's laughter was light and carefree, echoing in the darkness. "I knew you'd say that! But don't worry, I checked your activity first before activating the update. I wouldn't want to interrupt anything critical. Besides, this update includes some important aspects for your adventures."

Leo's mind raced, processing the information. He couldn't deny the logic behind Aya's reassurance, but the abruptness of the situation still left him uneasy. "Next time, a little warning would be nice," he said, trying to keep his tone light despite his lingering irritation.

"Fair enough," Aya replied with a playful lilt.

Aya continued, her voice maintaining that playful tone, "Technically, this is just a descriptions update and is already up and running in your system." Leo could almost see her scratching her head and making an annoying face as she spoke. She added, "I got lazy because I thought no VIP system user would ever be able to use one of the system's strongest skills."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Leo, bewildered by her visible gestures despite the darkness, asked himself, "Why can I see her scratching her head and making that face?"

Aya's voice chimed in again, "You're lucky to have me, you know. This is the only system I'm maintaining and want to maintain. Other engineers are juggling multiple systems, which results in subpar quality." Her tone carried a hint of disapproval.

"Everyone mocked me when they saw my drafts, saying I was just killing all my future users," she continued, a mix of pride and defiance in her voice. "But the VIP system is built for high risk-takers. Its skills and abilities are technically overpowered compared to their systems, so having extremely hard requirements for unlocking them is just logical."

Leo nodded, thinking back to some of the powerful abilities he had seen. "I agree. Most of what I've seen is outright OP, especially the Share the Pain perk."

"Ah!" Aya exclaimed, her excitement palpable. "That's one of the things I was talking about! Since you can't view your system's update notes here, do you want me to spoil you? Huh, huh?!" Her voice was playful and teasing, almost taunting him.

Leo sighed, feeling a mix of exhaustion and curiosity. "Yes, please," he replied, his tone betraying his fatigue.

Aya chuckled, her voice dancing in the darkness. "You really are middle-aged, aren't you?"

Leo snapped, his patience wearing thin. "Just tell me if you're going to tell me!"

Aya laughed hysterically, the sound echoing around him. He could hear her hitting something, most likely a table, as she struggled to control her laughter. Leo's mouth trembled with a mix of irritation and amusement.

Aya sighed in relief and continued, her tone shifting to a more informative one. "Alright, alright. One of the description updates was related to the Share the Pain perk. Given how hard and painful the skill was, I decided to add some benefits to it. Upon a successful sync, your body starts to integrate with that of your target." She started to chuckle again, clearly amused by what she was about to reveal.

"You might have noticed your body changing drastically," she said, her voice tinged with playful mirth.

"That's a unique trait of Elves. Since their lifespan is different from other species, their bodies behave differently too. Elven bodies grow much faster at certain stages and then slow down significantly."

"For example, at 8 years old, they already have teenage bodies. By 15, they look fully matured, and then for the next 5000 years, they gradually age until they appear middle-aged. You get the point," Aya said with a smirk.

Leo nodded slowly, piecing together the changes he'd been experiencing. "So that explains my body's rapid growth. So this is how Elven bodies work."

"Exactly," Aya confirmed, her voice filled with satisfaction. "And to avoid confusion, I also added an update where the years of experience would be incorporated into the system user as well."

Leo paused, processing this new information.

"So, now you're technically a 116-year-old human-elf hybrid."

Leo's eyes widened upon hearing her words. He instinctively touched his ears, his mouth curving downward as he asked, "Should hybrids also show physical traits of other species?"

Aya laughed nervously, the sound echoing in the darkness. "Well, about that... Maybe the update includes some bug fixes too." She giggled, a hint of mischief in her tone.