Chapter 8: The Heretic's Filter
Yukeli didn't know what to think. Suddenly, a strange entity supposedly loved him and claimed she couldn't live without him.
But he remembered the sensation that flowed through his body when there was a glitch in the system, or something similar — that feeling of being protected, of being cared for. It was a sensation he had never felt before, but one he could recognize.
He wasn't stupid. It was obvious that the two events were linked. Most likely, he had only survived because this so-called witch had helped him.
"This just got complicated."
Yukeli could be many things, but ungrateful wasn't one of them. Still, the situation was difficult to digest. He didn't see himself accepting, anytime soon, whatever this witch represented to him — nor if he truly wanted to accept it.
He didn't even know her name.
'Maybe those question marks hide exactly that...' he thought. Why? Yukeli didn't know, nor did he care. At the moment, he needed to focus on other things. There was much to observe in the system.
[You have gained full access to the Genesis Order system]
[At the twilight of the primordial era, all beings reclaimed what had been stolen from them: the chance to reach the apex of reality. But the concept of power became strange and poisonous to the path created by the primordials to unite body, mind, and soul. Thus, the Heretic of the Order sacrificed themselves to give rise to a system that could guide everyone to ascend the paths of power with safety and vigilance. With the help of the fragment torn from the heart of the Order, it became the Genesis Order.]
Yukeli read everything carefully.
Without haste.
"So it's basically a manual… created by an act of sacrifice."
He scratched his chin.
The term "Heretic" caught his attention, but not enough to shake his soul. Heretics had always existed in ancient stories. Someone who dared to disagree with the established structure. Someone who paid the price.
If power had become poisonous, then someone needed to create a filter.
And the system was that filter.
Simple.
Logical.
Practical.
He took a deep breath.
"Body. Mind. Soul. Balanced union. Safe path."
It made sense.
If everyone regained the chance to reach the apex, then the world was more competitive. More dangerous. More unpredictable.
The system wasn't a throne.
It was a tool.
And access to it meant stability.
Yukeli tilted his head slightly.
"Useful."
Nothing more.
He didn't feel the Heretic's presence. He heard no echoes from the past. There was no crushing pressure.
It was just information.
Structured.
Organized.
Available.
This was very comforting; he had already read novels where the character possessed a grand system with a personality that, in the end, tried to take over their body or something similar.
If there was anything grand in this, it was in the history, and history didn't kill anyone.
What killed was the misuse of power.
If the concept of power was poisonous, then the system was a map to avoid intoxication.
And maps don't choose paths.
He flashed a slight smile.
"So, in the end, it's up to me."
No imposed destiny.
No prophecy whispering in his ears.
Just a system.
And choices.
Yukeli didn't tremble.
He simply began to think about how to use it in the most efficient way possible.