Chapter 3: Hostile system
Adrian lay flat on the cold ground, leaves stuck to his cheek. The forest around him was quiet. Tall oak trees loomed overhead, their branches blocks most of the light.
"…Where am I…?" he murmured, slowly opening his eyes.
He blinked. Then blinked again.
"…Wait. I'm alive?" He pushed himself up abruptly. "Didn't I just get struck by lightning? That should've killed me instantly."
He looked down at his body.
"…What…?"
His clothes were worn and coarse, nothing like the office uniform that he remembered. His hands were smaller. His arms thinner. Dirt clung to his skin as if he had been lying there for hours.
"Hold on…" He turned his hands over, studying them. "Why do I look younger? Did I turn younger? Maybe… around early 20s. And these clothes… wait… if I didn't, don't tell me this isn't my real body…!?"
He stiffened.
"Is this... Reincarnation?" he said under his breath.
He ran a hand through his dirty hair.
"If I'm really died… then whose body is this?" His expression suddenly froze as he remembered. "Wait… m-my apartment! The magazines… the magazines under my bed!!!"
His face drained of color.
"You've got to be kidding me!" he muttered, then suddenly shouted, "If someone ends up living in that apartment, they'll find my secret! And some of my other coll—"
He started pacing in circles.
"No, focus. This isn't the time for that. I need to understand what's going on. Where is this place? And that figure I saw earlier—was that really an angel?"
He stopped.
"…An angel…?"
He pressed his temple.
A sharp stabbing pain shot through his head.
"Ah—!" He winced. "Why can't I remember clearly…?"
The memory slipped away before he could even hold onto it. Adrian slowly raised his head—trees… nothing but endless trees, closing in from every side. "…Wait—what was I just thinking about?"
He look around slowly. No roads. No voices. No signs of civilization.
"…Oh—right. I'm in the middle of nowhere… so where's the way out?" he muttered under his breath.
He wrapped his arms around himself as the cold breeze slipped through his ragged worn clothes. "…It's cold."
"What am I supposed to do now…?"
Right as the words left his mouth—
Ding!!!
A faint blue light flickered in front of him.
"…What?"
A translucent screen appeared, hovering in midair. Adrian leaned back slightly, eyes narrowing. "Am I… hallucinating?" he muttered.
He hesitated, then raised his hand and punched his own jaw—hard enough to send himself stumbling back.
"Ow—! What the hell did I do that for…!?" he groaned, rubbing his face.
He stayed still for a moment, breathing out slowly, eyes locked on the floating screen.
"This looks familiar… where have I seen this before?"
A pause.
"Ohhh… Don't tell me this is one of those… system things," he muttered, "Like the ones from those anime, those gooner kids keep talking about these days…?"
He swallowed, forcing out a nervous smile.
"Then… does that mean this system is going to help me? Does that mean, I still can go back to my world?"
[**Critical status**]
JUST DIE
"What do you mean, 'just die'!? Is this how a system is supposed to act!? Aren't you supposed to be here to help me!?"
[SYSTEM BOOTING...!!!]
[WORLD DETECTED: GREEK + NORSE GOD REALM LOADED]
[HOST LINK ESTABLISHED ✔]
[PRIMARY MISSION: BECOME A GOD]
→ "Starting right now."
SYSTEM: (ಠ_ಠ)
You piece of shit.
"…Quit cursing at me and help me!!! And what kind of nonsense is this?! Just get me back!!! Get me back to my world!!!"
[SYSTEM RESPONSE: (/°0°)/~ ERROR ENTITY SPEAKING]
Shut up.
Shut the hell up.
You said it first.
"You can become a God."
So don't act surprised now, idiot.
Let's see if that confidence of yours wasn't just empty words.
[SYSTEM LOG ACCESSING ██████████]
[SYSTEM: (>_<) IRRITATION SPIKE DETECTED]
I WAS ON VACATION. Do you understand that?!
And then YOU appeared and cursed the God of Sky and Thunder. That alone drew the attention of an Unknown Outer God.
Now I'm dragged back into this disgusting job again.
And that Outer God thought it would be funny to assign me this garbage host.
[SYSTEM ENTITY STATUS: (¬_¬) LIMITED OUTER FRAGMENT]
And this world… is where the Greek and Norse gods exist. Those arrogant, violent, prideful lunatics …
If they even detect me here—
I won't be killed. I'll be erased completely, like I was never real at all.
[SYSTEM DIRECTIVE: >:( FINAL WARNING]
Listen to me, you useless host. Become something worth the risk I'm taking just by staying connected to you.
Or die quickly—
…so I can go back to my damn vacation… and forget you ever existed.
[SYSTEM STATUS: (╬ Ò﹏Ó) FORCED CONTRACT / VACATION DESTROYED / EXTREME DISGUST]
Adrian: "It's not my fault your vacation got ruined, you damn system! Just tell me where I am—how am I supposed to survive here!? And is there any village or town nearby!?"
________________________________________
INFORMATION 1:
If anyone in this world discovers you are not from here, you will be treated as an evil entity—and killed on sight.
INFORMATION 2:
If you are spotted by savages or barbarians, your head will be cut off without hesitation.
INFORMATION 3:
If the gods become aware of your existence, divine retribution may be called upon you.
INFORMATION 4:
Wild beasts will not hesitate to feast on your body once you fall.
INFORMATION 5:
If you cannot hunt or identify edible plants in the wild, you will starve to death.
INFORMATION 6:
If you fail to adapt to extreme temperature changes, your body will not survive.
________________________________________
Adrian shouted angrily, "What the hell are those? That's just a list of ways I'll die! At least give me something useful—some real information! And aren't you a system? You're supposed to give me power-ups, even if it's just a little!"
[SYSTEM OVERRIDE INITIATED]
[(ಠ_ಠ)/ SPIN COMMAND ACCEPTED]
System: Spin it, you stupid bitch. Pick the path you want to choose, bitch.
Adrian: "What the fuck is your problem, you fucking screen piece of shit!!!" he shouted, raising his middle finger at the system screen.
Then suddenly, a 10-second countdown appeared, along with different paths.
[SYSTEM: (¬_¬) 10 SECOND COUNTDOWN STARTED]
[PATH SELECTION ACTIVATED]
From:
Mythology
Legends
Biblical
Historical
Random
Clink clink clink… [STOP]
The arrow landed on: [RANDOM]
Then another interface appeared.
This time it was a list—full of names, like a spinning wheel of endless entities:
Ra, Osiris, Anubis, Horus, Set, Anu, Enlil, Enki, Ereshkigal, Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli, Tlaloc, Viracocha, Inti, Pachamama, Supay, Bathala, Apolaki, Mayari, Apep, Ammit, Lamashtu, Pazuzu, Cihuateteo, Mictlantecuhtli, Tezcatlipoca, Lucifer Morningstar, Wakinyan, Tikbalang, Bakunawa, Chupacabra, Erlik, Kishi, Adze, Obayifo, Chaneques, Suphal, Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Azrael, Zadkiel, Jeremiel, Sariel, Raguel, Remiel, Medusa, Stheno, Euryale, Lamia, Chimera, Manticore, Basilisk, Kraken, Nuckelavee, Wendigo, Harpy, Siren, Roc, Fenrir, Yeti, Jorogumo, Kappa, Tiamat, Nian, Amatsu-Mikaboshi, Golem, Djinn, Ifrit, Rocor, Leviathan, Typhon, Charybdis, Echidna, Lamassu, Ymir, Ötzi, Artemis, Hou Yi, Robin Hood, William Tell, Ragnar Lothbrok, Bjorn Ironside, Ivar the Boneless, Leif Erikson, Harald Hardrada, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Julius Caesar, Qin Shi Huang, Charlemagne, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Galileo Galilei, Nikola Tesla, Leonardo da Vinci, Blackbeard, Henry Morgan, Anne Bonny, Calico Jack Rackham, Ching Shih, Spartacus, Achilles, Hannibal Barca, Sun Tzu, Saladin, Miyamoto Musashi, Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Tomoe Gozen, Date Masamune, Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, Marco Polo, Zheng He, Hernán Cortés, Joan of Arc, William Wallace, Boudica, Sitting Bull, Shaka Zulu, Vlad the Impaler, Attila the Hun, Geronimo, Napoleon Bonaparte, Hattori Hanzō.
Adrian: "What the fuck!!! These are just names! I don't even know what a 'path' means… Wait—give me some time!!"
[(╯⊙ ⊱ ⊙╰) SYSTEM RESPONSE]
System: Not my problem. Even if I give you time, you're going to die anyway.]
Adrian: "I don't have time to argue with you!!!"
So I pressed the spin button.
[SYSTEM: SPIN CONFIRMED]
[(°□°) WHEEL OF FATE ENGAGED]
The wheel spun violently.
Clink… clink… clink…
Slowing down.
Slower…
Slower…
And it landed on the first sinner—and one of the most hated name recorded in the Bible…
Lucifer Morningstar.
Path has been created.
Host will now receive quests and rewards in the future.
Path Name: Lucifer Morningstar
Locked Titles: The First Sinner / The Perfect One / The Heavenly Rebel / The Sin of Pride
Adrian: "Fuck!!!!!!"
[(๑•́ ∀ •̀๑): What terrible luck… haha. Good luck collecting pride points in a forest. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going offline to sleep… and also die.]
Adrian: "fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"