Dark matter thickened the air around me, wrenching cough after cough from my lungs.
My skin prickled as though a thousand needles were stabbing into me at once. I struggled to keep my blurry gaze focused through the darkness, but the pain kept piling on, each wave making it harder to breathe, until even a single breath felt unbearable.
The system’s voice, loud as ever in my head, began to fade, muffled and distant.
I could still see my surroundings, but everything blurred at the edges, colors bleeding into each other, my thoughts sluggish and disconnected from my own body.
[Host! We have to find cover....] the system urged, its tone clipped and fast. [If those monsters catch up to us we’re as good as dead.]
In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to follow the system’s plan, run out of this area, find somewhere to take cover, and maybe figure out a way to escape this damned simulation before it killed me.
However, I wasn’t exactly in a position to do that. Not only was my left leg practically broken, but my head was a mess of pain and constant déjà vu, making every event happening right in front of me feel like something I’d already experienced.
My head pounded from the noise, the pain so overwhelming that the agony tearing through my thigh almost felt numb in comparison.
My eyes narrowed slightly as I planted my hands against the ground and pushed myself up, watching the approaching horde of beasts.
"Fucking shit, this hurts like hell." The words came out strained, barely audible over the sirens wailing inside my head.
If it had been nothing more than physical pain, perhaps I could have found a way to endure it. But my mind was genuinely betraying me now. Every movement, every sound, every event unfolding before my eyes felt eerily familiar, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish what was happening in the present from what my mind insisted had already happened.
[Host, you’re alright?!] the system pressed as I struggled to get to my feet, wobbling slightly as I tried to steady my unbalanced body.
"No shit, Sherlock. I definitely look alright, don’t I?"
[Host?]
My neck snapped to the side as a particularly sharp pain lanced through one side of my skull, making me wince.
"Fuck. Can you shut up for a moment?" I muttered, rubbing my temples in an attempt to dull the pounding in my head.
For some unknown reason, rage built in my chest. Not just toward the monsters stampeding their way toward me or the strange voice that had rung in my head, talking about some kind of talent show, but also toward the system, my parents, and every single person I had met in both this life and my last.
"Damned fuckers just love messing with my life, don’t they?"
[Host? What happened?]
My head tilted slightly to the side as I stared at the system, my expression twisting into a scowl of disgust. "What kind of bullshit question is that? Can’t you fucking see the monsters approaching us?"
[Yes, I can, but there’s no need to get so angry or curse so much.]
I paused, my lips parting before pressing shut again as I tried to rein myself in. Honestly speaking, the system was right. In the face of such danger, I needed to keep my cool and think of a strategy...
But...
My gaze hardened as my expression darkened.
"Huh?" I snapped, my voice laced with pure annoyance. "Who the hell are you to tell me what to do? My mom? Oh, right. I forgot she’s a bitch. So who are you, then? My fucking grandma?"
I scoffed. "Don’t come here acting all self-righteous about everything when I know you look down on me too. Do I look like that much of a pushover that you can just tell me where to go and how to go about it?"
[Host... it isn’t like that. See, I don’t think you’re in the right state of mind right now. Just breathe in and try to relax.]
"Breathe?" I shot back, exasperation sharpening every word. "Oh my God, what a wonderful idea. If I breathe, these monsters would die, and all those fuckers who treat my life like some kind of game would die too, why didn’t I think of that? Well, thank you so much, Mister System."
I lowered my head, a bitter chuckle escaping my lips. "I guess you must be living quite the life, huh? Just being nothing but a damned talking machine and coming here to tell me to stop cursing."
I raised my gaze and glared directly at it. "Don’t act like you’re the good guy here when you’re the one who sent me here in the first place."
I ignored the trembling system interface hovering in front of me and limped forward.
"Must be quite hilarious to watch your ’dear hosts’ go through deadly situations while you act like their friend, even though you’re the cause of it all," I whispered, clicking my tongue.
Mana flared through me, erupting from my core in wild, crackling bursts.
"Since you treat me so well, I can only guess that my life must be quite enjoyable for your audience. Traumatic boy gets a system to defeat his foes while building up even more trauma. Quite cliché, if you ask me."
[Host, what are you even saying? I am as much in the dark about what is happening as you are.]
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, dear system."
I stretched out my hand, calling forth the dagger from my inventory, and used telekinesis to send it floating around me.
The first wave of monsters, a pack of goblins and a nest of ant-like insects with red eyes and mandibles dirtied with green blood, was already upon me.
I let my lips curve into a mocking smile. "But hey, you did give me this much, so why don’t I give you a good show?"
I bent my pinky and index finger into a spellcaster’s gesture, then twisted my hand.
Instantly, the daggers surrounding me spun faster and faster until they blurred into streaks of silver light.
"However..." I continued, my voice dark, "if you think for even a moment that I’ll simply die here for your entertainment, then you’re greatly mistaken."
I took a deep breath, letting the wild mana flowing through me act as an anchor.
Just as I was about to move forward and unleash what little I could manage, a chiming sound rang in my ear, the system’s alert cutting through everything else.
Ding!
[You have purchased: Temporary Healing Bonus Card.]
[Cost: 100,000 SC.]
[Description: This card shall automatically refill your HP by 5% every minute.]
[Current HP: 2,430/12,500]
Ding!
[You have purchased: Max Luck Card.]
[Cost: 1,000,000 SC.]
[The debuff: [Frenzied Frailty Curse] placed on you upon your arrival into this simulation has been negated.]
[Your Luck stat has reached the absolute limit that can be recorded in this dungeon.]
"Huh?"
My eyes widened as a warm sensation coursed through me, causing the stabbing pain in my leg to lessen severalfold.
[Host... I won’t act like I know what it feels like to lose things again and again, nor would I say that I fully understand how you’re feeling currently.]
[However, there is one thing I know, one that would never change. That is that I, your system, shall always be by your side every single day, no matter what your sins are.]
[So please, don’t push me away like an unwanted barrage, because in this long fight, you and I will always be partners.]
My gaze sharpened as I stared at the message hovering in front of me.
This time, the system hadn’t read it aloud in my head as it usually did. Was it because it wanted me to understand its tone and true feelings without the mechanical voice?
I didn’t know.
But what I did know now was that this system was actually rooting for me.
I clenched my jaw, my fist tightening at my side.
"Yeah, right," I quipped, though a smirk was already tugging at my lips. "How do you expect me to believe you now when you said I need to earn my money to buy things, yet you’re currently doing this when I don’t have any money?"
[Uh... well, what I said is true, but I did waste one of my three system admin privileges to do this, and I will surely get an earful from my superiors. Maybe even a month without...]
Its words were abruptly cut off, but that was enough for me to understand the situation.
A small smile formed on my face. ’So this system is human, huh.’
I raised my eyes toward the monsters that were now almost upon me. ’I guess I’m not the only one trapped here.’
I let myself lift off the ground as I positioned my spinning daggers toward the approaching horde.
Although the monsters were numerous and I could very well die here, I couldn’t help but find this whole ordeal quite laughable.
Just a few hours ago, I hadn’t known what my next step should be to uncover the truth about the Michael family and my past.
But now...
A clue had quite literally walked right in front of me on its own two feet. Not just that, an army of experience points had come along with it.