Liam stared at the strange notification floating in front of his vision, still struggling to accept the fact that his entire existence had somehow been reduced to something as absurd as becoming a planet. After dying from a brick, he had expected an afterlife, reincarnation, or perhaps nothingness, but becoming a celestial body had never appeared anywhere on his list of possibilities.
After several seconds of silence, Liam finally gathered enough courage to speak.
"Okay, before I completely lose my mind, what exactly are you?"
The notification remained suspended in his vision, its letters glowing faintly against the darkness of space.
"I mean, are you something like the system from that slime anime?"
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the system responded with the same calm and emotionless tone it had used since introducing itself.
[Scanning available information regarding the reference.]
[Analysis complete.]
[Yes. I am one of those systems.]
Liam’s eyes widened slightly. "So you really are that kind of system?"
[Affirmative.]
A strange excitement suddenly replaced some of Liam’s previous confusion. He had watched enough anime, read enough stories, and played enough games to know exactly what having a system usually meant. If the universe had decided to give him one, there had to be some kind of advantage hidden inside it.
"What kind of system are you? The one where you give me quests and abilities, like stores, or the one that announces whenever I meet certain criteria and unlock new abilities or titles?"
[Scanning...]
[Scan complete.]
[I am the type of system that will announce changes when the player meets certain criteria.]
"So exactly like that slime anime..."
[Affirmative.]
For the first time since waking up in space, he felt something resembling genuine excitement. His mind began racing through every possibility that came with having a system. Perhaps he could eventually control his entire planet, create life, manipulate the weather, alter the terrain, or even gain abilities that would allow him to interact with the universe beyond his own body.
The thought was almost enough to make him forget how ridiculous his situation was.
As Liam continued thinking, another realization slowly entered his mind. Surprisingly, he was not as devastated about leaving Earth as he probably should have been.
There was no family waiting for him.
He had grown up as an orphan, spending most of his life learning how to depend on himself. He had never experienced the kind of close family relationships that other people constantly talked about, and although he had met plenty of people throughout his life, very few had ever remained close enough for him to genuinely consider them friends.
He had never even had a serious girlfriend.
There was nobody whose voice he desperately needed to hear again, nobody whose face would make him regret leaving Earth, and nobody who would cause him to spend every waking moment wishing he could return.
Liam found that realization strangely depressing, although he could not deny that it also made accepting his new life much easier.
"Maybe I’m adapting a little too quickly."
He thought about it for another moment before shrugging internally.
"I died, got reincarnated, discovered I’m a planet, met a system. This feels like a fever dream."
Liam couldn’t help but find the situation somewhat amusing.
"Honestly, considering everything that happened today, I think I’m doing pretty well."
He returned his attention to the system.
"Alright, then. Can you explain this system interface to me from the beginning?"
[Certainly.]
[The Planet System operates similarly to progression systems found in games.]
Liam immediately became interested.
[When the player meets certain criteria, the player will be rewarded with skills that can assist them throughout their journey. For instance, when the player successfully evolves a species, the player may receive a reward.]
Liam listened carefully as the explanation continued.
[Additional rewards may also include items, Planet System upgrades, enhancements, and special functions.]
Liam nodded despite having no physical head movement that he could consciously feel.
[For starters, you may begin your journey by confirming the start of your planetary evolution. You may say, "Start the Process," to begin.]
This feels like an incremental game. If I discover something or meet a certain criterion, I might eventually be able to have my consciousness manifest within the planet itself.
"Start the process."
[Affirmative. Starting evolutionary process...]
"System, may I ask something?"
[The player can ask anything. I am built to help and guide you through this process.]
Liam considered the system’s response before asking his question.
"Based on my knowledge, an evolutionary process can take hundreds of millions of years. Do I really need to wait that long?"
[No. By starting the evolutionary process, hundreds of millions of years will only feel like a couple of minutes to you because of your billion-year lifespan.]
The system immediately followed its explanation with another notification.
[Notification: Player Liam’s planet now has water on its surface.]
[Reward: Temporal Acceleration.]
"Temporal Acceleration?"
[Temporal Acceleration.]
[Description: The player has unlocked the ability to control the rate at which time is experienced. The player may now provide a temporal input, such as 1 million years = 1 second, and so on.]
Liam was fascinated. The fear of spending billions of years trapped in an empty existence without anything happening had now faded completely. If he could control the flow of time itself, perhaps his new existence would not be nearly as lonely or tedious as he had initially imagined.
"Now that’s something..."
Liam felt a strange sense of excitement building within him as he considered the possibilities.
"I can actually control time itself. I feel like I’m becoming Chronos, the primordial embodiment of time from Greek mythology."
With Temporal Acceleration now at his disposal, Liam decided there was no reason to waste time. He accelerated the flow of time around his planet, pushing it forward by millions of years every second as oceans formed, landscapes shifted, and countless microscopic changes unfolded beneath the surface. He continued accelerating time until another notification suddenly appeared before him.
[Notification: Player Liam has discovered new inhabitants.]
[Single-celled organisms have been detected within the oceans.]