With a trembling finger, Ethan pointed at the glowing crimson display floating in front of him, his voice laced with disbelief. "System... are you really... a system?"
A cold, mechanical voice echoed directly inside his mind from the screen, "Yes host."
Hearing that, the fragile composure Ethan had maintained completely shattered. A torrent of suppressed rage, agony, and hundred-year-old despair boiled over, and he snarled at the void, his voice cracking with anguish:
"Then where the hell were you back then?! Where were you when I was locked away in that dark, suffocating tower for a hundred agonizing years?! When I screamed at the top of my lungs day after day, begging, pleading to the heavens—why don’t you show your face".
"And now, after all this time, you suddenly appear and claim to be my system?"
Ethan wondered if this was just a cruel illusion playing tricks on his mind. Because he had spent his entire past life desperately craving a system, longing for a cheat or a miracle to save him, his mind might simply be hallucinating what he wanted most.
But then, a cold, metallic voice echoed from the crimson screen, cutting through his doubts:
[I am real, Host. I am a genuine system.]
Narrowing his eyes, Ethan stared intently at the floating holographic interface, gritting his teeth.
"Then why are you awakening only now?! Why not in my first life?!"
The system’s voice chimed back calmly:
[Host, I could only awaken when you forcefully severed or stole the destiny of a Heavenly Chosen One. You never performed such an action in your previous life, which is why I remained dormant until the end.]
[Furthermore... it was I who manipulated the laws of causality to drag your soul back through time the moment you died.]
Ethan’s breath hitched.
[To bring you back to this timeline].
the system continued [Fortunately, in this new life, you chose to walk the demonic path and successfully stole the destiny of the Heavenly Chosen One.]
[That singular act of defiance is what finally unlocked me.]
Hearing this, Ethan was struck dumb. "Wait... are you saying that if I hadn’t been a ’good person’ in my past life—if I had chosen a darker path back then—you would have awakened much earlier?"
[Not necessarily,] the system’s cold voice replied.
[I would only awaken the moment you usurped or stole the destiny of a Heavenly Chosen One, something you never attempted in your previous life.]
Ethan asked with a surprised look.
"Is it possible to bring someone back through time? How did you do it?"
The System’s voice echoed in his mind.
[Host, you possess a special Bloodline that you have yet to awaken.]
[Sorry, but I cannot tell you more about it right now.]
Ethan stared down at his own hands, his mind spinning, before looking back up at the glowing interface. "Then... what are your functions?"
A sudden, sharp chime echoed in his mind:
[ Ding! Host has successfully stolen a fragment of fate from the Heavenly Chosen One, Arthur de Costa! ]
[ Target Fated Opportunity: Fire Fairy Contract ]
[ Fate Stolen Successfully ]
[ Fate Points Collected: 50,000 ]
The system continues.
[With these Fate Points, the Host can purchase anything from the System Store. Furthermore, my tracking functions allow you to locate other Heavenly Chosen Ones across the world.]
[When you execute these actions, you will be completely shielded by the system—the Heavens themselves will not be able to detect your transgressions, and you will suffer absolutely no karmic backlash for your evil acts.]
Ethan stood frozen as the words sank in. A system that rewarded him for committing evil?
A dark, hollow laugh bubbled up in his chest. In his past life, he had tried to be upright, to endure, to survive—and what had it gotten him? A hundred years of a suffocating, torturous cage.
But now, the moment he embraced cruelty and theft, the universe rewarded him with divine power.
What a cruel, ironic twist of fate, Ethan thought, a twisted smile stretching across his lips. I suppose the universe never wanted me to be a good person anyway. If this world demands evil to grant power... who am I to refuse?
His eyes drifted toward the System Store interface.
Displayed before him were countless treasures he had only ever heard of in ancient legends or dreamed of in his darkest hours—supreme mana breathing techniques, forbidden spells, and divine scriptures that transcended mortal
comprehension.
All of it could be his, simply by stripping away the destinies of the world’s so-called chosen children.
"So," Ethan murmured, his voice laced with a dangerous edge, "do I only get Fate Points from Heavenly Chosen Ones?"
"Negative, Host," the system answered smoothly.
"You can also earn Fate Points by altering or hijacking the fates of major side characters, heroines, and other individuals of significant worldly importance."
Hearing that, the smile on Ethan’s face widened into something chillingly ecstatic.
"Splendid... absolutely splendid," he whispered, the dark glint in his eyes burning brighter than ever.
"It looks like this second life of mine is going to be far more interesting than I ever imagined."