"Any man can pull a trigger and end it all. It takes a real man to get up every day and provide for his family." *CHUCKLE*
Liam chuckled, remembering and barely uttering his father’s words. A line of dark blood trickled down from the corner of his lips. It felt like an eternity had passed since he had known anyone who even wished him well.
*SPURT*
Thick black blood spurted out from his mouth and nose forcefully, making him even weaker. Liam’s eyes rolled back as he placed the back of his head in the concrete wall behind him, his whole body went limp and paralyzed.
A lethargic smile formed on his face as he began to hallucinate, he saw his mother, sisters, and finally his father smiling and inviting him to a chipped wooden dining table for breakfast.
Soon the pain of death returned, the joyful hallucination was replaced by reality, a dark alley wet with sewer leakage, but it didn’t diminish the smile on his face. The hallucination felt like it was nature’s way to reward his death by playing one of the happiest moments of his life.
*HACK*
Liam felt his internal muscles getting churned, as if his body were trying to process itself from inside, a loud, dry cough shook his entire body. It’s been so long since he had eaten anything, and at this point his body was eating itself from inside.
’ I... I wish we had a way to know we are in our best days before we actually leave them behind.
[Ding!!]
[System binding failed again!!] [The system is too powerful for a mortal soul!!]
[Not enough Soul energy!!]
In front of Liam a translucent red-colored panel popped up, but there was no response from him, he didn’t even acknowledge it. His eyes became lifeless and his body became breathless.
[Warning: System Host is dead, granting the last wish...] [Granted]
[Automation: 70% System Energy Still Underutilized] [System can now be awakened by a mortal:] Granting a Generic 10,000x Reward System]
...
Year 2015
Los Angeles, California.
"Liam, congratulations, we are so proud of you."
Seated in a small living room, Liam opened his eyes in a daze, and the first thing he saw was his father, smiling at him, and then his mother, who was wiping the corner of her eyes and looked overjoyed for some reason.
Am I dead?
Liam looked around in confusion, the last thing he remembered was having an unbearable pain in a dark alley, where now he was in a safe haven.
Wait!! I did die, otherwise, how can they be real?’
A smile formed on Liam’s face as he looked at his dead parents, he finally got to meet them again after his death, and then he saw his little sister Emily was casually seated, in a corner using her phone.
She looks like a teenager. Wait, does the afterlife also have poverty? Because this couch is sinking.
Liam, who was fascinated by the thought he was in the afterlife, realized the couch he was seated in was going inward, and he could feel the springs poking his butt.
"Sit here, darling, you broke this couch when you were three, remember? Not that Mom blames you after what you’ve achieved."
Liam saw his mother gesturing for him to sit in a plastic chair nearby, when he saw the calluses on his mother’s hand, his daze began to fade.
It can’t be!!
Liam’s eyes went wide and pupils shrunk with shock, he stood up but didn’t sit in the chair. He looked at his father instead, seeing the deep tan ticked a check box for him instantly.
*BAAM * *CREAK*
Liam jumped as high as he could, his head bumped the roof as he shot back down to the ground and made a crack in the wooden floor under his feet.
"Damn it, I forgot how low this ceiling was, but it’s true!!"
No chronic pain in the knee joints.
Liam smiled widely and ran to the washroom. Seeing his young face on the cracked mirror, throbbing pain on his head, and the perfect knee, Liam could instantly guess what had transpired, he had traveled back in time.
"We understand you have to leave tomorrow, but what the hell?"
Michael, seeing his son’s antics, rushed into the washroom with a concerned face. He was baffled by Liam’s sudden change, his son was a golden boy, a gold standard for other kids to follow in the neighborhood. Scoring 2360 on the SAT and getting into an Ivy League college was no easy feat.
"Are you alright?"
Michael’s deep voice forced Liam to look back. Liam’s face was full of tears at this point, he didn’t know what happened, but he came back in time. He has been granted a second chance in life.
"I... I am more than alright."
"Oh! Poor boy, don’t cry, if you need anything in Princeton or miss us, we are just one call away."
Rachel, who followed Michael into the washroom, was devastated seeing her only son crying, she couldn’t hold back her tears as well and embraced him tightly.
"Ahem! Let the boy go. Liam, go to your room and prepare yourself for tomorrow. Your mother and I will come to drop you off at the airport"
Michael cleared his throat and, after giving Liam instructions, left the washroom, the day had just begun, and it was time for him to head to work.
...
Liam walked out of his house after a while, the neighborhood felt nostalgic as he walked down the road. Pavements were cracked, and there was a small mountain of garbage bags in a corner of the street.
"Unbelievable... coming back in time."
[Ding!!]
[The weakest RPG system has been awakened!!]
As he was walking leisurely, enjoying the sea breeze, a church-like gong rang inside his head. At first he became extremely alert, but soon a GREEN translucent panel popped up in front of him, making him even more cautious.
Liam didn’t pause, he walked ahead, observing the people on the street calmly. No one was even looking towards him, the glowing panel was as if invisible to them.
"Is this the benefit of being a regressor?"
’Wait, weakest system? What the fuck?’
[Reward: ERROR!!]
[ERROR!!!]
[System Error!!]
Liam’ froze, seeing the system glitching out, he felt betrayed. Even the weakest thing was glitching out on him, his somewhat little hope shattered in an instant. His system was glitched, the green panel looked broken and cracked.
[DING!!]
[HOST HAS BEEN FOUND!!] [REAWAKENING!!]
[GENERIC 10,000X SYSTEM HAS BEEN AWAKENED!!]
[TIME LINE MISMATCH, HOST HAS A LOW TIER SYSTEM!!] [AUTOMATION: REWARDS FROM THE LOW TIER SYSTEM WILL BE AMPLIFIED IN HOST’S FAVOR BY 10,000X]
"What the fuck is going on?"
This time the church gong was intense, Liam’s feet wobbled by the sheer sound it made inside his head. A RED-colored panel appeared in front of him this time, it disappeared almost instantly. After that, the GREEN panel began to repair itself.
"I feel like the green one got spared."
Wait!! Two Systems?!!
Liam took a deep breath and stood on the side, he tried to control his emotions. He was not a person who reacts in public spaces, but he was feeling unbelievable.
[Ding!!]
[The weakest RPG system has been awakened!!]
[Reward: Basic Player Starter Pack]
[Click here to receive]
[Click here to start your first mission]
The GREEN system returned, this time there was no error message, and everything looked clear and easy to understand. The button for the reward was blinking lightly as if tempting him to press it.
*CLICK*
Without any second thoughts, Liam clicked on the ’Click here to receive’ button, it made an audible sound and felt like he had pressed a button on a keyboard. Liam wanted to see what he would get or if he would get anything at all, so far these systems looked unreliable and pathetic.
[Ding!!]
[Beginner’s Gift: $100, Land Rover Range Rover Autobiography Black LWB Diecast Replica Model: 2015] [Explanation: Everyone starts small, accept them as a good luck charm.]
That’s it? Well, what can we expect from the weakest system?!
Liam was instantly disappointed, with all the drama these two systems have caused, he only gets a hundred dollars and a toy car. Liam rolled his eyes and was about to move on in life until...
[DING!!]
[AMPLIFYING THE REWARDS BY 10,000x...]
[NEW REWARD - Beginner’s Gift: $1,000,000, Range Rover Autobiography Black LWB. Model: 2015]
[Explanation: Not everyone starts small. Money and Car will be legally bound to host using real-life tactics]
The green panel was instantly replaced by a dominating RED, it amplified the reward by 10,000x, as it promised. This time Liam didn’t even get to press anything.
Yeah? Well, how do I get it?
Liam smiled at the bogus system, he didn’t believe he would get such things out of nowhere and legally at that. He had lived long enough to understand what a scam is.
Dismiss
With a simple command in his mind, the system interface vanished. Liam took another deep breath and walked forward, but his steps soon slowed down and stopped once again, he was looking at a black SUV that was driving down towards him.
Range Rover
Liam instantly recognized the car, the flawless liquid black color and the signature silver grill were impossible to miss. It glided through the deep potholes like they were nothing and stopped in front of Liam.
"It looks like a sore thumb in this neighborhood."
"Liam Carter?"
A beautiful voice called out to Liam, pulling his attention away from the car, it was so captivating that he had to look at its source.
"Damn it, what is she doing here?"