After 12 hours of deep slumber,
Ace opened his heavy eyelids with some difficulty. He was still in a stupor from yesterday's abrupt incident. But the next moment, the pain faded.
Ace felt strangely refreshed, for some unknown reason, once the pain was gone.
Ace remembered what had happened yesterday: he'd been going to search for ways to make quick money when the sudden pain struck him, and he'd fainted after that.
'That was strange. Did heaven's retribution come for blaspheming it?' Ace shook his head and smiled wryly. 'Maybe it was just stress. After all, I haven't slept in days.'
Ace quickly dismissed the ridiculous notion—if a biased Heaven were so eager to punish even him, this world wouldn't have any evil left in it.
While puzzling over what had occurred, Ace caught sight of his little sister, sound asleep in his arms. Yet her body was still icy cold. Ace's expression clouded instantly at the thought of the one Ruby Coin he needed to earn as soon as possible for that pill.
He had some idea of where to go to earn it.
"I have to go outside the city to hunt!" Ace mumbled under his breath.
He was just about to get up from the rug when he heard a familiar yet unfamiliar, emotionless voice in his head.
"[Initialization Complete!]"
Ace was instantly startled to hear a lady's sweet yet staticky voice out of nowhere. He hurriedly searched around, but no one was there except Alina.
He held her firmly and kept scanning his surroundings cautiously, as if facing an enemy. But no matter how much he searched, no one was there.
Ace abruptly recalled why the voice felt familiar. It was the same voice he'd heard right before he lost consciousness.
'What is this voice, and where's it coming from? Is a ghost haunting me?!'
At the thought of a ghost, he went pale with fright.
Ace had heard plenty of stories about ghosts and evil spirits from the restaurant owner he worked for.
The old restaurant owner always told his grandson stories about ghosts—like the one about a spirit that once possessed a child and devoured his soul.
Ace had always listened to these stories with great interest, and now he was terrified of ghosts and evil spirits.
He was about to chant a prayer he'd once heard from the old restaurant owner when the emotionless voice buzzed in his head again.
=====
[Congratulations! The Eternal Thief System has selected you (Ace White) as its Host!]
=====
"What in the hell?!" He was about to swear out loud but stopped himself, since he was holding Alina and didn't want to startle her.
Ace immediately began chanting the old owner's prayer in his head like mad: 'O gidieli dkkdiek dkiel.'
He didn't know what the words meant, but he'd heard the old restaurant owner say that if you saw a ghost, chanting them would banish the spirit forever.
Ace didn't hear the voice again for ten seconds and figured the chant was working. He grew a little smug, and was just about to celebrate his grand victory over the "lady ghost" when her voice sounded in his head again.
=====
[Current Host Privilege is at Level 0. Details of 'Level 0 Privilege' are about to be transferred into the host's brain!]
[Transfer beginning! Please brace yourself, Host.]
=====
This time, the voice didn't sound emotionless. Instead, it sounded like it was chuckling at Ace's naivety.
Ace was scared out of his wits at hearing the "ghost lady's" voice again and was just about to bolt from the hut with Alina in his arms when he suddenly felt something drilling into his brain.
He clutched his head from the intense pain, but he didn't scream, since Alina was still close to him.
Even in this agony, he was still thinking of her well-being. His teeth clenched tightly. The pain was just like yesterday's, though not quite as unbearable this time.
After ten seconds, the pain subsided and finally faded.
Ace regained his senses. He didn't care about anything else—this was his only chance to escape. He stood up with some difficulty, his expression determined. He was resolved to get his little sister out of this "haunted house" to safety, no matter what.
His heavy steps suddenly halted when he sensed something foreign in his brain, and the moment his focus shifted to it, it resolved into strange memories.
Ace was baffled by this sudden turn of events. 'Aren't ghosts supposed to eat souls and possess bodies?'
Once the foreign memories settled, he found he could recall everything perfectly, without forgetting a single word.
He didn't know why he tapped into those memories, but some voice deep inside kept urging him to look—and when he did, he was startled at first, then astonished, and his astonishment soon turned to disbelief bordering on hysteria.
Ace was so shocked he nearly forgot his worries and his ailing little sister, still in his arms.
After a while, he finally regained his composure, though his wildly beating heart felt ready to burst.
He glanced fiercely around his surroundings, as if confirming something. Only after making sure no one was in or around the hut did he finally relax.
But no matter what he did, he couldn't calm down—his heart was overflowing with ecstasy!
Ace didn't dare believe in those absurd memories, but deep down, he wanted them confirmed, and honestly hoped they were real. That's why he'd checked his surroundings first—because if these memories were real, he didn't dare imagine what he might do.
Ace took a deep, cold breath and said in a low voice, "Status!"
At that word, something unimaginable yet magical happened: a translucent black block began to materialize before Ace's eyes. Soon it was complete.
It was translucent black, with strange silver markings etched along its edges like a frame, and dark blue characters glowing with a golden sheen across the surface. The black block was called a "System Interface," or "Panel."
The markings were in a language foreign to this world—the Language of Ancient Gods, or "Ancient God Language."
Ace was probably the only one in this world who could read or understand it, since he'd absorbed it through his Level 0 privilege memories. If he wanted, he could even speak it fluently, as if it were his mother tongue.
Having confirmed the status screen was real, Ace felt overwhelming joy and relief. If it weren't for his sister and his worry about being seen, he would've laughed like a madman.
He calmed himself, though tears of delight welled in his eyes as he read the status.
=====
[Eternal Thief System]
[Status Panel]
[Host: Ace White]
[Race: Human {No Bloodline}]
[First Heaven: Mortal Sky Heaven]
[Martial Cultivation: Mortal]
[EXP: 0/50]
[Soul Cultivation: Mortal]
[SP: 0/20]
[Thief Points (TP): 15]
[Current Mission: 0]
=====
Reading his status stunned him — there were so many details. He looked to the top right corner of the main panel, where a glowing silver symbol sat. It looked like a dark hood. It was his status panel's emblem.
His focus then shifted to the third line of his status, and he was thoroughly confused by the phrase "1st Heaven."
'Are there more heavens?' he wondered.
Ace couldn't help but feel like a frog at the bottom of a well. He'd never even left River-Flower City, and now he'd suddenly glimpsed the grand name of Heaven itself. It was a strange feeling.
Looking over the rest of his status, he saw his cultivation level and smiled bitterly. He was just a mortal.
Seeing "Experience Points" and "Soul Points," he grew puzzled.
"What are EXP and SP for?" Ace transmitted the thought in his mind—a method of communicating with the System that he'd found among his memories.
"[EXP and SP are the amounts of Qi required for the Host to reach the next level on the cultivation path.]"
Ace wasn't afraid of the flat, staticky voice anymore, since he was the master of this treasure called the System. What kind of treasure it truly was, he didn't yet know—but since it knew the name of Heaven itself, it had to be extraordinary.
'This treasure isn't from this world,' he concluded.
"How do I collect EXP and SP, then?" Ace asked.
The System answered, though differently this time.
"[The Host must find out for himself.]"
The answer left Ace speechless. He pursed his lips and, after some thought, asked a different question: "Then what are Thief Points (TP)?"
This was the only stat that wasn't at zero—he already had 15. He was thrilled about that, but the word "thief" in it left him uneasy.
"[Thief Points are the System's currency. The Host earns Thief Points after every successful Honorable Theft, and may use them to purchase System items.]"
"What do you mean, 'Honorable Theft'? You want me to become a thief, and since when is robbing someone 'honorable'? Are you broken?" Ace berated it, cringing.
He was twelve years old and poor, but he'd never done anything as immoral as stealing. And now this "treasure" was telling him to steal—and dared to call it honorable. He nearly went frantic.
"[Host, please read the System's name carefully.]"
It offered no further explanation.
Now calmer, Ace focused on the top center of the translucent black panel, where words were written in dark blue with a golden sheen:
"Eternal Thief System."
The words radiated a strange, dominant power.
Reading the full name of the System treasure, he confirmed—there it was, "Thief," again. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, making sure he hadn't misread it, but no matter how many times he checked, the word "Thief" remained.
Ace's joy at obtaining a supreme treasure vanished in an instant, and his eyes twitched. Because he knew—he was in some serious trouble now!