It was the next day, and around this time the group should have been in their first-period class, but instead they were gathered inside Wren's training room.
"So what was so important that you had to ruin my reputation for this?" Nico yelled out, her voice sharp.
"Reputation?" Harkel questioned with a tired yawn.
"Yeah, reputation! I want to be seen as the golden girl of my year, and I already skipped once, and now I'm skipping again. This isn't good for me!"
"Get over yourself. No one really cares about your attendance."
"You never know, Leo. I've always had a perfect attendance record in my school, but now I've lost it thanks to you guys!"
Leo scoffed at the woman's response, clearly unbothered.
"Can we please get back on track? Why did you want us here?" Jude questioned, trying to steer the conversation.
"Well, if it's something that happened just yesterday, it's better if I just do this."
Riven then invited everyone into the party and turned on the telepathic link.
"Hey guys."
"Oh, hey Jordan. So Riven, why exactly did you turn on the link?" Luka asked.
Riven didn't respond to Luka's question. Instead, he showed them his system, which revealed something unsettling: Jordan wasn't even in the party.
"Wait—Jordan's not in the party? Then who is this?" Tessa asked, her tone wary.
"I am Jordan, Tessa… just not at the same time," came the strange reply, followed by silly laughter echoing through the link.
"Okay, fine, I'll bite. If that's not Jordan, then who are you?"
"Hey Jordan, you can come in now. They know it isn't you, so let's make this easier to explain."
Jordan then entered the training room.
"By your faces, I'm guessing you've met Jordy."
"Jordy?"
"That's what they decided to name me?"
"Okay, they named you that, but who exactly are you?" Kira spoke up, her voice tinged with frustration at their cryptic back-and-forth.
"Remember the outing with the school?" Jordan asked, and everyone nodded grimly, knowing those days would never be forgotten. "Well, remember my weapon I chose to buy from the system—the one that's able to clone the user? I used that weapon ability during the fight with them, and that clone… was Jordy."
Everyone's eyes widened when Jordan finished explaining.
"This is getting crazier by the second. First we go to the Grand Capital, then the Storm Guild, and now you're trying to tell me that a clone of Jordan died and its soul was put somewhere it can contact us beyond the grave?" Wren said, sounding stressed.
"Not beyond the grave," Jordan corrected. "After a little insight from Jordy, we found out he's actually inside the system itself. Not dead. Especially after what happened last night with me and the system."
Everyone gave him a questioning look, silently urging him to elaborate.
"So last night, while I was asleep, I'm pretty sure I saw Jordy. And then I got a system interface asking me to get rid of a foreign entity. I'm guessing it was talking about him, since I never got that message before."
"So wait… what happens to our souls?" Kira asked suddenly, making Riven raise an eyebrow.
"I mean, think about it. If the clone of Jordan died and its soul—or whatever—went into the system, will our souls do the same thing when we pass away? Will we just get trapped in the system too?"
The question sent a wave of unease through everyone. Sure, having multiple abilities was cool, but the thought of being trapped in a dark void for eternity was terrifying.
"I don't really think so," Jordan said after a pause. "My clone was technically something that originated from the system, since we got the sword from the shop. So I'm guessing it went back to where it originally came from. But truthfully… that's just a theory."
Everyone started chatting more about what could possibly be happening—until a loud ping echoed from the system.
[System: Foreign entity has finally taken effect on the system. To try and adapt to the foreign entity, a system revamp is occurring.]
"I'm sorry—revamp, Riven?"
"I don't know what's going on. This is as new to me as it is to you."
"I don't feel so good," Jordy said in everyone's heads, his voice weak. "Something's happening…"
But all of a sudden, his voice disappeared, and the notification vanished as well. Riven tried pulling up the system, but nothing worked. He then asked everyone else to try, but the same thing was happening. They all felt something else too, like a heavy loss.
"My other abilities… I can't feel them. I can't even use my true awakening anymore." Luka's voice shook.
Everyone tried using their alternate abilities and their true awakenings, but nothing worked. The only one who had another ability was Joey. This told them the system was truly gone, at least for now. All of them were weakened—but the person who felt the weakest was Riven. The system was his original ability, and now that it was gone, he had nothing. No gravity powers, no teleportation, no extra stats. Nothing.
What made it worse was not knowing how long it would last. A day? A week? A month? An entire year?
Three hours passed with the group just sitting, waiting for something to happen. Then Riven heard a ping.
[System: System revamp is 25% complete.]
He saw the bar slowly rise, and as it did, more notifications started appearing in front of his face.
[System: Item tab has been reworked. New potions are now available, but some potions have been removed in the revamp.]
[System: Party tab has been reworked with new features.]
[System: EXP system has been reworked. No longer will quests instantly level users unless the requirements are met.]
[System: Weapons tab has been reworked. New weapons have been added, while some old ones have been removed.]
The notifications went on and on, but one in particular stood out to Riven:
[System: The user has now gained a new companion—the Helper. This entity will assist the user with quests and abilities, helping to combat challenges and adjust to them.]
Riven pulled up the system again, and when he did, he saw a small PNG of a boy with brown hair, looking distinctly like Jordan.
"Jordy?" Riven asked quietly.
"Yes, it's me, Riven… I feel weird—ugh, like when your foot goes numb but all over my body. I think I'm gonna lay down."
As he said this, Riven saw Jordy flop onto a bed, his form pixelated.
"Hey, are you zoning out? Is the system finally back up?" Leo asked, noticing the faint happiness in Riven's expression.
"Oh—right." Riven invited them all to the party. When he did, they too saw the pixelated Jordy lying on the bed.
"Aww, he's so cute," Tessa commented at the sight of Mini-Jordy. But while she admired him, the others were already digging through the revamped system.
They realized their abilities had returned, though some of the abilities stored in the copy tab were gone. Their levels seemed off. Weapons and items had changed too. As everyone explored, a new prompt appeared:
[System: Users Riven, Jordan, Harkel, Wren, Tessa, and Leo have met the requirement.]
Everyone froze, confusion spreading through the group. What requirement?
[System: These users have met the requirement to Prestige. Prestige will reset user levels, but they will retain 10% of their original stats and can progress beyond level 50. The first Prestige will be mandatory; subsequent ones will be optional.]
Riven immediately noticed that everyone who had originally surpassed Level 50 had been capped at 50. This must have been a new trait of the revamped system. But why had Jordy caused this? His thoughts were interrupted by the next notification:
[System: Prestige will commence.]
Jordy sat up on his pixelated bed. "I advise you guys to prepare yourselves."
"Why would we—" Wren's words were cut off by a sudden, immense pain surging through their bodies. It felt like cramps multiplied fivefold, searing through every inch of them.
The rest of the group, those who weren't Level 50, backed away in fear, unwilling to touch them. The pain was so overwhelming that some passed out. Nico could only watch in shock as their levels dropped in real-time, falling all the way to one.
When the levels finally hit one, their screams stopped. They all looked like they were fast asleep. Nico then saw their new stats appear.
⸻
Joey Cross (Level 1)
• Strength: 7
• Speed: 7
• Durability: 7
⸻
Riven (Level 1)
• Strength: 7
• Speed: 7
• Durability: 9
⸻
Jordan (Level 1)
• Strength: 6
• Speed: 7
• Durability: 7
⸻
Leo (Level 1)
• Strength: 7
• Speed: 7
• Durability: 7
⸻
Harkel (Level 1)
• Strength: 7
• Speed: 7
• Durability: 7
⸻
Tessa (Level 1)
• Strength: 6
• Speed: 8
• Durability: 7
⸻
Wren (Level 1)
• Strength: 6
• Speed: 7
• Durability: 7
⸻
"Their stats took a big plummet," Luka commented nervously.
After 2 hours the group finally woke, they felt their bodies strangely energized. But when they pulled up the system, they almost coughed up blood—their stats had dropped by a massive margin.
"I guess that makes us the strongest in the group now, huh?" Luka chuckled darkly.
"Come at me then," Harkel said, a dangerous smile spreading across his face.
The two squared off. Most of the time, Harkel would win—but Luka thought this was his big break. He rushed forward, swinging a punch at Harkel.
But the blue-haired boy dodged with ease, counterattacking and sending Luka crashing into a wall. Luka managed to recover, but his eyes were wide in shock.
"Okay… that's surprising."
"What? His stats are way weaker than Luka's! So how was he able to dodge so easily… and counter like that?" Kira asked.
"I might have a good idea why," Jordy spoke up,