"Haah!" Eliot woke up for the second time, panting, his shirt soaked with sweat.
[Welcome back... Eliot]
At first, he was startled by the voice, but then the memory of his near-death experience returned, and he remembered the system.
"System?" he asked, sitting up abruptly.
[....]
"...What exactly happened last time?"
[You lost consciousness and were on the point of death. I intervened to save your life when the situation became dire.]
"What specifically did you do?" he pressed, needing concrete details.
[I traded your Starter Package for Genetic Points to aid in neutralizing the poisoning.]
"Starter Package?" He frowned, already having a strong suspicion of what that implied.
[Yes. When the user activated the system, a package was automatically generated. Its contents were unknown to me, intended only for the user to open. I cannot state what it contained, as the reward was random.]
"So, you traded that package to save me?" he asked.
[Exactly. That was the only option left. You have yet to complete any missions since the last one, and therefore, you had no available Genetic Points for me to use.]
"I... see," he finally said, letting out a heavy breath, and ran a hand through his damp hair.
Slowly but surely, the world came into focus. However, just as before he lost consciousness, something was still fundamentally wrong.
"Why is the sky gray, System? And where is the sun?" he asked, looking up at the oppressive, unchanging ceiling.
[The mechanics of this world are still unknown to me. I cannot give you a credible reason for this abnormality, but I suggest you accept it as it is. It is not reality, after all.]
"You're right," he conceded, then stood up, brushing dirt from his clothes.
The forest was clear and easy to navigate, but it was also entirely devoid of color, like an old photograph from the 1980s.
Monochrome.
He then looked down at his hand. "I have color... but this world doesn't," he thought, the contrast between his skin tone and the environment immediate and striking. He could not accept that the creator would exclude such a thing without a clear objective. Color was what gave life and definition to everything. There was no way this was meaningless; this lack of color had been implemented with a purpose—something he was determined to uncover. Perhaps that discovery was the key to escaping this mysterious world.
"Sys— Hmm, what's your name?" he asked, stopping himself from using the generic title.
[I have no designation.]
"Is that right?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
[Yes. You are free to call me whatever you want.]
"Fine then. I will call you Nadia."
[Understood.] The system's voice accepted the new name without inflection.
"So, Nadia, what happened to the monster from last night?" he asked, taking a careful look around his immediate environment.
Since the place was colorless, there weren't many details that immediately stood out. However, what he could see indicated an intense beatdown had taken place on the very ground he was standing on. He could see numerous trees snapped cleanly in half, their upper halves missing completely. And he couldn't miss the huge, round, black mark where he was currently standing.
A burnt mark, perhaps?
[It was taken care of] was the sterile response he received.
"Taken care of?" He frowned, reaching down to touch the mark. His finger came away with a dark residue. "What exactly did you do?" he asked once more, his patience thinning.
[It was taken care of.]
"You said that before," he responded flatly.
[It is the only response I can give you. There are things you still do not have sufficient permission to know.]
"Fine. Then tell me what I can know," he said, walking towards a thick tree trunk and sitting down, waiting for his explanation.
[Understood. For now, the only privileges you have access to are: Status, Trade by Barter System, and Genetic Altering.]
"Explain each one," he ordered.
[Understood.]
[Status: Status contains your information, from name, level, and other mundane information, down to statistics for Stamina, Strength, Agility, etc. It also contains the user's affinities, bloodline if any, and other critical data.]
[Trade by Barter System: This is a trading system where the user can exchange something of value for something they want in return. For example, last night, I had temporarily traded your eyesight in the left eye for the ability to negate the poison. The effect was temporary and was reversed shortly after the monster had been dealt with. However, it did cost quite a lot of points to process each transaction, even the reversal process.]
[Genetic Altering: This is a system by which you can slowly level up and grow stronger by altering your statistics with what is called GENETIC POINTS (GP). GP can be acquired from completing missions, achieving specific milestones, and through exchanges, just as was done with your Starter Package.]
[Missions: Missions are entirely based on the system matrix algorithm in respect to the strings of fate, of which the rewards and penalties are random.]
With that thorough explanation complete, Eliot took a moment of silence to digest everything before speaking once more.
"How much GP do I have left?" he asked, dreading the answer.
[TOTAL GP: 3]
"Great. So I'm essentially out of currency too," he muttered, frustration evident in his voice.
[It was required for the exchange. I would also advise you to take extreme caution this time on how you dive into danger. I am out of options to save you with the current lack of GP.]
"...Sighs," he just sighed deeply and massaged his forehead.
"This is going to be an extremely long ride," he said, then looked up once more to the gray sky.
"Show me the Status, Nadia," he commanded, and in response, a translucent blue screen shimmered before his eyes.
[Understood.]
However, what followed only made him frown deeply.
"Shit."