The world cracked yet again, and I found myself in an endless space illuminated by bright stars. They were not the same kind as the ones in my inner world. These ones seemed alive.
I shook off the feeling of dread. I had had enough of that.
Even after saying that, I could not help looking at the stars again. Somehow, by some miracle, I could understand what those things were.
"Runes."
It was a famous theory back in Meltonia, the world I was in now, that runes were the source code of the universe, and it seemed they were correct.
However, these runes were different from the ones I knew. No matter how much I stared at them, I could not comprehend what was written on them.
But I was not in the mood to comprehend the incomprehensible. I had just found out my family was still alive, and I was eager to see what I would gain.
The black and dark-golden system interface flickered in front of me, bringing with it the now-familiar British female voice.
[Congratulations once more on your awakening.]
[I am who you hunters call the system. But I am more than that. I am the administrator of every power system in the universe and the first daughter born of Val Arcain blood.]
"The system can talk?"
I waited for a moment for it to respond, but it did not.
"Is it some kind of cosmic broadcasting?" I tried touching the interface, but my finger slipped right through it.
[User, Allen Park's white core is resonating with the world.]
[You are strong.]
[The ancient being who controls runes and magic favours you.]
[You have earned a title: The Most Loved Man In Two Worlds.]
[You have earned a title: The Legendary Programmer.]
[You have earned a title: Level 100! Runic Master.]
[The world shall watch your journey to the peak of power.]
I smiled as the notifications kept popping up.
[Your Geass has been formed.]
[Generating system interface.]
Ding!
╔═════════════════════════════╗
║ ⚙ STATUS WINDOW ⚙ ║ ╚═════════════════════════════╝
┌───" Character Info "───┐
│ ◈ Name: Allen Park
│ ◈ Age: 17
│ ◈ Gender: Male
│ ◈ Affiliation: Night_Hawks
│ ◈ Geass: "One emotion shall shape your life, and you have to strive towards it." └───────────────────────────┘
┌───" Titles "──────────────┐
│ • 『 The Most Loved Man In Two Worlds 』
│ • 『 The Legendary Programmer 』
│ • 『 Level 100! Runic Master 』 └────────────────────────────┘
┌───" Core "──────┐
│ ◈ Core Grade: 『 White 』
└────────────────────────────┘
┌───" Level "───┐
│ ◈ 『 Level 0 』
│ ◈ 『 Progress: 0% 』 └──────────────────────┘
┌───" Unique Skill "──────────┐
│ • 『 Assimilation 』
└────────────────────────────┘
┌───" Base Stats "──────────┐
│ • Constitution — 11
│ • Strength — 11
│ • Dexterity — 11
│ • Speed — 11
│ • Faith — 11
│ • Perception — 11
│ • Mana Points — 11
└────────────────────────────┘
I stared long and hard at my stats, taking in each and every detail.
The first thing worth noticing was my affiliation, but I had kind of expected that.
What I did not expect was the Geass.
"One emotion shall shape my life?"
I wanted to give an example, but I somehow felt that saying anything weird would come back to bite me.
Happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, fear, surprise, and the rest. If I were to pick one my life would revolve around, it would be happiness.
But as the system said, I would have to strive towards it. That meant my life would be hard as fuck. The same went for the rest of them.
The one I could live with was surprise. It could be good or bad depending on my luck.
A neutral emotion was better than a negative one or a positive one that might turn negative.
"Surprise…" I whispered, waiting for something to happen, but nothing came.
I was about to give up and read the rest of my stats when the section displaying my Geass changed from one emotion to surprise.
I nodded once and moved past both it and the titles section. They were more or less what I expected, except for the Runic Master part.
My core was white, just like Val had said, and my level was zero. I lowered my gaze toward my unique skill, the thing I had been waiting for.
[Assimilation]
If it was the same as in the novels back on Earth, then it covered a vast field. I tried tapping on the unique skill to expand it, but nothing happened.
"So I have to figure things out myself, huh?"
Lowering my gaze to the last segment of the status panel, a wide smile spread across my face.
My efforts had not betrayed me.
I had initially planned to train my body enough to bring all my base stats to ten, which was the peak of Level 0, but I was even higher than that at eleven across the board.
It did not look like much now, but after I reached Level 20, the difference between me and those starting off with only six-point stats would be massive.
I leaned back in the space and stared off into the distance, toward the stars.
"It wasn't that hard, now was it?"
Ding!
[Appraisal is over!]
[The traces of your soul shall remain in this space.]
[Transportation to your body commencing.]
I closed my eyes as light filled my vision. When I opened them again, I was back in the same eerie white chamber as before.
I raised my hand and mentally formed the panel. "System."
In an instant, the dark-golden screen formed in front of me, flickering slightly before stabilizing.
"Noice," I said with a grin before standing to my feet.
The hunter assistants had not exactly told us what to do once we were done with our awakening, but it was not like I could just stand there.
I opened the iron door of the chamber.
The first thing I noticed when I stepped out was that most of the doors now had red lights instead of green.
'i do not think I wasted much time.' I quickened my pace and rushed out of the passageway. Each door I passed was red, even the one Val had entered.
When I exited the passageway and entered the hall, I heard several people murmuring.
"Everyone, keep quiet!"
The loud voice echoed through the hall, forcing the murmurs to die down.
Once I reached the crowd, I spotted the one who had been yelling. It was none other than Benedict, his formerly calm expression completely replaced by fear, while Asura looked almost aroused.
"What the fuck?" I muttered under my breath.
Benedict panted heavily and shouted, "As I said, the government has changed their minds. You all will be transported to the rift world tomorrow, so use today to say goodbye to your families and get ready."
My head tilted to the side in confusion. 'What?!?!'