Despair.
Utter and complete despair.
There is nothing else he could feel.
"Ghhk-"
Dying is not something anyone in a single life can understand just by being told.
It takes a life to learn how to live.
And a death to learn it's worth.
Right here, right now, a question kept popping up on his mind.
How can anyone want to die? HOW?!
How?…
He felt that as if, one day in the past he knew the answer to that, but… he couldn't, he simply couldn't hope to understand it now.
"Hnnnnn!"
He tried to get up.
"Ghk!"
For the same result as always.
The pipe in his lung scraped his insides shooting another wave of agony into him.
Just as it did the hundred times before.
Try, fail, bleed.
Try, fail, bleed
Try, fail, bleed.
Again.
Again.
Again and again and again and again!
There's no point in this, maybe, maybe he should stop.
no.
No, no no, NOT! again, he would not stop again.
When did giving up ever make his life better?!
When did he finally stop doing it anyway?
Never.
He kept pushing, pushing and Pushing.
Lifting his body, this damned carcass of meat and bone that refused to hear him!
There's no one else to give up on him, why add a 1 to that number?
Freeing it from the hours and hours of its pathetic state.
Tok*
Only for his head to hit concrete.
thump!
Cold spread through what was left of his body, and he simply… stopped.
For seconds?
Minutes?
Milliseconds?
'… Of course.'
.
.
.
'Of… course.'
What was he expecting? The tremors should've been hint enough.
He will die beneath this jungle of concrete.
Thump!
"Grrk!"
Vomit tried to rise from his throat, or maybe just his blood again.
And then…
Despair came back with a vengeance.
'What exactly were you hoping to achieve?'
He… truly didn't know.
What was he hoping to achieve?
There is no sky for him to look up to, no stars for him to wonder at, no air for him to even breathe… reality had been staring at him for the past hours, and he refused to stare back at it.
.
.
.
He'd die here.
He knew it, deep in his bones, with the certainty of a man saying the sky is blue.
He'll die today, choking on his own blood, buried beneath rock.
There was nothing.
Nothing to hope.
Nothing to think.
Nothing to do.
.
.
Is this truly it?
.
.
yes
.
Death was all he had to wait for.
Silence returned.
Both of mind and hearing.
He wasn't trying to think.
Not even to try and grasp a smidge of hope.
He was trying to do… nothing, nothing at all.
Yet, it came all the same.
An invasive, annoying, ridiculous thing.
'Life… is such a beautiful thing.'
THUMP
Thump
thump
His eyebrows narrowed.
.
What was left of his muscles tightened.
.
Krrrr
.
His crushed arm moved.
.
Slowly, pathetically, pitifully, the ruined limb moved.
.
Just as the bones pierced.
.
And the tears kept falling.
.
It didn't matter.
.
He will never lose it.
.
Ridiculously, even after long wasting any reserve of adrenaline.
.
And hours of pointless and painful tries.
.
This time.
.
KRRRR*
.
His arm left the confines of the multi-ton rock above it.
.
And impossibly, the ruined limb gripped the dammed pipe with all that was left of it.
And beyond.
With the other together with all the strength of a ruined form and beyond he pushed.
I Will Not Die!
His body shook.
THUMP!
Trembled.
Thumph!
Advanced
thump!
And finally…
… thump
His heart refused to beat a single more.
Something tried to leave.
He did not allow it.
'I. Will. Not. Die…'
He pushed, pushed, Pushed, Pushed and PUSHED.
Even when he shouldn't.
[Ô̴̯ḧ̸͙̦́?]
His body tried to refuse.
He did. Not. Let. It
NO!
He will see the sky again.
PUSH!
[̶̰̗͔̞̒̀̍̅̉̐͆̾̿̐ ̴̧̧̫̘̫̯͓̠͙̗̫̲̙̱̿̏̈͂͋̔̐̑̍̎̀̇͝ͅ]
He will see the stars again.
PUSH!
[S̵̢͙̞̮͋̊̃̋͊̉̀̔̆͑͘̕͝ó̶̡̠̘͑̂̒͌͌͒͊́̇̽̚͠͝ ̵̨̧̨͖̣͚̝̪̙̙̣̩̳̤̓̍͛͆́̌̎͐͛̅͘]
He will live again!
PUSH!!!
"AAAAAAAAAA"
Strength beyond strength surged from not muscle.
And the jungle gave way.
For one moment, one second he imagined it, the light of the sun bearing down on him.
Only for more to befall.
He did not close his eyes
A last impact, and nothing.
[[̸͇̆̓͂̆̀̓̃̀͆̀͋̕͠W̷̢̨̳̥̮͔͈͔̝͎̩̝̰̦̑̌̐̒̊̿̈́̽͌͋̒̈́̚ė̶̡̛̲͔̠̞̾̊̚ ̷̡̡̧̡̩̟̜̱̮̼͚̣̥͓͇̱̹̗̱̲̼͆̓̽̾̓̔̋̓͗̄͌̿͊̄̚͠í̸̢̞̟͑̇̈́͆̓̂s̷̝̬̱̩͎̺͓̪̝̺̳̉̎̌́̕͜ ̵̯̮͇̦̲͗͒͆̈͆͜ ̸̛͍͖̜͔̖̲̟̏̅̌̀͗̀͝.̸̛̬̇̽͐̎̈̇̕͠͝]̴̢̨̪̹̜͍̮̗̳̏̓̊̅͌̀̑̍̓͒͂̀́̈́]
–
༄ ༄ ༄ ༄ ༄ ༄ ༄ ༄
Wind, fresh and wet hit his face.
He blinked, only to furrow his brow at the sight.
'When did trees begin to glow?'
Lifting himself up he ignored the dampness on his back and too a brea-
"Ugh!"
Only for a burning ember to light up his chest.
"krrh—krrh!"
His eyes burned as he failed to take in air, and what he took blazed his lungs.
'Wait, lungs?'
Ignoring the burning sensation he looked down, his eyes freezing at the perfectly normal sigh of his chest.
Tik*
He snapped towards the sound of broken wood.
And froze at the… thing
It was… a red creature with 4? No 6? Legs.
His eyes narrowed, the burning on his lungs momentarily forgotten in favor of the surreal sight.
He survived losing a lung and apparently being crushed below an entire building's worth of rubble.
Feeling almost literal fire on his lungs certainly wasn't worse.
He blinked his burning eyes, his vision feeling strangely clean.
He stared, for seconds, until, suddenly a name appeared above its head.
[lanay'ka]
For one second he wondered if he was drugged.
And then he remembered where he was.
'What the f-'
Maybe it was something in its movements, maybe it was the feeling of dread creeping up in his entire form, or maybe every hair on his body sitting up, he doesn't know.
What he does know is that even before he knew why he used every drop of strength he had to throw his body to the side.
Just in time to dodge the red missile by millimeters.
THUMP!
His eyes snapped towards the detached head.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
Fear for someone's life is something modern humans don't often feel, shit's panting terror even less so.
Honestly if the thing wasn't bigger, stronger, faster and an abomination maybe he'd attack now that it didn't have a head.
Fortunately he had something of a survivor instinct.
So he turned.
And ran the fastest he'd ever done in his life.
TIK TIK TIK TIK
He didn't look back, not to the sudden silence of the forest and certainly not to the noise of feet stomping tree branches.
THUMP!
He ran, ran, ran and ran until… his mind finally noticed something.
He hadn't moved in over ten seconds.
THUMP!
The forest, now that he took notice, didn't feel as alive as mere seconds ago, no sounds, no air, not even leaves moving around.
Mist damming of all his veins stopped feeling like liquid fire.
Slowly he looked back, it was the only thing he could do, his entire body not responding since the second he finally noted his situation.
Red pincers as long as his hand greeted him, each glowing with bioluminescent yellow light, most important of all, each were less than 2 meters away from him.
'Never run from predators hmn?'
He nodded to himself.
'Well, what else was i supposed to fuck-'
★
[align=center]" STATUS WINDOW "
Name: [Pending]
Race: Human
Age: 25
Date: 00:38 after arrival
—-
Body: 13 (98)
Perception: 6
Intelligence: 6
Spirit: 99.999999…
{Greetings user}[/align]
He froze at the sound, and the metallic window blocking his view from the red abomination about to murder him.
"What in the seven hells is this?"
{I am your system, greetings}
He blinked.
And poked it, not even noticing the sudden freedom.
Just for his arm to go through.
'Am I schizophrenic? Monster, glowing forest, frozen time, my lungs burning, an abomination of, whatever this place is, wait, no, am I dead? What am I talking about? Of course I am that damn rock slide crushed my head didn't it?'
{Correct, it did, in fact crush you-}
THUMP!
And the dam finally burst.
"No, no, no, nonono, SHUT THE FUCK UP, what are you?! Who are you?! Are you in my head?!"
{These are simple pre programmed answers host, this system is not sentient or sapient and hence does not understand or comprehend questions, this system is however attached to your astral form, be secure in the knowledge that i am a simple program incapable of having malicious thoughts, intentions or feelings toward you.}
THUMP! Thump!
His heat threatened to beat out of his chest as he stared at the metallic window panic swirling in his mind all the while.
{This system is much closer to you than just your head and hence is able to perfectly observe all actions conscious or not done by your being}
"Oh, ok I guess."
What else was he supposed to say really.
Being told information that couldn't be proven, only believed didn't help his situation, screaming like a damn panicked monkey wouldn't either.
It was somewhat of a defense mechanism really, always de-escalate, something hammered into him from his first days at the academy.
Don't raise your voice, keep calm and do not make the first move unless all other options are explored.
He wasn't being taught how to beat up people after all, just to defend himself.
Doing so with a… thing that could read his thoughts took no deliberation on his part, it was simply that glaringly obvious.
'Not that it would make a damn difference, if there's something that can mess with souls out there what the hell can i even do to protect myself, throw a jab?'
He scoffed at the ridiculousness.
'No, I need more information, maybe then I'll be able to rip this thing out.'
His heart calmed, or maybe it simply stopped beating with him.
"So… what are those status?"
He felt like an idiot just by asking it, a 19 year old man, almost 20 in 2026 asking what a damn status sheet is.
{Body represents Strength, Durability, Stamina, Agility but excludes speed, Perception and Intelligence are self explanatory but to specify it, intelligence is the ability to quickly understand, compartorialize and guard information in a permanent fashion.}
{Te higher the number the quicker the process. While Perception includes the ability of all possessed senses and reflexes, Body can increase your speed in relation to strength as a side effect only perception can heighten thought process.}
{Spirit however is the measurement of the strength of the recently named Defiant energy - not currently proven to be energy- within you, due to its nature not as a solely soul like type it was decided to put it in a broader term such as spirit which includes most exoteric power sources generated by the self and not exterior sources.}
"Ok… we will go back to this later but first explain what that number on my body stat is 13 and 98?"
{To answer your question from body 1 to 10 each point represents a lifting capacity of 10 kilos}
He nodded.
{From 11 to 100 each point represents a lifting capacity of 100 kilos, the strongest human known to your planet had a total of 10 in body, no-}
"Wait, wait, from what i remember the world record of lifting strength was 500 kilos or so, shouldn't that be a 14?"
{Incorrect, if this was simply strength then it would be so, but body is different including all the other status previously stated}
"I see, so…"
{Yes although his strength was that of 14 all his other status reduced that number to a 10, his durability, stamina and agility in particular were vastly inferior, for example, at this moment a .38 would be unable to reach your organs as the bullet would lose far too much speed trying to pierce your muscles, in contrast that man would simply die}
"That is, good?
{Correct, this simple fact means the creature [lanay'ka] while able to pierce your organs and muscles without problem would be unable to completely bypass your bones}
"… godd to know? Anyways you still didn't answer me, what's up with that 98?"
{To answer this question frist i necessitate to specify an occurrence on your past, at the end of your first life you lifted more than 9000 kilos of rubble above your head with nothing but a corpse bereft of blood and air}
.
.
.
"Hmn?"
{You have managed to stay alive for 16 hours beneath the rubble of a multi-story hotel with a pipe punching through your lung, after 5 hours you lost 3 liters of blood from both your minced arm, legs and lung,}
{Your heart stopped pumping anything after 6 hours, your brain stopped working minutes before that and your body had more carbon dioxide than oxygen}
{Quite frankly this is the only reason you have not died the second you started breathing this planet's air.}
He opened his mouth while lifting his finger… and decided to stand silent.
He'd go back to this later.
{By all means and reason you should have died long before you could ever do the miracle of moving 9 tons of rock with a corpse that had no strength inside it, that should have no strength to even lift itself}
The systems voice continued robotic as always but… he did feel as if it could feel anything now it would be exasperation.
{To speak truly you did not die user, even as that rock slide crushed your corpse to a point no one would recognize you, you. Did. Not. Die.}
"That's an interesting story but why am I here now? Who brought me here, with you nonetheless?"
{The answer to your question is simple host, my creator wants to know what exactly you are, how exactly you work, how you defied reason to such a point where there were no explanations of why you were even alive}
{To achieve that it was decided to put you into a hostile environment to challenge you with the objective of putting your life in constant risk at first as to have more examples of your ability in the only situation it was previously observed, to defy death}
His fist clenched.
'Nothing but a lab rat then.'
{This system does not grant you quests or status points as rewards for leveling up, instead it allows you to retain the power gained from defying reason hence why your strength is 13, when this system arrived this is all it could save from the previous event of defied reason}
"I… see."
{Correct, had this system managed to arrive earlier and retain your strength better you would not be present on this particular planet.}
"Yes about that, what exactly is this planet?"
{The specific name of this planet is Eywa'eveng, further information must be researched through your own means}
He simply hummed.
{This system and its creator do not understand yet the mechanics of your ability, mainly due to the fact no observable/detectable energy was created or used within your body during the previous event of Defiant emergence}
{Hence more situations must be carefully observed, for this purpose I ZH'AOM the Zero-Horizon Anomaly Observation Matrix was created}
Once again, all he could do was hum.
{This information is freely given with the object of encouraging host [] to willingly cooperate with ZH'AOM's creator's curiosity}
His fist clenched.
Fighting a damn abomination that could decapitate itself and throw that same decapitated head like a javelin at him for the curiosity of something he didn't even know what it was in the first place.
The only thing that truly infuriated him was the reason why.
'The weak truly suffer as they must.'
{The sapient and sentient **** race native to this planet has an average adult strength of both male and female of 15 or a lifting capacity of 600 kilos under earth's gravity and a maximum strength of 22 for its legendary figures}
The sudden change of topic from the system somewhat annoyed him, it would have done more so had it not dropped that bomb.
'God fucking damn it.'
He breathed, or tried to the world was still frozen after all.
"So you're here just to observe and let me 'keep my gains?' "
{Incorrect, this system while capable of keeping your 'gains' in a permanent fashion was informed that your defiant nature will most likely gain more strength to a point where the universal constant will be unable to suppress your 'gains'}
He almost smirked, almost.
He sure as fuck hoped the thing wasn't lying to him.
{As further encouragement this system provides the 'Shop' a online marketplace selling all things imaginable either from the wider omniverse or simply created by means of reality warping.}
thump
"Huh?"
{By defeating an enemy in combat the host can gain coins to exchange at the store, note that while you posess the skill [Observe] it can only be evolved via coins and not experience}
{Further note that prices have been severely adjusted and certain items blocked as to impede host from growing too fast and trivializing the current universal line}
.
.
.
.
.
Greed.
Every single man, woman and child in his world can be bought.
Oh, maybe not with money, maybe they would want someone, something, a way for something to happen, a path to follow or even just a chance.
Every living being has ambition within them, big or small, pathetic or trivial, grand or meaningless, perverse or benevolent.
The only thing for certain is that they have it.
Then, pray tell, what chances does an ambitious man have against something capable of reading his mind?
'None, none at all.'
A power that has to be earned, not gained.
A masterful plan, truly.
To such a point where both know where it will end.
Where one wins no matter what.
And the other maybe wins.
An adventure he would never go on, one of his dreams only… if he fought below the magnifying glass.
His lips lifted on their own.
[Spoiler=Mc] https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/95627df4-795e-4eaf-ab8c-593e811678bb/dlft38l-33b6d44d-9049-4ace-afe4-749d890dd47f.png/v1/fit/w_828,h_1242,q_70,strp/young_karion__oc___by_bracks26_dlft38l-414w-2x.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTUzNiIsInBhdGgiOiIvZi85NTYyN2RmNC03OTVlLTRlYWYtYWI4Yy01OTNlODExNjc4YmIvZGxmdDM4bC0zM2I2ZDQ0ZC05MDQ5LTRhY2UtYWZlNC03NDlkODkwZGQ0N2YucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEwMjQifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.EU35xtL5PIq2pls1cm59Fpk5OzsAhG155peWDQKwsqw [/spoiler]
'So be it, for now'
{Warning, the permitted period on (Frozen World) is almost ending host so this system shall hurry for now, knowing the limitations of your body present even now and the high chance of death in the first week my creator decided to give you a gift}
"Oh?"
{You have received 1x 500 discount coupon congratulations!}
[Powers]
[Traits]
[Skills]
[Items]
[Creatures]
[Knowledge]
{This is the shop, notice that due to your 3 dimensional nature the category options are limited, further evolution will result in a wider array of options.}
Ignoring the system's voice he quickly clicked on the power tab.
Seconds were already wasted if he didn't hurry he'd die for real this time, or maybe that… thing would do something worse with a disappointingly lab rat.
Low
Minor Strength Enhancement — 200
Minor Speed Enhancement — 200
Minor Durability Enhancement — 200
Enhanced Senses — 250
Night Vision — 250
Pain Resistance — 300
Minor Regeneration — 400
Low Mid
Enhanced Strength — 1,000
Enhanced Speed — 1,000
Enhanced Reflexes — 1,200
Enhanced Endurance — 1,200
Accelerated Healing — 1,500
Basic Element Control — 2,000
Basic Telekinesis — 2,500
Enhanced Intelligence — 3,000
Mid
Danger sense – 5,000
Super Strength — 10,000
Super Speed — 10,000
Super Durability — 12,000
Flight — 15,000
Regeneration — 18,000
Advanced Element Control — 20,000
Force Fields — 25,000
Invisibility — 30,000
Limited Precognition — 40,000
Upper-mid
Hyper Regeneration — 80,000
Mind Control — 100,000
Gravity Manipulation — 150,000
Matter Manipulation — 200,000
Time Slow — 300,000
Weather Manipulation — 400,000
Domain Creation — 600,000
High
Immortality — 2,000,000
True Teleportation — 3,000,000
Time Stop — 5,000,000
Soul Manipulation — 7,000,000
Dimensional Travel — 10,000,000
Advanced Precognition — 15,000,000
Planetary Element Control — 20,000,000
Conceptual
Reality Warping (low) — 1,000,000,000
Time Manipulation — 2,000,000,000
Fate Manipulation — 3,000,000,000
Concept Manipulation — 5,000,000,000
Erasure — 10,000,000,000
Authority — 20,000,000,000
Divine
True Domain — 1,000,000,000,000 [Blocked]
He… couldn't hope to see everything, there were millions of powers in each category, even when he concentrated on those he could actually buy there was nothing useful.
Well, at least not immediately.
Who the fuck would buy a minor reinforcement, that would at best add a single point to body to fight against an abomination capable of throwing its damn head off like a missile?!
An idiot that's who.
If losing a damn head didn't kill it what the fuck are punches gonna do?
Minor Agility Enhancement — 150
Minor Stamina Enhancement — 150
Minor Flexibility Enhancement — 150
Enhanced Balance — 200
Enhanced Coordination — 200
Thermal Resistance (Low) — 250
Electric Resistance (Low) — 250
Toxin Resistance (Low) — 250
Enhanced Hearing — 300
Enhanced Smell — 300
Enhanced Taste — 300
Minor Luck Boost — 350
Mental Clarity — 350
Bleed Resistance — 400
Minor Bone Reinforcement — 400
Low-Light Vision — 450
Minor Energy Resistance — 450
Adrenal Surge (Minor) — 500
Fatigue Resistance — 500
Thick Skin — 500
Nothing… nothing at all.
{1:12 minutes remaining host, be quick}
And the damn doomsday clock is against him, good, great even!
Now he needs to choose between dozens of shitty powers that won't help with his situation!
Sigh*
Would it even fucking matter? Even if he killed this thing by some miracle he wouldn't survive the night, at best he'd wake up with teeth the size of his fingers on his neck.
{0:55}
The imaginary clock ticked as the seconds passed, and all he could feel was hopeless, one that so easily reminded him of his situation not even an hour ago.
'That's it?'
Will he die here no matter what he does, what he chooses, how hard he fights back?
Lose.
That's all he seems to do at the end of everything, no matter what he los-
!
Suddenly a memory, not even five minutes old came to his mind.
'By defeating an enemy in combat the host can gain coins to exchange at the store.'
He stood still, even more so than before, and looked at the abomination in front of him.
He won't lose this time.
'THINK, THINK YOU IDIOT! How did your ancestors survive?! How did humanity dominated earth so completely nothing but they could be a threat to their species, how? How?!'
{0:40}
'Cooperation, communication and… weapons, the first two are impossible, there are no humans here, neither can i reach the local sapient species, even if I could I wouldn't be able to speak their language, much less befriend them as an alien.'
{0:30}
The answer never was in the power section was it?
{0:25}
His fingers moved faster than any other time in his life.
{0:20}
Still, he couldn't find it.
He couldn't scroll fast enough without everything becoming a blur and he could find it fast enough without everything becoming unreadable.
He was stuck in a loop, depending on the sole thing he hated the most.
Luck.
{0:15}
'Where the hell is a search bar when you need it? I just want one damn thing!'
{0:1- psychic search activated, 0:11 seconds remaining}
He smiled, and in less than a second, he found it.
{0:10}
'Hey system, answer this, if I specify a power and the way I want it to work can the price fluctuate?'
{0:07 correct host, specifications can heighten or decrease a powers price, same as any other things on the shop 0:04}
His smile was almost feral.
'Mind and body eh?'
{0:03}
Yes, he… he understands now, what that damned creature wants him to do.
Rambo's knife (3rd movie) [ Stainless tool stell] {Minor durability enhancement 1.1x, minor sharpness enhancement 1.2x} — 500
{0:02}
{-1x 500Sp cupom}
Bet it all.
{0:01}
To win it all.
{0:00}
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"