1 Ch. 1: Awake

There is a forest at the foot of an unnamed mountain, the trees bare and streaked with white. A few belligerent sprouts of green have managed to claw their way to the surface, adding a little color to the otherwise blank scenery. The woodlands are still, but something hidden within it has awoken.

It is a girl. Although others in this world would call her a woman.

She lay cocooned within the snow, her dainty figure entirely out of view save for a few raven strands that managed not to get buried with the rest of her. Her body was still, but surprisingly pink rather than blue. If one happened to stumble upon her, after overcoming the surprise of finding a naked woman in the middle of the woods, they would be more inclined to believe that she is dreaming sweet dreams rather than suffering an untimely death.

But unfortunately, such a pretty picture did not last long. Her eyes suddenly snapped open, the terrifying blankness within them finding kinship in the snow that covers the earth with the same, indiscriminate haze. She sat upright in a rush, yet she is not frightened, her demeanor maintaining the same calm she had when she was asleep.

This girl had no name.

She realized this quickly as she noted the tall trees surrounding her giving no context as to where she is. Not a single sign of life reaches her frighteningly keen senses, only the fierce wind carrying notes of pine and frost. Her hands freed themselves from the snow and she looked down at herself, realizing that she is not clothed. It's an unusual situation, to say the least, and thus she was on high alert when a voice from nowhere speaks out to her.

"Master!" it squeaked in a high pitched tone that is neither male nor female.

The girl whipped her head around in that direction, her long locks flying with the sudden motion, but saw nothing.

"Up here!" it squeaked again. A micro frown crossed the girl's face, not marring her dazzling features in the slightest. She found the voice rather irritating.

Hovering a few feet over her seated position is a blue holographic screen, flickering in and out every few seconds as if it had a bad connection.

"What... is this?", the girl asked, hesitantly speaking her first words in this new word. Her words flowed into one's ear like honey, capable of settling a screaming baby with a sentence or two.

Her head was blank, not a single ounce of information to be noted. But she was very much alive, each breath drawing in a lungful of chilly air although she herself was not cold.

Her mouth fastened in a cute pout and she looked around her surroundings with the same ease of a lion lazily surveying its territory.

"Who are you?" she asked again, after finding no one near her.

"I am your system!" the voice chirps. "I am here to guide you through your mission."

"My... mission?" The girl reflected on the word, but found a terrifying emptiness when she tried to recall anything.

"Yes! As a system user, you had previously broken one of our most important. This is your penalty," it replied, the voice's response echoed through her head.

The girl itched her brow, understanding that this snowy wonderland was a punishment of some sort. She found herself curious, rather than startled as to how she came to be there. Any other individual would have lost their mind to fear and panic, but the slow heartbeat in her exposed chest steadied her as if it wasn't the girl's first time in a foreign situation.

"Then... who am I?"

There was a pause of hesitation, the voice's reluctance evident before it spoke. "That," it replied, sucking in air through its invisible teeth, "I am not allowed to tell you."

"Then tell me what a 'system' is," she replied right away as if bargaining for information.

"Ah, that I can-!" the voice started with excitement before it faded away to a near whisper. "-also not really say. Honestly, I might have already said too much. HQ is going to kill me."

The girl let silence buffer between them as she collected the small gems the dimwitted voice left for her. HQ. System. A punishment.

"What code did I break?" the girl asked persistently.

"I, uh, also cannot tell you that," the voice said, it's cheery voice slowly poisoned with regret. It seemed like an extroverted person, it's emotions clearly discernible from its every word and inflection.

"Then I suppose you can at the very least tell me what my mission is," she finally asked, brushing the snow off her hair and shoulders before she stood up for the first time. Unlike a newborn faun, the girl was firm and unwavering in her stance.

"Oh, yes, yes!" the voice cleared its throat and carried on in a more serious tone. "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to bring down the Xia Empire, the very land you are standing on."

The girl looked down at the land she was standing on, a snowy drift that covered up her feet, her expression not changing in the slightest. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking

"Haha! How was that for an introduction to your mission?" the voice asked, pleased with its eccentric announced, not noticing the lackluster response.

"I... decline."

The voice's exuberant clamoring came to a full stop.

"W-W-What?" the voice asked, concerned that maybe it was starting to hear things.

"I decline," the girl repeated, proving herself to be a woman of few words. She spoke in an unconcerned tone, taking the time to unabashedly admire as much of her body as she could lay eyes on.

Her skin was firm and pale, each nail somehow cut into a pleasing crescent. There was not a scar in sight and the places meant to curve did while the areas that were fuller stood prominently. The girl could not recall another human body, but she was certain that this one was quite good.

"Master, that's not an option!" it chirped, following her as she began to slowly move around her new surroundings. Each footstep sank into the snow and she marveled at the feeling. Her entire past was nothing but a blank, so every sensation felt as new as the first time.

"This snow," the girl replied, "It feels nice."

She felt a faint sense of happiness at knowing the word for it. Although she had been robbed of her memories, she still seemed to maintain a basic knowledge of the world.

"Enough about the snow. The mission, it isn't optional!" the voice squealed.

"Then why did you phrase it like that?" she asked innocently.

"Huh? Like what?" it replied.

"You said, 'your mission, should you choose to accept it'. Doesn't that imply that I have the right to refuse?" She rapped her knuckles on the oak tree, a small chunk of bark falling as a result.

"Trees," she said with a light inhale. The fragrant pine scent that came from the miniscule exposed portion of bark wafted to her nose, making her stomach grumble. She was hungry, the girl realized with a bemused grin.

On the other hand, the system was not having nearly as much fun as the girl, sweat pouring down its nonexistent forehead. It now knew that it had miscalculated when it had decided to quote a famous movie, and now struggled to backtrack.

"No, um, I just said that because it's a famous quote and I wanted to have some fun. But the mission is not optional!" the voice said.

"Quote? From where?" the girl asked curiously.

The system wanted to smack its invisible forehead. The most important thing HQ had drilled into it was not to do or say anything that could jog the memories of the criminal.

"Er, nothing! From nothing! Nowhere! Uhm, just pretend I didn't say anything," the voice cried as it quickly backtracked. It's stress levels were high, but as it watched the girl nonchalantly turn back towards the tree it let out a sigh.

"Ok," she replied, more intrigued by the way the bark flaked off the tree whenever she touched it.

HQ had warned it that she was a highly dangerous, manipulative criminal, and that even without her memories she was a threat. But looking at the cute, innocent girl playing with pieces of bark without a care in the nude, she reminded it far more of a harmless woodland nymph rather than a vicious felon.

"So, this means that by already being present, you have accepted," the voice finished, eager to get its beginning speech over.

This introduction was supposed to be easier than usual because within a punishment system, the system user wasn't privy to any fancy perks, points, or background information. It only had to give a standard synopsis of the girl's mission before it could take a backseat and watch her bumble through, but somehow it had mucked up such an easy introduction.

"If you say so," the girl replied in a singsong manner. The system nodded happily, eager to let its previous blunder become forgotten.

"Anyways, as your personal system within the mission, you can name me! Is there anything fun you would like? I have been called Pringles, Bubblegum, Buddy, Nachos... do you notice that most are food names? Haha, me too. My favorites though are Lucky Star and Sidekick.

The girl who called me Lucky Star was sooooo sweet! She told me that with me by her side, she was certain to pass the mission. In the end, she, unfortunately, didn't pass and her soul was eviscerated but I enjoyed her presence nonetheless." the voice said proudly.

The girl did not look like she was paying any attention to the voice's rambling, but at the point, she paused her attempt to chew the fragrant bark.

"Eviscerated?"

"Ah, yes, did I forget to mention? Within the punishment system, failure results in the automatic evisceration of your soul. No more reincarnating in new worlds. It's all permanently over. No do-overs, no second chances. Anyways what name will you choose for me, Master?" it said cheerfully, hoping to elicit a reaction from the girl. There was none.

"System."

"Hmm?"

"Your name," she swallowed down a piece of rough bark before replying.

"What?!" it almost shrieked.

Instead of the unnamed girl, the system was the one to suffer an extreme reaction. It had thought that the worst name it had gotten before was Turd from an immature inmate who thankfully did not pass his punishment world, but this was an even more egregious affront. The name just showed a pure lack of effort or care, as if the girl was frolicking in a meadow rather than marooned on a freezing punishment system.

"But I-I don't like that name, Master," it whined, hoping its sweet, high-pitched voice could free it from the cursed bonds of its basic name.

The girl cocked her head to the side and responded in her same soft tone, "You call me Master. Then shouldn't you know better than to question your master's decisions?"

She spoke slowly and methodically, but somehow her words sent a chill running down System's spine. An invisible bead of sweat dripped down System's head. To its chagrin, she was right. It could only watch as the girl naturally fell into a crouch at the base of the tree she had been pecking at with her hands.

"Do you smell that, System?" she asked quietly, her hypervigilance at odds with the carefree persona she had just had.

System, who had been startled by the sudden change in the girl's demeanor was slow to answer.

"N-no, Master!" While it was not physically present, System could still experience sensations within the system and at the moment it smelt nothing other than ice.

A half-smile crossed the girl's face before it just as quickly disappeared, her heartbeat slowly beginning to increase in subconscious excitement.

"It's blood."