1 The System
It was 2023, the world had just been swallowed by a huge virus that killed hundreds of millions of people. what was weird about this virus was that even those who stayed away from the outside world and stayed inside were affected, and killed.
In March of 2023, the reason behind this virus was revealed to the world. in truth, it was not a virus, but the return of Qi to our world. this return of Qi caused many people who couldn't adapt to grow sick and die. it was revealed that going back to the year 2000, this Qi was slowly returning to our world. but it was from 2018 to 2023, the amount that fell caused many to grow sick.
Now with the return of Qi, cultivation was released to the public. world leaders, such as the presents of the United States, China, and others had all of their powers taken from them, and replaced by powerful clans that had existed since ancient times, the clans opened sects, allowing those who had talent for cultivation to shine, and change their fate.
worldwide, such sects came to life, and many people showing superhuman powers popped up. Phones, TVs, and others went off the line for some time, due to the Qi in the air, they struggled to have all of their function, so they had to be updated to use Qi as their main power source.
those most affected by this were those with jobs, fast food workers lost their jobs as the cultivators were against food holding impurity to spread. The movie Business was put on hold, along with many other things.
"You're still searching for a job?" a beautiful Latino woman asked while looking at a young man who was going through a laptop, searching for a job. but most job requirements had changed thanks to the sudden arrival of cultivation. the young man looked towards his wife with a deep sigh, not knowing what to say.
Before cultivation, his life was perfect. He had married a beautiful woman, gave birth to a beautiful daughter, and he was on his way to becoming a millionaire... yet all that became pointless in the blink of an eye.
"yeah..." he said softly, he had nothing to say. As a man couldn't provide for his family, he was ashamed of himself. they were using up their savings, and with how the price of living was increasing, that would not last long.
"... why do you have a suitcase?" He asked seeing that his wife had a suitcase. His wife avoided eye contact for a moment, but in the end, she looked at him with determination
"I'm sorry Alex. but we can't live like this..." She said with a shake of her head, I looked at her for a moment before noticing my daughter coming over with a suitcase in her hands. for a moment, my mind went blank, unable to wrap my head around what was happening. but after a second, I shot to my feet. I opened my mouth to speak, but I could not speak as my mind began putting the pieces of the puzzle together. quickly wrapping my head around everything that was taking place...
"Does this have to do with your girls out?" He asked, at my words. she was unable to look me in the eyes, I looked towards my daughter, holding on to hope that she was being forced into this... yet reality was cruel.
"Uncle James is a better dad than you, he promised to give me all of the cultivation resources I need." She said causing my heart to feel as if it was hit with a hammer. James? the guy who had always had a crush on his wife, after all his wife was truly beautiful. but he could never even touch his wife. not too long ago, it was heard that James was a human-grade talent.
Human-grade talent was above no talent, even so, this was considered extremely rare. out of 8 billion humans, it was said only 200 million people should have the talent to cultivate and thats spread out worldwide. with human-grade talent split into 3 tiers, first, second, and third. James was considered a second-tier, human-grade talent. That was shocking, and he was valued by the sect he had joined.
"... So you're leaving me?" I asked softly, to which the two nodded.
"I will give you the divorce papers soon... I'm sorry." She said while leaving, my daughter looked at me for a moment before she followed her mother. She was 10 years old... it was not hard to believe her mother tripped her. even so, I wasn't the type to force others to try.
I didn't run after them, instead, I sat down. an empty look in my eyes, where did I go wrong? I worked hard to earn everything I owned, and the business I built from the ground up, was destroyed because the cultivators said such things can't be allowed in the cultivation world.
My once loving wife just up and left me just a few months after trouble fell, and my daughter whom I once spoiled, and saw as my world had thrown me to the side. Was it my fault that I didn't have cultivation talent?
Getting up, I headed towards the kitchen. I didn't run after my wife or daughter, I wasn't that type of person. They knew what they were doing... and I believed they were making the right move. why stay and suffer with me, when you can use your beauty to maintain your status as a rich woman? But still... this fucking hurt.
Grabbing a bottle of wine I had been saving for a long time, I went on to sit down and began drinking while reliving the past. I have never truly loved one person in my life, My wife Sarah. back then I was broke, yet I managed to win her heart after trying for 3 long months. Once we started dating, things only went uphill from thereon. it was like I was the center of the world, everything went perfectly for me... this was the first time I suffered or ever felt such pain.
I remember the day my daughter Hope came into my life... that was among the happiest moments of my life. that day, I cried holding her in my arms. I had become a dad. I remember her first steps, her first word, her first tantrum... I remembered it all.
"... I did it once before. I can do it again." with tears in my eyes, I slammed the bottle of wine on the table. I couldn't make alcohol a habit. I started from nothing, I was nothing, yet I grew and made a name for myself. with the experience I have and all of the money I had saved up... just maybe I could start over.
"It would be hard without cultivation talent... I might even be killed and have my wealth stolen. but what do I have to lose." I said with determination burning in my eyes. this would be far harder than back then, after all the cultivation world was ruthless. I would have to watch my step, I would have to be careful with every move I make. I would need to avoid making enemies, I would have to make many sacrifices, but... I could do it.
{Greeting Number 1. I'm your system,} suddenly a voice entered my head, causing me to freeze. I looked around thinking someone was with me in the room, but seeing no one, I began to worry I was going crazy.
{Host, I have no form. i'm currently fused to your soul. you and I have become one.} the voice said, causing me to stand there frozen slightly. with the arrival of cultivation, many people have looked towards cultivation novels to understand what cultivation was. So, I knew what a system was through those novels.
'Number One?' I asked after calming myself down, I might be going crazy right now. but even so, I wanted to know what was going on. So, I thought of those words. if this system was truly bonded with me, shouldn't it be able to hear my thoughts?
{Indeed, you're the first person to gain a system. With the return of cultivation, comes the return of systems. As for where we came from, I will have to apologize, as I can't give you that knowledge, as I don't know.} the system said causing me to frown deeply, before asking the system a bunch of questions.
such as what would happen if I die. If I die, the system would not truly die but instead suffer huge damage. it would take some time to recover before it finds a new host. but it would be far weaker than before, so it didn't want this.
{I have no name I'm a new system. consider me a newborn system. I have a unique set of abilities, which is that you pick your ability. I will give you a list of things, and you will have to pick from them which you want. as for what appears, it depends on your luck.. which you have a lot of.} the system said to which I rolled my eyes, yeah, I had luck. but it seemed to have run out lately. but I nodded, ready to see what the system would show me.
{First List, Pick Your Anime Eye.
1. [The Sharingan]- From the Uchiha clan, gives one the power to read the smallest of details, see faster, react faster, mimic techniques, and cast powerful illusions that could allow one to either control the target or even go through the target memory. it could be evolved
2. [Shinigami Eye]- From Death Note, Allows one to see the true age and name of anyone they look at with a cost.
3. [6 Eyes]- Gives one perfect energy control down to the atomic level. allows one to see through items, gives one 360-degree vision, powerful eyesight, and so on.
4. [Divine Reflection]- Allows one to perfectly copy any skill or ability, even those of the gods, Regardless of its speed or power. you can evade any attack whilst simultaneously countering his attacker with their move.
5. [Almighty]- From Bleack, give you the power to see the infinite future of something your eyes land upon. with these eyes, you can see the complete future of a target, while also picking a future among the countless possibilities to come into reality. all that you see, you shall adapt to, making you able to use said power and rendering you impervious to harm in any way from it.
{... wow, you're are lucky. by the way host, whatever you pick can't be picked by others that come before you.} The system said while I went through the list.. but was it hard?
"I will pick the Almighty," I said calmly, the other 4 eye abilities disappeared, with the Almighty taking their place.
{Alright, the next list. Pick your Mind based Ability
1. [Conqueror Haki]- From One Piece, Allows you to turn your willpower into something that could affect the outside world. form simply knocking those with weaker willpower than yours, or to cover your attacks in it, to greatly boost your attacks by many times.
2. [telekinesis arms]- You would be able to generate telekinesis arms which you could use for many things. the strength of these arms and amount would depend on your mind's strength, they also move as fast as you think.
3. [The End]- Instantly Master any things you see to 120%. When mastered, you could even master things from others talking about said ability. If picked, you would start with it simply boosting your learning capability by a few times. it would be up to you to master this ability to show its full effect.
4. [Kyōka Suigetsu]- From Bleach, this ability allows you to create the perfect illusion. this would need to sword to be used, but anyone who looks at your sword, their 5 senses would be under your complete control. you can make them see, taste, hear, feel, or smell anything you want. the only way for them to break out of this would be if your strength greatly overwhelms yours or if they touch the sword.
5. [The Power of Absolute Obedience]- From Code Geass, this ability allows you to give one an order that they must follow no matter what. once eye contact is made, and both parties are within range. this ability would allow you to give the said person any order only once, which they must follow to the best of their abilities. there are many limitations, but this is the absolute mind control which can't be broken once it takes effect.
'... The End.' I thought with a frown, that the 5th and 4th ones would be perfect for me. the amount of stuff I could do with them. but I couldn't allow someone else to get the End,
{Next list, Pick your unique ability.
1. [Zenkai Boost]- from Dragon Ball, the power to grow stronger after recovering from injuries. the more serious the injury was, the more powerful you would have become. this ability embodies the concept, that what doesn't kill me only makes me stronger.
2. [Endless Nine]- this ability greatly depends on your mental state, anything supernatural you reject and deny shall never affect you. giving you complete immunity to just about everything and anything. but this can be mastered to the point you can deny attacks. pretty much, giving you complete immunity to all things. so long as you fully deny its existence, you shall be immune. but if you don't fully deny its existence to 100%, then ability could pierce through. although just denying something by 50%, would make you immune to it by 50%
3. [The Visionary]- form bleach. this power allows you to turn dreams into reality. For example, if you imagine that the bones in someone's arm are made of cookies, this will become true. pretty much, whatever you dream will become true... but there are some flaws. if you shift your attention away from the target affected by your power, it can revert to what it was before. Of course, if you had dreams of a sword and cut them down, they would remain dead even if you're no longer thinking about them.
Your imagination might also harm you. if you're not careful, you might end up imagining your death. this would in return kill you. if your imagination isn't good enough, then it will not have the effect you wish.
4. [Full Counter]- From Seven Deadly Sins. this ability allows you to counter anything, both physical and non-physical attacks. so long as you can time it, and have an object in hands, you can send their attack back at them. it doesn't matter how powerful the attack is, all you need is to time this ability out. the timing doesn't even need to be perfect, all you need is to hit the attack with an object to send it back at your enemy, with them being unable to dodge it.
5.[Limbo]- From Naruto. this ability allows you to create Limbo clones. clones that could affect the real world, yet the real world could can't affect them. they are also invisible, so when they move to protect you, people would think you have an invisible wall around you. they can't be affected by normal means, making them untouchable.
'this one is hard... The Visionary drawbacks are too great for me to overlook. although it would be super useful, I can't trust my mind. I might just picture a car hitting me, and boom I'm dead. The Zenkai boost is cool and all, but i'm not that battle hungry, i'm not Goku. Full Counter needs me to be fast enough to react to something. Limbo clones also have to return to the body after a set amount of time. I will pick Endless Nine... so long as I believe, then i'm untouchable.' I thought with determined eyes.
{Next, Pick your item.
1. [Death Note]- From Death Note, whoever's name is written into this book shall die. you can even write how you wish for them to die. so long as they are human, then they will die
2. [Ryujin Jakka]- from bleach, this sword gives you immunity to flames while at the same time the power to use the flames. the sword's best power is its power to burn targets out of existence, in its final form, once this form cuts a target it shall be cut out of existence. at the same time, one could call upon the dead this sword has killed and use them in battle.
Note that overusing this sword's final form would turn you to ashes. the power of this sword isn't limited by you. but for how long you can use it, is limited by you. you're the battery, if you can't fuel the sword's power long enough then this sword will never be able to show its full might.
3. [Lostvayne]- From seven deadly sins, this sword gives one to create a clone with 50% of the main body strength. if one creates more than 1 clone, then that clone's strength would be divided among the other clones. with up to 6 clones, each clone would have about 8% of the main body strength.
4. [Incursio]- From Akame Ga Kill! this armor gives one the power to adapt and evolve, you can allow this to happen on its own which would take longer, or force it, which could happen instantly. but this would happen with the drawback of having the Incursio try and consume you. this armor greatly boosts your speed, strength, and agility. the armor defense is also great, and could even gain new abilities. It also comes with a spear, which could cut through iron like butter.
If gained, this armor would start with zero evolution, all of its abilities and power would be gone, but the power to adapt and evolve. its adaption and evolution capability would also grow as you grow.
5. [The Sword Of Totsuka]- From Naruto, although it's called a sword, this isn't a sword, but a spiritual weapon without a fixed form. once it's used to pierce a target, the target would find themselves trapped within an illusion called, the world of drunken dreams. after they would be sealed away into a jar, forever trapped and unable to break free. this is a one-hit sword, even a cut is enough to trap a target within the illusion, a powerful illusion that could even overwrite powerful mind control abilities.
'Okay... I will have to go with Incursio. although the death note looks nice, it only affects humans. The Sword Of Totsuka is also nice... but it's not for me.' I thought with a deep sigh
{Host has chosen, [Almighty], [The End], [Endless Nine], and [Incursio]... the host would gain all these items in 24 hours. if the host wishes to gain another of the abilities listed above, the host can search for another system user. no matter the system, so long as the host kills and absorbs the system user. the system would be able to allow you to pick something else, but only 1 thing.} the system said while I sat back, in shock... 24 hours, that was long. but I planned to wait it out. hopefully, I wasn't going crazy.
So, I sat back and went through the laptop, and kept the remaining amount of my time searching for a new business idea. what I could find was a restaurant, if I could start a restaurant, and use these new abilities to become the best possible chef, then I could make a name for myself.
With the [The End], I could quickly master the art of cooking. I can even watch cooking videos to copy the cooking skills of others. with the [Almighty] I could even use [The End] to the fullest of its ability, while at the same time seeing the infinite possibility of my cooking, and picking the best one out of them. Today I will be a chef, tomorrow I will be an overlord.
