Upgrade?

Mark crossed his fingers, looking at his system panel as he cast his Life Bestowal ability.

A vibrant green light swarmed around him dazzlingly as it slowly moved towards his head.

{Casting [Life Bestowal] on object [System Client]}

{Error... sy.ssssteemm client... mal...functiiiioning]

...

{Rebooting...}

{System Reboot complete}

After the system finished a reboot a melodic feminine voice entered marks mind.

"Hello?" The curious voice resonated within him.

"Hello there little one do you know where you are?" Mark asked in as calming a voice as he could.

"I- I think so, I'm your system client and I was informing you about a skill use when I went haywire and crashed!" The small voice exclaimed.

"Ah, that's definitely my fault; I had used that skill on you. I'm assuming that is the reason we can talk like this now." Mark explained.

"That... makes sense. Sorry I need some time to process everything." The system requested.

"Take your time." Mark said as he closed his eyes to rest while waiting.

...

Some time later, the system's voice sounded in Mark's head awakening him.

Mark groggily looked around, seeing he was still in the void. 'Maybe not a dream after all... shit...' Mark complained as he sat up.

"What's up system? Hmm I don't want to call you that. Can I call you Clye? It's short for client and I think it fits pretty well." Mark said as he rubbed his sleepy eyes.

"Sure, I love that name actually!" Clye enthusiastically said, before continuing.

"Actually we need to talk about that. I don't know how it's possible that you used that skill on me, but you did and here I am. I want to thank you for giving me consciousness but I have no idea how..." Clye said sounding a little depressed near the end.

"Hmm... no reason to feel down, we're partners from now on I'd say. As for repaying me... can you make changes to the system? Like add new panels or tabs?" Mark asked expectantly.

"I think so; I'll need a rough idea about what you want me to do though!" Clye said and Mark could swear she was smiling from her tone.

"I want to add a character panel, similar to the ones in games and novels. Where I can equip items." Mark excitedly said as he was almost jumping up and down.

"Maybe... but I can't make the items appear out of thin air onto you. I might be able to give you a percentage of their stats and effects on your currently equipped gear though." Clye ponders, missing the absolutely shocked expression on Mark's face.

"Let's do that!" Mark shouted barely containing himself.

"Alright wait for me, since it might take a while, also when you want to leave this void just say 'done'. Don't forget that once you go outside you'll be swarmed with monsters who have just awakened and you don't have a weapon. Time is paused right now for everyone to finish their selections if they can." Clye reminded Mark, causing him to wipe a bit of cold sweat from his head.

"Maybe I'll wait for you to finish up the character menu, it might give me an advantage." Mark unsurely commented.

...

Not taking nearly as long as he had thought, Clye proudly presented her work to him about thirty minutes later.

"Wow Clye, you sure work fast and it looks incredible!" Mark exclaimed.

Clye proudly responded, "Of course, it is me we're talking about!" Causing Mark to chuckle.

In front of him was a system panel labeled [Character] with many different boxes that were empty.

"So how do I use it? I don't exactly have anything to test it with at the moment." Mark asked.

"Pretty simple, you just hold the item you want to equip and say 'equip'!" Clye proudly stated.

"Ah, it really is easy haha!" Mark happily looked over the menu one last time before closing it.

"What is the percentage of the equipped item's value I can use?" Mark asked Clye.

"Around 50%, sorry but that's the best I can do." Clye said gloomily.

"No need to feel down, 50% is more than enough." Mark said before standing up.

"Looks like it's time!" Mark hyped himself up before saying 'done'.

Instantly his vision warped and he returned to the airport. Seeing that everyone else was also waking up, he immediately rushed to the TSA's room to hopefully find a weapon 'left behind' by someone.

Upon arriving, he noticed that the TSA agents had all run off, leaving behind their clothes.

"What the hell? did they become streakers or something?" Mark exclaimed as he rummaged through their belongings for keys and a taser.

"I think they might have turned into a smaller humanoid species like goblins or dwarves." Clye chimed in as Mark collected the items and ran for the door.

"I see... If I equip this taser, will it give a weapon I use an electric shock bonus?" Mark hurriedly asked as he shut the door behind him and locked it again.

"Maybe? It's a technological weapon so it might not. Just equip it while activating it just to be safe." Clye helpfully stated.

Doing just that, Mark activated the taser and equipped it, watching it dissolve in his hands and then appearing on the weapon slot of his character panel.

"Awesome! Now to find a melee weapon I can use!" Mark looked through the TSA room trying to find something to use, eventually discovering a replica sword made out of real metal but not sharpened in a box labeled cosplay weapons.

"I guess this will have to do..." Mark sighed as he stood up and made his way back to the door.

The sounds of fighting and screaming echoed loudly outside as the pandemonium increased. Slowly he reached for the doorknob as he psyched himself up.

'You got this Mark, it's just some monsters! You got this...' Unlocking the door, he creaked it open slightly to take a gander outside.

Unsurprisingly there was blood everywhere. dead bodies Littered the floor, some being eaten while others were rising up again.

"Yup, just a walk in the park." Mark whispered as he swung the door open and lunged at a zombie that was eating a corpse near the door.

With a swing of his sword the zombie's neck was caved in, and a faint electric arc was generated. Mark chased after the collapsed zombie and swung the sword down repeatedly until he heard a soft notification from Clye.

{Zombie killed}

{[Mana Circuit] progress 1%}

"Haa...ha...." Mark panted as he looked at his notifications.

"I have to kill a hundred zombies to level up to level two huh?" Slightly stunned at the cost to level up he looked around and found there was no shortage of monsters to kill.

"I guess with this many monsters it's not too tall a mountain." Mark stood up and made his way towards the exit.