《Master of the System 》Chapter 17
Advertisement
Vremya munched on a bag of potato chips while sitting on a couch, his legs stretched out, his feet resting on the coffee table in front of him. The holographic display was hovering in front of him, and he was watching a livestream of Smith Jr. and Tutor Golem 2000. “Money sure makes things easy,” Vremya said and sighed, marveling at how quickly Smith Jr. was growing. The user had been practicing knife techniques for a while, but one night after implementing Tutor Golem 2000, the user had mastered the knife techniques without a hitch.
A beeping sound drew Vremya’s attention, and he frowned. He switched out of the livestream app and located the red dot—a notification signal. It was on his messenger app. Who was messaging him at a time like this? The only person who had his contact information was Karta, and the stinky dog was next to him, still looking for suitable users for her system. Vremya pressed on the messenger app, and he saw a familiar face on the profile picture of the unknown number: Kosmos. She was the god of space, born at the same time as him. Together, they had slaughtered the creatures of darkness, carving out a section of light for themselves. Having experienced thousands of life-and-death experiences with her, Vremya could confidently say she was the one who knew him the best. Vremya raised his finger and pressed on a button.
[Are you sure you want to block this number?]
[Contact blocked.]
Even though she knew him the best, there was a problem. She was batshit insane. There was no way in hell Vremya was going to speak to her again, not if he valued his current peaceful life. Vremya exhaled, and Karta raised her head. “What’s wrong, old man?” the Labrador retriever asked. “Are you missing Sush Kal and Vodor already? It’s only been five minutes since they’ve left.”
“It’s nothing,” Vremya said, swiping his display, entering the livestream again. There was another beeping sound, and Vremya’s brow furrowed. Was it because he showed his face at the snack gods’ meeting? He didn’t have many friends though, so who was it this time? He swiped back to the messaging app, and his eye twitched upon seeing the profile picture. It was Kosmos again, calling from a different number.
[Are you sure you want to block this number?]
Advertisement
[Contact blocked.]
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
Constant ringing sounds came from Vremya’s display, and Karta turned her head to peek at Vremya’s screen. The old man’s hands were flashing, pressing and blocking, but no matter how fast he moved, the number of notifications kept increasing. Vremya’s eye twitched. “How did she even get my number?”
Karta coughed. “Uh….” The Labrador retriever gave Vremya what she thought was her cutest smile. “She contacted me and asked for your number.”
“And you gave it to her without asking me?”
“Well, no…,” Karta said, scratching her head. “I rejected her at first, but then she told me she’d buy the information for a hundred heaven-grade spirit stones, so what could I do? You know the state of my wallet; I had no choice!”
“You stinky dog,” Vremya said, veins bulging on his head amidst the constant beeping sounds. “I would’ve paid you two hundred heaven-grade spirit stones to keep your mouth shut!”
Karta’s jaw dropped open. “You should’ve told me that before I sold your information! Go back in time and stop me!”
“If I could go back, I would!” Vremya said. He snorted and directly shut off his personal computer, ending the relentless pinging sounds coming from the messenger app. He still had no idea why he couldn’t travel into the past. Even a Poiskle search didn’t bring up any results. As the only god who could time travel, he was the only one who could experience those kinds of problems.
There was another beeping sound, causing Vremya to twitch. He looked down, but his personal computer was off. Then he noticed a red dot on Karta’s screen. The Labrador retriever pressed on the messenger app, read the message, and gave Vremya a strange look.
“What?” the old man asked.
“How much are you willing to pay for me to keep my mouth shut about your address?” Karta swallowed her spit. “She’s offering two thousand heaven-grade spirit stones.”
Vremya stared at Karta. “Are you an idiot? She can kill titans just as easily as I can, and all she’s offering you is two thousand stones?”
“You’re right!” Karta said, smacking her display. She typed in a few lines by pawing at the hologram. “I demanded ten million heaven-grade spirit stones. Do you think she’ll—”
Advertisement
Ding!
Karta’s eyes bulged. “Holy crap! She didn’t even think about it before transferring the money over! She’s rich!” She gave Vremya a strange look. “How come you’re avoiding Kosmos? With her wealth, you won’t have to do anything!”
Vremya slapped Karta’s head, but his hand bounced off an invisible barrier. “I can make millions just as easily as her by slaying titans. I just want to watch my users grow in peace, and if Kosmos finds me, my life is going to be far from peaceful.”
Karta glanced at her display. “She already paid me the money…. By law, I’m obligated to tell her your location.”
Vremya sighed and waved his hand. An invisible sheen washed over the floating landmass he was on, and a barrier formed around it. “Alright, you can tell her my location now.” He snorted upon seeing Karta’s questioning expression. “It’s just a barrier infused with some of my essence. She can’t get through because penetrating the barrier is equivalent to hurting me, and that’s been banned.”
Karta nodded. “You Poiskled the book of loopholes, huh?”
“Of course,” Vremya said and snorted.
Karta patted the display, and a message was sent to Kosmos. Not even a second later, a massive portal opened in the sky, and a beautiful woman appeared. She stepped out of the portal, and her face collided with the barrier Vremya had set up, smooshing her nose flat. “Fuck!” the woman shouted, taking a few steps back, nearly reentering the portal she had exited from. “Vremya! I know you’re in there! I can see you!” She pounded on the barrier, the space around it distorting and shattering into thousands of fragments. Little blackholes formed in the sky with each of her punches, sucking in everything around them before blinking out of existence.
Karta whistled. “Whew. She really is the god of space, huh?” She walked outside the house, took out her phone, and snapped a few selfies of herself with Kosmos in the background. With her tail wagging, she walked back into the house with her phone held in her mouth. “I must be the most well-connected snack god in existence.”
Vremya’s face darkened, but he chose to ignore the stinky dog. “Kosmos, long time no see,” he said from his spot on the couch. Since the barrier was a part of himself, he didn’t need his eyes to see the visitor outside.
Kosmos shrieked like a banshee, her voice so high-pitched that invisible barriers formed around Karta’s and Vremya’s ears to prevent them from getting hurt. The god of space punched at the barrier with even greater gusto, massive blackholes forming in the sky behind her. “Fuse with me, Vremya! Why do you keep rejecting me!? Together, we can ascend into a being greater than gods! Everything shall be under our control! We can dominate. We can conquer! We can crush everything beneath our feet and laugh as they struggle to pick up the pieces! Why don’t you want power!? Embrace me, Vremya! Vremya!!! Let me in!!! Vremya!!!!!”
Karta blinked hard. “Holy shit,” she said, staring right at Vremya. “She’s insane.”
“I know.”
***
Paul sipped on a mug of beer, browsing through the system in his mind. Thirty years ago, he had woken up with an awful headache, and in his vision, there was a bright red text. Apparently, he had been adopted by the Interdimensional Mercenary System, and from that day forth, he had become an interdimensional mercenary. Whenever he completed a mission, he’d become stronger, learning the techniques of those in other dimensions. After completing a mission, he would always destress at the bar and browse through the list of missions, looking for one that offered a suitable reward. However, something different happened this time. All the missions in his mind disappeared, replaced by one block of text that was capitalized, bolded, italicized, and underlined all at the same time.
[NEW MISSION: HOLD THE GOD OF TIME’S SERVANT HOSTAGE!!!]
[CAPTURE THE PERSON THE GOD OF TIME HOLDS DEAR! FAILURE SHALL NOT BE TOLERATED!]
[REWARD: YOU GET TO LIVE! YOUR SOUL WILL BE SENTENCED TO AN ETERNITY OF TORTURE IF YOU FAIL!!!]
Paul stared hard at the text blocking his vision. He sighed. “Barkeep, get me a bottle of your strongest drink.” Most of the time the system was reasonable, but sometimes, Paul felt like he was being used as a tool for the gods. Last time this phenomenon had occurred, he was given a mission to kill the god of transportation’s servant. It was a tough fight, and no doubt, this new fight was going to be even tougher: capturing was much harder than killing. But what could he do? He didn’t want his soul to be tortured eternally.
Advertisement
Pawns of God
Five Lines PitchJoin Mark in his fight against a God and change the game's destiny! Delve into a slow-paced story focused on the progression of the main party and the development of the world. Mark himself will be narrating his life inside the game, and to a much lesser extend outside. Guild building, economy, and strategy are the central pieces of the novel. Mark is not overpowered, he will have to build his own power through action-packed battles, trials, traumas, love, and death. Accompany him, the healer and the strategist, an agent of chaos, in the adventure of his life. Without further preamble, I will let Mark take the mic. SynopsisHi! My name is Mark. This is my story, my life as I live it day after day. I’m in my thirties, and there’s nothing I love more than playing online games. I’ve just joined the action on the newest VRMMO game, Pawns of God. An immersive experience you can play while sleeping. Of course, as a game that takes pride in its long development and technological advances, everything inside seems and feels real. Beware, this is not a game-turns-real story. I love my own world and I would detest being summoned into another one. If that ever happens, I’ll just quickly take my life and be done with it. I play with my friends, in a party of 5. We have taken several roles, but lately, I've come to love being a healer. It's my secret ambition to someday be the shotcaller. I am not overpowered. If there is any bug or exploit in the game, they are yet to be discovered. Anyhow, for a game of this scale, the company is pouring all of its resources into test servers, QA, and beta tests. I don’t expect to find any, so I’ll be playing the game just like any other person. I must say, though, I am easily distracted, as you will immediately notice once you start. I'm working on it, I promise to improve! I am no hero. Being in my 30s, my heart is too old for this shit. I wouldn’t mind being one, of course. Who hasn’t dreamt of it? Either way, I’m not doing any grand quest to save the world. Whatever the game throws to their users, I’ll be there to experience it. Most of my life, at least the interesting parts that I’ll be narrating, happen inside the game itself. Rarely, there will be some IRL (In Real Life) chapters. You’ll understand, however, that as a freelance software developer, there is not much I can entertain you with when outside the game. Did I say I love games? Well, I’m also a fan of LitRPG literature. You know, journeys of magic, relationships, personal development, items, skills, discovery… In the spirit of not overwhelming my public, I’ll condense each chapter into circa 1500 words. You might have noticed some tags over this story, let me elaborate. I like to swear. I’m not shy when it comes to cursing my enemies, friends, or even myself. When there’s blood, I tell it as I see it. And… it hurts to admit it, but I’m not a casanova. Of course, this doesn’t mean that I won’t ever find love. So, in case I do end up finding it, let’s keep my sexual options open. As for traumas, none yet, but the future is vast and unknown. Release Schedule The schedule is subject to change, particularly if enough readers end up loving it. All chapters are already written, thus there is enough freedom to modify them. Arc 1 * Chapters 1-14: Each released one day and an hour later than the previous. Starting with chapter 2 at 09:20 UTC+2 on day 1, and finishing at 21:20 UTC+2 on day 13. Elapsed: 2 weeks Total: 2 weeks * Chapters 15-30: Releases every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 11:30 UTC+2. Elapsed: 5½ weeks Total: 7 weeks (1 month, 3½ weeks) * Chapters 31-49: Releases every Wednesday and Saturday at 11:30 UTC+2 Elapsed: 9½ weeks Total: 17 weeks (4 months, 1 week) All subsequent arcs will follow the same release schedule, 2/week. No hiatus will be done between arcs 1 and 2.
8 181Golem Armor: Building a Mech In Fantasy World.
He died of old age, surrounded by not people but machines built by his own hands. Join him as he reawakens in a fantasy world, once again, trying his best to reach his dream. A different person molded by his new surrounding, Adrin had to adapt to survive. The journey towards it would be slow as he had to start from the bottom and build everything from scratch. He had to adapt to using unfamiliar tools to recreate the things he had built, or using science to get ahead. The world, however, wouldn’t open a path for him to travel. Monsters big and small, people kind and cruel would stand in his way whether he liked it or not. Author’s note: English is not my first language. For young adults (light adult content, not romance focused). A remake/revamp of an original story. It will take a while before pieces are put together.
8 76The Angel Anbu
When Naruto was no older than three years old, the villagers beat him to with an inch of his life. The Anbu, Dog, (Kakashi) found him and took him to the Hokage. As he was getting there, Dog saw that Naruto painfully grew a pair of white wings that were bloody from the process of growing them. Dog cleaned the blood and took him to the Hokage. Dog has personally trained Naruto, and he became an Anbu at the age of five. He became Anbu captain at the age of seven and Anbu commander at age ten. All through out his period of growth, Dog was always his right-hand man. The only Anbu, besides the Hokage, whose seen his face. Whenever he gets a mission, people know to be wary of the Bloody Angel.
8 114The Light of Destruction (Palutena X Godzilla shifter Reader)
So this is a Palutena X Godzilla reader, it's about a guy named Y/N who can turn into a Godzilla incarnation (have to do a poll), he is known as a God of Destruction to almost all the gods, He however interests Palutena, she knows the story of Y/N, will the two hook up, we shall se
8 106M⃒a⃒r⃒k⃒e⃒d⃒
Why was I chosen? I wouldn't make a good Proxy! Slender?.. Why?..
8 152HELPLINE
Henry's grumpy. Isaac's lonely. And then Isaac rings the cereal helpline Henry works at, and things get a lot more complicated.[short story - #48, 1st october 2014][teen fiction - #226, 1st october 2014]PLEASE NOTE: this story is currently being converted from all lower case to sentence case. this might take some time.
8 240