As Dustin bolted through Mr. Raff’s Door, he didn’t stop, and kept running. He maintained his pace until he had reached halfway to his house, then he realized that he forgot the bag that had the drugs, so he had to go back and get it.

“Fuck! I should have already reached by now if I didn’t forget this bag.” Dustin cursed as he slowed down to walk after he had gone back to get the plastic bag.

Along the way, he saw some weird acts people portrayed as he went past several neighbourhoods. The situation must be very serious he thought. Maybe it’s because he didn’t hear it himself, but he wasn’t so moved by the whole thing, to him it almost looked like everyone was over exaggerating.

After walking for some time, he picked up his pace again, this time putting a little bit more speed into his feet.

Eventually, Dustin arrived at the base of a small complex. It wasn’t as big as the others, in fact it was barely half the size of a normal complex. As he got there, he stopped running, and waited to catch his breath, and then he hastened his steps and went inside.

His room was on the topmost floor next to the roof, so he had some stairs to climb. The elevators in the complex were just decoration, as they had stopped working for a few years at the moment, he had no choice.

‘Fuck, I’m late. I wonder how he’s been? I said I’d be back by evening, but look at the time.’ “He must be dead worried.”

There were only occupied two rooms on the top floor, and one of them was his. He walked past the first door, and after passing a couple more, he stopped the one before the last one on the row.

*Knock *Knock *Knock

After knocking, he waited for a while, but there was no response, so he knocked again and again, until the door finally opened.

“Who’s there? A faint voice said as the door creaked opened.

“It’s me.” Dustin said as he pushed open the door gently.

As the door opened, the figure of a skinny sickly boy stood in the living room, looking like he would fall if the wind blew. He also had black hair, just like his brother, and brown eyes.

“Hey Sil, what up? Do sit first, I’m coming.” Dustin said as he locked the door behind him after entering, then he hurried into the kitchen, and moments later returned with a glass of water.

“I got your drugs, here.” Dustin said as he handed the water over to Sil and took out the pills.

Sil looked like he was about to say something, but the moment he was about to mutter out something, he was interrupted by a cough.

*Cough *Cough

“Take it easy. Don’t say anything, we can talk after you take the drugs, don’t rush.” Dustin said as he consoled Sil while handing him some tablets.

After that, they talked for a while, and discussed about the message from earlier. Sil seemed to think it would be some kind of monster invasion, and although Dustin didn’t really think along the same line, he didn’t oppose much.

After a while of talking, they both agreed that they were tired, so they went to bed.

The room they lived in was naturally a one bedroom accommodation, so they slept in the same room.

After lying down for some minutes, Sil was already far gone in his sleep, while Dustin couldn’t get himself to sleep. He was feeling rather drained, probably from all the running and all, but something else stuck out.. Hunger.

Ever since he drank some left over soup in the morning, he hadn’t had anything to eat. He got up and visited the kitchen to whip himself a dish that’ll quell his hunger.

The indigents available weren’t much, and most certainly not fresh, but there was nothing he could do. He would only be able to use his money the next day, so no problem, endurance is key.

After eating and doing the dishes, Dustin quickly returned to his bed, and this time he was feeling pretty sleepy.

“Nothing beats a good night’s rest, right?” Dustin muttered as he found himself a comfortable position.

Just as the sleep was about to take him, he heard a voice in his ear.

-System activated.

-Starting assimilation... Complete

-System online.

“What?”

Dustin couldn’t explain what was happening or what he was hearing.

He immediately remembered the voice everybody were reported to have heard, so he thought to himself. Was this a second announcement?

This feeling, he remembered it a bit from before he passed out. The voice didn’t sound close, but neither did it sound far. I was as if someone was talking right into his brain. A weird sensation indeed.

He recalled the voice he heard before passing out, and how it sounded, but this new voice didn’t quite sound right. The one from before sounded like someone was talking, and the voice was solemn and light toned, but this one sounded mechanic. Not like a robot, but more like an artificial intelligence, barely mechanical and more human like.

Before he could ask anything, the voice continued.

-Welcome player, I am your system. Feel free to inquire any information, I will answer to the best of my ability.

-Brace yourself player.

‘Brace myself?’ Before Dustin could think further, a sudden pain gripped his body. The pain was so sharp and painful that he almost screamed out loud, but he managed to hold himself.

‘Calm down, let’s calm down first. Panicking will only wake Sil up. Let’s avoid that.’

-System successfully fused.

Dustin got up from his bed slowly, and walked into the leaving room, not to wake Sil up. He sat there for a some seconds, then he stood up again and left the room. After making sure he had locked the door, he went to the roof, where he knew he won’t wake Sil, and no one would hear him.

With a deep breath in an out, Dustin wasted no time.

-Congratulations player for being the first to awaken. Rewards will be given.

“Sy-System...” He waited for a reply. What he was doing felt a little weird and embarrassing to himself, especially if someone was to see him talking to himself like that.

The system responded immediately, and answered.

-Yes. What do you need?

“...”

“Wh-what are you system?” Dustin asked with a bit of curiosity.

-A system.

‘What?’ “Anything else? Like origin?”

-... I

*ERROR *ERROR *ERROR

-System does not possess the authorization.

“What?”

“So what are you? I mean like, what do you do? What’s your purpose, or job I guess?” Dustin asked, a bit confused of how to frame his question.

-The system will help the players growth.

“...” ‘We aren’t going anywhere. Perhaps it’s still early to be looking for answers.’

‘It’ll help my growth huh? My growth in what exactly?... Could it be that?’ At that moment, Dustin thought god had answered his prayers, the problem under his pants would be solved.

“I really am a crazy bastard. Thinking about such a thing, ah..” He said in disgrace.

-Your rewards have arrived.

-Analysing player’s data. Data analysed.

-Displaying player’s data.

At that moment, a translucent blue screen appeared before Dustin, seemingly out of thin air. It looked like a panel, or interface, and was lit up with blue lighting that somehow didn’t affect the surrounding’s lighting, not even Dustin’s face.

-To interact with the panel, touch.

“Wow. What’s this?” Dustin asked in amazement.

-This is your player data.

-Detecting that host already possess three skills.

-Achievement. Have more than two skills on initial awakening. Reward will be given accordingly.

“Skills? Hmm.”

“If this works like a video game, then I’m really lucky.”