Fang hurriedly ran through the forest, mournful howls enveloping the forest in a raucous cacophony of cries. Steeling his nerves, he rushed towards the exit of the forest. Leaping over various bushes and branches, he ran haphazardly to the exit. With a final spurt of energy, he thrust himself forward, tumbling onto the grassy ground that signified the village border.
Catching his breath, he sat up. His eyes filled with terror and awe at the strange encounter. Banshee wolves shouldn't be in the forest and they definitely shouldn't be coming out to hunt. Frowning, he thought for a moment. A sound interrupted his rumination.
[Host has successfully completed the trial. Would you like to receive rewards?]
Startled, he fell backwards.
"Huh? Who are you? Where are you?" he asked.
[I am the System. I exist to serve and protect.]
He frowned.
"Didn't I just escape one of you guys earlier?" he asked.
[...]
The system was speechless.
[I am not to be compared to that pitiful lower life form. That pathetic rock is no match for my talents.]
"But...you're the same type of thing right?"
[No...yes...we share certain similarities.]
Fang frowned.
"In that case, I don't need you!" he declared.
The system was dumbfounded. It had been...rejected?
[I do not think you understand what you are doing. Please reconsider. With me you can become the sovereign of the whole cosmos! I can give you power the likes of which you have never seen!]
"Yeah...I think I'll pass. My biggest dream is to become a farmer. All this stuff sounds like too much work for me. I don't need these extra responsibilities."
[But...but...]
"Right. So...how do I uninstall you? Is there like a button or something?"
The system was flustered. It had never encountered something like this. Here it was, offering it's services to a potential master. And it was being...rejected! How could this be? It had traveled the cosmos to find a suitable companion and yet...rejection was still so swift?
BZZZT!
The system spit out mana from it's formless intangible mouth. It had been driven to the point of spitting out blood by this narrow-minded human. So be it...if he was not willing, the system would conquer him by force.
There was a whirring sound and the system bored deep into the boys consciousness.
[Yes...]
[Finally...a host]
[It has been too long...]
[I, the Divine Emperor, have not had a descendant to pass down my will in centuries...]
[The world will once again tremble before my might...]
[Face me and tremble...aah?]
His inner monologue was interrupted by a rumbling sound. A cavernous hole opened up beneath him, swallowing the system's incarnation whole.
[Noooooooooo....]
The system cried out and it was completely absorbed by the black hole, sucking him in like an inescapable void. There was an explosion of power within Fang's body and a shockwave blasted across the forest, inescapable and intangible.
And thus, the legend of the infamous System Eater began.