Ding!
[System Notification: What are you doing? The quest rewards will not be issued if the quest objective is not completed. Get moving! Time waits for no one!]
Albion laid flat on the ground motionlessly like a person who has given up. However, eyes explained otherwise.
The system was linked to his mind and could read his thought process like an open book, but even it cannot understand this current contradiction. Why isn't the Host moving if he had not given up? Does he have too much time to splurge on rest?
Does he have to work hard simply because the system told him so? No.
"I will not be a slave to the system." Albion said boldly.
Growing up in such a shitty world, shunned and abandoned since birth, Albion realized a few truths about the world. Being an honest man does not guarantee a good life and hard work might not be rewarded.
More often than not, success was more dependent on three other factors: luck, connections, and talent. True, hard work can pave one's way to success, but without the presence of any of these three factors, it was nigh impossible to succeed.
Luck? Never had it. He was plagued with bad luck since the day he was born. Connection? He doesn't have any. Talent? He had no idea.
What did these success factors have to do with his quest objective, one might ask? Or how the fuck is luck, connections, and talent going to help him complete a set of basic exercises? The answer was nothing. But it did teach him that he should work smarter, not harder.
Since the quest objective was too difficult for the current him to complete normally, he had to complete it differently in a way that made it possible and easier for him.
Rather than wasting time struggling to etch out another push-up, he was contemplating how deep the connection between him and the system ran and reviewed the quest objective for possible loopholes he could exploit.
'Complete 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups, run 1km.'
The task could not be more straightforward. However, it lacked details. The importance was the result, not the process. It did not mention it had to be done physically…
Ding!
[System Notification: System detect host to have a very dangerous thought process. Seeking shortcuts will not get host far in life. The method the host is thinking will not work. Also, the host has just recovered from brain damage. System advises the host not to strain it.]
The system attempted to talk him out of it.
'Fuck you! You're the one with brain damage!' Albion almost spat, thinking the system was cursing it when it simply stated the truth. Realizing this fact soon after, and recalling the system labeled him as an 'ungrateful bastard,' Albion became slightly awkward.
"Sorry."
Albion said a single-word apology.
'Look, I don't have a choice either. As you said, time waits for no one. If I want to escape this place, I have to recover quickly and start plotting my escape route.'
Albion mentally thought to the system before shutting his eyes and ignoring its warnings.
'Time to test the extent of my visual prowess brought by 10-year experience in virtual space.'
With his eyes shut, Albion ran a mental simulation of himself completing the given tasks. First, push-ups. Albion imagines himself doing a push-up in perfect form like a trained soldier from [Bloodlust].
Ding!
[System Notification: (Push-up Completion): 2/10…]
The system: "…"
'It works!
While his eyes were still shut, he pressed lips together and formed an arc. Seems like the entity that communicates to him through the system wasn't the system itself but only a part of it. Otherwise, how would it not know whether it would work or not?
"Continue!'
Ding! Ding! Ding!
[System Notification: (Push-up Completion): 3/10…]
[System Notification: (Push-up Completion): 4/10…]
[System Notification: (Push-up Completion): 5/10…]
…
The string of notifications continued to ring out in his mind before Albion completed the first set of 10 push-ups. After the push-ups were the sit-ups. The sit-ups were completed even faster than the push-ups. Soon, even the 1km run was finished. Everything took less than 3 minutes before he heard the quest completion notification.
Ding!
[System Notification: Side Quest Completed.]
A trace of mental fatigue could be seen in Albion's eyes. High-level mental simulation drained him, but he was not worried. He waited in anticipation for the quest reward.
Ding!
[System Notification: Restoring Host's weakened state to normal values.]
The follow-up notification arrived shortly. A mysterious power soon swelled up from within his mind and flowed through to the rest of his body. An unprecedented feeling of comfort followed after and flooded his entire being.
Moments later, everything ended. His strength returned to its peak and even his mental values were restored. He no longer felt mentally tired from the mental simulation.
"It had been a long time since I felt this great!"
Albion's eyes were bright and full of vigor. Clenching his fist, he could sense the explosive power behind it. However, this was just his imagination. Although his body had been well trained and adapted to survive in the slums, it was only in comparison to ordinary humans.
He was still far from being compared to well-trained soldiers, let alone awakened humans and the hunters.
"Hm?" Albion suddenly noticed the scars on his hand and soon found the rest of the scars also remained. "System, why haven't my scars disappeared?"
…
Receiving no response from the system, Albion frowned, but he soon figured out the answer to his own question.
The reward stated that his weakened state will be restored to normal values, not a normal state. Thus, while he was perfectly healthy again, his scars remained. Although Albion didn't care about his scars, the amount he had was enough to frighten people and paralyze them with fear.
This might be a problem when he makes it to Haven City, but for now, it would be a bigger problem if it disappeared. Fortunately, the system still had some danger awareness for the host.
If the whitecoats noticed that his scars had disappeared, they would have thought that his regenerative ability had leveled up or evolved and start cutting him up to study again. That did not align with his wishes.
Soon, Albion frowned again. He didn't care if the system responded, but it was awfully too silent. Subconsciously, he felt something was wrong.
However, the familiar system notification soon rang again.
Ding!
[System Notification: System update in progress.]
"Huh?"
Albion was confused. What does the system update entail and why did it start updating? His doubts were soon answered by another system notification.
Ding!
[System Notification: System update completed.]
(Update Overview): The discovery of the mental simulation method to carry out a set of actions intended by the system has been determined to be destructive to both the host and system. The mental simulation method will be restricted. The mental simulation method will no longer have the capacity to influence future quest progress in any way until further notice.
…
Albion gaped with his eyes wide open.
'Wtf!'
'Is this seriously happening, system!? What do you mean by destructive to both the host and the system!? Aren't you just making excuse to remove a loophole I exploited!?'
Albion almost exploded in anger.
…
Ding!
[System Notification: System rewards are not born from nothing! The world is filled with too much unfairness, where hard work might not be rewarded. However, the system is a mighty existence that can convert the host's hard work and good karma values into tangible benefits. The host was previously protected by a small halo of good karma after saving the host's sister from a premeditated murder attempt, but now it is gone.]
The system patiently explained. Albion furrowed his brows at the explanation, but his heart went cold at the words 'premeditated murder attempt.' That is to say that it hadn't been an accident, but someone was after his sister's life! Who!? Who would want to kill his sister?
'Dammit!'
Albion was suddenly filled with anxiousness. It's been 10 years! How is his little sister doing? Is she still okay!?
'Not good. I need to hurry back and find out.'
Albion's determination to return to Haven City was strengthened. He quickly calmed his emotions and refocused his attention on the system.
'That is to say, using mental simulations to perform basic quests will expend my good karma value every time in place of the value of hard work?' Albion rubbed his chin in thought.
'But why is it destructive if my good karma value hits zero?'
Ding!
[System Notification: The host's bad karma value is destructive.]
[Note: Bad karma can also be converted by the system; however, the nature of bad karma is unpredictable and can invert system rewards into system punishments, which could ultimately result in the death of the host.]
Albion felt a chill and at the same, felt like he had rubbed salt into his own wounds with that one question. Bad luck? Bad karma? Why was he plagued by this? He hadn't done anything bad before he entered the slums and forced to fight and steal to survive!
Rubbing his temples, Albion didn't linger on the topic and moved on. His curiosity on the system continued to grow. It was far too intelligent.
'Are you a system or a man behind the system?'
Ding!
[System Notification: The system is not a man!]
'Then you are a woman?' Albion paused for a moment and thought.
…Ding!
[System Notification: …Unauthorized to answer.]
'Don't give me that bullshit.'
Albion's lips twitched.
The system went silent afterward…
'Nevermind then.'
Albion wasn't too interested anyway, but he did feel like someone was behind the system. The system itself was his point of interest. It had proven itself as a miraculous existence. Thinking back to the main quest, he was filled with eagerness to complete it. Unlocking a hidden ability was enticing.
The world shunned him, and his birth parents abandoned him, but perhaps with the help of the system, he could prove his existence by climbing to the top of the world and look back down on them!