He had fallen in love with her when they were in high school. He remembers that day as clear as the blue skies above the house he had grown up in. He had thought she had fallen in love with him too, by the way she acted. Yes, he shouldn't have assumed, but he was madly in love with her. He tried many ways to show his affection, even taking her out on dates, which she always accepted. It got to the point where he even thought that they were dating. How foolish he was, why hasn't he seen the signs? The displeased looks she would give when he was around, or more strikingly, the happy looks she gave to his brother. That's why with a sudden burst of pain, Zhou Ru glared up at the person in front of him. The person in front of him was her, the girl he had loved and foolishly sought out for years. She was speaking, but it was as if he had never had hearing in the first place, like he was deaf since birth.
"Zhou Ru, you deserve this, really. If you hadn't gotten in the way, you could still be alive." Her voice echoed through the room once he regained his hearing. To put it straight, it disgusted him at how sweet her voice was. Her voice was always like this, shrill and squeaky. He grunted in pain as he toppled to the ground, he could feel warm liquid leaking out of his chest, and he knew he didn't have much time to spare. To put it straight, he was shot by his own brother. The same person he grew up with, the one he looked up to, had put a hole in his chest.
He was having trouble breathing now, each breath raked pain through his body, pain he had never thought he would even go through. He looked up at his brother and couldn't help the frown that fell upon his face. His brother wasn't even looking at him, but at her, with a sickening fondness he had never seen from the other.
"Why?" Was all he could rasp out as his body could no longer handle the amount of blood he had lost. Soon enough he took his final breath as he closed his eyes and passed on. No longer was he in pain, but he felt very regretful and hated how he passed on like this, a laughing stock to her and his brother. He wanted revenge, he wanted others to suffer for what he had been put through.
Although he knew he died, or that he should be dead. He opened his eyes, in spite of the fact that they stung. As his vision cleared, he had expected to be in a hospital. At first he thought he had, but as he looked around all he could see was white. What happened? Wasn't he supposed to be dead?
[Analysing, please wait a moment]
With a start, he sat up and looked around, but saw nothing.
"Who's there?" he asked the whiteness around him. He didn't get an answer until what felt like an eternity had passed.
[Finished analyzing. Welcome Host, System 0007 at your service]
When the childlike voice echoed through the white space, a small black bird puffed in front of him, which startled him greatly.
[Host can call System 0007, Wu Bai]
"What is going on? I thought I died, why am I here?" Zhou Ru looked at the bird that was in front of him with great confusion. Not only could this bird talk, but had stated that it was a system? What was a system? When he asked that question, the bird looked up at him.
[You are indeed right Host, you did die. Before you died, however, you made a wish. A wish to take revenge. Well, you can't, not in that world anyways but you can in different ones, once you bind with me. I'm a system known as VCAS or Villain Counter Attack System.]
Zhou Ru was in utter disarray. He didn't know what was happening and that system or whatever wasn't helping. With a defeated sigh, he glanced down at the little bird again.
"So what is a system? I want to know what you are before I sign any contract."
[Systems are beings created by our God. Our job is to help Hosts through the worlds they enter. Each system is different. Take me for example, I am a villain counter attack system. I help those who have been deemed as villainous by our god, achieve their goals. Yours happen to be revenge on those who have hurt you and to make others suffer.]
"So you are going to help me with this? How? What do I have to do in order for this to happen?"
[Yes. Host must go through quests, like in video games back in your old world. Each time you complete a quest you get points. Points are accumulated at the end of each world and can be spent in the store or used for new skills. Skills help the Host become better in the skill chosen. Say for example you pick Wilderness Survival as a skill, the moment you pick that skill to be learned, you'll be put in a room until you master that skill.]
"How long will that take?"
[As long as it takes you to learn it.]
"Even if it takes me 50 years?"
[Yes]
"Won't I grow old?"
[Hosts can't grow old. Hosts can never grow old or die while learning skills. In fact, Hosts can never die or grow old as long they are in this dimension created for them. You can only die or grow old in different worlds, based on what world they are.]
"Do I have any points now?"
[No, you haven't been to any world yet.]
"Oh," he felt a bit deflated but shook his head.
[Since Host has no more questions, would you like to bind with me and get the revenge you want?]
He thought for a bit, with the pros outweighing the cons and nodded.
[Then would Host like to look at the worlds that you can enter?]
"Yes," when the world left his mouth, he was surprised by the screen that showed up in front of him. As he looked at the list, one had peaked his interest. The world was titled, 'The Artists Heart', which made him click on it.
[Alright, sending Host to, 'The Artists Heart' In 3. 2. 1.]
Zhou Ru's eyes widened, but before he could say he fell unconscious as the world around him turned black once again.