(Somewhere within the Sydney Harbour, on a small public ferry)
The ferry was moving at a relaxed pace and now that the weather had cleared up, passengers walked onto the deck. Families enjoyed the beautiful view of Sydney harbour and several took all kinds of pictures. Among the crowds were two people who had assumed the appearance of a very loving American couple. They sat on one bench on the deck and were cuddling well as they enjoyed the warmth of the sun.
The man looked at the harbour with a sad smile. His wife tugged on his shirt to gain his attention and he looked at her. She pointed at her watch to signify the time and the husband chuckled. They got up with their belongings and walked towards their car inside the ferry.
They entered the simple car and turned off all lights. The parking space was dark by itself except for the entrance and exit light. The man immediately broke off his act and picked up a cigar from his pocket. He lit it up and had a moment of relief as he smoked. The woman sighed and cracked her window open to allow fresh air.
"Why do you enjoy such human pleasures? It offers nothing for you."
The man grinned as he had a coughing fit. He wasn't used to smoking and his partner was right. It provided no benefit, at least for people like them.
"Just like trying out new things. Is that against protocol?"
The woman shook her head and pulled out her phone. She opened the only messaging app and there was only one chat window available. She tapped on it and a long text appeared and she handed the phone to her partner.
The man was curious and took the phone as he read the text. Halfway, a deep frown appeared on his face as he stared at his partner.
"What the heck is this..."
**********************
Assimilation: [0.001% complete]
Project: new humanity has begun
*********************
The woman shrugged and admired the approaching harbour in the distance. She knew what exactly the text meant, but details couldn't be 100% accurate.
She sighed and massaged her temple as she wondered how she would explain to her captain. That beast held no mercy.
"Let's head to base then discuss what we know with the rest."
****************************
(At the Smith's residence later that day.)
Oliver sat atop his bed and was reading an online news article. It appeared there was a gate break and over 20 B-rank demons had rampaged across Sydney in a few hours. Heroes were deployed, and they controlled the situation before it got catastrophic. But when Oliver read the assumed number of civilian casualties, he couldn't help but wince.
He sighed before slumping onto his bed. He was a bit bored and so he opened the System app to see if anything new had happened. To his surprise, the status screen had undergone a change.
--------------------------
[Status screen]
Name; Brigand.
Strength: 14
Intelligence: 15
Agility: 7
Stamina: 10
Will: 6
Power level: 10.4
[Attributes]
1.{Ultrahuman}-?!?@#?- Assmiliation(0.001%)
2.{Telekinesis}-Weak- Assimilation(0.01%)
3.----
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Oliver was shocked as he had only told few people what his awakened ability was. And those people he had told weren't the type to do something like this. He thought the system app was more real than he accredited it for.
He scratched his head as he tapped the {Telekinesis} attribute.
------------------------------
Telekinesis: Weak (2)
Telekinesis is the ability to move objects or control their motion through mental power. Object is required to be in user's personal boundary field area. This attribute heavily depends on the [Intelligence] stat. It has 4 ranks with {weak} being the lowest and {ascended} being the highest.
Strength of telekinesis = (1/3 of Intelligence)
-----------------------------
Oliver sighed as he wondered how the app had found out. They hadn't even released his official rank ID. As he was about to close the app to go to sleep, a notification suddenly blocked the screen and he frowned.
[Congratulations user Oliver! For you have taken a step closer to being the ideal guardian of humanity. We have delegated a new feature to you as a reward for awakening. Rejoice for you may now begin {daily tasks}.]
Oliver scratched his head in confusion as the system opened a new page.
---------------------
[Daily tasks]
New tasks in 0hrs: 34mins: 40sec
--------------------
When Oliver checked the time, he realised the countdown was for midnight and the start of tomorrow. His expectations were let down a bit, but he decided he would deal with it tomorrow. 5 more days till he would have to give a response to the rankers college proposal.
He fell asleep dreaming of future grand memories he could make at a rankers college, and if he were to become a hero.
************************
(Morning the next day)
Oliver sat on his desk chair with his arms hugging his knees. He yawned and resisted the urge to fall back asleep. It was 4 in the morning and he had fallen asleep at almost midnight last night.
So why was he awake now?
The reason is that his phone played the most horrid audio alarm to wake him up. When he tried to slam it off or turn off the alarm, it would start up again and increase volume. He felt a headache as he looked at his phone. It only went silent once his eyes focused on it.
{You're such a pain...}
On the screen was a dark page filled with short white texts and blanks. He read the first line and immediately began paying closer attention.
--------------------
[Daily tasks]
{0/100} completed pushups. 0%
{0/100} completed situps. 0%
{0/1000} metres sprinted. 0%
{0/3000} calories consumed (optional) 0%
Bonus: {0/1} minutes planking. 0%
Note: if you do not complete daily tasks within the allotted time, you will lose 2pts of each stat. Upon completion you will receive a free stat point for each task, you may invest it into whichever stat you wish (except for will).
New tasks in 19hrs: 25mins: 40sec
----------------------
Oliver's face lit up like a Christmas tree as the dark bags under his eyes disappeared for a moment. He had read about something like this before in an online manga, and he absolutely loved it. Although he was skeptical, Oliver was now willing to accept the system app wholeheartedly. In the manga, if the protagonist ignored the warnings, the system punished them.
Oliver was captivated and wanted to test out something.
He got down onto the wood floorboards with his stomach laying down. He counted to three before performing a few pushups. After the 25th, he felt his arms stiffen and become heavy as he sweated in his pajamas. He finally stopped at the 30th and got up. He felt completely awake now.
He checked his phone and, just as he had hoped, there was a change in one task.
-------------------------
{18/100} completed pushups. 18%
---------------------------
Although he was disappointed that 12 of his pushups didn't count, he had confirmed his theory. The system app was indeed monitoring his body changes and development. This proved that it indeed was real and not a joke.
Oliver smiled as he picked up an unopened soda can from his mini-fridge next to his desk. He took a large gulp and rested for a while before changing his outfit from his wardrobe.
{Okay... best to finish before there's no time left to even think about it anymore.}
With that, Oliver began exercising the most he had done in that year.