"Ahh," she suddenly screamed out, "I accidentally revealed my true voice! What should I do, what should I do?"
"Eh, a female?" The youth was quite surprised, enough to part his hair so he could reveal his mouth. "And so young too?"
"So what if I am young? Do you want to fight," the girl said, while gritting her teeth—if she had any.
"Are you the system," he asked suspiciously. First, there was this mechanical voice, and now this. He didn't remember turning his head into a rental. Maybe if another one came, should he start charging money?
"There's only me and you here. I can tell your mind is wandering, focus."
"You're right. We haven't gone to the bottom of this yet. So when can you send me into the netherworld?"
"Damn it, I hate this guy already." The girl voiced her opinion. "I heard some unfortunate systems get arrogant hosts. Some even slightly death-seeking ones, but what about him? How do I deal with this guy?" She began thinking. "Ah, I know!"
Soon, another window screen appeared in front of the youth. He paid all his attention to its contents.
[Quest: A new beginning.
Description: As a mighty ruler, Host needs to have strong ambitions. Set a goal the system will be satisfied with and it will help the Host with all means necessary to reach number one. Together, we shall conquer this planet! Time limit: 1 week.
Reward: A method to unseal and repair Hosts broken meridians with no repercussions.
Bonus Reward: Forget this exchange ever happened.]
The youth spat out. "Pui! As if I will accept something as shady as this!" He then decisively grabbed the window and threw it away. It then dissipated in the air.
"What should I do," she cried out. Her lovely voice would make any person feel sorry for her. "Everything's turned into a mess. Do I have to change hosts again?" She cried even louder at the thought of that.
Was she some kind of virus? The youth kept his thoughts by heart. He realized anything he said would make her feel worse.
"I can give you anything you want, you know? Do yo want to be the strongest cultivator in existence and vie for the Dao? Or become an immortal? Or learn countless cultivation techniques, becoming an unfathomable master? Maybe you are the unorthodox type—the greatest cook? Assassin? I can make all this possible if you give me a chance. Imagine all the faces you could slap with me in your hands!" She kept rambling on.
"Sorry, I really am not interested. You know my wish."
"Lad, you are still young, only 22. there's still so much to see, don't you know, all pain is temporary, only death is eternal. With my help, all your problems will be solved easily."
Hearing that, the youth only laughed mysteriously.
"Please I beg you, don't leave me!"
"Why do you sound like a twice divorced housewife, and this is your last chance?" He shrunk back, creeped out by her unnatural insistence.
She sniffed. "...Fine [droops head]," the girl said after a long pause. "Don't come to regret this."
The youth grew excited the moment she uttered those words. He balled his fists in anticipation, making the girl let out an exasperated groan.
Once again, that mechanical voice returned. "Host is unable to fulfill the systems conditions. Failure to comply leads to erasure. Death is imminent."
Boom! A rough sound echoed, scaring all the wild animals away. Without giving the youth a chance to prepare, he exploded into millions of particles. His blood, flesh and bones showed no resistance, mixing together and dyeing the originally green surroundings a pale pink. Not even his long hair remained. Afterward, there was only silence.
"Hah," the girl sighed and bit her lips. She truly felt like crying now.
The girl was system No. 4444, meaning there were at least 4443 before her.
For a system, she was relatively young. As for how young—please don't ask a lady about her age. Just like all her system seniors, her greatest wish was to find an admirable host and help that person grow. She would then grow stronger too, the more mission they accomplished, as that was the only way for them to survive.
No system would ever admit so, but a system might even be more dependent on the host than the host on them.
Her idol was system No. 347. There were many legends about him, but the one she liked the most was about how he had turned a wastrel into an invincible hero within 100 days. The trick was to send that wastrel into his favorite story and stop an incoming disaster. Such an ingenious idea.
Her whole life, she wished to be like No. 347 and leave her name behind.
However, reality was often harsh.
"My first Host fell into unnecessary danger because I forgot to warn him about the time limit. Ever since then he gave up on me. In the end he died without accomplishing anything."
For a system, that was one of the gravest sins. If the Host could not trust the system, it was as good as over. Fortunately, she managed to barely survive, however, since then, her reputation hit rock bottom. 'Grim reaper No. 4444', they called her. It wasn't her fault that those were her numbers!
However, no matter how much she complained, the facts lay there.
System No. 4444 everybody, record-holder of the swiftest death.
"I even begged Elder No. 4201 for permission to create whatever Quest I wanted, and it still ended like this." She lifted her head and stared gloomily at the sky. "I don't want to go back!"
She looked at the pink imprint, and sighed once more. She recalled what her elder had told her, "a systems death is different from all the other ones. In the whole world, from future, past, to present, there exist nothing as certain as death by a system. Not even the heavens could deal out such a clean wipe. The soul doesn't disappear, it is wiped out of existence. There are no arrays that can prevent such a thing."
Her own voice was making her sad.
"All right, when I return, I will simply hole up in my room until I die of natural causes. Who cares about life, it is overrated. Just ask that kid!" She then remembered, "wait why haven't I returned?"
She looked around but found nothing unusual. Strange. Suddenly, as she was further observing, her eyes fell on the pink imprint.
"Did that thing just move," she asked but immediately laughed at her own stupidity. "No way." She looked again, and to her utter astonishment, saw the pink wriggle around. "Kyaah," she screamed from the top of her lungs, as if she saw a ghost. "The thing is moving, I saw it clearly this time!"
The pink substance started to bubble and huddled together, forming a small hill. The girl then saw something she would never, ever forget in her lifetime. Slowly, that monstrosity took a humanoid shape. For some reason, it grew out its long hair first. The hair hid that pinkish thing, but judging from the swaying movements, something incredible was currently occurring. After a few seconds, an arm poked out, and the girl managed to see a hand forming. First, the unnaturally jade-white bones, then the tendons, the red flesh and finally it returned to jade-white with the skin again.
"Damn it, didn't work this time either, huh," the youth said in a somber tone, "by the way, you lived a very sad life."
"Y-Yo-Yuooh—You!" The girl could not manage to form a coherent sentence.
"Oh, did I not tell you? I am imperishable."