Ever since the great event that changed the course of history, a vast array of things had changed. For one, Earth no longer had different currencies for different countries and races. Now, everywhere, one could only use a single currency: Frekin.
Frekin had become the official global currency after the great Hero Saliel had won the war against Ethos, the Leader of the vile creatures which invaded Earth.
To this day, it is unknown where these abhorrent creatures came from, what their goals are, or how they even came to be. Still, that was all irrelevant, at least at this point.
Alex had taken the shortcut to his apartment building. Having plans of selling the dagger he had stolen for a hefty sum, he wished to waste no time in excepting his plan.
Alex planned on selling off the dagger to the town's local blacksmith. Having known him for most of his life, Alex knew the man had a thing for short weapons.
Arriving in a congested neighborhood, Alex arrived at an ally where a retractable ladder could be seen hanging down the wall. Gripping tightly, Alex made his way up the ladder, arriving at a red, rusted-up door.
Seeing as it wasn't locked, Alex gripped the door handle, applying slight pressure, twisting the handle downward, he pushed the door open.
Walking into the living space, Alex wasted no time in heading up to his room. Knowing full well that his sister Scarlett was the one who left the door open, Alex didn't have to worry about her anymore.
Opening the door to his room, Alex kicked aside a box filled with a paper showing printed information. During his free time, Alex would take side classes to keep himself educated.
Maneuvering through various boxes filled with paper, Alex finally made it to the center of his room, where his bed was located.
Taking out the short dagger from his pocket, Alex pulled out a box from under his bed, in which he placed the dagger, before heading to the bathroom to take a shower. Having spent the day helping out his uncle at the orphanage, Alex was looking forward to a nice cold shower to wash away his stress.
The sound of running water could be heard as Alex whistled to himself in the shower.
After a few minutes in the bathroom, Alex emerged, his lower half wrapped around a black towel, his hair dripping with water. Alex took out another towel from his closet, wiping his hair dry before drying the rest of his body.
Once done, Alex got dressed in a new set of dark clothing, before pulling out the dagger from under his bed. Alex was in a rush to make bank with the dagger, for more reasons than one. The eighteen-year-old didn't even realize he hadn't eaten since he had left the apartment this morning.
Alex picked up the dagger from the box.
'I hope Henry won't be in a bad mood when I get there. Dealing with his ramblings is such a pain…' Alex gripped the dagger tightly, placing it in his pocket.
[System Installation in progress]
'What the fuck?!'
A message appeared, seemingly out of thin air. Alex reached out his hand, trying to grab hold of the message, or whatever he was trying to do. Alex couldn't grab it, and despite twisting his head left and right, he could still perceive the system message in his view.
'This has to be a dream, right? No way am I secretly some A.I. robot. I can't be…' Alex silently prayed he wasn't some android the government had created. But still, seeing the message floating in front of him, he couldn't help but think otherwise.
'Maybe this is all a dream.'
[100% System Installation Complete]
[Demon System is now active]
[Host can now have access to his stats]
[System Bar]
Reading the three messages that appeared one after the other, Alex's heart rate drastically increased. He took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down, but it didn't seem to work in this situation. The situation was far too complex for Alex to understand.
After a few minutes of deep inhalations and exhalations, Alex clenched his fist.
'That's it. There's no point in me complaining about my current situation. It is what it is… I just have to roll with the punches and see where this takes me,' Alex thought, gritting his teeth as he eyed the tab that said [System Bar].
'I wonder how this works.'
[System Bar Selected]
[Stats]
[Physical Body: 100%]
[Spiritual Body: 0%]
[Demon Powers: Locked]
[Weapon Shop: Locked]
[Title: Calculating]
[Demon Energy: 10 Eros]
[Demon Energy Regeneration: 1 Eros/hour]
[Level 1]
[Next Level Up 0/100 Demon Points]π
Reading through the list of system messages, Alex's heart rate would occasionally spike, but reminding himself that he had accepted his fate, it would gradually dull down once again. Alex was trying his best not to lose his mind. With the onslaught of information spamming his preferential vision, Alex was finding it hard to take a break, and he wasn't even three messages in when something appeared that instantly stole his attention.
[Daily Quest: Calculating]
'I wonder what this Daily Quest will be about. If I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with the realization that I'm a… I don't even wanna say it, I should at least hope this Quest thing doesn't turn out to be something lame or mediocre,' Alex thought, his eyes filled with anticipation.
Alex had always been an active individual. A go-getter kind of person, if you ask me. Scarlett, as well as his Uncle Jim, had grown tired of his risky tendencies, and time and time again, Uncle Jim would find himself bailing Alex out of jail, among other things.
Still, his risky tendencies had done something good for him for once. Stumbling upon the dagger, Alex didn't hesitate to pocket it and choose to sell it to the highest buyer he had access to. Alex was glad his life of unruly deviance wasn't in vain.
'Hopefully, this will be something involving me having to fight. Gosh, I haven't used my fists in a real fight in a long time. At least with the tournament coming up in a couple of weeks, I can finally put them into good use.
'This Daily Quest will just make my day if it's about conflict. I swear, if it says I have to do some mundane tasks like public sanitation, I will curse whoever designed it in the first place.'
While going about his train of thought, Alex heard a 'ding' sound, and a new set of notifications spammed his vision. Reading through them, Alex was on cloud nine, most especially from the latter message.
[Daily Quest: Calculation Complete]
[Daily Quest: Participate in the local sparring matches once a day]
[Reward: 5 Demon Points]
[Title: Calculation Complete]
Alex didn't know why, but he was intently bracing himself to find out what his title would be. Whether it was the books he had read of heroes who had eye-catching, thought-provoking titles, or the feeling he had of being important, Alex didn't bother thinking too much about that.
Shifting his gaze, they brimmed with excitement, already expecting the title to be something just as thought-invoking as the ideas he had in his head, but after glazing over the information displayed on the title bar, Alex's eyes went dull.
[An error has occurred]
[New data is been accessed]
After a few seconds, a few more appeared as well.
[Host has to earn his title]
[Would you like to know how you could do that?]
Alex gritted his teeth as his fist connected with the nearest wall, causing a loud bang to be heard, followed by a crackling sound. Alex didn't hold back in the punch, and the result was the bones in his right hand breaking down, to the point of poking through his skin, leaving blood dripping onto the floor.
Alex's right fist was now a bloody mess, and with how careless he had been, rapid footsteps were approaching his location.
'Shit, now Scarlett's gonna ask me a bunch of questions till she discovers everything. I gotta find a way to deal with this,' Alex thought frantically, already reaching into his wardrobe for a first aid kit. Alex had the bright idea of telling Scarlett he was sparring with himself but ended up punching the wall by accident.
'Like hell, she'll believe that! Aah! I'm screwed!' Throwing in the towel, Alex dragged his feet towards the door, but then, something started to happen. From his fingertips, down to his wrist, his hand started to heal. All his bones were set in place, and the blood loss had stopped.
[Physical Body: 90%]
[Spiritual Body: 10%]
Alex suddenly felt his body grow a tad lighter, however, with his fist now healed, he had a better shot at creating a lie than his sister would believe. Twisting his right wrist around, Alex did a double-check to ensure it was in good working condition. It felt weird doing it, but at the same time, natural for Alex.
'Now, to deal with the overbearing short dragon…' Alex muttered, as his door handle twisted, and pushing the door open, Scarlett had an enraged countenance as she punched her brother in the gut. The teenager didn't hold back her strength, and having been trained by her Uncle Jim on self-defense ever since she was four, one could already imagine the force behind the punch she delivered.
Leaning forward, Alex's breath was knocked out of him, as he coughed up a mouthful of saliva. Since Scarlett was just a normal human, and her exposure to combat was limited, there was a limitation to the degree of damage she could inflict, something Alex was deeply thankful for.
'Yup… short dragon really suits her description…' Alex thought, his right hand gripping tightly against his abdomen, while his left hand was raised in the air, appearing as a sign of defeat.