Opening his groggy eyes above the waterline, Alfred recollected himself for a few seconds. Feeling the rest of his body being restrained scared him quite a bit. For a moment, he thought one of his old enemies had finally gotten to him while in his sleep.
Noticing the glass surface and seeing the doctors and nurses in white coats walking around, he finally relaxed his tensed mind.
Thinking about his immersion in the health pod, he finally understood the "ding" that woke him up.
...
[Checking host's condition]
[Host's bodily functions: Normal]
[Host's state: Mild injury]
[Host's current status: Awakened]
...
'What the fuck!'
Before he could even think straight, there was nonstop buzzing in his head.
...
[Initializing Protocol 0004]
[...]
[System Awakened]
[All systems go]
[Hello Host]
...
"...'
Alfred was shocked.
'Isn't this the legendary Gold Finger!?!???'
He wanted to scream to the heavens. What did it mean to have a Gold Finger? Doesn't that mean he is now a real protagonist? Hasn't he been dreaming of this day for 4 months? Why else would he low-key abandon himself to vice?
Although he looked like he didn't care about martial arts, truth be told he was very bitter about his lack of a Gold Finger. Although life isn't a game or web novel, he couldn't help feeling vexed whenever he remembered those OP MCs in web novels he used to listen to. Since he was transported here, then why not give a Gold Finger with it?
Finally!
Now he doesn't have to be worried about his future in the truest sense. After all, who wouldn't want to ride the wind and sail the clouds if they had the chance?
He was ecstatic. Truly too excited. Luckily for everyone in the room, he was held down by straps and had an oxygen mask on, otherwise, it would definitely be the second coming of gluttony in this place.
...
Noticing that Alfred was crying and struggling in his pod, John was frightened out of his mind.
'What's happening?' He immediately started rushing the doctors to remove the bindings.
He had never seen something like this happen during an awakening before. Due to the caressing of Origin Qi and the pleasure of releasing impurities during the awakening process, children would tend more to sink into the pleasure and feel more comfortable rather than weep and struggle.
So what was going on with Alfred? How come his turn is like this? What kind of pain must he be in to struggle against such bindings in such a manner?
...
On the other hand, Alfred was praising God, Buddha, Mary, and all sorts of religious entities and deities he didn't believe in.
Listening to the sweet melody of "dings" and "tings" Alfred was on cloud nine.
...
[Hello Host]
...
'~Hellooo system~'
After reading so many web novels, he could almost instantly understand how such a system would operate.
'System, how should I call you?'
...
[System does not have a name]
...
'What did your creator call you?'
...
[He threw me away before naming me]
...
€(√©π©)3√ _|____|_
"oooph ooph oooooph!"
After screaming for a few seconds, Alfred finally calmed down.
'System... You aren't a defective product are you...?'
...
[No?]
...
'Then why were you tossed away if not?' Alfred was feeling quite cheated. Wasn't he just praising God, Buddha, and the nine heavens? Where did his OP Gold Finger disappear to?
...
[I was created to satisfy his curiosity. He succeeded, so he had no more use for me]
...
'Just like that?'
...
[Just like that]
***
After seeing Alfred calm down, John finally relaxed. He ordered them to run a diagnostic scan on him so they could observe him for hidden injuries.
After completing the scan and finding everything A-Okay, they released him from the health pod.
...
Seeing everyone looking at him sternly, Alfred was out of sorts. He knew why they were so serious and running so many tests on him. Although he was clueless about the awakening process, it didn't take a genius to know that he had already awakened and that his behaviour was abnormal. And of course, anything abnormal must be questioned.
Before they could ask him or say anything, he hurriedly spoke up.
"I was having such a bad nightmare that I felt like I would die!" He silently squeezed out a few tears to complete the act.
John squinted his eyes and looked at him closely.
'This brat is definitely lying. He always has that innocent look when he lies. Damn if I didn't spend the last 2 days observing him closely, he would fool me! But why does he need to lie?'
Although he knew Alfred was lying, he couldn't call him out on it. After all, wasn't it perfectly normal for a 6-year-old to have nightmares? Even worse when he wakes up and finds himself strapped down like a pig to be butchered. Thinking about it some more, John decided to give up since there didn't seem to be anything wrong.
Seeing them give up, Alfred once again took the initiative.
"Dad I don't know how or why I got here?" He looked at them innocently.
Seeing him act as such, John forced a smile and said, "ehm... there was an accident in your spar and this led to that so..."
Xavier looked at Alfred apologetically, "sorry bro, I really got carried away. I'll make it up to you" he apologized sincerely.
"Alright since everything is good let's all disperse and mind our own business, Alfred has to wake up early tomorrow for the testing. It's still midnight and way past his bedtime." Noticing things becoming awkward for the duo, Janine stepped in for the rescue.
John looked at her gratefully and dismissed everyone.
***
Back in his overly large room, Alfred started conversing with the system again.
'System, if you were tossed away after creation, then what can you do?'
...
[I wasn't tossed away. And just like any other system, I also have built-in functions and protocols to follow. But since I was only built to satisfy my creator's curiosity and nothing specific, it means you can consider me as an adaptive system]
...
'Adaptive system? What does that mean?'
...
[Meaning that unlike the systems in your memory, I can freely do as I please as long as it's within the guidelines]
...
'Isn't that very bad news for me?'
Alfred started to sweat. Why was he the one to be given a rogue system?