Dhvani died. Not miserably, but she just died, suddenly. The moment she opened her eyes, surprisingly she felt no pain. She considered this situation, totally weird at the moment. The fact that she felt full of energy was very suspicious. Her shoulder-length hair became waist-length, which was like a miracle or rather magic. She clearly remembered cutting her hair, precisely a month ago. But even then, she would not believe that her hair was very thick without any damage or had this volume. She loved her hair but she couldn't boast that it was this good. She couldn't help but admire her hair.
Seeing her psychological activities, a mirror floated in front of her quietly and she was stunned upon seeing her reflection in it.
"Who is this beauty? Ah! It's like me plus many beauty filters, "She exclaimed.
She went near it and observed herself again.
"When did mirrors start getting beauty filters? Is this how I would look if I was in the Matrix simulation? Or I'm in some kind of futuristic world where mirrors are also like Instagram and Snapchat?" She wondered in a loud voice. She felt that she should be the most beautiful person she had ever seen.
Seeming to realize that the mirror was still floating before her, she shot off a bunch of questions again.
"Why are you floating here? Can you talk like the ones in movies?"
She waited for it to answer her questions. After waiting for a long time, she found out that the mirror didn't talk or maybe it didn't want to talk with her. Some things were like this. The more you want them, the more they appear elusive.
The conjurer of the mirror laughed quietly in the background and waited to see what more funny things she would say. Only such things brought some color or rather humor to his world.
"Based on my prior information, this should be some kind of heaven. Please don't let this be my hallucination. This is like a dream so am I going crazy standing here while in reality, I'm in some sort of coma? Maybe my family is waiting sitting around me for some sort of movement from me and doctors are looking for a treatment plan. Then again, they didn't have that much money for treatment. But we were all in the accident. What about others? Are they here?"
She looked left and right and moved all over the place but she only found a vast region of white. There were no clouds like she imagined heaven to be. For this heaven where she was currently standing, she only gave four stars rating, the one star was removed for the lack of clouds.
The conjurer came out finally as he couldn't bear to hear more of her monologue.
"Here you are! I have been waiting for you." She quickly told him. She knew that the first person to talk had the upper hand in situations like these.
"You were talking quite spiritedly but not waiting for me." He thought dissatisfiedly.
The man looked ethereal in white. He had white hair, but he didn't look old. His hair shined like a metal surface and her fingers itched to touch the strands. And he also wore a cape. Capes are always cool. She also felt the dusters were cool. They give you a secretive feeling, like a spy. He had blue eyes which seemed to look like the purest of oceans. They seemed to suck you in and the next moment, you would probably drown. Looking at his handsome profile, she wanted to ask if he could work in some kind of play. This kind of beauty would be well received by all fans.
And he just appeared out of nowhere in front of her. Maybe he was here all along watching her for a long time but was invisible.
"You are here because you died in your world. If you work for me, here, your family can live."
He gave some time for her to sink that sentence in. And he essentially gave her a lifeline to hang on to.
Dhvani would never want to die. Who would want to, exactly? Then again, if she died, her family would be gone too. The car accident should have taken all their lives. But if her current situation meant something, then her parents would be alive somewhere too. Because if this person allowed them to die, she wouldn't want to work for him. This kind of proposition when everyone in her family could still live, she could accept happily. Because someday in the future, they would meet, surely. She would miss them dearly till that day came, though.
It was just like she was on a business trip and later, she could meet them, she consoled herself.
This was the only reason that did not allow her to spiral with the pain of losing them momentarily. She didn't think that the person lied. With his temperament, it was impossible. So she had to think about how to get out of the control of this person quickly and go back to her family.
Seeing her being calm, the conjurer resumed talking.
"You are now working for us. Your task is to help a destined person and change the limits of the world."
She knew that she shouldn't interrupt but she had to. Because the question felt way too important than it was. Because her future self would have wanted her to ask- how did you select me?
"Why change the limits? Isn't it good for it to follow the way it is?"
"If it stays the same, then there would be no development for a while and the world's limits will become stagnant. Further information about this is to be remained classified. You will know all about it as your level increases."
He was hiding something there. She knew he wouldn't tell her everything in the first meeting. Or how could he fool her into working for him? And he gave her an option- level increase. So that meant he wouldn't hide those things.
A win-win situation for them anyway. She gets to live again and he gets a worker.
"Oh! Then when can I retire? Do I have a vacation? How much do I get paid?"
"You get no pay, okay? You are now a level 0 system. When you become level 100, you can be considered to have paid your debt. And your retirement, it's kind of impossible." He said exasperated.
She had almost had her excitement balloon punctured out but she caught a word. That also meant she would spend all her life working to level up to a hundred.
"You said kind of. Not impossible, right?"
He sighed. He knew that he shouldn't be excited that he got a new worker. It's been so many years but every one of his workers or rather systems was quite difficult. They all managed to fool him and retired. Now he had only a few working systems which were all systems with a purpose but no general system. He cannot change anything now. But he got an easy-going vibe from Dhvani and believed that she wouldn't cause him trouble. But where did he know that the trouble would come from her host?
How much does he regret his decision in the future? Because he can deny the systems but hosts have different rules. As long as they exchanged points, they could change things. That's for later though.
"If your host releases you, then you can get a new life but after you become a level 100 system, okay? It doesn't matter now as you have to work to repay the debt to us."
She pondered for a while and then nodded.
"Do I get a manual or something?" She needed to read and know about all these system rules.
He nodded and suddenly there was a large file in her head. She just needed to open it and its contents rushed into her memory. She knew it all now. If she had this ability when she was studying, her parents would have bragged about her to their neighbors and relatives.
Anyway, she had it now. She decided to learn many things so that her retirement life would be so easy. She could just invest and get profits then. She just needed to count her money till she had her fingers cramped. And her family, she would give them money too. That was a good dream. Now she had all the motivation she needed. Because working needed hard-core motivation.
She faintly realized that something was weird here. Maybe there was this feeling because this place was some kind of utopia. She would solve this problem when she absolutely had to and when she couldn't ignore it further. Now she accepted the only offer that could help her ease her predicament.
The conjurer nodded and sent her a file that was encrypted in multiple layers.
"Each encryption will be removed when you complete major tasks like system tasks. I'm giving you a very important world so if you finish this task you will be a level 50 system."
"Thank you very much. Can I see my parents?" Her request wasn't much but she still hoped it could be fulfilled in some way.
He waved a hand and she saw a crystal ball appearing like he was some sort of fortune teller. She saw her parents and her younger brother being rescued. She didn't know how she would go back after doing the tasks. Maybe he would send her back in time and she would survive the accident. But seeing that her family was going to be okay, it was fine for her, for now.
"Then goodbye. You can contact me when you need any help. Otherwise, please don't. I'm also busy, you know."
He was gone then.
So she turned her attention to her host. She opened the file and it floated before her eyes like a sci-fi movie screen.
She thought that her host would be some kind of abandoned, world-weary, sad, helpless, poor, emotionally messy, and depressed. But what she saw was entirely different and opposite.
Her host was not exactly abandoned but incredibly loved, optimistic, happy, high above, rich, and powerful.
He was stolen at birth, but he grew up at his adoptive parent's house like a prince. He became a self-made millionaire and had his own company. Also, he was some kind of commander in a supernatural institute. Why was she going to help him? He had everything, right? He looked more like a son of heaven.
He was a handsome guy, not on the same level as the ethereal boss here but sort of like a movie star you would crush on.
Good thing, she didn't have to see him regularly while working her job, or else she would try to make him work on a show. He had short brown hair and his eyes were deep brown, and he had a perpetual smirk on his face. She later understood the saying that looks can be deceiving.
But who was she to judge? She just had to perform her task and then retire and then live a rich life with her family. Her life path changed from a future farm owner to a worker in the blink of an eye. That's why she wanted to live a good life and let her parents live comfortably in the future when she retired hopefully.
And then finally, she sighed and clicked on her mission button- ACCEPT.
At the same time, there were sounds like the ding of the bell in Ajay's head. He was asleep at first but when he gradually opened his eyes, he realized the difference. He almost thought he became insane till he heard the mechanical voice in his head.
[System DI binding]
[Binding process Initiated]
[Binding successful]
[Hello Host! I am your system. I can assist you with every kind of task. At present only basic functions are turned on. With points, I can upgrade and I can help you more.]
Dhvani gave her introduction and she felt that she lacked flair.
"Just tell me one thing, you are not a dream demon right?"
[No]
"Hallucination?"
[No]
"A dream?"
[No!]
"Good. Then can you do my work so I can play more?"
Dhvani understood how irritating she was when she asked the conjurer for retirement now. Who would work full-time for a no-pay job? Even if she was a system, she wouldn't. But her host seemed to be an easy-going sort of guy. She desperately hoped so.
If he wasn't, she would have to use some kind of trick. She wasn't willing to lose everything she had because her host didn't cooperate with her. That was something she hated to do. She always felt that only sincerity was worth exchanging. No amount of material things could ever fill up that kind of feeling of gratitude.
So she prayed that her new endeavor would be fulfilled in a good way without any twists. She also wished that her previous frantic wishing wouldn't jinx this.