"Tell me, what are you? Am I possessed?"
["No!"]
Really, possessed, haha! That was funny, Dhvani thought. Like she would tell if he was really possessed.
"Then how can you talk to me? Are you some sort of supernatural person?"
["Host, I am your system. I help you do tasks and make your life easier."]
Dhvani was happy that she had a robotic voice. Or else, she would have yelled. The voice the system had given her had no emotions and her responses were also limited in the beginning. She couldn't say more things about irrelevant matters and even more about relevant matters. And she had read half the manual her boss gave which was more than enough for her to know things.
That's right. The white-haired guy who looked like a movie star was like the CEO and she was an employee. And she had less than thirty colleagues who worked with her. Because most of the people were retired or on vacation. And this meant, she also had some days off.
She planned to sneak away to see her family. Anyway, the world she was assigned had supernatural elements, like little magic spells or so she thought. And the technology here was okay, similar to her world. But considering the manual, this world was among the higher worlds in Lower Dimension. So her leveling up to level 100 would be achieved if this world becomes one of the Higher dimensions.
["Host! There are some tasks that you can do and they will help everyone in this world. The more points I get from you, the higher level I could be. If I level up, I can help you learn new skills like programming or anything else."]
Ajay was not interested in working. He lived a comfortable life. So he rejected this idea.
"I'm not interested. We can both chill out here and enjoy ourselves. I can allow you to watch many new films, shows, and cartoons. We can travel around here. We can go anywhere. Why should I do tasks then?" He added lazily.
He was nestled comfortably in his bed and he was watching stars on his phone.
Dhvani thought that if she were a human, she would have accepted the offer. But sadly, she was not. She couldn't even take pictures or eat anything. What's the point? So her main job was to convince this guy to do tasks. It's like asking a lazy person to well, stop being lazy. A very hard thing to accomplish unless he does it on his own.
["Host! The system can provide you things from out of this world."]
It was an outright lie. She cannot give him anything out of this world except knowledge which was also what he should learn on his own. If she can consider herself something, the situation equated that she was a librarian and he wanted a book and he asked her. Her job is to show him the book and he had to read it. Of course, he didn't want a book now. But she had to make him think that he wanted to read a book. She could maybe give him small props but they will be recycled after use. If you use permanent props, they could be kept by the host but they were costly.
A challenging task but she could do it. Having a younger brother had trained her for this ordeal. She missed her stupid brother. She wanted to fly away from here and see her family. Only looking at them once again would be enough for her. But she knew that she could never get something out of nothing. Her chance for a new life was already a very big gift. And it also saved her family. This job was their family's savior.
["What about new spells? I'll help you with those. And maybe some things which will blow your mind. I have no authority to tell you now. So host, please level me up."]
She felt like a witch in fairy tales trying to abduct an innocent princess. But in her case, the person wasn't innocent and also he was a prince who didn't care about her magical stuff.
Ajay understood what the system wanted to say. Honestly, it was a good deal but he had some concerns. The spells offer tempted him.
"Will you hurt me or anyone else by doing this? I want the truth. If you're some kind of bad guy, you will lie. But still, I'm asking you to tell me the truth."
Dhvani was sure that this answer would determine if he was willing to be her host. Who would want a ticking time bomb talking and staying in their brains? No matter how much intelligent or helpful it is, you wouldn't want a ghost in your mind. So she understood his concerns. She knew she was a good person or rather a system and her system rules were also creature friendly, in this case, human-friendly.
["I can give you a file with what I can and cannot do written in it, then you can decide."]
She didn't have to do that but to get goodwill points from her host, she gave him the file. Anyway, he would find it later in his system mall and help options, but she could gain an advantage from it now if she sent it to him. He will know that she wasn't a bad guy.
Ajay felt something rushing in his mind. It honestly felt like a rollercoaster of headaches. He wouldn't mind a computer pdf or even a printed paper collection. But what was he supposed to do now? So he read it silently. It was just like reciting but he recited something he didn't know at all. Anyway, he found the journal good. The rules were strictly for the benefit of mankind. He found it awesome that the system couldn't hurt anyone and that made him emboldened.
"I agree. So, System, what's my first task?
[Ding]
[Binding Process Fully Complete]
[System successfully bound]
[Main System Task: Gain Popularity]
[Rewards: Ten Thousand points]
"Why am I going to be popular? "Ajay asked.
Dhvani didn't know. She knew that Main System Task was something her boss arranged. She felt that the boss wanted everyone to know that he was responsible for all the good things they were going to get later. As he couldn't get any credit, he wanted the bound host to take it. It would be like he was praised virtually.
But she could also assign her tasks. These were mainly Hidden Tasks and System Tasks. She was excited to give her own tasks. But she still had rules for this. She couldn't give easy tasks which could be like giving coins and points for free.
["You can try. As more tasks roll in, you will understand, host."]
A good way to fool him. She understood that they would never properly understand this stuff. Maybe he will someday get his understanding of the system tasks and the overall system too.
"I am starting to feel that you are being perfunctory to me. But how am I going to be popular? Though I'm a celebrity at the institute. I am one of the best there."
Well, he did not have any humility. He did brag for five minutes about how awesome he performed at the annual competition at the magic institute. The magic institute was a supernatural organization with two divisions. The one Ajay was at was the outer level. To change the world, he needed access to the inner level. And the system task was for this result. She understood some things the system tasks did. But even then she did not get the whole truth here.
What change could a world becoming a higher world in a realm bring? Is it like some kind of strategy where you need votes and that's why a newly emerged higher world would be synonymous with an extra vote or something?
These things Ajay didn't know but he seemed to take the idea of the system well. Maybe he was trying to find the limits of the system or gauging the level to which the system would go to make him do tasks. So finally he decided to start easy and funded a reality show based on outdoor activities. That was a good decision on his part.
Dhvani hoped that he did not lose any money. Though she was virtual, she did like watching many television shows non-stop. Then if he lost money, she would lose many episodes. Because she would punish herself by not doing her favorite pastime which was watching television shows and feeling bad. It wouldn't be equal to money loss but this would make her drown in the ocean of guilt.
Also, they had a conversation about privacy.
"Can you read my mind?"He asked suddenly.
["No."].
"Then, if I wanted to talk to you outside, I would look crazy to others."
As if he was acting any less crazy now.
["You can call me then. Once you say System Status out loud or even in your heart, I'll automatically answer."]
"Well, that's good. For a second, I thought that you would ask me permission to read my mind. Now that's crazy to me."
It was crazy for her too. But there is really a such thing that she didn't tell him. If they linked their minds together, he could also hear her. It would be two-way communication. Which she absolutely didn't want.
They needed their own different mind worlds even if they shared the same channel. She had her own life, even though it was virtual now. And she wasn't remotely interested in his activities outside the system scope. He also had his friends, maybe girlfriends. She had no reason to know all of this so she needed the privacy end user agreement from him.
And the first task of their multiple worlds and realms adventure began with them being wary of each other and also on an equally unfriendly basis.