The dark black sky was unusual today. It would usually be cloudy, not allowing anyone to gaze at the beautiful stars twinkling. Almost, like it was hoarding them for itself. But today, you could say it was generous. Too generous. It was allowing us to admire the broad range of shining lights. All types of stars: Pollux and Castor to name a few. Some could say that this is a 'Wonderful occasion'.
But for me?
It was the worst I could hope for. Perhaps, it was a sign that none had noticed. A sign that was supposed to be known. But everyone was too busy being hypnotized by beauty's gorgeous dance. There is a common saying for this,
'Not everything that glitters is gold'.
Yes, my situation could possibly relate to the saying. It could relate to the stars. Or is it just that,
"I've gone mad?"
Lying on the bed. A blue eyed boy sat with his back against the back of the double bed. Looking around he could see the cracked up walls and floors; dull colours of the room. It gave off the feeling of a poor family's place.
"Keke. I guess even for me, who was called 'Lucifer', feared by many. This is too much."
Lucifer placed his palm, covering the right half, on his face. He looked around, spotting a portrait that stood out. It was a fancy portrait -with a gold outline- of someone who immediately changed his expression. Of course, it was,
"That guy who was with the two turds before I ended up here."
Lucifer thought deeply for a while, and came to a conclusion.
What he realized was that the dangerous feeling was true. The guy he killed yelled something before he died.
"System.."
A sudden blue light sparked in front of his eyes. The light then displayed a screen.
'System
Host: 'Archehon' (Lucifer in previous life)
Previous Host: Dell (Story progress: 76%)
Level: 1
Stats:
Strength: -2 Speed: 0
Dexterity: 1 Intelligence: 10
Stamina: 2 Luck: 9
Mana: 2 Fatigue: 0
Skills:
Talent: Dell's Talent (-10x penalty)
Tasks: None '
"What the fuck?"
Archehon observed the blue screen closely.
"Alright. So this system is something the previous Host Dell had and I'm guessing that 'Dell' was the guy I had killed. My name is 'Archehon'. I have this system with all these stats which I'm guessing helps me get stronger. But there's one thing I don't get.
'Main Character level 1'
"No matter how much I try to think, I don't get what the fuck is this 'Main character' bullshit."
"Nevermind, I guess I'll look into it later. And what the fuck is this '-10x penalty', I get I killed him but how am I supposed to know he'd have this cheat?!"
And..
"You. Whoever's behind this, I may be 'accepting' to this, but that doesn't mean that I'm not wary of you.", Archehon never let his eyes off of the blue screen.
<...>
"Knock. Knock. Knock."
"Hm?"
Archehon heard the knock. He quietly left the bed and tried to rip apart the pillow to use as a distraction.
(AN: Lucifer will be called 'Archehon' from now on.)
But why would he do that?
The reason was simple. It's because he was 'Lucifer'. Someone who even the hero organisation had trouble dealing with.
Who knows? Maybe, this could've been a trick in order to capture him.
"Click!"
"Hmph!", Archehon ran to throw the pillow out but,
"Drop!"
"uuhhh..", he groaned after faceplanting onto the floor.
"Archehon!"
'Huh? Who's this?'
A young girl with black hair and blue eyes looked at Archehon in worry while placing him on her knees. She scolded him with an angry expression,
"How many times should I tell you not to be so reckless?! Seriously.."
"Yeah, yeah"
'Wait. Why don't I feel any hostility from this woman?'
Archehon inspected her face and recognized her eyes. The light-blue and blue eyes, they were the same as Dell's.
'Is she his.."
"Sister?"
The girl paused her chatter,
"What?"
He didn't respond so she continued her nagging,
"Were you even listening?"
"Mhm?", Archehon talked back like an absent minded person.
"Hoooo.. Nevermind.", his sister sighed.
"I'll lift you up-"
"W-wait, I can do it myself!", Archehon interrupted her.
He lifted himself. He pushed himself towards the bed which felt like a mountain. Every single bit of progress felt like a millennial. When he thought he had arrived...
"Thump"
His body didn't listen to his mind and went back to sleep.
"You're so stubborn!"
"I'll do it now."
"W-wait.."
Archehon felt the tender hands on his back transferring him to the bed. At that moment, he thought arrogantly,
'Hmph, Fine. You better be cherishing this moment. Nobody has ever lifted me up. or helped me with anything.', he grinned openly.
"Alright! Don't you dare do anything reckless again. Okay!"
"Yeah, yeah.", Archehon lazily smiled waving his hands.
"Shut."
But something clicked in his head after saying his previous statement. Something that would prevent him from getting any sleep.
"Oh no. Did I just let that cunning girl pick me up? Dammit!", he cried placing the pillow above his head.
It was only natural for him to feel this way. Somebody had helped him with such a basic task. Not just that, but to someone who was feared by many heroes or often used as a substitute to scare children. This was like stepping on his pride.
That night, Archehon, no, Lucifer's pride was hurt so much that he cried himself to sleep, from the humiliation he had suffered for the first time in his life.
A lesson he learnt was,
To Never Ever underestimate sisters.
'That girl. She isn't to be underestimated', he thought that night imagining her making an evil laugh and saying,
'Hahaha! I helped you, you lowly creature!'
* * *
The sun's ray of light beamed down at the earth. Plants had their nutrition and birds chirped.
"Huaah", Archehon yawned.
'
"Finally, I can do something about my shitty strength levels."
"System.."
The blue light turned into a blue screen after the pronunciation of a singular word.
'Tasks: Daily:
-Drink water (Reward: Luck +1)
-Eat food (Reward: Intelligence +1)
-Do stretching exercises with Ariel (Sister) (Reward: Speed +1)
Normal:
-Tell Ariel you love her and thank her (Reward: Luck +10)
Special:
-Take medicine (Reward: Strength +1) (Two-time offer) '
"Okay, The Daily tasks look easy and.. what the fuck is this."
"'Tell Ariel you love her'? Me? Someone as mighty as me has to say that to someone lowly-"
' "Hah! I can live with that-" '..will result in the heart not functioning>' "..." "Fuck." "Click.", the door opened then creaked. "Hey sunshine~ I brought you your breakfast." Ariel entered the room with a tray of Toast and water, while wearing a worn-out apron and clothes. She placed the tray on the table next to his bed with a lovely smile. "Okay, so if there is anything you need feel free to tell me. Don't do what you did yesterday night.", Ariel told Archehon seriously. "I will get going now-", she told him as she walked back. "W-wait!" "What is it brother? Is there anything else you need-", she beamed at her brother happily before being interrupted with, "I love you, sister" Ariel stood there silently with her usual face, unfazed. She let time do its thing for a couple of seconds of which felt like an eternity, and responded by saying, "Thanks" "No, I should be thanking you sister" She didn't say anything after and walked back out the door. The instant after closing the door, the ice-eyed girl started streaming cold tears down her cheeks. She attempted to stop the water pouring down by closing her eyes and rubbing them with her warm arms, but to no avail. The tears kept streaming down, similar in proportion to a waterfall. After a while of soaking the ground, it stopped. The girl's smile twinkled and radiated like the sun during noon. She looked down and treasured those few words that couldn't be described. And kept them, close to her heart, not allowing a single soul to take them away. ' ' ' "Sh-shut up!" Archehon's face turned bright red as he looked down, embarrassed. Warm sweat dripped down from his face and he felt amazing. "S-system, what have you done to me? Why do I feel this way?" ' ' All of a sudden, a large number of memories broke into Archehon's head. It felt like he had been shocked by electricity and felt pain inside his head. Memories kept on playing, (AN: Warning - Some viewers may find the next part DISTURBING. Skip until you see " @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@") "Archehon, Let's play!", a younger Ariel held his hand. Another memory played, "I'm sorry kid, but your parents have died", a doctor regretfully told the boy. Another memory, "Archehon.. I know it's been hard for you but you have to move-" "Shut up!" "Slap!", Archehon slapped Ariel. Another, another, another. ANOTHER.ANOTHER.ANOTHER.ANOTHER.ANOTHER.ANOTHER.ANOTHER.ANOTHER.ANOTHER.ANOTHER-! ' Fire, blood and anguish. That was all there was. Buildings burnt; People screamed; Blood dripped. Men in black cloaks walked casually throwing daggers at innocent civilians. "UAAHHH! Help me", civilians screamed sprinting away. "Kyaaahh!" A child looked down at two corpses. It was a younger-self of Archehon with baby hands. A five year old. "M-mom.. Dad? Wake up. We still haven't got ice-cream yet.", the kid whimpered grabbing onto their clothes. "Ho. Look who we have here." Another man in a black cloak walked and stopped in front of the child. His enormous shadow lurked over the child. The child stared at the giant, frozen in place. A number two was shown underneath his cloak. "What are you doing over here? Crying about your Mommy or Daddy?", the cloaked-man let out an evil laugh, mocking the child. "Look here. You're 'Mommy and Daddy' aren't coming back~ kekeke" "Now.." The figure raised his dark blade high and smashed the ground into little pieces. The child had disappeared. Only the broken-apart ground could be seen from the view of the man. "You're dead!" "Huh?", the man said in a shocked tone. "Which bastard dares to take away my prey!" A man appeared in front of the child in a blue cloak. He stared at the dark-cloaked man with an upright body. Most heroes would respond with an upright stance calling out the villian for his horrible deeds. But the man was different. Instead he smiled at the child, completely ignoring the villian. He crouched down, "Are you okay kid?" "You bastard! You dare ignore me. I was in a good mood and was going to give you a painless death but you've changed my mind." "..." "Stay here and close your eyes for ten seconds. A magical event will happen." The man walked towards the villian and the child closed his eyes and started counting to ten, "ten.." "nine.." The man slowly walked towards the cloaked villian. "eight, seven, six.." The man didn't stop walking. "What are you doing with so many openings? You think you're some bigshot?" "five, four three" "Keke, fine how abou-" "Slice!", the cloaked man dropped to the ground after being diagonally chopped through his heart. "two.." "Teleportation crystal..", the blue cloaked hero spoke for the first time while holding the child. "one." "Bzzzzzzzttt" Lightning surrounded both the man and child. "zero" "Okay, open your eyes. "Ow!" (@@@@@@@@@@@@@@) A sudden spark shut down the last memory. Tears travelled down Archehon's face. His eyes had widened and his pupils shrinked. Nothing, Wasn't shocking.