The best thing to do in this sort of situation was obviously to get away as fast as possible. Strange men appearing only to him? He had no time for that!
But he couldn't move. How immensely inconvenient. If he couldn't move, he couldn't get home. It seemed as though the other people had even worse problems than being unable to move. They were frozen in place, blank expressions on their faces. Hey, Mr. Long-hair, it isn't nice to freeze people whenever you feel like it!
The man didn't seem to be in any rush. He lazily scratched his head and ever so slowly looked at Jaden. Hurry it up, will you? Some people have places to be!
His voice was deep, menacing, and sounded like he just woke up from a nap: "So you're the one who stole my system. Heehhh…took me long enough to find you."
Your system!? If this golden-eyed man wanted to take it from him, Jaden wouldn't complain. But he was the one who had been dealing with the system's never-ending voice for the past few days! It was most certainly his system.
Jaden looked up at him, his eyes not quite angry, but growing in impatience: "What makes you think it's your system? I've been the one stuck with it."
The man yawned and leaned up, resting his head on his hand. He really wasn't taking this so seriously, was he?
"It's the God Emperor system you have, correct?"
"Yes…"
"Well I'm the god-emperor. So of course it's my system."
…
He didn't really know how to argue with that one.
The man ever so slowly pulled himself up until he was sitting cross-legged. "Don't try to fight back. I'd rather not put much effort into this." And then he jumped straight at Jaden.
Can't they talk about this instead!?
The man slashed his sharp black claws straight at Jaden's neck. This was his third time in the past few days he was getting jumped by some crazy monster. He was honestly getting sick of it.
System, can you do something one last time?
[Error: 404]
Error!? System, there can't be an error! This man was literally three seconds away from slitting his throat!
Jaden didn't get a chance to troubleshoot the error, however. The long-haired man never managed to reach him. It was as if there was an invisible force-field surrounding him, which sent the man flying back and landing in a rather undignified heap.
There was a small flash and Jaden found he could move again. He never had felt more grateful to be able to move his fingers. The rest of the people could move again, as well. Jaden expected a big commotion, but they acted as if nothing happened. They also completely ignored the monstrous man lying on the pavement as if he was completely invisible.
Jaden braced himself for a second attack. But instead the man rolled right over on the ground! "Eh whatever, too much effort. I'm going back to sleep."
Jaden stomped over to him. "What the hell was that!? You can't attack me and go to sleep with no explanation! That's not how life works!"
"So loud…" The man covered his ears.
Jaden was losing his patience. If someone was going to disrupt his leisurely walk home, on the one day he left work early, he deserved to know why. He grabbed his phone and turned his morning alarm on, as loud as it could go. People stared at him…but as for the man on the ground, he jumped up, true anger in his eyes.
He seemed more angry at this alarm than when he attacked Jaden. Scary.
"Turn that thing off or I'll…"
Jaden smirked. "Attack me? That didn't work so well last time did it?"
The man practically snarled.
"I want some answers. Who are you, and why did you attack me? I don't even know you, so what's your problem?"
The man sighed and crossed his arms. "I'm willing to make a deal with you. Two answers, for two years of peace."
"How am I supposed to guarantee two years of peace!?"
The man rolled his eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Two years without playing that sound in my presence. If you break the contract…" He smiled, and dragged a black-clawed finger across his neck.
This man needed to get his priorities straight.
"Okay, sure. It's a deal. Here's my first question: Who the hell are you!?"
The man laughed and jumped, landing on top of the paper sculpture where he first was. "A waste of a question. If you used your brain, even you could figure it out."
On his list of favorite people, this man would not be at the top. "The deal goes two ways, just answer my question already."
The man just laughed. "You may call me Emperor Zilvertir. This form is only temporary, as my true form was sealed away when my system was stolen from me." He took a pause to glare at Jaden. "Your kind like to refer to me as an "Emperor Class Monster"."
He was the emperor class monster!? Somehow, Jaden struggled to imagine this lazy man destroying a whole continent.
"Second question. The God Emperor system…what can it do? And uh…can it go down levels?"
The man's face broke out into a huge grin, his fang-like teeth looking truly monstrous. "You haven't figured it out yet? Humans really are simple. The objective of the God Emperor system is, of course, the complete destruction of this world."
Emperor Zil-whatever, take this system back already!