Darkness. That's all he could see. Theo was completely helpless, lying on the floor bathed in blood. The stab wound he received was excruciatingly painful, and just before losing consciousness, he witnessed the group of men ransacking his room and looting all his valuables until nothing was left. They left Theo, who was starting to lose consciousness. Right before they left, Theo realized that they had scorpion tattoos on their necks. After what he experienced, everything turned dark, and he couldn't feel anything at all.
*
Snap!
Theo opened his eyes spontaneously. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was the ceiling of his room. He fell silent for a moment. His brain struggled to comprehend what had just happened to him. Theo got up from his position, sitting on the floor in confusion. He couldn't understand why he was still alive, considering he vividly remembered being stabbed with a knife and lying unconscious. What happened? How am I still alive? Didn't I just get stabbed by a group of robbers with a knife?
Theo touched his injured stomach, and when he did, there was no pain. Theo only saw the floor and clothes soaked in blood, without any wounds on his body. This made him incredulous, to the point that Theo checked his own stomach, covered by the pajamas he was wearing. The result: no stab wounds at all. Theo became even more puzzled by the situation he was experiencing.
Yes No Note: Please choose one of the two options above, and the system will automatically handle your decision!> Theo's hand moved slowly. Still with the same confusion, he tried to make sure that what he saw was not an illusion. "Is this real?" Theo unconsciously pressed one of the options that appeared there, and the display screen on the system panel changed. Theo's attention shifted as a light appeared, enveloping his body. Shortly after, he felt a difference in himself. "Why does my body feel different? It's like it's lighter, and why do I feel as if my soul has just returned to my body?" Theo mumbled softly, momentarily silent. He tried to move his limbs again. Theo once again witnessed a light enveloping his body, and simultaneously, the wounds on his body that he had received suddenly disappeared without a trace. This made him even more astonished at what he was experiencing. "This is truly magical. All the wounds I got from working too hard suddenly disappeared without a trace. It feels like a dream. How can all of this happen to me? Is it because of this object?" Theo touched the screen in front of him again. The screen looked like a hologram that appeared, but unlike a projection device, Begin! Basic Guide Note: Please choose one of the two options above!> Other writings appeared after Theo touched them, and as he read each word written there, Theo seemed to get answers to what he had been questioning since earlier. Even so, his question was not entirely answered because there was only a little explanation in the system. "I really don't understand. It's hard to believe whether this is all a hallucination or not. But if this is a hallucination, why does it feel so real? No! I don't think I could be hallucinating. Clearly, this is real. Because it's impossible to hallucinate in the midst of my dying self, right? I should have died from blood loss earlier." Theo lowered his head. He saw so much blood covering the entire floor where he lay. Proof that he had really suffered severe wounds from the stabs by a group of people who had broken into his house. While lost in thought, Theo suddenly remembered a group of people who had broken in a while ago and stabbed him severely. Thinking about them made Theo curious about who had ordered them to come and kill him. Moreover, Theo distinctly remembered that they had mentioned their arrival was in retaliation for what Theo had done to someone they referred to as 'master.' "I guess it's not important to ponder whether all of this can be accepted by my sanity or not. What matters now is that I'm alive again, and I have to find out who the person they mean by 'master' is. I need to know the motive of that person sending their henchmen to kill me." Theo clenched his fists tightly. He raised his head, looking at the system screen in front of him. He tried to convince himself to make a decision before his hand reached out, pressing one of the options displayed there. 1. To start, please press the 'Start!' button after the system completes the initialization of your body. 2. Fill in the goals column displayed on the screen after you finish pressing the 'Start!' button. Please remember that your goals must not include harmful intentions. The Retaliation System aims to change your life and help you retaliate against their actions in a better way, so that your good goals in this life can be achieved. The system can detect your goals, and if your goals contain harmful intentions, the system will stop operating automatically, and you will return to the original 'dead' state. 3. To achieve each of your goals, there will be quests that you need to complete, and there will be rewards for each quest's completion. (Usually in the form of coins equivalent to the currency in your country. These coins can later be used as an allowance for your life. However, rewards can also come in other forms, depending on the difficulty level of the quests you complete.) 4. The panel will appear every time new quests emerge. But you can also hide and display the panel screen with hand gestures. Please adjust motion control here!> Without further ado, Theo promptly adjusted the motion control available. Finished with that, he immediately followed every guideline listed there. Goals: - Note: Goals must not include harmful intentions, or the system will stop operating automatically and you will return to the original 'dead' state. Please read further details on the 'Basic Guide' page.> Theo paused for a moment, trying to rethink the goals he wants to achieve in this life, and once again, his conversation with the mysterious man he met on the bridge made Theo know what to write there. ***