"Awful isn't it?" the voice said.
Cassius calmly turned around to face the voice that had spoken. "Who's there?" he asked, cautiously scanning the room. The voice couldn't have come from a screen; they only played when looked at.
Then, In front of him stood a young man in a casual black shirt, waving and smiling. He looked just like Cassius did in his past life, except for his hairstyle. If it weren't for that, Cassius might have thought he was looking at his past self.
"Karavan?" Cassius inquired.
"Do you know me, kid?" Karavan moved closer, bending down to Cassius's height. Instinctively, Cassius took a few steps back.
"Of course, who wouldn't recognize you?" Cassius replied awkwardly, pretending he hadn't just found out today. "You're a legend."
Cassius knew well how to read the room, and act accordingly. After all, he had done it his whole life. Nonetheless, that didn't mean he wasn't surprised right now, he just knew it would be better to hide it.
"A legend, huh?" Karavan stroked his chin with a look of satisfaction on his face. "I like the sound of that."
"How did a young boy like you manage to come here?" Karavan asked.
"where even is here? " Cassius was still unsure where he was exactly, so he immediately took this opportunity to inquire on his whereabouts.
"Oh, this place? Hmm, do you know about my pearl?"
"You're pearl?"
"Yes, Karavan's pearl" Karavan began to describe it with his hands, "It's this purple gem-like artifact that resembles a pearl."
After thinking about it for a moment, Cassius recalled how Karavan's Eyes looked like a purple pearl that was split in two.
"Do you mean Karavan's Eyes?" He asked.
"Uh, what? Eyes?" Karavan looked at Cassius confused, while pointing at his eyes.
"It's an artifact that sounds a lot like what you described, except it was split in two."
"Someone split my fucking pearl!?" Karavan exclaimed, standing up, placing his hands on his forehead, "Those B*tches! They don't know how to appreciate an artifact!"
'Is this really the legendary emperor Karavan? He curses a lot.' Cassius thought.
"Who was it? Who split my pearl?" Karavan glanced to the side, where Cassius was standing.
'Do I Iook like a walking history book to you? ' Cassius thought, but he didn't say that out loud.
"Sorry, sir. I don't know. " Cassius replied.
"Then, what happened to my pearl after it was split?" Karavan placed his hands on Cassius's shoulders.
Cassius flinched, and paused for a second before answering, "It was embedded in the eye sockets of your portrait that was hung in the royal library. "
Contrary to what he expected, Karavan calmed down, "Well, I suppose splitting it doesn't matter since it can change forms. Besides, whoever split it put it to good use. They must have hung my portrait somewhere great, right? I'm a legend after all."
Karavan seemed happy, so Cassius did not respond to that question and just smiled.
"Anyways, to put it simply, this place is the 'backend server' of that artifact." Karavan said, "It's the side that makes the artifact function properly. It's also not somewhere you should have access to unless you're its developer. Do you understand, kid?"
"I think so. But I don't know how I came to this place either. Why are you here?" Cassius asked feigning innocence. He made sure to sneakily ask this man how he came here in the least suspicious tone possible.
'People often let their guards down around children and slip up.'
Cassius wanted to use this opportunity to figure out why the emperor who died hundreds of years ago was standing in front of him. Or if the man was really the emperor at all.
The man was silent for a few seconds, as if he were taking his time to think of an answer, before he started speaking.
"…I need to defeat the systems." Karavan stood straight, combing his fingers through his hair, "But the only way to defeat them is to become one of them."
'Become... A system?' Cassius thought, 'Well, that certainly wasn't what I was expecting. '
"I don't understand." Cassius stated innocently. Though, it's true that he didn't really understand.
'Is this guy insane? Or is he trying to dumb it down for me because I appear young? Either way, his words make no sense.'
"I know. it's not an easy thing for a young boy to understand, but bear with me. I spent all my lives fighting against the systems, destroying one after the other, only for them to comeback with new measures in place and stronger than before. That's when I realized I needed to destroy them from the core. That's why I had to become a system."
The man looked determined to make Cassius understand, as if he would explain as many times as necessary if he had to.
'Strange. Why is this man going through so much effort to explain this to me? More importantly...'
"Lives?" Cassius focused in on that word.' It could just be a grammatical error, but what if...'
"Yes, lives." Karavan smirked. " You see, I am what you call a 'Regressor'."
"A...Rergasaur?" Cassius furrowed his brows in confusion. 'Is that a dinosaur?'
"Haha, that's cute." Karavan laughed. "A Regressor, is someone who gets reborn as their younger self after death."
"…"
Cassius froze, taken aback by the mans words, and what the man said played in his head repeatedly.
A Regressor is someone who becomes their younger self after death.
'Doesnt that mean... I am also a regressor?'
"I understand your surprise," Karavan misinterpreted Cassius's reaction. "It's hard to believe that someone could become their younger self after dying."
"No, I believe you," Cassius replied. It's not that far-fetched considering he himself had experienced it. However, there was a chance that this man could be pretending. Therefore, Cassius decided to keep his own status as a regressor hidden.
"Really?" The man looked surprised.
"Yes." Cassius replied.
"Amazing," Karavan said, staring at Cassius in awe. "I suppose that's the innocence of children. They believe everything without question."
Cassius simply smiled and tilted his head, not wanting to reveal too much about himself.
"What's you're name, kid?" Karavan asked.
Cassius didn't think much about this question, and just answered. It was a normal question, after all.
"Cassius."
[CONTRACT OFFER
Recipient: Cassius
Would you like to accept Karavan as your system?
Cassius flinched and took a step back confused by the floating rectangle that was suddenly in his face, before glancing at Karavan who was getting down on the floor.
"Cassius…" Karavan smiled, kneeling on one leg, "Will you please accept me as your system?"
"No."
[CONTRACT DECLINED]