I was awakened in the morning by the bright rays of sunlight streaming into the room through the window.
Opening my eyes and feeling fully rested, I chased away the remnants of sleep and looked around.
Kelly, tired from last night, was still sleeping peacefully, curled up next to me. I stared at her contented face for a few seconds, not wanting to wake her, and then I did what I hadn't had time to do last night.
'System, are there any changes?'
[Yes, host. I didn't interrupt you yesterday, but the second condition for unlocking the system was met.]
[1. Realizing your identity in this world.
2. Begin your journey.]
Begin your journey?
Ha, I didn't expect anything else from the system.
[Host, congratulations on fully unlocking the system. You now have access to the inventory and store, as well as a few more hidden features to help you on your journey. Also your access rights have been upgraded to normal.]
'Normal?'
'So there's something higher?'
[You'll have to find out for yourself.]
Already used to such answers from the system, I started asking more pressing questions.
'What is used to purchase from the system store?'
[To purchase, you must use the points you can get by completing missions in the system. Since you have just now unlocked the system, you have not yet had any such missions and your balance is 0.]
'Damn, even after opening a new feature, I still can't use it.'
Cussing to myself, I turned my attention to the second unlocked feature, namely the inventory.
When I opened it, I found that it was completely empty. I immediately tried to move my ring, which I wore on my finger, into it.
With a mere thought, it moved there, taking up one of the vacant cells. I could just as quickly get it out of there if I wanted to.
After experimenting with the inventory a bit, I realized its two main limitations.
First, I couldn't move living objects there.
Second, I couldn't put things in there that didn't belong to me.
Too bad, it would have been a lot of fun to strip all opponents of their equipment with just a thought. Anyway, having an unlimited space that no one has access to but me is really handy.
Finished with that, my attention was drawn to one of the system's notifications that I hadn't yet had a chance to read.
[Congratulations on successfully passing the initial test! You have managed to prove your abilities. As a reward for your hard work, you will be given a choice of three awards.]
[Ticket to meet with ◼️◼️◼️◼️]
[Ticket for Talent Enhancement.]
[20,000 system points.]
I immediately noticed the third award, which compared to the first two it looked too ordinary, so I checked with the system just in case.
'20,000 points is a lot?'
[On average, this can be obtained for successfully completing 20 missions.]
After the system's words, I discarded the third award and focused on the other two.
On the one hand there was the opportunity to meet someone who could possibly throw light on my situation and answer my questions.
On the other hand, there was the enhancement of my talent, which could turn my already strong SS rank talent into something even more terrifying. It was an opportunity that was hard to get in this world even with all my knowledge. Even if the ticket didn't enhance it, but at least unlocked it, I would already be extremely happy, because it would greatly increase the potential of this body.
And yet, the ticket to meet the mysterious person was still incredibly appealing to me, fueling my curiosity and preventing me from blindly choosing the second option. It made me think deeply about what I should choose.
After a while, I shook my head with a chuckle.
There was no point in pondering it. Self-reinforcement had to come first, and I couldn't trade it for some vague attempt to find out something just because I was curious. Needless to say, I didn't even know the person I was going to meet.
'I choose the second option.'
[Are you sure this is your final decision?]
'Yes.'
There was no point in hesitating after I had already made up my mind.
After my response, without any delay, an object appeared in my hand.
It was a small ticket slightly smaller than the palm of my hand made of some strange material. Although it didn't look impressive or flashy, I could feel a mysterious energy emanating from it.
Before I could use it, I needed to deal with something else, so I put it in my inventory. Now, having dealt with all the changes to the system, I opened the only thing I had access to from the beginning, the missions section.
When I did, my eyes reflected a single line of text.
[Mission: Eat the Villainess]
Even after fully unlocking the system, this didn't change in any way and no explanatory information was added, as if it wasn't necessary.
With mixed emotions, I continued to stare at it.
In fact, from the moment I found out I was in my sister's novel world, I already had an idea of which person my mission was referring to, but I quickly brushed it off, hoping that with the system unlocked I'd get more information.
Now, as much as I wanted to deny it, I was pretty sure who she was.
In the novel, among all the evil characters, there was only one who could be given the title 'Villainess' without even mentioning her name.
When I thought about it, her image popped up in my mind, making me swallow saliva.
And no, not because she was incredibly hot, although that was also true, but because of her immense power.
Even in the ongoings of the novel, the main character paled in comparison to her, and I always wondered if he could ever overpower her with his buff from the 'power of friendship'.
Of course, despite her power, she never got rid of the main character, either because of his plot armor or because she didn't see him as a threat. If you add to that her extremely weird emotionless personality, she was an example of the perfect antagonist and at times made me even more sympathetic than the protagonist.
And now I, a mere mortal, without any plot armor or plot protection, am supposed to overpower her, and not just overpower her, but 'eat' her?
That prospect alone gave me goosebumps all over my body.
But, for some reason unknown to me, I felt no fear or desire to yell at the system for such an impossible quest.
Instead, emotions of excitement and anticipation unknown to me before were bubbling up inside me, and they combined to pump adrenaline through my bloodstream, making my heart thump loudly in anticipation.
It seemed that the impenetrable shroud of boredom that had enveloped me all these years and prevented me from truly enjoying life had finally dissipated, giving me an extraordinary satisfaction and bringing an excited smile to my face.
Yeah, it's obviously not going to be easy, hell, I'm not even sure if I can survive, but I'll definitely enjoy this world to the fullest and do my best to complete this mission.
After all, if I succeed… every ounce of effort expended will be worth it.
Saying this in my heart, I looked out the window, illuminated by the rays of the sun, and realized that there was not much time left before we would reach the capital.
And if I've judged the timeline of this world correctly, our first meeting should be soon.
With a wide grin I thought, still running the same image through my head.
***
Thanks for reading, everyone.