"Harry!, come out of the house. You haven't paid last month's rent. Are you going to pay, or should I take other measures?" Morvin said sternly.
Harry, a teenage boy around 19 years old wearing casual clothes, with long brown hair and green eyes, though lacking in physical strength, came out of the room.
"Firstly, this isn't a house; it's just a small room.And about your rent as I told you yesterday, Don't worry. When I receive my salary, the very first thing I'll do is pay the rent. Okay!, Now you can leave."
Morvin scoffed and asked skeptically, "How much do you even earn from your job?" Before Harry could respond, he continued,
"100 dollars or 200 dollars? How are you going to pay the entire rent with such a meager salary?" Harry remained silent because he knew Morvin was right.
However, he had some money his mom had sent him, a little, but enough for the rent. And from tomorrow, he would be joining Princeton University, so he would be moving into the dormitory.
"I will pay you tomorrow. You don't need to worry about how I'm going to pay, so please leave now," Harry said, annoyed since this had become a regular occurrence.
"You better do it. If I come back and don't get my rent, then I'm going to break your limbs," Morvin threatened before leaving.
"I have to pay for living in this dump. I got good grades in high school and gained admission to one of the best universities. But living in this tier-1 city is too much of a financial burden."
'I acquired a job at the library so I could earn while studying. It will be enough once the University session starts. I won't have to pay for living or eating; it will be included in my scholarship,' he thought while moving towards his bed.
His gaze fell on a black square box. He remembered an event that happened two months ago. One day, he was returning late at night from his job and saw a light descending from the sky.
Curious, he ran towards the place where the light had landed and found a black square-shaped box in a deep hole, likely caused by the box's impact with the sand.
He wasn't sure if it was the object that caused the phenomenon, but out of curiosity, he took the box to his room.
He first tried to open it simply, but it was a waste of time. He used every possible way to open it or see some reaction, but it didn't even get a scratch, even after smashing it with a heavy stone.
Initially, he thought it was some sort of rare mineral, but when it didn't react, he tried to sell it. He had heard, objects from space could be sold at a very high price, but shopkeeper kicked him out of the shop, saying it wasn't worth a cent.
Currently, Frustrated from his condition, he punched the pitch-black box lying on the study table. But his poor Aim caused him to get hurt by sharp scissors, blood dripping down on the table while retracting his hand a drop of blood dripped onto the box.
Before Harry could notice, the box started disintegrating, and the particles slipped through his body.
[An alien DNA detected. The host has been selected. Synchronizing to the current time of human civilization... 1.2.3.4....99.100%]
Harry was bewildered when he saw a screen in front of him and a loading screen reaching 100% in an instant.
Before he could make any judgement,his whole body went numb, and he lost consciousness.
When Harry opened his eyes, he was heavily panting because in his dreams, he was getting pierced by thousands of needles, pain felt as real as it can.
Now noticing something odd.
He saw a message hovering in the air.
["Hi, my name is Krish. I can assist you regarding this 'system'?"]
Harry rubbed his eyes as if trying to wipe away these lines, but he could still see them even after closing his eyes.
Giving up on it, "Krish, that's your name? Can you tell me what's going on?" he decided to ask directly since he wasn't fully aware of what was happening. Still not sure if he was still dreaming?
[Krish: this system will help you become stronger if you complete the given tasks or on your achievements.]
"Becoming stronger sounds good, but I'm not fully understanding what this is all about," harry asked.
After some explanation, he understood. This was some sort of advanced technology based on an equivalent exchange or barter system.
He would receive quests from this so-called 'system,' and in exchange, he would receive some sort of reward. Krish was an inbuilt AI, at least according to what it told him. Because It seemed too realistic to be an AI.
When he had accumulated all the information, he asked a genuine question, "What type of quests will I get?"
["This system knows many things that you don't, but it has its limitations. Once you learn about something, the system will also update itself. For now, you are oblivious to many things happening around you, It can give you any quest related to your life."]
Harry tilted his head in confusion. This krish is not acting as an Ai. He asked about the Quest but his reply is going south, Then a sound echoed in his mind, 'ting.'
[Quest: Find deep hidden secrets in human society.]
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Hey everyone! I hope you're all having a fantastic day. I tried things a bit in starting 3 to 4 chapter to introduce the plot and introduce the main world, so I am hoping you will be able to bear it with me.
Any suggestions or a review would help me.