[DING] [TING] [TIDING]
[FINALLY, FOUND YOU.]
[DID YOU MISS ME???]
Aish stood up in shock as he looked around frantically for the source of the voice but still could not find anything.
Hey, stop looking around like an idiot.
[And answer my question, did you miss me?]
Aish heard the voice again—the same voice as her, the playful insults, the teasing tone—he was all too familiar with it. There were only very few people who would talk to him like that, and this voice belonged to someone he loved the most.
"R _ Ria" Despite his doubtful expression, a smile came to his face at the thought of seeing her again.
'Is it her ghost again or another illusion?' He thought as he started walking in the darkness faster, hoping to see her again. It has been a month in Arcadia, and who knows how long in the darkness he has not seen her, and as always, she was there for him when he was feeling lost again. His heart felt warm with that thought.
"Ria!" he shouted as he still could not see her.
[Sigh, why are you calling her name now?]
And can you please stop fooling around? I am in your head.
Aish's steps stopped as he heard her voice. He was so happy to hear her voice again that he could not even focus on where it came from.
"What?" Aish said as his face turned serious, his voice sounding much colder than before, as one possibility came to his mind: that it was all someone's illusion, that she was not real, and someone was just playing tricks with his brain.
The memories of a scene that happened during one of his therapy sessions back on Earth came to his mind and the results it led to. Let us not talk about the therapist and his condition after trying to use hypnosis on him to get rid of his trauma. That was why Aish hated therapy and never went there again.
Can you stop your depressing thoughts? It is ruining our reunion. Her voice sounded again in his head.
"What, sorry, I didn't mean to Ri_." As he heard her voice, which sounded a little mad, instinctively he replied with an apology until he realized the illusion again and stopped.
'Is it Kali? Is this her way of saying that she knows about my past?' Aish's fist clenched as he remembered his prior illusion of the goddess and thought this was what she was doing too. It made perfect sense in his mind, as without the protection of the world system, his brain was open for anyone to control, and she was the only God near him during his awakening.
'If it's her then _' Aish's anger was rising as the thought of someone using Ria's memory to play tricks with him was the worst thing to do. Fuck Gods and everyone else; she was off limits for everyone.
His thoughts about anger were going haywire when he heard the voice again: [I am not an illusion dummy; I only came because you called.]
"What, WHO ARE YOU?" Aish asked as he felt confused hearing her words.
I am in your system. Didn't you call me just now?
And then you did not even answer my question when I came.
Hearing the same tone as her, but then calling herself a system confused Aish. No matter how capable the world system was, it was not capable of conversation, but here it was. Someone or something using the same voice as Ria is claiming to be his system. He would have doubted the voice, but as soon as it finished speaking, a blue screen came into his view; it had the same viewing panel as the world system of Arcadia.
[Loading data. ]..
You're welcome, Awakener
Status
Name: Aish Floren/Aish Jovan
Age: 10 / 30
World -???
Title: ???
Rank: Mortal --
Stats🔻-
Skills🔻-
Blessings 🔻1
̶Q̶u̶e̶s̶t̶s -
̶S̶h̶o̶p - 🔻 4
̶I̶n̶v̶e̶n̶t̶o̶r̶y -]
[So do you believe me now?] The voice sounded again excited.
"The world system doesn't talk." Aish said as he started to calm down a little, the anger from before was there, but the doubts and possibility of the unknown got the better of him after he saw the transparent panel, so he decided to ask the voice.
[Oh, that is because we are not from the world called Arcadia, are we?]
That is why I am different.
"Why are you talking to me in Ria's voice?" Aish asked the question that bugged him the most; he could accept the unknown and everything, but the fact that this system was talking to him in Ria's voice was still questionable.
Oh, that is because you wished for it.
"Me, I didn't even know about you moments ago." Aish asked, as he could not believe what that voice said.
[Not now; I was going to merge while you were in the darkness, but you got pulled out before it was supposed to happen.]
[While you were getting out, the last thing you asked for was to hear this girl's voice, so now that I am here, as a sign of goodwill and my greatness, I learned it.]
The system's boastful words were cut short as Aish's cold voice reverberated in the darkness: "Change it."
Did I get something wrong? [I am sure I copied her perfectly though.] The system was confused as it only followed what its host wished for.
The system had watched all Aish's memories while he was in the darkness, but it still could not understand why its host was now angry after hearing the voice he wished for in the darkness. *** It was because in the darkness, even when Aish went through all his memories, he felt at peace, and no regrets were haunting him after his death. But since he merged with Aish and started living in Arcadia and got to experience everything again in his visions and nightmares, all that pain and regrets came back.
_
"Change your voice; I won't ask it again." Aish said again, though it felt nice to him to hear Ria's voice in his head again, knowing she was not here, and it was just some system using her voice still could not sit well with his consciousness.
He had no problem with seeing her ghost or talking to that illusion, as he could not control it, but now knowing the system, he was not willing to let it have her voice and play with his emotions; it felt like cheating. It was like asking someone to cosplay as her and act like her just so he could not remember her and replace her with someone else. So, he asked his newly awakened system to change her voice.
[Fine]
loading.
Loading. ...
Fuh, seriously, you should learn to be calm a little. Your habits are out of control these days.
You were so much calmer in the darkness.
The system spoke after changing her voice and way of speaking to another feminine voice; if before its voice and personality were sweet, playful, and teasing, then now it had changed into a gentle, calm, and a little mature tone.
The system wanted to ask for its host's opinion, but before it could do that, it felt that something was wrong with its host, and it made the system doubt if it had made another mistake somehow.
What did I do now? It was only the second voice he wished to hear. Do not tell me I must change it again.
The system thought as if it could now feel the different raging emotions going through in Aish's head, and when it saw the tightly clenched fists and his eyes turning red in anger, its premonitions came true.
(Fuck) was the last thought it could have before the system heard its host's cold voice dripping in anger again.