Am I hallucinating?
These were my first thoughts as I stared at the floating, golden, transparent square hovering in the air. Silver words shimmered on its surface:
{Alchemy System Has Activated}
Is this the afterlife?
"No, no, no, no!" I mentally screamed, slapping myself in my imagination. The afterlife doesn't exist. It shouldn't exist. Yeah, yeah, something like that isn't scientifically possible.
And even if it did exist, there's no way I'd be seeing it. Not after the number of temples I shut down and turned into hospitals.
(A/N: That's... a good thing, I guess?)
Although, let's be real, all those hospitals just sold the medicines I made. Money really went brrrrr back then... 💸
(A/N: Capitalist.)
Suddenly, the silver words on the floating screen shifted, morphing into something new:
{Would You Like to Take the One-Time Explanation About the System?}
I blinked, my shock growing as I processed what I was seeing. This was... something else. A floating screen? Words appearing out of thin air?
What even was this thing?
Maybe some kind of illusion created by dark mages? Nah, that didn't make sense—I was 100% certain I'd died.
So then... what was this?
{Since the host didn't reply within 0.69 seconds, the system will provide an explanation on its own.}
While I was lost in my thoughts, the words on the floating screen changed again. Before I could process what was happening, a sudden headache hit me.
It wasn't unbearable—nothing that would make me scream or clutch my head—but it was just enough to make my brain feel like it couldn't find peace. A weird, nagging sensation that I hadn't experienced in a long time.
The last time I felt this way was... when I first started alchemy. Or maybe when my mother died.
You could say I'm a bit of a sadistic bastard sometimes—not because I want to be, but because I just don't take things seriously very often. Even when my mother died, I was sad, sure, but not sad enough to cry.
In short, I've never been able to love anyone—or anything—more than myself.
{Host, I am the System of Alchemy.}
HUH?!
A cold, indifferent voice suddenly spoke directly into my ear, making me flinch in surprise. The abruptness of it caught me off guard.
And then I noticed something else: my surroundings. Everything had turned blurry, like someone had wrapped the area in a strange anti-vision barrier. Whatever this was, it was stopping me from seeing beyond my immediate surroundings.
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to calm down. My lips curled into a slight smirk as I muttered under my breath, "Interesting."
{As my name suggests, I assist in alchemy. My main features, which you can access right now, are the Shop of Alchemists and the Inventory. The Shop feature allows you to buy and sell items, just as the name implies.}
{In the Shop, you can purchase alchemy recipes created by alchemists across all planes of existence who have access to the Shop of Alchemists. You can also sell your own original recipes.}
Hearing this, my curiosity piqued. My mind raced with possibilities, the headache already a distant memory.
Was this some kind of new chance, a gift, or perhaps a cruel trick? Whatever it was, I couldn't deny one thing: it sounded like an opportunity I couldn't ignore.
As the cold, indifferent voice continued its explanation, questions began to flood my mind.
This... thing, calling itself a system, seemed to function as a helper for alchemists. From what I'd gathered so far, it allowed alchemists to trade with one another—even across planets.
A pretty revolutionary idea, if you ask me. Whoever created this must be a genius. I mean, allowing alchemists from entirely different worlds to exchange goods and knowledge? That's on another level.
I'd established merchant unions in the past to manage my wealth, but none of them operated like this. Not even close.
{You can also buy or sell finished alchemy items, as well as alchemy ingredients, in the shop. The shop operates using an in-system currency called "Alcerion Coins."}
{The only way to earn Alcerion Coins is through the system itself, specifically by trading with other alchemists. This rule ensures that no one can monopolize the Shop of Alchemy.}
{Lastly, to access the Shop of Alchemy, simply think "Open Shop," and it will appear. Any items you acquire from the shop will be stored in your inventory until you choose to retrieve them.
This is all the information you need to begin your journey. The rest, you can discover on your own.}
{I wish you a happy and immortal journey.}
As the voice finished, I couldn't help but marvel at the possibilities this system presented. Sure, it sounded too good to be true, but if it was real, this could be my ticket to immortality. My lips twitched into a small, sly grin.
I could ignore everything in this world, but...
Not immortality.
{Goodbye, Host. We will meet again, if fate allows it.}
With those final words, the floating panel disappeared, leaving behind a sense of mystique. Seriously, who even talks like that anymore? It felt like something an old geezer from a historical drama would say. Who uses lines like that in this day and age?
As the floating panel vanished, the strange barrier around me dissipated, and my surroundings came into clear view.
What I saw... was carnage.
I stood in the middle of a dense forest, surrounded by blood and corpses. They were everywhere—and I mean everywhere. Corpses hung from trees, lay scattered across the soil, nestled grotesquely in bird nests, and even on the lifeless bodies of rabbits.
Before I could process the scene further, a sharp voice cut through the stillness.
"Hey, you! Who are you? Identify yourself!"
Snapping my head upward, I spotted the source of the voice. A strikingly beautiful young woman, probably around 17 or 18, hovered above me.
She had light blonde hair, piercing brown eyes, and pale skin.
Her... chest didn't go unnoticed—ahem—but what caught my attention was her armor. It looked like something thrown together on a budget.
Little did I know, this girl would become one of my most valuable pawns in my pursuit of immortality.
Her name?
Senju Tsunade.
**{A/N: So, how's it going so far? I know there hasn't been much progress in the story yet, but I thought it was important to introduce the system properly. Since the system won't have much of a personality in the future and won't really interact, I wanted to get it out of the way now.
Anyway, if you're enjoying this, show some support by dropping power stones and comments! Thanks!}**