"You brought me here, you must have some grand objective you want me to fulfill so I'd be treating me with a little more respect."
I sneered at my reflection.
However the "author" didn't react like I thought he would. Instead his smile disappeared immediately and was replaced with a deep scowl that threatened to rip the skin on his face.
"You don't understand the situation you are in. Let me remind you that you're talking to a god."
They then raised their hand and pointed quickly at the ground.
*BAM*
My head slammed into the ground like a super powered magnet was turned on and my head was made of metal.
I struggled to get up but the more I did the greater the pressure increased on my skull. It got to the point where I realized there was no fighting it and I stopped struggling.
I knew what the god wanted.
OBEDIENCE
After I stopped struggling the pressure disappeared after a few moments.
"Get up."
I didn't dare disobey and I quickly staggered to my feet.
The reflection didn't even show a sign of interest in having crushed my will.
That made me truly realize I meant nothing to this deity.
"You're here because I wanted some entertainment. I want to present this world's history to the Akashic Records of the Multi-Verses and maybe you can add something to make my story more complete. Don't be mistaken though."
I felt the pressure slowly weigh on me again.
"I do not need you. You can cry about it being unfair but no one will listen. This is your situation now."
My reflection was then released from its possession and I could clearly see the fear in my new face.
[You'll be given some privileges to help you alter the timeline.]
[Every act will be given a rating from 1-10 on how exciting or interesting it is. If any of the acts scores lower than a 5, which will mean you had made it worse than the original, you will be punished.]
[Summon your system with your thoughts. It will explain the rest.]
With that I felt the invisible pressure disappear as if a lie and I was left in the room by myself again.
I waited for a few minutes to calm down before I took a seat on the edge of the bed and collected my thoughts.
'I'm fucked...'
Despair began to set in as I realized how my life had changed so dramatically. While I couldn't say my life before was meaningful at least I had the freedom to do what I wanted without bearing any responsibility.
Now my life depended on making the world around me a more chaotic place for the entertainment of an all powerful god, and even if I did a good job it was ultimately up to the God's opinion on whether I succeeded or not.
I sighed and laid back on the bed.
"Might as well accept the situation. I'll feel bad for myself later. I hope this system is at least useful otherwise I'm as good as dead."
System
A holographic screen appeared in front of my eyes.
"Cliché. Of course."
It was the same screen that was described in all the novels and animes from my world.
"I guess my old world now..."
[Name: Adam Wright]
[Gift: None (Available for edit.)]
[Strength: F(-)]
[Constitution: F(-)]
[Agility: F(-)]
[Dexterity: F(-)]
[Intelligence: F(-)]
[Wisdom: F(-)]
[Charm: F(-)]
[Will: F(-)]
"I am not surprised they made me useless. Its probably to make it so I can't influence the story easily... Although maybe its just part of my punishment. Either way it doesn't matter. There are ways to raise my stats and I'm not the main character anyway. I don't need to be overpowered."
I inspected the Gift section of the screen.
Not everyone had a Gift in this world so having one was always a big boon for someone.
Each one was unique and belonged to unique characters as well.
The hero, dense and naïve, had the Plundering gift. It was a broken gift that allowed him to steal Gifts from villains he killed. The gift paired with some early plot armor made the MC snowball so quickly that it broke the power scaling and ruined the pacing of the story right off the bat.
As I thought about various ways to change the story I kept coming to the same conclusion: I had to stop the MC from killing these villains.
I tried various Gifts but each time I chose something I would receive the same feedback from the system.
[Gift not accepted.]
I frowned as I continued trying Gifts. Everything I chose was denied. I had an inkling that a certain someone was purposefully denying my ideas, which got me thinking about what it could be that they wanted from me.
'He wants something entertaining... Wait. Yeah. This could work...'
I realized that the God wasn't looking for efficient or effective changes. They wanted interesting.
So I gave them something that would get them hooked.
[Gift accepted.]
[Adam Wright will undergo awakening.]
[3... 2... 1]
When the timer hit 0 I felt a wave of pain greater than any I had felt before.
My body collapsed and I began to spasm. My insides felt like they were filled with lava and my cells were being pierced by tiny needles filled with electricity.
It got so bad that my brain eventually made the executive decision that if I stayed conscious I would be in danger.
So my vision went dark and I passed out.
****
When I woke up the first thing I noticed was the sticky feeling under me. I slowly forced my eyes open and sat up on the bed.
The back of my shirt clinging to the sheets as I tried sitting up.
I applied a little more force and managed to sit up completely. I stood up and turned to look at the bed. Then I finally saw what the sticky substance was.
'My bed is soaked in blood.'
I turned towards the dresser mirror and confirmed my suspicions.
The novel did say that going through an awakening was a painful experience since it was the process of flooding your cells with mana, but I didn't know it was this bad.
I was relieved that my brain made me pass out otherwise that pain might have been enough to permanently traumatize me.
I turned to head to the bathroom while I summoned my system. I wanted to see if I was at least successful in awakening my Gift.
As I began to undress in the bathroom I smiled as I saw what I was hoping for.
[Name: Adam Wright]
[Gift: Pain Inheritance]
The Gift might sound bad.
And it was. However it also was extremely useful. I could heal someone of their wounds completely, in exchange I would take on their wounds as pain, and I would inherit the experiences they received during their accumulation of their wounds.
This would allow me to save the villains the MC would fight and while I would suffer from the pain it wouldn't actually cause me any harm.
I knew the God would be okay with this because not only was it a unique way to solve the problem but it also meant I would suffer.
This made me have a sort of epiphany: It really wasn't about me as much as it was just a simple exchange.
I needed to suffer but more importantly I needed to make it into a good story.
If they just wanted me to suffer they would have just made it hard for me by not even giving me a Gift. So I rearranged the way I looked at things and felt that it was better this way.
Without having to worry about someone actively getting in my way as long as I played by the rules.
I spent another hour in the bath while I washed away the grime and let the hot water soak into my body. It was so relaxing I almost fell asleep but I forced myself out of the bath since I had important work to do.
After I got changed into my school uniform, which was in my closet, I grabbed my phone and headed out of the apartment for the first time.
When I closed the door behind me in the hallway I made sure to check the number on the door.
[712]
'Room 712. The MC and important characters are all on the floors below me so I guess I won't be running into them 'coincidentally'.'
I entertained the idea of using random bump ins to initiate conversations with the important characters of the story but I had to basically scrap that since I lived on a completely different floor than them.
I didn't worry about it for long as I checked my phone and saw there was only an hour before an important event. I quickly entered the elevator and made my way out of the dorm. After leaving the dorm I made my way towards the street where I hailed a taxi. I hopped in the backseat and asked the driver to take me to the mall located in the center of the city.
As we drove I began to go over the details of the city.
We were in Silver City. It was actually created directly around Gallafrey Academy and was designed around accommodating the students who went to the prestigious academy.
I watched the buildings passing by as I suppressed the nausea I felt rising in my stomach at all the bright lights and 'cute' little animals meant to appeal to teenage girls.
"Fucking disgusting."
I accidentally said aloud, causing the taxi driver to swerve a little before they looked at me in shock through the rearview mirror.
I was about to say something rude but caught my reflection in the mirror and realized that I would be a little shocked at someone as innocent looking as me talking the way I just did.
Thankfully the driver didn't say anything and I just kept my mouth shut so I didn't make things more awkward.
The car started to decelerate and pull to the side. I knew I didn't have to pay, since students had access to public resources like transportation for free, so after I gave the driver my full name he told me I was good.
I thanked him and left the car.
I was thankful to be out of that suffocating situation and turned around slowly.
The place I had been dropped off at was an orphanage in the city. Also the place where I would find one of the most important characters to the story.
...
The final villain.