"Before the Towers fell, before everything was consumed by darkness..."
A young man whispered while traversing through rubble of the tall structure.
His body bore the scars of survival, bite marks that throbbed against the coarse, blood-stiffened fabric of his clothing.
"...I wonder what the world was like."
thud
He clutched a heavy book in his hands. However, with an accidental slip, it hit the ground, alerting the nearby guards.
"We found him! Release the hounds!"
As soon as he heard their screams, Leo ran into the thick forest, hoping to somehow lose them again.
Not for a moment did the thought of looking back cross his mind. The precious few seconds were too valuable to lose.
AWOOO!
Cold howls of the tracking hounds rang in his ears.
'Looks like they still don't take my escape seriously.'
The heavy book slowed him down considerably, but leaving it behind was not a choice.
It was a keepsake he had gotten from his late parents, and the only thing keeping him going.
If not for the fact that the system revealed itself, urging him to escape, he would meet the same fate as them.
'What now??? Why would you tell me to run if you won't help me!'
His heavy breathing drowned out the sound of bats flying past him.
squeak squeak squeak
The sound of the bats' wings grew louder, until they formed into a vampire right in front of him, blocking his path.
As the monster bared its fangs and opened its mouth, Leo hurled a handful of garlic into its throat.
"AGH!"
The herb worked like napalm on the vampire, leaving its insides scorched, and its regeneration ability momentarily stopped.
For the first time in 652 years a human had stood up to their rulers.
But Leo couldn't stop moving. The chance he created bought him the most valuable resource.
Time
'It worked! Just like in the book! **It worked!!!**'
Until right now, he wasn't even sure if what the book said was truthful.
Having mentioned a story in which one of the heroes used garlic and wooden stakes to kill Dracula, the king of vampires.
[Do you seek greater power?]
[Yes] [No]
Nowhere in the books was it stated that the system had an ability to converse. It was merely a tool that allowed one to get stronger.
Even though Leo understood that, he knew one thing. It made this situation a reality.
With newfound confidence, he pressed "Yes", making the window disappear as quickly as it appeared.
gasp, gasp
It was getting harder to breathe as his frail body trembled.
An opportunity appeared in the form of a crack in the stone wall nearby, being barely big enough for him to fit inside.
His thin body barely squeezed into a dimly lit cave.
Two paths revealed themselves, both identical in their uncertainty.
[Go left]
[Go right]
'Two contradicting messages?'
Echoing squeaks spread as the vampires got closer, making him choose the left tunnel.
With each step into the unknown he got deeper and deeper, hoping that he made the right decision.
thud
He hit his head against the rock wall, cutting himself right on the forehead.
The smell of blood attracted the swarm of bats chasing him, almost as if they were sharks in the water.
'Why did you make me come here! It didn't lead anywhere.'
Feeling betrayed, Leo slammed his fists against the wall, the weight of impending doom catching up to him.
"Maybe I'm the dumb one for believing in it."
Tears streamed down his face. How could he be so stupid, so naive to believe that after almost a millennium, the system would bless them again.
Two swarms of bats circled closer, their screeching voices rising in heated arguments.
Slowly, they formed into two vampires, who wouldn't stop arguing why they deserved to eat this prey
"I was the one who found him!"
"But look what he did to me!"
The wounded one's argument sounded more appealing.
With a nod of approval from its unhappy brethren, it lunged towards him.
Leo tried to throw garlic again, hoping it would work.
But due to the vampire taking him seriously now, it closed its mouth in time, making the herbs bounce right off.
'I will at least take one of you with me!'
His heartbeat rose drastically as he sunk a hidden stake deep into its body.
Even though a vampire should be around level 400, stakes were the only thing able to penetrate them, but not kill due to their regeneration.
According to the legend, it was due to a selfish choice by Count Dracula to curse his kin
Due to garlic stopping its regeneration, its body couldn't defend against the killing strike..
Seeing its friend die, the other vampire screamed in anger and lunged at Leo.
CRASH!
Blood splattered everywhere as it pinned the man to the ground.
'It hurts so much!'
Intense cold pain spread through his entire body. Its sheer intensity made every other injury he had ever suffered feel insignificant.
Sense of inferiority and cruelty boiled within him, mixing with the emotions inside.
Sadness, anger, fear, jealousy. All of those things made him laugh and cry at the same time of the cruel predicament he found himself in.
'There is no way to fight those monsters, not even in a 1 000 years!'
[How about 700 years in the past?]
[Yes] [No]
After the not so helpful previous interaction, he wasn't too sure if answering it was safe.
But it's not like he could do anything else, seeing his attacker readying to strike him again.
With a trembling hand and eyes still overflowing with tears, he pressed 'Yes'.
[One time Regression loading]
[10]
[9]
...
Bright light lit up the entire cave, blinding both of them momentarily.
Leo thrust both of his arms forward, curling them into fists.
"Fuck you."
The fists became middle fingers, both pointing right at the vampire's face.
...
[1]
[0]
As the counter reached zero, the light got even brighter, almost burning.
His body and the book began disintegrating, turning into nothing but dust beneath the monster.
[One time Regression activated]
In as much time as it would take someone to blink, Leo found himself in a dark alley between tall rectangular objects.
Previously abundant bite marks began to disappear without a trace, and all of his wounds closed up.
'Where am I? What happened? Did it really work?'
Adrenaline slowly started disappearing from his blood, letting him assess the situation.
Rectangles tall enough to scrape the sky surrounded him like trees in a forest
Everything felt otherwordly and familiar at the same time.
BEEP!
Leo sprinted from the alley, drawn toward the strange sound. He stumbled onto a busy road and its chaos.
Different lights and billboards confused him, but not as much as something so simple yet so unbelievable.
People walking around, not bound by shackles of someones orders, truly free to do what they wanted.
In the distance, looming like a dark shadow over the city... The Tower, the very source of his suffering.
"I did it... It worked!"
He shouted, startling the people around him. But that didn't matter to him as he was given a chance he wouldn't dare to lose.
[Congratulations. You've activated the Heart of The System]