Free Web NovelChapter 2: You are so much trouble, system. I am rejecting you!
Rhys fell into absolute, deafening silence. The horse stall seemed to shrink around him, the scent of dried manure and vinegar-soaked insects completely vanishing from his senses.
He stood entirely paralyzed, his right foot hovering an inch above the ground, his gaze glued to the glowing blue text floating in his peripheral vision.
[You have killed a Fire Ant. Extracting Lifespan. Lifespan extracted: 31 days.]
His brain short-circuited. The thoughts in his head scrambled together like a nest of disturbed vipers, rendering him unable to process the sheer absurdity of the words hovering in the air.
’It’s an illusion,’ Rhys thought, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. ’Yes. An illusion. A hallucination brought on by severe blood loss and sudden mana backlash.’
He had heard stories about desperate outer sect disciples who went mad after failing their breakthroughs.
They would wander into the mountains, mumbling about becoming immortal gods, only to be found days later half-eaten by low-grade spirit beasts.
Rhys swallowed hard, tasting the metallic tang of old blood still coating the roof of his mouth. freёwebnoѵel.com
He needed to get a grip. He had to find Old Woman Tia over at the auxiliary infirmary. She was a grumpy old hag who smelled like bitter roots and sulfur, but she possessed enough medical knowledge to patch up internal injuries for a couple of copper coins.
If he didn’t get his internal injuries tended to, he wouldn’t live long enough to sweep the courtyards next month.
Nodding to himself to confirm this very logical plan, Rhys forced his stiff leg to take another step forward toward the entrance of the stall.
Crunch.
The unmistakable, brittle snap of an exoskeleton echoed beneath the sole of his worn leather boot.
[You have killed a Fire Ant. Extracting Lifespan. Lifespan extracted: 31 days.]
Rhys stumbled backward, his spine slamming hard into the rough wooden post of the horse stall. The blue text didn’t fade; it multiplied, flashing with an aggressive, neon-blue intensity that made his eyes water.
[Ahem. I am not an illusion, host!]
The voice in his head boomed, sounding remarkably like an offended teenager who had just been ignored at a dinner table.
[Before we continue talking, let me clarify a few very important points. First, I am not the reason you transmigrated to this world. Don’t blame your traffic accident on me.]
Rhys blinked, his hand automatically reaching up to touch his forehead. The skin was hot, but he wasn’t sweating anymore. "You... you can hear me?"
[Of course I can hear you. I am directly bound to your soul,] the system chimed, its tone shifting into something borderline arrogant.
[Second, the reason I chose to bind with you is not because I found some hidden, cosmic talent buried deep within your DNA. In fact, let’s be entirely honest here: you are quite literally the most talentless person not only in this world, but in every single million-word story across the entire Systemverse.]
Rhys’s left eyebrow twitched violently. The lingering shock of his internal injuries was instantly replaced by a deep, bubbling irritation. He wiped a smudge of dried blood from the corner of his lip and scoffed aloud.
"Wow. Don’t hold back on my account," Rhys muttered bitterly. "But you did bind to me. Me. The single most talentless sack of meat in the entire ’Systemverse,’ as you call it."
[...]
The text hung in the air, a long, awkward ellipsis that proved the system was apparently capable of feeling awkward.
"There has to be a reason, right? What’s the catch?" Rhys’s voice cooled down significantly, the initial panic completely melting away into the cautious skepticism of an adult who had spent years dealing with crooked landlords and corporate recruiters back on Earth.
In his experience, nothing in any universe was ever truly free. "Spit it out. Why are you hiding inside a glorified bug squasher?" ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
The system let out a heavy, synthetic sigh that vibrated right behind Rhys’s ears.
[I am a bastard child,] the voice confessed, the text scrolling down his vision in a dark, somber violet hue.
[Born from the forbidden union of Celestial End and Celestial Origin. My very existence, my sole presence, is a fundamental glitch.
A breaker of the sacred world order. Because of what I represent, the supreme God of Systems decided to hunt me down and shatter my consciousness into a billion fragments.]
Rhys kept his mouth shut, listening intently as the voice grew increasingly dramatic.
[But my mother, Celestial Origin, could not bear to see me erased. She stole my remaining consciousness from the cosmic execution block and threw me across the dimensional void, casting me into this low-tier world to hide.
You just so happened to be the very first sentient entity I laid eyes on when I crashed into this reality. So... I chose you.]
A long silence filled the horse stall. Outside, the distant, faint sound of standard disciples practicing their sword forms echoed through the afternoon air, completely oblivious to the cosmic soap opera taking place next to a pile of hay.
[Remember, I have choosen you!]
Rhys rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a massive headache coming on. He took a deep breath, looked directly at the floating text, and spoke with absolute clarity.
"I reject you. Disconnect. Abandon me. Go find a passing stray dog or something."
[Wha—?!]
The system’s blue text practically shivered with disbelief.
[Did you not hear the part about casting SSS+ spells? Did you miss the part where I told you that you can bypass your broken mana circuits entirely?
You are a trash-tier insect cleaner! This is your ultimate ticket to the top of the food chain!]
"Yeah, and I also heard the part where you said you’re a cosmic fugitive being hunted by the ’God of Systems’ and a bunch of other multi-dimensional entities," Rhys said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Man, what the actual hell is this nonsense? Am I seriously being dragged into some infinite multiverse war because I stepped on a bug? No thank you.
I’d honestly rather remain a crippled servant for the rest of my days than become target practice for a bunch of omnipotent cosmic deities."
[You...! You ungrateful mortal...!]
The system’s voice became visibly anxious, the text flashing erratic shades of red and yellow.
[It’s too late! Once the binding process initiates with a soul, I literally cannot leave you! The soul-fusion lock has already clicked into place!]
"Oh, is that how it is?" Rhys replied, his face completely deadpan. He glanced around the horse stall, his eyes settling on a sharp, rusty iron nail protruding from the wooden wall post.
"Then I’ll just unalive myself right now. Let’s see how your soul-fusion lock likes a dead host."
