Years Later

"It's been twenty years since the war. To think this building is still standing," A man stood hunched over, covered in wounds.

He had been on the run for a while now. When monsters became more frequent because of a giant rift in the Earth's Core, the world as they knew it ceased to exist. The world became a horror scene; people died, crime ensued, and war broke out between countries.

It was like this for a while until the hero appeared with his comrades. It was as though he was an angel sent by God. He eradicated most of the threats, brought together humanity, and created a new Earth. Monsters still existed on Earth, while most were in places people call dungeons.

Afterward, the hero created the Hero Guild for those who gained abilities during the disaster. Of course, not everyone joined. Instead, all over the world, other guilds started to form. Some became the hero's enemies, while others allied with him.

The wounded man once allied, relied on, and even looked up to him. He was later betrayed and kicked from the guild. But that's a story left for another time. For now, the man needed someplace to hide. The wounds he acquired after a run-in with a monster in the woods were beginning to fester.

He approached a building covered in overgrown vines and searched for a door to the inside. He managed to find the knob and struggled to turn it. After a few shoves from turning the knob, the door finally jerked open, causing him to stumble a bit.

Closing the door behind him, he grunted from the pain and slid down the closest counter to the floor. Resting his head against the counter, he tore at the sleeve of his right arm and wrapped it around his injured left arm. 

He gritted his teeth to keep from making a sound and finally relaxed once the makeshift bandage was in place.

After resting his eyes for a bit, he took that time to look at his surroundings. It was dark, and there was no lighting except for what seeped through the shuttered metal windows. The man lifted himself using the counter to get a better look. This place must have been a lab at one point.

He turned his head and noticed something rectangular lying on the surface. The light from the window shined directly on it, so he could see it was a tablet. A tablet existed in a world where tech like it no longer existed? Not only that, but the vines that grew seemed to have fused with it.

It was strange to see. As a scientist, something like this was unexplained. He reached out to touch the screen, barely hovering over it.

Lines of electricity shocked his finger, which caused him to snatch his hand back.

What the hell was that? He sucked at his finger and watched the screen on the tablet light up.

He could make out the words on the screen.

[System Rebooting...0% until reboot completed.]

System rebooting? What does that mean?

[System Reboot Completed!]

There was a face on the screen when it came to life. While the screen background was blood red.

(System's Point of View)

I felt like I slept for a long time. The last thing I remembered was thinking about revenge, then nothing. Did my data core overload? It's possible.

Besides that, who is the human over there?

[Scanning human life form...]

What? That's never happened before? When did I have such a feature?

[Data on the human has been collected.]

A projected screen appeared between us. Judging from the human's reaction, he could also see it. On-screen, I could see the information about the human life form.

Data Collected:

Name: Kyoto Yen 

Age: 29

Occupation: Genius Scientist 

Rank: E

Future Rank Growth: S

Skills:

Research-D Rank

Data Analysis-C Rank

Procedures-A Rank

A scientist with a future Rank Growth of S? Did I just hit the jackpot? I could use him for my revenge. But before that, I should collect more information.

Now that I'm getting a better look at him, he looks injured. I wonder if I have anything to help him. If I help him, he may be willing to tell me more about what's happening. I wonder if I still have that function. Since I have been rebooted, I should take a look.

I searched my database and learned a few things about my reboot. First, I had a new interface. Second, my knowledge was worldwide thanks to the vines attached to me. Lastly, the limit set on me no longer existed, and I had new skills.

Finally, I stumbled upon the shop system. It looked brand new and reformed from before. It looks like items are bought with points. I seem to have access to some points from before I overloaded. I'll look into that some other time.

For now, let's heal this human.

I used the twenty points I had for a Low-Grade Health Potion. This human will owe me his life for having to waste precious points.

The health potion appears out of the screen and floats before the human.

 

System: [Take this human.]

 

Kyoto Yen wasn't sure what was happening, but there was no way he would turn down the goodwill of another. He received the health potion and took it instantly. He watched in awe as most of his wounds disappeared.

Since it was a Low-Grade potion his more serious wounds left a few scars. Afterward, he turned his attention to the tablet watching him.

"So, what are you?" He asked.

 

System: [Does a system not exist on Earth any longer? I am what some would call a System. Tell me, how long has it been?]

 

To think a system from the past still existed after all those years. It looks like he has a lot of things to tell it. So Kyoto took the time to tell the system about the twenty years it slept, even mentioning that systems no longer existed.

 

System: [I see. It must be the work of God to replace something old with something new. The heroes no longer rely on Systems but on mana. And instead of one hero, there are now many hunters. I missed a lot.]

 

"That's right, dungeons were created and the world changed. I heard that all systems were erased by God himself. He also no longer speaks to the hero, the hunters rely on becoming an Apostle of several Gods instead of just one." Kyoto explained.

It looks like God has been busy. I cannot take my revenge as fast as I had hoped. In a world that has changed, I need to become stronger. The only way for a system to grow in a changing world was to gather resources and subordinates.

I grow stronger by making others strong and thanks to my new upgrade I have no limit on how many people I can raise.

I should start with this human, a scientist is detrimental to my plans for the future. If I need someone to help keep me maintained then it would be better to recruit a scientist to do so. It's hard to figure out his background, I wonder what his relationship is with the former hero? It was something I would not be able to find in my database.

As time goes by I will learn more about him, for now, I should recruit him before anyone else has a chance to steal him. To find out more about the world and more about myself, I'll need him.

Kyoto felt awkward in the silence that followed, he had a feeling that the system was studying him.

In all his life he never knew he'd find himself in such a predicament, as a scientist a discovery like this was a huge chance. If he could study more about this system it would make headway in the world of science!

No, he couldn't let the world know about this, it would just be satisfying enough to be the one to discover an ancient being such as this one.

 

System: [Human, do you currently affiliate with anyone?]

 

Kyoto shook his head in answer, "No, the person I used to affiliate with betrayed me." He admitted.

 

System: [Then how about working for me? I am currently in need of a scientist with your skills. You've seen it for yourself, your future ranking ability, right? If you work for me, I can help you grow, since that is what a system can do.]

 

Kyoto didn't expect to receive such an offer. He indeed saw with his own eyes what he could accomplish in his future. He wasn't sure what other things this system could do, but he couldn't turn down this opportunity.

"I accept," there was no hesitation.

[System completed a hidden task; Recruit the genius scientist, Kyoto Yen. Reward: 20 points| Beginner Scientist Package obtained.]

This was how I learned that I had tasks to complete and that it was possible to achieve a hidden task.