Higher beings.

Call them aliens, gods, angels, demons, spirits or what-have-you.

Nobody really knows what they are. Nor if there are multiple of them, or one of them, or if the higher beings have any hierarchy themselves. Except their existance, humanity knows almost nothing about them.

How do we know they exist? Well- the system. One day everyone felt some form of presence now called the system. In exchange for completing various tasks, the system would hand out superpowers like candy on halloween.

Its said over in Japan, on the day the system arrived, half the office workers arrived to their company and threw resignation papers into their employer's faces. The other half? They didn't even bother showing up! On the other hand, the entire European continent rekindled there ambitions of world conquest once again. When other governments tried to stop them with nuclear missiles, a few soldiers with superpowers re-aimed the missiles into deep space. The aftermath is another story.

With the arrival of the system, society changed on all levels. There are superpowers for almost anything, so almost all jobs in the world are now reliant on superpowers. Farmers rely on superpowers that help grow larger or faster crops. Chefs use supersenses- specifically taste- to help perfect cooking. If you have the ability to generate fire or electricity, its incredibly easy to get a well paid job in a power plant.

Most of the superpowers are simple- a slight increase in strength, a slight increase in speed, or tenacity or even memory. Others are far more fantasy like, such as flight, fire breath, projetile deflection. Those are far more rare and harder to obtain though. In order to unlock such amazing powers, you have to do feats worthy of them. As for the specific feat required, it depends on the whims of the system. Perhaps more strictly speaking, the whims of the higher beings.

Today, I have found higher beings are far more whimsical than I could ever have imagined.

Currently, I, Argus Stewart, am meditating. In my head are the constellations of thousands of stars and galaxies and formations spanning an incredible distance. Although the constellations aren't actually made of stars or other forms of celestial bodies. Instead, they are made of nodes of information, highways of communication that connect Earth with the higher plane and the higher beings. This is known as the system's user interface.

Today is different. Today is special. A tiny, blazing red star no larger than a beachball shoots its way towards me from the distance.

This is a subsystem. It's like reciving a personal system from a higher being which promotes one's growth immensely.

-THE SUPER VILLAINY SYSTEM-

[Task: commit a crime.]

[Progress: Incomplete.]

[Rewards: small increase in strength, small increase in tenacity, small increase in speed.]

Nevermind. Today is ordinary. Today is bog-standard. Today is boring.

I sigh. Most people would be ecstatic to get a personal request from the higher beings. But if its an evil system, its best to ignore such tasks entirely. Although ones strength skyrockets by doing such tasks, I'm not such an immoral person.

I refuse.

After dismissing the so-called "super villiany system", I continue meditating in this paracosm.

Five or so minutes later, and I finish my morning meditation with a to-do list.

Breathing exercises, run 15km, swim 5km.

While it might sound like a lot to do in one day, its fairly light when one considers the fact its done with superpowers. And you cannot neglect your daily tasks. They are the foundation of your future strength.

With meditation done, I, Argus stewart, wake up properly. I wouldn't say I look handsome, but I also wouldn't say I look average. Lets say I'm somewhat good looking? Slightly curly short dark brown hair, with blue eyes and an average face. I'm a bit taller than most people so that helps me stand out. After changing out from pyjamas into a uniform, I leave my room and greet my room-mate. He wakes up earlier than me because he has a longer morning routine then me.

That routine being video games.

My roommate, Kyte, returns my greetings and proceeds to finish off what he's doing.

Kyte has elegant white hair thats slightly longer at the back than the rest of his head, as well as strong green eyes. While he currently has a very serious expression on his face, most of the time he looks incredibly relaxed and easygoing.

...Maybe I would feel a bit more confident about my own looks if he wasn't my room-mate.

We both walk to the System Institute for Training, abbreviated as "SIT". Its sort of like a college or university, except specifically for training people in managing the system, and all things system related.

SIT is located on an artificial island, so instead of taking a train like I usually would, I decide I might as well start my swimming now. Its not uncommon to swim to the island for this reason.

I bid my friend a "see you later" at the train station, and head down to the beach below. As early in the morning it is right now, the beach is mainly empty. There are a few surfers and SIT cadets here and there waiting around, and a few more in the sea.

Since I'm not waiting for anyone, I dip into the water myself and start swimming.

Underwater breathing sounds fun. Maybe I should deliberately do some dives to try and stimulate a system task for one?

It may be a dumb thought, but the distance from here to SIT is far less then 5 kilometers, so I don't have anything to lose by diving around a bit.

Eventually I reach the island SIT is built on. This island has no sand, so I just climb up the rungs that are located everywhere on the walls of the island. After climbing up onto the island, I head to the entrance of the institute. The uniform doubles as a combat suit, so naturally its built to swim in as well. The excess water will evaporate in the wind by the time I reach the main entrance, so there is no need to dry myself with towels or anything.

And as expected, I didn't get a task for underwater breathing. Oh well, maybe If I keep doing it ernestly somebeing will respond.

I walk through the main entrance.

The first room you see in SIT is a large hall. On the sides and back of the hall are various corridors and stairs that take you through the various facilities and lecture halls SIT has to offer. A cafateria, a library, both an indoor and outdoor gymnasium and many lecture halls are some of the more ordinary rooms SIT incoorperates. Allthough I have not yet personally seen them, I've heard the deep underground rooms are far more extrodinary, comprising of research labs and artificial envoronment rooms.

I find Kyte, and make my way to one of the lecture halls. Specifically, one for law.

There are many courses SIT has to offer, and two are mandatory. The first is system management- how to use the system efficiently, and the second is law. I recall the incident this morning with the contact from the higher being. The reason law is mandatory is for reasons like that, to try and keep order in society.

While there are occasional topics of interest in law, most of law is fairly boring.

The morning flies past, and its now evening, in the final lecture of the day. Suddenly, everyone in the room perks up. Me included.

Theres a strong sense of the intent of a higher being nearby. No, not nearby, but everywhere. The lecture is stopped and everyone starts to meditate- including the lecturer.

Inside the cosmos known as the system's user interface, A golden comet the size of a planet rolls in the distance. I can see small rocks and boulders break apart from the comet and disperse out everywhere. This phenomina occurs when a higher being is issuing a task to many people at once. It isn't given to everyone in the vicinity, but sometimes so many as two out of three people will get the task.

A golden rock approaches me. Despite the fact I'm currently meditating, I can still feel my hands shake in excitement.

However, before the rock can reach me, a vaguely familiar light flies out from behind me. The light is about the size of a beachball, and has a red hue.

The light collides with the rock and expands, seemingly swallowing the rock whole. Then it returns to its original size and flies back to me.

-THE SUPER VILLAINY SYSTEM-

[Task: commit a crime.]

[Progress: Incomplete.]

[Rewards: small increase in strength, small increase in tenacity, small increase in speed.]

This...

It blocked the other task from reaching me?

I lose concentration and my consciousness falls back into my body in the lecture hall. I'm stunned.

That isn't meant to happen. I've never even heard of one subsystem swallowing another subsystem before.

An uncomfortable cold spreads round my stomach.

This... villiany subsystem... it's going to go away, right?