I slowly opened my eyes, slightly wincing as a bright light flooded my vision. It took me a few moments to fully adapt to the light, but I was eventually able to fully open them and take a look at the ruined room where I had fought that giant golem. Nearly all of the bookshelves had toppled over, the torn remains of books were scattered everywhere on the floor, and the ground was covered with rubble. The walls that were hidden behind the bookshelves were no better than anything else in the room; deep cracks ran rampant through the stone almost resembling a spider web and parts of the wall were already falling off. It was a miracle that the room had not completely collapsed yet.

While looking around the room, I saw the corpses, or would it be more apt to call them remains, of the four mechanoids that I had successfully felled, and contrary to the state of the room, it looked like they were in pristine condition. Weirdly, their armor still shone with a sparkle reminiscent of freshly polished metal despite having been in an arduous battle in a room matted with dust. I quickly disregarded this, as the only important thing to me was the fact that they were dead, and simply continued to scan the room to see if anything else had changed.

I searched for many minutes, but I found nothing. No new passageway, no staircase, no hidden door, nothing. Apart from being in ruins, the room was no different than how it was before.

‘What am I supposed to do now? How am I supposed to progress now? I’m not so optimistic to believe that the way out would magically appear before me, but I expected at least something to happen after I defeated the guardian.’ I thought for a bit. ‘Wait, how could this place even detect that I had managed to defeat the guardian?’ I looked around the room again, this time trying to search for a particular something. ‘I don’t see any surveillance devices and I don’t feel any presence other than my own so it shouldn’t be possible to visually confirm the defeat of the guardian. There must be something else that I am missing.’

I tried to recount what had happened since I entered the room because I thought I could get some kind of clue on how to proceed. ‘When I entered, nothing happened until I stepped over that giant gem in the floor. When I did so, the gem glowed faintly and 3 automatons appeared… Perhaps the gem might do something differently now that I’ve already triggered it once.’ I flew to the gem, landing right beside it, before intently gazing at the gem. It did not look any different than the first time I saw it. Disregarding the unchanged appearance of the gem, I laid one of my talons on the edge of the gem. When I did so, I heard a very familiar click echo through the room. Unlike the first two times I heard this sound, this time actually did something other than put me on edge.

The room began violently trembling causing the cracks in the wall to enlarge and soon enough, entire portions of the walls were falling off. It was apparent that the walls would not last for much longer, and once the walls collapsed, the already broken ceiling would also fall down. Perhaps I could have stayed in the room and dodged the crumbing ceiling as I had before when the giant golem appeared, or I could also leave the room.

There was no time to hesitate in making my choice. I immediately spread my wings and took to the air before flying toward the veil of darkness that covered the entrance to the room. I decided that it would be safer to retreat from the room because while it would be possible in theory, that was only if the ceiling fell in parts; it is also completely possible that the entire ceiling would fall as one large piece. In the latter scenario, I would not be able to dodge it and the rubble would have crushed me to death. When I was about a few meters from the door, I heard a thunderous cracking noise coming from above me. I realized what it was without even looking at where the sound came from: the walls had finally given in and the ceiling was collapsing.

I beat my wings harder to raise my horizontal flying speed before starting a dive. At this point, I intuitively knew the ceiling was close to hitting the ground, while I was 40 centimeters away from the door. Whether I got crushed or made it out would be decided by mere milliseconds. A twentieth of a second later, I was 20 centimeters while the ceiling was nearly right over me. Another twentieth of a second passed, and now the distance from me to the door was 3 centimeters while the collapsing ceiling was barely off the top of my head. I amassed my energy and gave one last push of speed, causing me to barrel through the darkness and crash-land in the corridor. Immediately after I passed through the door, a loud crash came from the room… I had made it out alive again.

‘Ow, that really hurt.’ I winced in pain as I lay on the ground. After some time passed, the pain began to dissipate and I was about to stand back up on my talons. ‘Phew that was close… Already my fifth near-death situation since I got turned into a crow. No matter, that is only a fraction of the amount I have experienced in my old body. Ugh, thinking about that fills me with rage! Why did I decide they were trustworthy enough to work with them!’ My head was clouded with rage until I finally was able to calm down a bit. ‘*sigh* Now is not the time to think about that. I have to focus on getting stronger if I want to get my revenge.’

I spread out my wings and was about to take off, but then the darkness covering the entrance to the room where I fought the guardians disappeared and a set of large locked doors replaced it. Right after the darkness disappeared, I heard a voice resounding behind me.

“Congratulations on passing the trial young crow.” The voice said. I was shocked by the voice as I had not detected any presence in the room other than my own. I hurriedly turned around, but I saw nothing there. “There is no point looking for me. I am physically not in the room, only my voice is.” The voice revealed as if it had seen me in real time turn around.

‘Who are you?! Show yourself right now!’ I tried saying, but the only thing that came out of my mouth was “Caw caaaww caawwww caawwww!”

“Patience, young crow, no need to be that agitated.” I began to grow angry seeing that I was being treated like a child throwing a tantrum. Seemingly ignoring my agitation, the voice continued. “By the time you hear my voice, it has been a long time since my passing from this world and into the next.” The voice calmly announced.

“Caw! Caw! Caaww!! Caaaawwwwwww!” (‘I don’t believe you! Humans cannot be trusted! They are a bunch of greedy, good-for-nothing, and destructive creatures that feed off others' misfortunes and actively exploit others to do their bidding. You are surely deceiving me and waiting for a chance to catch me off guard.’) I responded.

“Serenity young crow, I assure you that I am telling the truth.” The voice reassured me, somehow knowing the meaning behind my series of caws.

“Caw! Caaaaw!” (If you really were dead, how can you understand me and even provide answers to my questions?!) I objected.

“It was through the power that I gained in my journey. It is a power called prophecy, and it allows me to view visions of the future. Thanks to this power, I foresaw this exact event, thus allowing me to preemptively know what you will ask.” The voice answered.

“Caww! Cawww!” (I still don’t believe you! Who are you in the first place!?) I angrily snapped.

“I knew you would not believe me, but it was worth an attempt.” The voice paused for a moment, seemingly disappointed. “My name does not matter right now, there are more pressing matters for me to address. I only have a limited time and I want to make the most of it. As such, I will not be answering any of the questions I know you will have.” The voice did not give me a chance to respond before continuing.

“This world is called Celestria. It is a world filled with many miracles and wonders, not just in the natural world, but also in the townscape. Each new location is riddled with new sights and experiences, each one as spectacular as the last. Right now, you are in the forest considered to be the most dangerous location in my time. It is located right in the center of this continent and borders all the lands of all 8 kingdoms. It does not have a formal name; instead, it is commonly referred to as the Forest of Death, but enough about that. In my time, all the kingdoms are at peace with each other, but my power tells me that this will not be the case in the future. Despite this, I still consider the world beautiful but I foresee an extremely unpleasant threat that could endanger this world.” The voice began to slowly fade away. “My time is running short… The complete transcription of my prophecy that you were looking for lies right down these stairs.”

When he said that, the room rumbled causing the bookshelves to tremble; no, only one bookshelf moved at all. Just as suddenly as the rumbling appeared, it came to a stop. The room was unchanged except there was one bookshelf that was gone, as if it had been sucked up by the floor, revealing a staircase down. Right when the rumbling subsided, the voice continued; however, at this point, the voice had nearly completely faded away and I could just barely catch its last remarks. “Good luck little crow, and I hope you will help protect this world in my absence.” Then silence…

My head was racing with thoughts as I digested what the voice had explained. Although I still did not fully trust whoever it was, I figured that the information they gave would be somewhat relevant or useful.

‘So I really am in another world… I figured this was the case. Oh well, I never had any attachment to my old world anyway, what was it called again? I can’t remember. It doesn’t really matter what the name of it was in the first place. The only grievance I have for not being in that world anymore is that I cannot exact my vengeance on them anymore.’ I paused my thoughts to sigh. ‘It’s no use thinking about that right now, the only thing that matters right now is getting stronger.’

I focused on the newly revealed staircase and inspected it for any danger. There was nothing in there that triggered any of my instincts, so I proceeded toward it, still wary that something could have gone unnoticed. I slowly flew down the stairs until I reached a large, open room barren of any sort of decorations or furniture apart from a marble pedestal in the center of the room. Atop that pedestal sat a small book. I flew to the book and used my talons to prod the book a few times to scout for any traps. Nothing happened, so I opened the books, careful not to tear any pages. I turned to the first page and started reading it.

Those who consume the Seed of Chaos gain incredible powers. They could either repel or accelerate the onset of the Apocalypse depending on their reception and moral values. If they are the latter, then entire countries will be destined to fall under the incredible powers and malice of these people. Despair will be commonplace as monsters everywhere receive a newfound burst of strength and overpower any adversaries. Only the savior has the ability to repel this situation, but an even greater evil is brewing. Many will try to stop the savior from fulfilling their goal of liberating the world of monsters, and if they prevail, the imminent resurrection of the evil deity will be unstoppable. The world will be plunged into darkness as monsters destroy every civilization of this world. Despite this threat, there are even bigger mysteries that plague these lands that could cause the end of the world quicker than the evil deity could resurrect. Mysteries, big enough that even the fabric of reality gets torn. Everything people have accepted as a given will be flipped and civilizations will be forced to claw their way up from the depths of the abyss.

I flipped the page.

Intruders are coming to terrorize this world

The horrors of the past shall bring ruin to the lands

The abandoned future shall return to get its revenge

The guardians of yore have all rebelled

I turned to the last page of the book and saw a map of what I assumed to be this world of Celestria. The map depicted a giant continent divided into 8 parts, each labeled as a different kingdom or territory. Apart from that, there was also a central area that was labeled “Forest of Death” which is where I presumably was. Inside that area, I saw two red X marks. I was confused about what the X indicated as the map had no legend, but suddenly the marks started to fade away. As soon as the marks had completely faded, another set of marks appeared in two different locations. I stored the locations of the marks in my memories in case they were important.

Suddenly, the book started glowing and after a couple of seconds, it had completely disappeared.

Congratulations Host for clearing the tutorial dungeon [Ancient Archives]! As a result of your successful conquest, you have unlocked the ability to access your status!

The voice that I had not heard since entering the dungeon announced, making me even more suspicious of them than I was before.

‘How do you know the name of this dungeon? What are you hiding? Was that voice in the dungeon your creator? What do you want from me?’ I asked.

To answer your questions in order, all of these dungeons were created to help you grow stronger, and as your personal system, it is obvious that I would know the names of these dungeons! I can’t tell you what exactly I am hiding from you until you get strong enough to hear it. That voice you heard was not my creator, he was an apostle of an acquaintance of my creator. Lastly, the only thing I want from you is to get stronger.

The voice answered.

‘Why do you want me to be stronger in the first place?!’

I cannot tell you that at the moment Host… The only thing I can say is that it is to prepare you for the future.

‘How can I trust you then, if you are so willing to hide information from me.’ I venomously spat.

Because I am your personalized system! My entire existence is centered around you and I swear that I will never betray you or use you like that previous organization that you were in.

Hearing that, I instantly heightened my guard. ‘How did you know about them!? Did you read my memories?!’

No, my creator just told me of a bit of your background, so that’s how I knew.

‘Your creator?! Who in the world is your creator in the first place?!”

I cannot answer that question, Host. The only thing I can say about them is that they are a higher being with power matching their status. Oh, that’s right! I almost forgot that you unlocked the ability to see your status! Here, I’ll pull it up for you to see!

‘Hey wait, I’m not done with q-’ Suddenly, a transparent window appeared in front of me.

[Name]: Aiyana

[Level]: 9/15

[Race]: Bird

[Species]: Crow

[Job]: Locked

[Skills]:

Peck Lv.2

Scratch Lv.3

Flight Lv.7

Danger Detection Lv.4

Presence Sense Lv.3

Night Vision Lv.3

[Available Skills]:

Stealth

[Unique Skills]:

Time manipulation (proficiency: 1)

SP: 95

[Titles]:

Reincarnator

Survivor

[Ancient Archives] Conqueror

Here is your status, Host! It’s very similar to the video games in your world, but unlike those statuses, there is no numerical value assigned to your capabilities. After all, you know your body and its limits the best, so there is no need for any numerical value to determine that for you! I’ll explain everything to you very quickly! [Name] is self-explanatory, Level is a measure of how close you are to evolving. That second number is the level you need to reach while the first number is your current level. Levels can in part be a measure of strength. Each time you level up, you will gain a bit of power, but heed my words, Host, do not solely rely on levels to get stronger. Training normally can also raise your power in more ways than one. Training not only increases your natural parameters, but it also increases your proficiency for skills. I’ll talk about that in greater detail later.

Next up, your race is simply what race you belong to at that stage of your evolution. There are many races in this world such as forestkin, beastkin, human, angel, demon, faeriekin, and many more. All the races have different talents and qualities that give them certain advantages. As for [Species], it’s like a subcategory for [Race]. Many different species can belong to the same, [Race] even if they have vastly different capabilities or traits. [Species] imparts a set of natural talents or skills that other species in the same race might not get.

Now we get into the juicy part, [Skills]. Skills are in a sense a measure of talent in a specific thing. As I alluded to earlier, the level of skills increases if you have enough proficiency in using them. The only way to increase proficiency is to frequently use them while also figuring out their limitations or their potential. Skills enhance your natural talent or capabilities depending on the level they are. Even if you don’t have any talent for something, you can still acquire a skill for it, and eventually you’ll become a professional at that something! Once a skill reaches a high enough level, it has the ability to evolve into an enhanced version of the skill. Although the level will reset back to 1, the enhanced version even at level 1 is typically better than the base version at max level. There are many different skills that can be obtained, ranging from skills for weapon handling like Swordsmanship to something more mundane like Cooking. As for [Available Skills], those are skills that you are nearly about to obtain just by practicing whatever the skill is. You will soon obtain those skills naturally, so there is no need to spend any SP on them. SP stands for Skill Points and can be used to buy skills in the shop. Upon evolving or reaching adulthood, you gain 50 points. After that, in a base form, you will get 5 points per level up. There are many skills you can buy in the Skill Shop with the price based on how difficult it is to learn the skill and how powerful the skill is. Finally for [Unique Skills], I’ll let you figure out what those are on your own. You should be able to, given the hints in that book you collected. Oh right, I forgot to tell you that I stored the book for you.

Lastly [Titles] are an achievement for accomplishing a specific feat or meeting certain conditions. Each title has a certain effect, most of them being beneficial to you. Now that all that is out of the way, I’ll give you the details of all your skills and titles. Do you have any questions so far?

Despite receiving all that information in a short amount of time, I was able to comprehend everything that the voice said. That didn’t mean I trusted it fully yet, but I stored it in my memory in case it was indeed accurate information. The only thing I was confused about was, ‘What is a video game?’