The System Appears
1687 Words
Pain!
Pain! Pain! Pain!
Beyond the pain was a chasm of fear: I'm going to die, I'll be dead soon. What does death feel like? It surely wouldn't be like traveling through dimensions. From now on, no world would ever know of my existence again. Even this thought, this fear I hold at this moment, will vanish into thin air.
No!
I don't want to die!
Gao Yang struggled to open one eye, squashed under the pressure of the tentacles, and saw something floating in front of him.
It became clear - a translucent hexagon, emitting a faint golden light, spinning quietly as if waiting for someone to touch it.
Gao Yang didn't know what it was, but his instincts told him this was the only struggle he could make before death.
With all his might, he lifted his left hand, inching closer to the airborne hexagon.
Almost there... almost touching it.
"Ah!" Excruciating pain drained the strength from his body, causing his arm to drop.
"Is this what humans are like? The taste of human blood, the scent of humans..." Li Weiwei was overly excited, her voice breathy, "So beautiful! So wonderful!"
Gao Yang's head in Li Weiwei's hand was like an egg, ready to be crushed at the slightest pressure.
She didn't want to destroy him too quickly. She restrained herself, balancing on the edge of crushing her prey's skull. She wanted to savor the fear and despair of a human's final struggle.
These emotions were precious.
She might never have this chance again in her life.
Finally, as the c****x approached, Li Weiwei's body trembled wildly with excitement. "Gao Yang, you're a good person. I like you... I love you..."
"I want you!"
"Give me, please give me everything you have!"
The tentacles' strangling force momentarily loosened, a precursor to a more powerful grip.
Seizing this brief opportunity, Gao Yang violently lifted his hand and hooked his middle finger around the floating hexagon.
【Beep—】
【System Activated】
【Loading User Information...】
【Loading Complete】
【Name: Gao Yang. Age: 18.】
【Gender: Male. Race: Human.】
【Status: Awakened.】
【Talent: Luck. Serial Number: 199. Rune Type: Miracle.】
—Are you a system? Or a cheat? Doesn't matter! I want to use my talent!
Gao Yang couldn't speak, but his thoughts were still recognized by the system.
【Luck is a passive talent and cannot be actively used.】
—Then what use are you! I'm going to die! Save me! Somebody save me!
【Access ending, hiding system.】
【Beep—】
The system disappeared.
It all happened in an instant. The hexagon in front of Gao Yang vanished, and he was left powerless. Filled with regret, but void of hope.
He closed his eyes, waiting for death.
…
Weird! Why am I not dead? Why is the pain starting to subside? Why are the tentacles that were strangling my head gradually weakening their grip?
With a "whoosh," the tentacles slackened and retracted back into Li Weiwei's arms. Gao Yang collapsed to the ground, freed from suffocation and agony, clutching his neck and coughing desperately: "Cough... cough!!"
As he coughed, he looked up. Li Weiwei's arms had returned to normal. Her eyes were wide with confusion and tears: "Why..."
Gao Yang's gaze slid down from Li Weiwei's face to her chest, soaked in blood. Li Weiwei looked at Gao Yang resentfully, reaching out to him with her last strength: "You... are mine..."
With a "swish," a slender Tang sword pierced Li Weiwei's heart from behind. Her body bent backward, like a fish impaled on a spear.
"Move aside," a voice came from behind Li Weiwei.
Trembling, Gao Yang stood up. He finally saw clearly. It was Qing Ling, standing behind Li Weiwei, holding the Tang sword's hilt, maintaining a posture ready to strike.
"Qing Ling? How are you... here?"
"Move!" Qing Ling repeated coldly.
"Okay..." Gao Yang quickly stepped aside.
"Stand behind me," said Qing Ling.
Gao Yang complied.
Qing Ling swiftly withdrew her sword. Blood gushed from Li Weiwei's chest, splattering the road in a crimson spray.
Gao Yang barely held back his nausea, and then noticed that Qing Ling's Tang sword was unblemished, without a single drop of blood.
She held the black hilt in one hand and lightly slid her elongated index finger down the blade with the other. The nearly 60 inches.-long Tang sword disappeared as if folded into another dimension.
Gao Yang was stunned.
Was this magic? Sorcery? Or a supernatural power?
Qing Ling didn't even glance at Gao Yang. "Don't ask anything. Go home immediately. I've already destroyed the nearby surveillance. None of this has anything to do with you."
"But..."
"You know nothing. Say it," Qing Ling's gaze was sharp as a blade.
"I... know nothing."
"Say it again."
"I know nothing."
"Say it again.！"
"I know nothing."
"Good." Qing Ling lightly leaped over the two-meter wall and disappeared into the darkness.
...
Deep into the night, Gao Yang hurriedly left the scene and ran all the way home.
His parents were already asleep, but his sister was still lounging on the sofa, scrolling through her phone. She was startled to see Gao Yang with scars all over his face.
"Wow, what happened to your face?"
"Oh, this..." In his haste to get home, Gao Yang had forgotten about the injuries on his face.
"Aha, I know!" His sister suddenly realized. "You're cosplaying a zombie!"
"Ah, right... exactly!" Gao Yang went along with her words. "This special effects makeup looks real, doesn't it?"
"So real! Just like a real one." His sister smirked playfully.
He couldn't tell when she was being serious or joking.
Anyway, the events that had transpired were so sudden and absurd that he was in complete disarray and didn't have the energy to deal with it. It would be even more troublesome if his parents, who would soon be waking up, saw him like this.
Gao Yang found the first-aid kit in the living room cabinet and hurried to his bedroom. He closed the door, calmed himself down a bit, took out antiseptic and cotton swabs, and disinfected the wounds on his face before applying band-aids. He then disinfected the wound on his arm and wrapped it with a bandage, enduring the pain and sweating profusely throughout the process.
After treating his wounds, Gao Yang lay exhausted on his bed. Fear and shock replaced sadness, and everything that happened tonight felt incredibly surreal.
Li Weiwei... his childhood friend, whom he had known for over a decade. They trusted each other and shared everything. But suddenly, she turned into a man-eating monster?!
Gao Yang preferred to believe that she was eaten by a monster, and the monster was impersonating her, like in the story of Little Red Riding Hood, where the wolf eats the grandmother and then disguises itself as her.
But was it really like that?
Why did the Li Weiwei who tried to kill him still speak like Li Weiwei herself? It seemed like she was just another personality of Li Weiwei.
There were too many confusing aspects.
His wounds still ached slightly. Was he infected? Would he wake up tomorrow morning and become a man-eating monster himself?
Restless, Gao Yang noticed the hexagon floating in the air, appearing out of nowhere.
He sat up and reached out to touch it
【Beep—】
【Entering System】
【Congratulations! You have successfully survived for 3 hours.】
—What's there to congratulate? I almost died!
"You can receive 3 luck points."
—Why?
【Talent: Luck. Serial Number: 199. Rune Type: Miracle.】
【Effect: The talent holder gains 1 luck point for every additional 60 minutes of survival.】
—So that's it. What's the use of luck points?
【The attribute panel has various attribute values. You can use luck points to permanently increase any attribute value.】
—Open the attribute panel.
【Strength: 10, Stamina: 10】
【Power: 10, Agility: 10】
【Spirit: 10, Charm: 10】
【Fortunate: 0】
…
Gao Yang pondered over the system interface. He had played games before and basically understood the six major attributes corresponding to health, defense, attack, speed, magic, and control. As for "Fortunate," it could represent evasion or perhaps the chance of rare item drops?
With just 3 luck points in hand, any addition seemed meager. His gaze returned to the glaring number.
【Fortunate: 0】
—Fortunat? Isn't my talent Luck? What's the difference between the two?
【Luck is a talent. Fortunat is an attribute.】
—That's like saying nothing at all.
—Doesn't seem like the Luck talent is very useful. Can I change it for another?
【No.】
—Open the talent list for me to see.
Instantly, a dense talent table appeared before Gao Yang. He immediately noticed "Serial Number 199," his own "Luck" talent. Strangely, the talents and remarks for serial numbers 198 to 1 were all hidden.
—Why can't I see anything?
【The system cannot display information about unexplored talents.】
—This system is so lame! It's nothing like the systems in web novels.
"Knock, knock, knock." Someone was knocking on the window.
【Access ending, hiding system.】
【Beep—】
Gao Yang sat up abruptly as the system automatically closed.
A shadow opened the window and easily jumped into the room. It was Qing Ling, dressed in her usual training shorts and T-shirt. Under the moonlight, her long limbs appeared white and smooth.
She efficiently kicked off her sneakers and untied her ponytail, letting her black hair cascade down softly, draping over her ample chest.
"You..." Gao Yang started to speak.
Qing Ling gracefully jumped onto the bed, her bare feet pressing on Gao Yang's chest, pushing him back down onto the bed. "I'll ask, you answer."
"Okay..."
"Do you like men or women?"
"Women, women."
"Good." Qing Ling crossed her hands, grabbed the hem of her shirt, and quickly pulled it off, removing her T-shirt."Come on.
- Writer
