The Cursed System: Rise of the Weakest

Chapter2

THE CURSED SYSTEM: Rise of the Weakest

CHAPTER 2 — THE BOY FROM TOMORROW

"Tomorrow morning, everyone you love will die."

Aarav couldn't breathe.

The ruined temple had gone completely silent.

The man standing beyond the broken black door had Aarav's face.

The same eyes.

The same voice.

But he looked years older.

A deep scar crossed his face, his clothes were covered in blood, and a black chain wrapped around his right wrist.

The stranger stared at Aarav.

"And you're the one who kills them."

Aarav stepped backward.

"No."

The stranger didn't move.

"That's impossible."

"I thought so too."

"Who are you?"

The man smiled.

"You already know."

"No."

"My name is Aarav."

Aarav's blood turned cold.

"You're lying."

"Am I?"

The stranger stepped into the light.

Aarav immediately noticed the symbols glowing on the black chain around his wrist.

They were identical to the symbols carved into the temple.

The System appeared.

[WARNING.]

[UNKNOWN ENTITY DETECTED.]

[DO NOT TRUST HIM.]

The stranger looked directly at the floating screen.

Then he laughed.

Aarav froze.

"You can see it?"

"Of course."

"How?"

The stranger raised his hand.

A second blue screen appeared above his palm.

[SECOND SYSTEM DETECTED.]

Aarav stared in disbelief.

The stranger closed his hand.

The screen disappeared.

"You still don't believe me?"

Aarav shook his head.

"Prove it."

"How?"

"Tell me something nobody else knows."

The stranger became silent.

Then he spoke.

"When you were nine, you stole twenty rupees from your mother's wooden box."

Aarav froze.

"You bought sweets near the village pond. You ate half of them, felt guilty, and buried the rest beneath a mango tree."

"No..."

"You cried that night because your mother spent an hour searching for the missing money."

"Stop."

"You never told her."

Aarav's face went pale.

Nobody knew.

Nobody.

"How do you know that?"

The stranger looked into his eyes.

"Because I remember doing it."

Aarav stepped backward.

The System flashed.

[WARNING.]

[ENTITY MAY BE MANIPULATING HOST.]

The older Aarav smiled bitterly.

"There it goes again."

Aarav looked between them.

"What is happening?"

"I came here to stop you."

"Stop me from what?"

"Becoming me."

Before Aarav could answer, a terrifying growl echoed through the temple.

Both of them turned.

The giant black wolf stood at the entrance.

Its red eyes burned in the darkness.

Aarav's heart sank.

The creature had refused to enter before.

Now one enormous paw crossed the threshold.

The older Aarav's expression changed.

"That's impossible."

Aarav looked at him.

"What?"

The wolf entered.

The System flashed red.

[DANGER DETECTED.]

[SURVIVAL QUEST ACTIVE.]

[TIME REMAINING: 4 HOURS, 51 MINUTES.]

Aarav backed away.

"Do something!"

The older Aarav remained still.

"You need to fight."

Aarav stared at him.

"Fight that thing?"

"Yes."

"I can't!"

"Then you'll die."

The wolf charged.

Aarav threw himself sideways.

BOOM!

Its claws struck the stone floor.

Aarav scrambled away.

"HELP ME!"

The older Aarav watched.

"No."

"Why?!"

"Because nobody helped me."

The wolf attacked again.

Aarav rolled behind a broken pillar.

The creature smashed through it.

Stone exploded everywhere.

Aarav covered his head.

"I'm not strong enough!"

The older Aarav's eyes hardened.

"That's what I believed too."

The wolf slowly approached Aarav.

"Remember Vikram."

Aarav looked up.

"What?"

"Why did you try to punch him tonight?"

"This isn't the time!"

"Answer me!"

The wolf prepared to attack.

"Why did you fight back?"

Aarav remembered Vikram laughing at him.

Humiliating him.

Calling him weak.

Then he remembered his father's words.

Being weak isn't something to fear.

Staying weak is.

Aarav clenched his fists.

"Because I was tired."

"Tired of what?"

The wolf charged.

"BEING WEAK!"

Aarav moved.

Instead of running backward, he jumped sideways.

The wolf missed.

Aarav grabbed a sharp piece of broken stone.

He slammed it against the creature's head.

CRACK!

The System appeared.

[DAMAGE DEALT: 1.]

Aarav stared.

"One?!"

The older Aarav laughed.

"At least you hurt it."

The wolf turned.

Aarav's smile vanished.

"Not funny."

It attacked again.

Aarav dodged.

Barely.

He struck again.

[DAMAGE DEALT: 1.]

The creature's paw slammed into his chest.

Aarav flew across the temple.

His body hit the wall.

He coughed blood.

[HOST HEALTH: CRITICAL.]

The wolf approached.

Aarav desperately looked around.

There had to be something.

Then he noticed the creature's left leg.

An old wound.

The wolf was limping.

Aarav looked at the System.

"Analyze it."

[AUTHORITY INSUFFICIENT.]

"Show me anything!"

The System flickered.

[CREATURE: UNKNOWN GUARDIAN.]

[LEVEL: ???]

[WEAKNESS: UNKNOWN.]

"Useless."

The creature charged.

Aarav waited.

Five meters.

Three.

One.

He dropped.

Sliding beneath the wolf, Aarav drove the sharp stone directly into its wounded leg.

The creature screamed.

[CRITICAL HIT.]

[DAMAGE DEALT: 19.]

Aarav rolled away.

He stood.

The wolf was bleeding.

For the first time in his life, Aarav looked at something stronger than him...

And smiled.

"You're not invincible."

The wolf stared at him.

Then a voice entered Aarav's mind.

Neither are you.

Aarav froze.

"Who said that?"

The older Aarav frowned.

"Said what?"

The wolf's red eyes remained fixed on Aarav.

You carry the blood of the betrayer.

Aarav's heart pounded.

"What betrayer?"

The man you call—

The System flashed violently.

[MENTAL CONNECTION DETECTED.]

[BLOCKING.]

The voice vanished.

"No!"

Aarav shouted.

"Let it speak!"

[REQUEST DENIED.]

"Why?"

No answer.

Then the wolf screamed.

Its body began changing.

Red energy spread across its scars.

Its muscles expanded.

Bones cracked.

The older Aarav's face went pale.

"We need to leave."

Aarav stared at him.

"You told me to fight!"

"That was before this happened."

The creature grew larger.

[WARNING.]

[CORRUPTED GUARDIAN AWAKENING.]

[SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 0%.]

Aarav stepped backward.

"What do we do?"

"Run."

"Where?"

The older Aarav raised his chained hand.

Dark energy exploded from his palm.

A black portal appeared.

Aarav stared.

The Guardian roared.

"GO!"

They jumped through.

---

Aarav crashed onto wet grass.

He opened his eyes.

The temple was gone.

He was on a hill overlooking Devgarh.

The storm was disappearing.

Lights glowed inside the village houses below.

"We escaped."

No answer.

Aarav turned.

The older Aarav was lying on the ground.

His body was disappearing.

Blue particles floated from his hands.

Aarav rushed toward him.

"What's happening?"

The stranger smiled weakly.

"The timeline is rejecting me."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm running out of time."

Aarav grabbed his arm.

"Then tell me everything."

"I can't."

"Stop saying that!"

Aarav shouted.

"You tell me my family will die. You tell me I'll kill them. Then you refuse to explain anything!"

The stranger looked at him.

"Ask the right question."

Aarav became silent.

The right question.

He thought about everything that had happened.

The forest.

The Guardian.

His father.

The System.

Then he understood.

"Who gave me the System?"

The stranger smiled.

"Nobody."

Aarav frowned.

"What?"

"You weren't chosen."

"Then how did I get it?"

"You were born with it."

The System immediately appeared.

[FALSE INFORMATION DETECTED.]

Aarav stared at the screen.

The older Aarav laughed.

"Interesting, isn't it?"

Aarav looked at the System.

"Is he lying?"

[YES.]

The stranger shook his head.

"Ask it who created it."

Aarav hesitated.

Then he spoke.

"System."

[LISTENING.]

"Who created you?"

Silence.

"Answer me."

[ACCESS DENIED.]

Aarav's heart pounded.

"Why won't you answer?"

[HOST AUTHORITY INSUFFICIENT.]

The stranger leaned closer.

"Because it doesn't want you to know."

Aarav looked at him.

"You said you created it."

"I did."

"Then how was I born with it?"

The older Aarav smiled.

"Because I didn't create it in the future."

Aarav froze.

"What?"

"I sent it into the past."

Silence.

"To the day you were born."

Aarav's mind raced.

"Why?"

The stranger's body continued disappearing.

"To change what happened."

"What happened?"

The older Aarav looked toward Devgarh.

"Everything died."

Aarav's face changed.

"The village?"

"Not just Devgarh."

He looked back at Aarav.

"Everyone."

Aarav stopped breathing.

"What caused it?"

The stranger looked directly at him.

"You did."

"No."

"I did."

"NO!"

"We are the same person."

Aarav grabbed his shirt.

"I would never hurt my mother!"

"Neither would I."

"Then why?!"

The stranger's eyes filled with something Aarav hadn't expected.

Fear.

"Because eventually, Aarav..."

He whispered.

"...the System stops asking for permission."

Aarav slowly released him.

The System flashed.

[WARNING: FALSE INFORMATION.]

The stranger laughed.

"Keep saying that."

Aarav stared at the blue screen differently now.

For the first time...

He was afraid of it.

The older Aarav continued.

"You need power to survive what's coming."

"Then I need the System."

"Yes."

Aarav frowned.

"You're telling me to trust it?"

"No."

The stranger shook his head.

"I'm telling you to use it before it learns how to use you."

His legs disappeared into blue particles.

Aarav panicked.

"Wait!"

"Listen carefully."

The stranger grabbed Aarav's wrist.

"Find your father."

"My father is alive?"

The stranger didn't answer.

"Tell me!"

"Find him before the Blood Moon."

"What Blood Moon?"

"And whatever happens..."

The stranger's grip tightened.

"...do not reach Level 100."

"Why?"

His body began disappearing faster.

"What happens at Level 100?!"

The stranger whispered one final sentence.

"The System gets your body."

Then he vanished.

Aarav stood alone.

The System appeared.

[SYSTEM UPDATE AVAILABLE.]

Aarav stared at it.

[UNLOCK FIRST PERMANENT ABILITY?]

[YES / NO]

He remembered the warning.

Use it before it learns how to use you.

Aarav looked at Devgarh.

He needed strength.

He needed answers.

And if his father was alive...

He would find him.

"Yes."

[ABILITY UNLOCKING.]

Pain exploded through Aarav's body.

He fell to his knees.

Then—

[ABILITY UNLOCKED.]

[DEVOUR — LEVEL 1.]

[DEFEAT ENEMIES.]

[ABSORB THEIR STRENGTH.]

[STEAL THEIR ABILITIES.]

Aarav stared.

This power could change everything.

Then footsteps came from behind him.

Aarav turned.

Vikram stood there.

His face was pale.

"You..."

Vikram stepped backward.

"How are you alive?"

Aarav slowly stood.

For the first time...

Vikram looked afraid of him.

Aarav almost smiled.

Then the System appeared.

A red symbol formed above Vikram.

[TARGET DETECTED.]

[DEVOUR AVAILABLE.]

Aarav froze.

"No."

[ACTIVATING DEVOUR.]

"What?"

Dark energy surrounded Aarav's hands.

He felt something terrible.

Hunger.

He could feel Vikram's strength.

His energy.

His life.

"System, stop."

[REQUEST DENIED.]

Aarav's blood turned cold.

Vikram backed away.

"What the hell are you?"

The System began counting.

[5.]

"No."

[4.]

Aarav grabbed his head.

"STOP!"

[3.]

Vikram ran.

[2.]

Aarav tried to remain still.

But his legs moved.

His body was no longer listening to him.

[1.]

Aarav disappeared into the darkness.

Vikram screamed.

---

Deep beneath Kala Van, the black door opened again.

A man wearing a broken golden mask stepped from the darkness.

A hooded woman waited for him.

"The Devourer has awakened," she whispered.

The masked man smiled.

"Earlier than expected."

"Should we kill him?"

"No."

He looked toward Devgarh.

"Let Aarav use the System."

"Why?"

"Because every enemy he devours will make his body stronger."

The woman became silent.

"And when he reaches Level 100?"

The masked man removed his mask.

The woman immediately fell to her knees.

"No..."

She stared at his face in horror.

It was Aarav's father.

He smiled.

"When my son reaches Level 100..."

His eyes turned golden.

"...I'll finally have a body strong enough to return to this world."

END OF CHAPTER 2