"What is this..."
The interface brought back old memories. It looked just like the PlayStations and Xbox he used to play with his brother, back when his family was still together and stable. It felt like a game, showing the player's details, system information and bio-data.
"Not only did I transmigrate, I transmigrated with a system?" He still couldn't wrap his head around the idea of transmigration. It was possible, at least in theory, but only the dead ever got the privilege to find out. Yet transmigrate with a system?
That's when it all came rushing back, the system notifications from purgatory. He remembered them clearly. After countless failed synchronizations, it was the Dragonic System that had finally matched with him. The most compatible of them all.
But before he could transmigrate, an error occurred.
"The goddess asked who I was, that means she never intended to summon my soul did she? At the end I ended up being sent to another world by her powers, meaning the original transmigration was disrupted and judging from the notifications earlier, the system crashed?"
It was all starting to make sense now—why the shadow had called him an aberration. Whether it was the will of the goddess or the doing of the system he awakened, one thing was clear, he was never meant to be here.
Thanks to the goddess intervention, it was all a system error.
"An error huh?" He scoffed, it might have been just an error, but it saved his life in more ways than he could count. But it didn't change the fact that as a result, he was no longer bound by the threads of fate, that meant his life was now completely in his own hands.
A complete aberration.
[Ding! Daily quests has been administered!]
[Push-ups: 0/20]
[Sit-ups: 0/20]
[Running: 0/20km]
"Hmph, I see, the usual daily quest mission, that means this really is a level up type of system. Wait a minute, that's odd."
He waited and waited, but as seconds turned to minutes, nothing happened.
"There are usually penalties with this kind of quests, did the errors also extend to the penalty quests? If so, what other functions were affected by the goddess's intervention?"
He knew a lot about systems from the novels he read in his previous life, and he already understood that the glitches had erased all limits on a second awakening and had saved his life. But now the same seemed to apply to the penalty quests, just how deeply had the system's functions been altered?
"Well, no matter." He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, stretching his hands. The pain from Ren's brutal beating had faded, most likely healed by the dark energy that had surrounded him during their battle.
"Now that I know that the threads of fate is actually a real thing, and that I'm no longer bound by it, with the way I am right now, it won't be long before I see him again." By "him," he meant the dark figure he had seen in his final moments on Earth.
Just a few hours alone in this new world, the truth hit him hard across the face, literally. In this world they lived in, survival was everything. "Regardless of the penalty being lifted, if I'm going to survive in this world, I need strength."
As he opened the door, he was met with a familiar face standing just outside, just about to come in.
"Kirito?" Kazuki was shocked, to say the least. Of all people, he was the last one he expected to find standing at his door.
"Kazuki? I overheard from some strangers that the kid who couldn't awaken any essence was severely injured, why the hell are you on your feet?"
'Oh, I see, you didn't really have to put it like that though.' He thought.
"It's fine, I wasn't really beaten up that bad, I'm already feeling much better, in fact I've got too much energy so I thought I'd burn it off with some jogging."
"Jogging you say? Alright it's decided, I'll join you! Let's see if you can keep up!" Almost immediately, Almost instantly, Kirito took off down the hospital halls, his pace quick and fluid, before breaking into a jog as he exited through the main entrance.
Kazuki had no words, it all happened too fast, in the short time he knew Kirito, he could already tell he was too hyperactive. "I guess I don't have a choice." He left the hospital, jogging right behind Kirito.
"You're too slow! I thought you said you wanted to burn off some energy, where's the energy you're talking about!?"
"You bastard... You awakened a C-rank Essen-Type which greatly enhanced your physical prowess, of course you'd be more faster and agile than me." Kazuki panted heavily, gasping for air as his body struggled to keep up with Kirito's relentless pace.
"So... Where's Takashi?" His question left Kirito silent for a moment as they jogged through the streets of Japan. His expression shifted, the usual hyperactive grin, replaced by a look that showed just how serious he could be.
"He went on a dungeon raid."
"Already? I thought you guys were a team, he didn't take you along?" He knew with the kind of rank he had, raiding dungeons was not an issue, but to leave behind his teammate?
"He said I'd just be a burden in there, and he's right, with the kind of rank he has, and being the leader of the group, I can't imagine the weight on his shoulder."
"I see." Despite his rude approach, Kazuki couldn't deny he had a point. It was one of those unspoken laws, in a world where hierarchy ruled, the strong only acknowledged the strong. Kirito may have awakened a C-rank essence, but it was nowhere near Takashi's level.
[Running: 20/20km completed]
As the system notification appeared, Kazuki gradually came to a stop,grasping slowly for air.
"Out of gas already?"
"No... I just remembered I have to be back at the hospital for my final checkup."
"Final checkup? Alright, I guess we'll catch up later, I'm still in the mood for running!" Breaking into a full sprint, he dashed down the streets, his footsteps echoing against the pavement as he pushed himself forward.
"Alright, now that he's gone..." He dropped to his hands without hesitation and quickly moved on to complete the rest of his daily tasks.
[Push-ups: 20/20]
[Sit-ups: 20/20]
[Running: 20/20km]
[You have successfully completed the daily quests!]
[You have two rewards items!]
[Do you wish to open the items?]
"Open." With a simple command, the system logged his response and immediately unlocked the first reward item.
[Ding! You have received a key!]
[Ding! You have received 500 Ryo!]
An oddly shaped key shimmered into existence, floating briefly in the air before dropping gently into Kazuki's hands. "A key?"
[You have received a key that opens up an instantaneous dungeon!]
"An instantaneous dungeon? That's awesome, this is exactly what I need."
He glanced down at his palm, memories of the technique he had used during his second awakening came flooding back to him.
"After all that's happened, it's clear I can't remain the same way I am right now, I need strength, if I'm going to survive in this bastardic world, I need strength, strength to master this mysterious power."
He extended the key outward, mimicking the motion of inserting it into a keyhole, then gave it a twist to the left. Instantly, the key vanished from his hand, dissolving into glowing light before expanding into a large, spiraling circle of magic, in other words, a gate.
"Alright, let's do this." With eyes blazing with fierce determination, he stepped forward, moving slowly but steadily into the gate.