Rizbi ran for his life.
Small monsters scattered around the streets, and behind them loomed a massive wyvern, its shadow blotting out the light.
As if that wasn't enough, a swarm of grotesque, shrieking bats was chasing him down. Their jagged teeth gleamed, and their eyes burned with hunger.
> If they catch me, I'm dead for sure! Will they… suck my blood?
Wait… if they bite me, will I become Batman in this world?
Before Rizbi could come up with a proper escape plan, his foot caught on something.
"Not now! I can't fall now!"
Too late. He tumbled—straight into a garbage bin.
When he opened his eyes, the bats were right there, inches from his face. One wrong move, and an eyeball would be gone.
Then—
A sudden figure landed between them.
A woman.
Her hair was pure snow-white, fluttering in the air as if the wind itself bowed to her presence. Her sword moved in a blur—no, in a flurry. Every slash felt like a snowstorm, freezing the bats mid-flight before shattering them into icy fragments.
Rizbi's jaw went slack.
> This woman… this beauty…
Is she going to fall for me now? Will she say those magical words…?
She stared at him. Their eyes met.
"...Disgusting."
She pinched her nose.
"H-Hey! I'm not that bad, it's just that—"
Before he could finish, she dashed away to save other civilians.
Rizbi sat there in silence. He survived… but he wasn't sure if it was good luck or bad luck.
The chaos ended not long after. The wyvern lay beheaded, and the remaining monsters had been hunted down. Rizbi watched in disbelief as a man severed the wyvern's head without even breaking a sweat.
For the first time, Rizbi truly felt how small he was in this world of powers.
Cling!
> [ Mission Completed – Reward: 50 Tokens ]
"Oh hell yeah! I got a system! I'll get stronger, everyone will acknowledge me, and that snow woman… heheheheh…"
Some nearby people whispered, "Don't go near that guy, he's mentally unstable."
Ignoring them, Rizbi headed to the refuge center—his house had been gone through some damages from the outbreak .
---
Evening.
"System… system…?"
No response.
"System, open. System, appear! System command!"
Nothing.
"Eh? Does it only appear when I'm in danger—?"
Chunk! Cling!
> [ Otherworldly interference detected. System requests permission to upgrade to Version 2.0. ]
[ Grant Permission? ]
"Upgrade? Huh? Well, I guess—"
> [ Confirmed. Upgrading… ]
"Wait, I didn't—ARGHHHH!"
Pain ripped through him like a thousand bullets tearing into his flesh.It was unbearable.
"Someone! Anyone! Please Save—"
Darkness took him.
---
Morning.
He woke up in the refuge center.
A nurse entered. "Ah, you're awake. You must have collapsed during the monster attack. Rest here a bit and you'll be fine. Oh, A notice came that your house has been reconstructed."
"Oh, thank you."
As she left—
Ping!
> [ Welcome to System 2.0, User. You may now access all functions. ]
"You stupid system! I didn't ask you to—"
"Oi! Stop shouting!"
He turned to see a girl in the next bed.
Name: shefa
Age: 17
Affiliation: Same college as Rizbi
"Oh, uh… sorry if I disturbed you."
"Don't be. We both survived the monster break, but since we don't have powers, all we could do was run. It's frustrating, I know."
" awkwardly ...Yeah… you're right."
"By the way," she said, "do you know me who I'm ?"
"Uh… yeah, we both suffered through the monster break… you must be my neighbor?"
Thunk! An apple hit him.
Her eyes blazed. "I'm your classmate, you idiot! How can you forget me when we're in the same class?!"
[ Rizbi takes 10 HP damage. Emotional damage: 100. ]
"I-I must have hit my head…"
"Tch. Whatever." She grabbed her bag and left.
---
> I don't really remember her from before… but the world has changed, so I guess things like this can happen.
Still, one thing was certain—he wasn't powerless. He had the system. And those 999 million tokens from his lifelong mission reward…
His mouth watered just thinking about it.
"System, open."
[ System 2.0 ]
Name. : Rizbi
Profession: None
Status : None
Health : 200
Strength: 9
Agility : 7
Intelligence: 8
Endurance: 3
Spirit : 2
Mana : 0
Tokens: 50
[ Tokens can be used for upgrades choosing rewards from system or to purchase rewards from the System Shop. ]
"Woo! This is my status! Wait… why is it so trashy…?"
A certain memory of someone saying "disgusting" popped into his mind.
"Never mind. I can just upgrade everything with my tokens… Wait, only 50?!"
> [ mission reward of 999 million tokens was used when choosing 'Reward: Time Shatter.' ]
"…Huh?"
The realization hit him like a truck.
"NOOOOO!!! MY LUCK!!!"
---
[TO BE CONTINUED]...