"Hurry up!!! We need to get to the hospital like our lives depend on it – because hers might!"
A frantic voice pierced through the lingering fog of Everly's unconsciousness. She slowly blinked her eyes open, the plush interior of the luxury car gradually coming into focus. She was now reclined on her side, a small, surprisingly soft pillow cradling her head.
Nearby, Sylas sat perched at the very edge of the seat, a clear demarcation between them. This time, however, it wasn't out of disdain, but rather to afford her maximum sprawling space. In the front, Zack was a whirlwind of panic, barking orders at the driver like a Formula 1 pit boss whose finish line was the emergency room.
"Uuhh..." Everly mumbled, attempting to push herself upright, her head still throbbing with a dull ache.
Sylas, startled by her sudden awakening, gawked for a moment before snapping out of it. "Uncle! She's awake!" he practically bellowed, his voice cracking slightly.
Zack spun around so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash, his eyes wide with alarm as he saw Everly now struggling into a sitting position. "Everly!!! Are you alright? Don't worry, Uncle's getting you to the hospital right away!"
Despite the persistent dizziness, a warmth spread through Everly. Zack's genuine concern was a comforting balm. Even if she was cursed with an insufferable twin brother like Sylas, at least she had an uncle who actually cared!
"No need, Uncle... I'm just... hungry..." she managed to croak out.
Zack blinked, then his brow furrowed with concern. "What? Does that orphanage of yours only serve birdseed? Or do you selflessly sacrifice your meals for the younger children? Don't you worry, when we get home, Uncle will have the chef cook enough to feed a small army just for you!"
Everly's mouth twitched involuntarily. If only Zack knew the truth – that she had devoured eight bowls of rice, and the only "sacrifice" she made was to the dignity of the other kids' dinner plates. Her impromptu lie about the cause of her fainting now felt profoundly, hilariously awkward.
There was absolutely no way she could blurt out that she'd fainted because a disembodied voice offered her a 'Kiss System' or an 'Existential Crisis Cookie'. They wouldn't take her to the hospital; she'd be fast-tracked to the nearest mental institution, likely with a one-way ticket and a straightjacket.
"I'm truly fine, Uncle," Everly insisted, her voice a little stronger now, though she still leaned her head back, eyes fluttering shut for dramatic effect. "We really don't need to go to the hospital... I just need a little rest."
Zack, however, seemed to interpret her closed eyes and quiet demeanor as a sign of worsening condition. His brow furrowed deeper with concern. Seeing his worry escalate, Everly quickly deployed her secret weapon: the 'family' card, delivered with a saccharine sweetness that would curdle milk.
"I... I just want to see my parents right away," she murmured, opening her eyes just enough to give him a soulful, longing gaze. "So, could we please just go straight home, Uncle?"
Zack's face instantly softened, his eyes welling up with tears. His perpetually optimistic brain, having just met this long-lost niece, immediately concluded that despite her obvious illness, Everly's heart yearned only for her parents. She wasn't disappointed by their absence at their first meeting; she was simply eager to finally embrace them! With a choked sob of paternal pride, he immediately instructed the driver – who had, until this point, been channeling his inner Grand Prix champion – to reroute to the Tang family mansion.
Sylas, witnessing Everly's sudden transformation into a demure, parent-yearning angel, shivered. He'd only known his twin for an hour, but that was more than enough time to discern that "cute" and "sweet" were about as far from her true nature as Pluto was from the sun. He saw right through her performance. But, given her current "ailing" state, he decided to grant her a temporary reprieve from his usual bickering. For now.
Phew. That was close.
Everly mentally exhaled, a wave of relief washing over her. Honestly, she felt precisely zero emotional pull towards the parents she'd never met, beyond a mild, academic curiosity.
Everly was the sort who doled out affection like a miser with gold coins. She needed to meet someone face-to-face, sized them up like a suspicious shopper inspecting a second-hand car, and only then – if they passed her stringent 'human decency' test – might she toss them a scrap of warmth.
With Zack and Sylas now quiet as church mice, seemingly buying into her 'resting' act, Everly closed her eyes once more. Her mind whisked her back to that strange, dark realm, to the moment System 006 laid out those three mind-boggling options.
[Host, I have now meticulously explained all three potential system abilities to you. Therefore, between the Kiss System, the Gossip System, and the Shop System... which shall be your chosen path?]
As the system's voice faded, the single blue screen shattered into three, each emblazoned with a number: 1, 2, and 3.
Everly's brain, which usually operated on a 'minimum effort' basis, suddenly felt like it was trying to solve a Rubik's Cube blindfolded. Each option had its baffling pros and cons, a veritable minefield of potential future embarrassment or, worse, utter uselessness. She knew she had to choose wisely, but her consciousness, currently untethered from her physical form, was about as useful as a chocolate teapot.
Just as her mental gears began to grind to a halt, a strange sensation tugged at her. She felt a distinct pull, like an invisible hook yanking her backward. Panicked voices, muffled and distant, began to filter into her awareness. System 006, too, seemed to register the shift, its voice now laced with digital alarm.
[Host!!! You must choose quickly! If you don't choose now, you won't be able to choose again and you won't get any abilities!]
"What?!"
Everly shrieked, her own panic mirroring the system's. But it was too late. Her consciousness was already being reeled back, like a fish on a line. As she rapidly faded from System 006's view, her final, desperate cry echoed in the digital ether.
"I choose that one!"
Everly's transparent form flailed an arm wildly, blindly pointing at... well, who knew what? Her consciousness was already halfway back to her physical body, making her vision about as reliable as a politician's promise. But her desperate gesture seemed to do the trick, because she caught System 006's fading words like a lifeline.
[The host has chosen an ability. When the host enters the house, the system ability will activate for the first time.]
And then, blessed oblivion. Everly's memory reel snapped. Though a tiny, nagging curiosity about her snap decision lingered, she couldn't test it until she reached this mysterious house. She sighed inwardly, a silent plea to the universe:
Please, let whatever I picked be remotely useful for this cliché-ridden existence I seem to have landed in.
About twenty minutes later, the car glided through a colossal gate that seemed to guard a mansion straight out of a fairy tale – or maybe a billionaire's fever dream. Everly had managed to keep a straight face when she'd climbed into the luxury car, but this... this was something else entirely. Her jaw dropped so fast, she was surprised it didn't hit the floor. Her biological family apparently had more money than a dragon hoarding gold.
The car finally purred to a stop. As they disembarked, Zack beamed at Everly, his smile radiating pure, unadulterated uncle-love, completely oblivious to Sylas's impressively flat expression as he exited the vehicle.
"Welcome to the Tang family mansion, Everly."
And just as Zack uttered those words, a sound like a tiny, celestial cash register chimed directly inside Everly's brain.
DING!
[System ability activated.]