Dust drifted slowly through the cold underground air while the faint glow of the dying evening seeped through the collapsed entrance above.
Will Ravencliff lay on the ground and beneath him, blood stained the surrounding. His broken leg throbbed with unbearable pain, sending sharp pulses through his entire body every time he tried to move.
He decided to stoptrying... there was no point.
His glasses had been knocked off during the beating and one of the lenses was cracked, lying a few inches away from his face.
Will stared at it blankly as his breathing turned shallow.
The sky outside was growing darker which meant, night was coming.
Out here, night meant death.
Mutated creatures roamed the wilderness once darkness fell and many of them hunted using scent and sound.
A wounded human bleeding inside an open cavern?
That was nothing more than bait.
Yet Will wasn't panicking anymore.
He had already accepted his fate. His lips slowly curled into a weak smile.
"…Figures."
His voice echoed faintly against the stone walls.
"I guess this is how it ends."
For a moment he said nothing as his mind began drifting, resurfacing old memories.
—
He remembered being twelve years old.
Back then, he was already known as the "smart kid" in school.
Teachers liked him and classmates often asked him for help.
"Will, can you help me with this math problem?"
"Will, do you understand this science assignment?"
He always helped... always.
But when exam day came, something strange always happened.
The same classmates who begged him for help would suddenly score higher than him.
At first he thought they had studied hard until he discovered the truth.
They had stolen his notes, copied his practice work and some even accessed the shared school servers where he uploaded his study materials and resubmitted them under their own names.
When he confronted one of them…
The boy had laughed.
"You're too nice, Ravencliff. People like you are easy to use."
—
Then there was his first part-time job at sixteen.
He worked for a small repair shop inside the Stronghold's working district.
The owner constantly praised his intelligence.
"You're talented, kid. Stick with me and you'll go far."
Will believed him.
He helped redesign several small mechanical components for the shop's drones and repair systems.
But when a larger company came to inspect the shop's innovations…
The owner presented all of Will's designs as his own.
Will stood quietly in the corner while the man accepted praise and payment as well as mouth watering contract deals.
After the meeting ended, Will tried to speak up but the owner just chuckled.
"Kid, if I told them a slum rat designed this stuff, they wouldn't have taken me seriously."
Then he handed Will a small envelope of money.
"Be grateful. I'm paying you at all."
—
And then there was her... Mirabel... his old girlfriend.
Or rather, his ex now.
Will squeezed his eyes shut because that memory still hurt the most.
They had met when he was seventeen.
She was pretty and kind... or at least pretending to be.
She listened when he talked about his dreams and she held his hand when his mother became ill.
For the first time in his life…
Will thought someone truly cared about him.
Until the day he accidentally overheard her conversation behind a restaurant building.
"Ravencliff?" she had laughed.
"Please. I'm only dating him because he does my homeworks and buys me things from his meagre part time income."
Another voice asked, "So you don't actually like him?"
She snorted.
"He's useful. That's it."
And then came the worst part.
"You should see how easy it is to manipulate him. Just smile a little and he does whatever I want."
Will never confronted her... he just walked away.
Two days later she broke up with him anyway claiming she had "found someone better."
—
His life had been full of moments like that where friends, employers, partners, scavenger teams... all cheated him.
Every single time he trusted someone…
They took advantage of him.
Again...
And again...
And again...
His weak laughter returned.
All of a sudeen, a voice appeared inside his mind.
---
[Congratulations.]
[You have been successfully cheated 1000 times.]
---
Will eyes widened as his body stiffened in confoundment.
"What…?"
A glowing blue screen appeared in front of his face.
---
[Hidden Requirement Completed.]
[Cheating System Activated.]
---
"…Cheating system?"
His mind struggled to process the words as more notifications appeared.
---
[Analyzing Host…]
Name: Will Ravencliff
Age: 18
Status: Critically Injured
Psychological Profile: Highly Intelligent / Excessively Naive
---
A new message appeared.
---
[Conclusion: Host is perfectly compatible with the Cheating System.]
---
Will blinked slowly.
"…Am I hallucinating?"
Another message appeared immediately.
---
[Negative.]
---
Will stared.
"…It answers back?"
---
[Of course.]
---
The screen changed and new information appeared.
---
Cheating System
Core Function:
Empower the host through acts of cheating, deception, manipulation, and exploitation.
Primary Resource:
Scum Points
---
Will frowned.
"Scum… points?"
---
[Explanation:]
Whenever the host cheats, scams, deceives, manipulates, or exploits others, Scum Points will be generated.
Scum Points can be used for:
• Skill acquisition
• Stat enhancement
• System upgrades
• Item purchases
• Special cheat functions
---
Will stared blankly.
"So you're saying… the worse I behave…"
"…the stronger I get?"
---
[Correct.]
---
Another screen appeared.
---
Scum Point Generation Examples
• Cheating someone in a deal
• Scamming others for profit
• Manipulating people into betraying each other
• Cheating in relationships by having multiple partners
• Causing others to cheat in relationships
• Deception and fraud
• Strategic betrayal
---
Will slowly let out a breath.
"…You're serious."
---
[Additional Rewards:]
Completing System Quests will provide:
• Scum Points
• Skills
• Stat Enhancements
• Special Abilities
---
Will stared at the screen for several seconds and the laughed bitterly.
"So after being cheated my entire life…"
"…now the universe wants me to become the cheater?"
---
[Correction.]
[ The Ultimate Cheater. ]
---
Will chuckled weakly.
"…Figures."
Another notification appeared.
---
[Starter Skill Granted.]
Skill: Cheat Insight (Level 1)
---
Information flooded his mind and suddenly he understood that this ability would allow him to detect lies… weaknesses… exploitable opportunities.
The very things he had been blind to his entire life.
Will looked up at the cavern ceiling.
"…So I can finally see through people."
---
[Correct.]
---
For the first time since the beating Will smiled but the smile didn't last long because the system suddenly displayed another message.
---
[Warning.]
Host Vital Condition: Critical
System Integration Required
Estimated Time: 24 Hours
---
Will frowned.
"…Integration?"
---
[Full system integration into the host's biological structure will now begin.]
---
His eyelids suddenly felt heavy.
"…Wait…"
The screen flickered.
---
[Emergency Protocol Activated.]
Host survival probability outside the Stronghold: 3%
Initiating Cheat Function: Emergency Extraction
---
Outside the cavern, low growls echoed in the darkness as several mutated creatures began drifting toward the smell of blood.
Their glowing eyes appeared at the entrance as they slowly crept closer.
Heading in the direction of Will's unconscious body.
However, the space around his unconscious body suddenly distorted as a bright flash erupted.
In the next moment, he vanished.
The creatures rushed forward only to find an empty cavern floor.
—
Inside the Stronghold... in a tiny apartment within the slums, a faint ripple of light appeared.
Will Ravencliff suddenly materialized on his bed completely unconscious while the system continued its work.
---
[System Integration: 1%]
[System Integration: 12%]
[System Integration: 48%]
---
Outside his window, the slum district buzzed with its usual nighttime chaos.
Neon signs flickered as hover bikes roared through narrow streets.
People argued, traded, and struggled to survive.
No one noticed the quiet revolution happening inside a tiny apartment room.
—
Twenty four hours later, Will Ravencliff slowly opened his eyes.
He blinked in confusion upon spotting the ceiling above his bed.
"…What?"
Then he suddenly sat up and to his utmost disbelief, his leg didn't hurt.
His injuries were gone and his body felt… lighter.
Will looked around the room in disbelief.
"…How did I get here?"
Then a familiar blue screen appeared in front of him.
---
[System Integration Complete.]
Welcome, Host.
The Cheating System is now fully operational.