VOL 2 - THE HERALD OF CHAOS
Kai had always been a curious boy.
Things, their nature, facts, and even figures all used to give him a funny feeling in his stomach. He could remember himself asking questions after questions to his father when he was just a child. Though he remembered little about him, his father's voice still found some gaps in the history to echo within him.
'Curious lad, aren't you?' Kai imagined his father saying, as he looked around at the white walls. For some, this white room must have meant emptiness. For others, it could be a symbol of purity.
Kai called it the White Room of Answers.
It was a place he both liked and disliked. There were obvious reasons for this liking, but for disliking only one. Windows! Of which, it had none.
[How was your first visit to the Primordial Tower, Contestant Kai Stormborn?]
'I wish I could charge the System for these questions,' Kai grumpily thought. 'Not much. A 100 Mission Credits for each question will suffice, I guess.'
"It wasn't anything impressive," Kai said. "The City of Assignments was full of empty bellies and even more greedy mouths. No wonder the Contestants from upper floors are thinning out the crowd by killing them off earlier."
[
A deed of necessities
Chaos doesn't interfere in the game of men. So long as there are always Contestants to play the game and it never stops...
You seem to have questions for Chaos, Kai Stormborn.
]
'Is it that obvious?' Kai rebuked himself. 'Fooling people is easier than voiceless words.'
Kai indeed had many questions. Unlike last time, he had decided to not hold himself back. The System's recommendation of Agility Attribute was making more and more sense with time. More Agility was making him slither more effectively, and when combined with Snake Instinct and Twin-Saber Style, all three seemed to be glued together by his high Agility.
There was one more noticeable point. His MP. There wasn't much use of it for now, given his Items' Requirements and Effects. 'It's good I had acted with caution,' Kai reflected. 'Otherwise, the assigning of 2 points to Intelligence would have turned out to be for naught.'
"What are Glitch and Worth?" Kai asked. "How are they interrelated?" None in the Primordial Tower had spoken about them by themselves. It felt odd to Kai that Contestants like Roland knew of Newbies with Ability, but not of Glitch. And he wasn't foolish enough to ask anyone, either.
The System, though, was different. Here Kai could ask freely... by paying a certain price.
Ironic!
[
Processing Contestant Kai Stormborn questions...
Calculating the questions' worth...
Analyzation Complete
Price: 500 Mission Credits
Do you accept the transfer?
]
"..."
Kai's pent-up tiredness had vanished after coming to the White Room. Still, he found himself without strength seeing the price. It was monstrous. He had 725 MC, and now the System was asking 500 out of them.
Yet, though unwilling, Kai knew he would pay. He needed it. The answers!
"Yes," Kai said hoarsely.
[500 Mission Credits deducted]
[
Every being has an Individuality, Kai Stormborn. Mortals or Immortals, they all have it. This Individuality is one's imprint on the vast cosmos. The one that was, is and will be, forever and beyond. The Rules of Heaven restrict these Individualities from manifesting into the Material Plane.
Rules can be broken, though.
All things have a certain price. You would know that, wouldn't you, Kai Stormborn?
But the outline of some imprints is darker than others; their depths deeper. Hence, the price required to free them from Heaven's Rules also differs.
These Individualities when manifested into the Material Plane are called Glitches. The Price paid for their freedom is called Worth. So the higher the Worth, the more price was needed to free the Individuality.
]
'So that's how it is,' Kai reflected, his eyes gleaming with realization. 'That's why those of higher Worth get looked at in a different light. Because the System has deemed them worthy enough to pay the price for their Individuality.'
Kai was no stranger to the idea of the Material Plane and Heaven's restrictions. The principles of Yin-Yang were known to almost all Essence Cultivators in his previous life. The world had been turning towards an amalgam of Advanced Technology and Philosophies. Even the very thing which had brought the destruction of House Stormborn had the words Heaven Defying in it.
So even if Kai did not completely understand the concept of Imprints and Heaven's Rules, he could guess enough to make sense of them.
But the answers begot questions of their own. 'How many Points of Worth are required to get a Glitch? How are the Rules of Heaven broken?' There was an even bigger question. Mysterious and mightier!
'Who breaks these Rules?'
'For astute minds, the answers become questions, like an endless cycle,' his mother had told him once. 'But don't be too curious. You are your father's son regarding this, I am afraid.'
Kai's mother's worries had some substance to them. His entire body was itching to ask more. If it weren't for his low Mission Credits, he would have already let them flow like blood.
Kai took a deep breath to calm himself. 'This would suffice, for now,' he thought. 'There is always a next time, I hope.'
"I am ready to be teleported to the next Random World," Kai said, hoping dearly for it to be the Magical World of Harry Potter, or even better, the world of Pokemon.
[
Very well
As you have completed the Initiation Mission, a new function, "Milestone" is available
Milestones are hidden achievements that a Contestant can achieve in the Random Worlds. Unlike Titles, they aren't triggered and result from the actions taken within the Random Worlds. Milestones often give rewards that have a permanent nature.
]
'Heh!' Kai sniggered. 'Another way to lure Contestants to their doom.'
[
Analyzing Contestant Kai Stormborn's Stats...
Analyzation Complete
Kai Stormborn, you are worthy enough to choose one of the two Main Missions
Do you want to choose one by yourself?
Once declined, Chaos will assign you one automatically
]
'Is this some trickery?' Kai thought, turning on his distrustful nature again.
"Yes," Kai answered. "I would choose by myself."
The moment he finished, two separate Notification Windows appeared in front of him.
Their colors? Stony-gray! And each more enticing than the other.