I Hate Systems

Chapter 6: Prepare and Wait

Thinking of the feeling he experienced when the body of the Money-Making System began to leave his body, Compass Carburettor meditated, hallucinating the same incident as explained by Fourth as he soon began to feel some pain in the back.

He was still alert, intending to shoot Fourth if it tried anything against him. Within a couple of seconds, Compass Carburettor felt like his lifeforce was being siphoned out of him as a thin stream of energy exited his back.

It seemed like a tentacle of energy, gold in colour, the remainder of the Money-Making System’s body—true form. The moment it peeked out of his back a little, it tried to escape by pulling out the rest of its body.

Compass Carburettor grunted, resisting the pain as he pushed the gun in its way, causing the two to touch each other when something seemed to explode in his mind suddenly, causing a torrent of information to flood him.

It only took a couple of seconds as he understood everything, realising that what Fourth had said was the truth.

“Nooo!” A shout resounded in his mind that was snuffed out almost instantly. Based on the voice, Compass Carburettor judged that it was the voice of the Money-Making System when it was in its true form.

His muscles convulsed for a couple of seconds as he realised that a faint feeling that he had sensed all along had vanished. All the abilities that he possessed were now his, an integral part of him. All traces of the Money-Making System in his body had been eradicated.

He looked at his hand, noticing that his gun had vanished. When he thought about it, his gun materialised in his hand. It seemed natural that he was capable of doing it instinctively.

Upon seeing his actions, Fourth sighed in relief, saying with a tone of praise, “Congratulations on becoming a System Slayer. Becoming one isn’t complex, but a lot of people failed and died in the process.”

“How…did they die?” Compass Carburettor was confused. It was because all he felt was some pain. The process didn’t even require him to manipulate anything or execute some complex manoeuvres. All he did was make his gun touch the body of the Money-Making System that was exiting his back.

Even a child could do it.

“Well…” Fourth coughed, “That’s because I perfectly severed your System’s body so that only the fragment of it that you can handle would remain within your body. And, this fragment is related to the power that has improved your physique. So, it already shared an integral connection with yourself. Because of this, binding it to the object in your hand had been so simple. As for the others, they weren’t so lucky, since they were helped by System Slayers less skilled than me.”

“Ah, so it’s because of that, and not due to a problem with the process itself.” Compass Carburettor nodded in understanding. Upon seeing Fourth nod with a hint of pride, he asked, “Then, how do I return to my world and save my daughter? My System might have very well taken root in her body by now.”

“That…would be hard, really hard,” Fourth said with an awkward smile.

“But, you said it was possible.” Compass Carburettor frowned, expressing anger.

“Well yeah, I did. It is indeed possible, but,” Fourth sighed, “Listen to my explanation first.”

It pointed at the ground, “Currently, we are in the System World. And, we aren’t Systems. We are just mortals with a tiny bit of power. We cannot leave and enter this place as we wish. Even a System needs to accumulate a tremendous reserve of energy before it can arrive here.”

It then raised its hand, motioning for Compass Carburettor to stop interrupting it as it spoke, “And, the only way we can enter a world is when a System opens a portal here. As long as we use our bound object to touch the portal they open, we too would be sucked into the portal and arrive in the world the respective System is entering.”

It pointed at the gun in his hand, “Since you have a projectile weapon, it is relatively easier for you. As long as the projectile you launch hits the portal, you would be sucked into the portal.”

“But,” It frowned, “Even if you return to your world, you cannot extract the System from your daughter’s body. You don’t have such powers. And, as an ex-wielder of a System, you know how much of a Plot Armour they are. You cannot kill a System Host. And considering the System Host is your daughter, killing her wouldn’t be possible for you.”

“Then, what am I supposed to do now?” Compass Carburettor trembled as tears streamed out of his eyes. As he thought about it, he indeed had no way to save his daughter.

“Prepare and wait,” Fourth said, “When that System returns here with your daughter, do the same that I did to you. But the problem that exists is that it would sense you the moment you approach it. Moreover, you have no way of knowing when or where it would appear in this world.”

“Then…how did you save me?” Compass Carburettor frowned, wiping his tears. He knew that since he was alive, then there was a method. As long as he obtained that method, he would be able to save his daughter.

“By employing System Fragments,” Fourth said, showing its sword, “We call my sword and your projectile weapon as Personal Fragments. It is proof that we are System Slayers. The term System Slayer doesn’t mean anything. It is just what we survivors have begun to call ourselves.”

“And,” It then showed a tiny disc, the size of its thumb, “In almost the same manner as what I did to you, I attacked a System Host in their world and stole a part of their body. I then used the energy in my body to refine it eventually until I turned the fragment of the System present within that body part into an item.”

“And that’s a System Fragment.”