The World and its Enemy

The mass was heading towards the earth at an incredible speed, lighting up the sky as if it was daytime.

'What... is that...'

As if responding to his thoughts, the Goddess replied.

[Your Charisma is coming.]

'That's not what Charisma means...'
He didn't understand what she meant. He was wounded fatally, his arms had almost been ripped off.

The monsters seemed to briefly pause.

The whole earth seemed to fall backwards. The sky and earth seemed to dissolve. The meteorite clashed with the earth and everything turned to light and dust. 

He couldn't see the monsters anymore, no he couldn't see anything at all. His senses had all left him and he was not even conscious anymore. 

□However, his Fate was not yet over.□

[You have completed the Quest!]

[You have been rewarded 10,000 coins!][You have been fully healed and a special skill has been added! Skill store is now accessible!]

His body was revitalizing. He had completed the Quest a split microsecond before he could die, and that was enough. 

He saw the sight before him again. His clothes were all gone, the surrounding trees and monsters were nowhere to be seen and he stood somewhere in a large crater in the Earth's surface. All light was gone and the now barren land was clasped in darkness. 

[Skill: Heat resistance is activated!]

He glanced at the message and felt relieved. The surroundings would be heated to close to the Sun's surface temperature, but he felt nothing. 

At very great distances, he could see a large halo and clouds made of pink smoke enveloping the sky and ground. 

Only one person could answer what had just transpired. 

"What happened?"

[That meteorite was the agent of your Charisma.] She replied. 

"What?"

[You see, the system doesn't prefer to interfere directly with mental or soul states. So it sends some agent to spread special pheromones in the air.]

He listened carefully, deep in thought.

[The agent is what's the closest thing available that contains those pheromones. As nothing on your planet contains them, it's usually small space rocks that become the agent. But since your Charisma was a level 100, a very big meteorite fell.]

He contemplated for a while and then found it somewhat insensible. "So you're saying I've gained power of several nuclear missiles, just like that?"

[Yes. However, it is an unusable power.]

He thought for a while and realised it. He had survived this time only because of the system's healing kicking in. If he summoned that thing again, he would surely be fine dust. 

"But what if I summon that thing enough further away from me?"He questioned.

[It works only within the range of your vision.]

"I see how it is."He replied, picked up the fallen sword and started walking through the crater. Even he didn't know where he was supposed to go. 

[Time till next Quest: 30 days]

He felt a small relief wash over him. At least he could make a plan before it started. 

"The next Quest will surely be even more difficult, if this wasn't already enough. What should I do now?" He hoped, the Goddess would have a solution. 

[You need to find a Seal.] And his hope was well founded.

"Seal?"

[Yes. They would lower your stats as long as you're wearing them.]

He realised, if he could get seals like those, he would be practically unbeatable. He would wear them before the system gives him the Quest, and so he would get an easy one. While it is going, he could just take it off and easily swipe through that Quest. 

"Where can I find those seals?"

[The closest such Seal to you, is the Seal of the Dammed, which seals the King of The Undead.]

"Where can I find him?"He had to find the seal before the 30 days, no matter what. 

[Use your Blessing once more.]

"Hmm."

[Blessing: Seer of Truths is activating.][Follow the yellow arrow to reach your destination!]

The familiar yellow arrow appeared before him, guiding his way. He followed it, while checking his rewards.

Since the skill he had gotten, Heat Resistance, was exactly what he needed at the time, it was plausible to think the system rewards with what is most useful for the player. 

The system, it seemed to him, was quite impartial.

[You should buy some clothes first.]

"Ah, right." He remembered he was still naked. It was hard to focus at anything right now. Though he had fully healed, his mind was yet to gather itself. 

He opened the skill shop he had gained access to.There he saw a number of skills for various prices. Most of them seemed utterly useless. 

He searched through and found the cheapest cloth related skill. 

[Skill: Washer's Nightmare has been added!]

A black coat and pants materialised onto his skin and soothed his muscles. 

[Skill effect: The clothes don't require washing or ironing.]

He thought it was a quite convenient skill in itself, though the other more expensive ones also did come with inbuilt defensive shields.

He slowly gathered his mind and thoughts once again. He had no time. Firstly, gaining the seals was the utmost priority. Secondly, he has to gather more skills. And thirdly...

"Can you tell me about the nature of each Stat?"

[I had thought you'd ask that. As you would already have known, Strength, Agility and Endurance mean exactly what you understand by them.]

He listened while continuing to walk. He wanted to run, but if he did the sound of the wind would overpower the sound of the Goddess. 

[Charisma, I have already explained to you. As for intelligence, it doesn't make you necessarily smarter, however it does make your thinking faster. And at a certain level, you can understand foreign languages and even monsters, if they have a language.]

He nodded to himself while picking up the pace somewhat. "And Mana?"

[As for Mana, the system hasn't allowed for that information to be revealed yet. The only thing I can tell you is that you'll get to learn of it in one of the future Quests.]

He clicked his tongue, slightly annoyed. "Fine. And tell me everything you can about this King of The Undead, the nature of the seals, and what exactly I need to do."

[The information regarding the King of The Undead or the Seal of the Dammed, cannot yet be revealed.]

He felt quite disappointed with the tight restrictions. 

[As for what you need to do right now, follow the arrow and reach the City of Transtopia. There you will find a fragment of the Soul of the Dammed, which will take you to the Realm of the Undead.]

"Hmm" There was one more thing he wanted to ask. 

"Why didn't you tell me the nature of Quest difficult before I inflated my stats?"

There was no response for a few seconds. And then-

[Are you disappointed?] She asked. 

"No... it must not have been allowed back then."

[[The chat channel with your Goddess has been closed.][Time till cooldown ends: 20 minutes]

[Direct and Indirect Chats have been paused due to the Blessing]

He heard the messages and started dashing forward towards his destination. 

He kept running, and felt a sense of freshness wash over him. The sun was rising and the faint morning light illuminated calmly as if there was never any blood or war.

After some time, he finally made past the crater and into the burned forest. Soon, he went even further, and saw the lush greenery return.

Several hours passed. Soon, he stood at the edge of a cliff, looking over at a great City. The tall buildings and roads weren't unlike how they were in his own world. Even the parks and pools existed in this giant City. 

This was the City of Transtopia. 

He soon entered the city. It didn't seem to have any clear boundary. The yellow arrow had disappeared from the moment he stepped inside. From here, he'd have to search the Fragment himself. 

However, he was met with an unexpected sight. 

□When humans try to resist their Fate...□

There were no people at all in the whole City. It was as if it had very suddenly been abandoned. But then he sighted one person in the distance.

□... the Fate doesn't falter. As if a chain of falling dominoes, it instead...□

The strange woman started running towards him frantically. She had a crazed expression. Her eyes were unfocused, her lips were parted and even her posture seemed strange. 

As he saw her, a look of realisation seemed to hit her face and she started dashing towards him even faster. 

□... converts the roots of the Rebellion into the seeds of the Demise.□