Plunder The System

Pippa dropped to her knees, trembling uncontrollably at the undead captain’s sudden appearance beside her.

He lifted his hand slowly. I tried to force myself to move, but my body had all but given up. Pippa closed her eyes, and I gritted my teeth, straining every muscle to move. I needed to move.

He softly rested his bony hand on her head.

“You can relax, strange creature, I have had my fun for today.” He turned his focus back to me. “You might be weak and skill-less, but your willpower is overwhelming.” He smiled warmly. “You’d make for a wonderful successor.”

Successor?

I stared at him blankly.

“Did you say successor?” I had to ask him because I still couldn’t believe my ears.

“That’s correct.”

“You do know most people don’t try to kill their successors.”

“I wasn’t really trying to kill you. I was just testing you.”

“What if I failed your test?”

“Well, you would have died.”

There was a moment of silence.

“So you were trying to kill me!” I yelled at him.

He sighed as if my critiques were unjustified.

“You may have noticed, I am but a shard of the man I used to be.”

“What? You are just a heap of bones? When did that happen?” I replied sarcastically. The iron taste of blood was so strong now, I didn’t even try to hide it.

“Being as I am, I am unable to do the things I used to. You are not the man I was waiting for…” he smiled an evil smile. “But if you hate the system as well, then you’ll be more than fine, you can destroy the system for me.”

With sheer will, I forced my hand to twitch before lifting it completely.

“I have to stop you there, Administrator X.” I forced a grin. “I’m not going to do that.”

Despite the lack of features on his skeletal face, he still looked surprised. “I thought you hated the system as well. If you don’t want to fight with me, I’ll just kill you now.”

“Let me correct you. I do hate the system and I’m happy to use you, but there is no way I’m going to let you use me.”

“Yaharhar~” He covered his forehead with his hand. “You truly are every bit as magnificent as I thought you’d be.”

A large smile crept up his bony face. “That is more than fine with me. I will give you my treasure, you’ll have the forbidden skill that steals other skills. I will also finally be able to rest. The moment I do, you’ll have immortality as well. With these skills, you’ll be invincible.”

He spun around overdramatically before adding.

“In other words, you’ll be the strongest individual in the world.”

I gave a pained smile.

“That sounds nice and all, but I am near death and healing spells won’t work on me.”

He yanked one of the arrows out of me.

“Do you really doubt that I, a former Administrator, would know healing spells wouldn’t work on an Error? I can fully heal you without the use of spells.” He smiled, a familiar smile that sent a chill down my spine. I’d seen it before, every time Túta was about to treat me.

Hesitantly, I asked, “How can you…?” I flinched as his hand shot forward. It pierced deep into my stomach.

A searing sensation went through my body. It was pain worse than cauterisation. The pain was enough to drive a person mad. Fortunately, although the intensity was immeasurable, it did not persist for long. The wounds from X and Ivan slowly sealed shut.

Although the physical wounds had closed up, I still had no energy. I couldn’t move an inch of my body.

“You won’t die now.”

“Wasn’t there a less painful way to heal me?”

“If I had my full skillset as an Administrator, I would, but unfortunately for you, that was my only option.”

“So what now? You’ll let my crew reawaken?”

“Not yet. They will awaken naturally once I perish, and that will begin the moment I hand over my dear gem. Before I do that, allow me to use this time to teach you about the accursed gemstone and what I know of this world.”

Honestly, that seemed like a fair trade. If they weren’t in any danger, then what harm could a little nap do?

“Fine, what do you know, Mr. Administrator?”

“I don’t claim to know everything. But I do know the system cannot be trusted.”

“I already know that. It’s been trying, unsuccessfully, to kill me.”

“It must be dismantled. If I were a high-level Administrator, perhaps I could have access to more information or make those changes, but alas, all I can do is fight in my own way.”

“This tiny item can absorb the unique skills of those who die in the immediate vicinity of the item.”

“How immediate?”

He paused to think. “I would say, if you lined up two to three ships this size, that would give you a good indication.”

“So about two hundred to three hundred meters?”

“I suppose that would be an apt description.” He wandered around to stand next to Pippa who was still frozen where she had been before. He rested his hand on her shoulder, and she squeaked before turning back into her fluff ball form with a poof of smoke.

She hurried off to find another spot to hide.

“How curious this creature is…” He commented, scratching his jawbone. “Anyway, as I was saying, you can then use these stolen skills. The gem acts like a grimoire and you, the mage.”

“So can I use basically unlimited skills?” I asked.

X smiled, and the red glow of his eyes shone more brightly. “That is correct. Although I must warn, there are, of course, drawbacks to this power.”

“What, I lose my memories or something?”

“I wouldn’t do something that heinous.”

“You almost killed me.”

“Please, it was a test.” He sighed, clearly growing frustrated by my consistent reminders of his actions. “Even as administrators, we have limitations. There is nothing in this world that is truly without flaw. You’d do well to remember that.”

I made a mental note. I had thought X’s immortality was invincible. If there were some sort of weakness, it meant I could beat it, and that applied to every power.

“The drawback for such a forbidden item is that it requires an equally severe counterbalance.”

“And that is?”

“It is not just the skills you capture, but the very essence of the person that dies in your vicinity.”

“Oh?”

“Essentially, the grudges of said dead individuals will be directed towards you. The more skills you steal, the more curses of the dead you will carry.”

“That seems kinda serious.”

“It is, but it is more than a fair price to pay to dismantle the system.”

“I have accumulated countless skills over the years, along with the stats of those individuals. Once I die, your stats will be in excess of a level 80 individual.”

“Is that good?”

“The standard hero is level 30.”

He slipped the ring off and clenched it in his fist. Slowly, he clasped his hand tightly. Seeing how much pressure he was applying to the ring made me realise he was clearly holding back against us.

He carefully reopened his hand. The ring had shattered into tiny fragments, but the stone remained unblemished. He reached into his palm and retrieved the red stone.

“I shall now bind this to you,” he commented, holding the stone between his fingers.

“Is there like some secret chant?”

“Yaharhar~” he didn’t say anything else as he removed my eyepatch.

“Hey… I don’t know if I like where this is going.”

“I figured you were missing an eye. It was the perfect spot to store it.”

“I could just wear a ring like you.”

“I guess you could,” he replied, looking sad.

“So you’re not going to have a cool cursed eye?” Pippa asked with sulking eyes.

The way she looked at me tugged at my heartstrings. I couldn’t let down Pippa when she was looking at me like that.

I sighed.

“Fine, but make sure it isn’t painful…”

Without hesitation, he jammed the gemstone into my empty eye socket.

Once he was done, he let out one last smile.

“Please use it to fight against the system, and if you meet S, I want you to beat him senseless for me.”

“I intended to do much more than that.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Farewell and good luck at plundering the system,” X commented as he began to crumble into dust. The dust began to scatter on a breeze that had just returned to the once eerily still waters.

The moment he vanished, I finally gave in to all the pain I had been suppressing, and I passed out.

▪──── X ────▪

End of chapter 27