I Hate Systems

"What are you doing now?" Zaira asked the boy, still refusing to call him Arnark.

"Alright, call me by that name once Arnark dies." The boy spoke with a gentle smile, "It might take a while for him to die, but it'll happen."

"Why are you so sure?" Zaira frowned.

"Because that's what fate dictates." The boy stated solemnly, "Compass Carburettor's plans truly exceed Arnark's schemes. So, despite possessing absolute power, Arnark will lose his life and be devoured by Compass."

"When he emerges out from the battle, Compass as an enemy would be terrifying, having both Lore and Tell-Tale in his possession."

"That is indeed worrisome." Zaira frowned, "I can't even discover the location of their fight."

She stared at the boy, "Can you track it down through fate?"

"I cannot." The boy replied immediately, surprising Zaira by the answer. After a moment of thought, he explained himself, "As it stands now, my authority over fate isn't strong enough to trace something on the level of Compass Carburettor's Genre Representation."

"That's why," Saying so, he vanished from the System World, "I need to level up first."

"Once Regression recovers, we'll make our move."

"Alright, do your thing." Zaira didn't oppose his choice and watched him turn a bunch of people into his Host, 'Why is he still targeting people, that too just one per world? Even a Grade 2 System targets every living being in a world.'

Puzzled, she continued to observe.

…

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" A teenager smashed his keyboard to bits, staring at the fluctuating rates on a large screen before him. He had invested his life savings in crypto. And of course, he lost every single penny, no exceptions.

"That bastard cheated me!" The teenager, Shanzoa raged in anger. He had a best friend that he collaborated with to invest and pull out with coordinate effort. Through this, they had made a lot of money over the past two years.

One day, his friend came up with a strategy where they would create a new cryptocurrency and invest in it heavily to create a demand of sorts artificially. He had brought a bunch of people on board the plan.

Since a lot of reputed people in the industry were on board with the plan, Shanzoa too joined, even pledging his house to invest the money. The cryptocurrency indeed took off and as more and more people bought them, the demand for it increased, and so did the value.

Shanzoa had been waiting for the past six months, looking for the best time to pull out and make the most profit. Unfortunately, a day before he did so, his friend pulled out first, causing the value to plummet.

Or rather, it seemed he had bought the currency from the initial group of people that had invested, gaining a majority claim. And when he dumped everything, the value for the currency crashed.

The friend made more than enough profit and fled the country. Shanzoa ended up becoming the victim.

Bang!

The door burst open as a group of people sauntered in, wearing suits. The one at the lead flashed his ID and stated with a cold tone, "Shanzoa, for accounts of cyber fraud, we hereby arrest you."

'My life's over.' Shanzoa didn't even have the strength left to resist as he surrendered. As he was being escorted to the police vehicle, a mysterious screen flashed before his eyes.

<Ding!>

[User has been registered as a Sign-In Beta Tester]

'A Sign-In Beta Tester? What the heck's that?' The boy was confused as he wondered if he had gone insane, 'Is something like this even possible?'

Vroom!

The police van began to ply the road as Shanzoa observed the screen continuing to hover before him, displaying the same sentence without any change.

Nothing seemed to happen after that as he simply resigned himself to fate, concluding that he had gone insane. After an hour of travel, the police van arrived at the police station.

"Come out." The Inspector stated coldly, "You'll be interrogated later."

'Guess this is how I rot away for the rest of my life. Shit!' Shanzoa didn't even display any signs of resistance and obediently followed the Inspector, entering the police station. But, the moment he set foot within, the screen before him lit up, causing the words on it to change.

[Signing in to Metro District 8 Police Station. Rewarding Sign in bonus.]

Right as Shanzoa was stunned by the prompt, the screen changed again, displaying a set of options.

[Please choose a reward of your choice. (You can only select one)]

[Option 1: Gun (Loaded with six bullets)]

[Option 2: Pain Resistance]

[Option 3: Criminal Registry Access]

Three options hovered before him, stunning him as a mechanical voice resounded in his mind in a loop.

[Please select a reward.]

"Did you lose your mind?" The Inspector glared at Shanzoa, "I told you to follow me, right?"

He forcefully yanked out Shanzoa and threw him in a cell, "Stay there for now. We'll decide what to do with you depending upon your charges."

Shanzoa stared in a daze as he thought mentally, 'Is this…a System?'

[Please select a reward.]

'The rewards it's showing…are related to a police station.' Shanzoa thought, 'They appeared the moment I set foot within. Does that mean I can get rewards by entering other buildings?'

[Please select a reward.]

'First, I need to escape.' Shanzoa thought, staring at the constable removing his cuffs. Now that he was put in his cell, there was no need to cuff him.

But, the moment his cuffs were removed, right as the constable was about to lock the gates to the cell, Shanzoa focused on an option, 'Only one way to escape. I'll be condemned for this, but since my fate has been decided to be in prison for all my life, I don't care anymore. I'll become a villain for all I care!'

'I'll select the first reward!'

<Ding!>

The moment he selected the reward, the screen flashed brightly as immediately, a gun appeared in his hand. Shanzoa pointed it at the constable and pressed the trigger.

Bang!

"What…?" The constable was shocked as the light in his eyes died out, for a bullet had pierced through his chest, hitting the lungs. "How…?"

Bang! Bang!

Shanzoa shot two more bullets, prompting the police to hurriedly take cover as using the chance, he sprinted out of the station.

"Don't let him escape!" The Inspector shouted from under a table, hurriedly grabbing his gun as a team of police took off in a jeep, hot on Shanzoa's trails.