Everyone Else Has a System

"I don't want to meet Lucia this soon."

As soon as Zero spoke those words, both Eliza and Cristine looked at him with a dumbfounded expression as their eyes turned open wide.

They wanted to ask, but the mana inside them churned and they started gasping for air as they realised that the mana contract forbids them from asking for any personal information.

'We have been played,' was the thought that Cristine had as she looked at Zero moving away from their sight. He knew about them beforehand and all this wasn't just a coincidence… is what they were thinking. Worried about what may happen next, they looked at the mana contract once again.

Their eyes turned a bit more open before they realised what the mana contract implies, and connecting it with the events that had happened around them, a few things became more apparent.

First was that Zero knew Lucia. He was probably here to meet Lucia or something related to Lucia. It wasn't a coincidence at all.

Second was that Lucia does not know anything about this whole ordeal and she has no idea what is going on around.

And finally, the fact that he told them about Lucia… is probably because he wanted them to know that he has an upper hand on them. 𝐟r𝒆ℯ𝘄𝑒𝒃𝚗𝒐𝘃e𝗹.c𝘰𝐦

However, the fact that he cannot harm them made them relax a little before they gave each other an awry smile.

Eliza spoke after giving some thought to the situation,"do you think he is an enemy?"

"I don't know. Though he looks more like a dealer than an enemy or ally. The fact that he didn't add any special condition regarding me helping him made me think that he was still a kid, but now… I can't shake the feeling that he is going to do something huge," Cristine said and then looked at the contract once again and spoke again as she turned annoyed at her own thoughts,"But I still can't find a single damn scheme in this whole contract and the more I look at it the more I feel that it is in our favour… yet I feel defeated…"

Eliza chuckled a bit before moving towards the bedroom as she spoke,"well… what's done is done. At least we are moving in a direction rather than running around hopelessly."

Cristine couldn't help but look at Eliza and ponder over her words before nodding and starting to do her own thing. Whether what happened today was a blessing or a misfortune, only time will tell.

Meanwhile, Zero began strolling in the city for a change. Since his plan for the hideout failed, he began pondering over other things that happened over the time he regressed, especially since the facility.

'At first it might look like everything is going just fine but… now that I think about it, everything isn't really going exactly as I planned it to be,' Zero thought as he got mixed with the crowd in the city.

The first thing that's different was the fact that the Puppeteer of Death arrived at the facility. Shouldn't it normally be a small army of all the people excluding the highest one in hierarchy?

'It doesn't make sense. Why did no one else but only the Puppeteer of Death come to deal with the situation? I had made sure not to let anyone know about everyone's system being activated again, so that I could have their guards down but…

Then there was Mark Leeway's presence… that too shouldn't have happened. Where did things go wrong? Even William's presence was an anomaly. Why was that guy at the facility?' Zero kept pondering over and over.

He could more or less make out the reason why Cristine and Eliza were there at the hideout. It was basically because that b*tch Lucia lied to him in the past, but what happened at the facility was different.

'Hmmmm… let's stop depending upon previous life's memories until I gather enough information. With that in mind… hmmm all right, let's get another identity for now.' Zero thinks as he moves in the direction of the Record Keepers' Department.

The Record Keepers' Department was a place where most of the identity cards and stuff were made, both legally and illegally. Whether it's your own personal status, an artifact's or weapon's status, everything is made and stored there.

There were a few Record Keeper's Department main branches in this city too. Zero moves towards the closest department as he finally decides everything.

At this moment, Zero finally noticed the surrounding place. For the first time in a while, he took a break and finally saw the hustling and bustling city around him. Skyscrapers touching the sky at a distance and towering buildings all around him. People walking around busily going about their daily lives, family and children happily walking while most of the people have a depressed or exhausted face.

Perhaps all that thinking made him forget… that he was really back in the past. Here, no one is chasing after him and he can finally take a breather. He does not need to run for his life or be in hiding. A place where things are still alive and kicking and the Cataclysm is still a few years ahead of them. He looked at the world he needed to protect, the people he wanted to save… it was an almost impossible task given the way things are going yet…

He clenches his fist a bit and a smile forms on his face as he continues his stroll.

While it looked like he was finally set on a noble path, his thoughts said otherwise.

'To save a dying world. How fascinating…! A world that is set to be doomed in multiple ways and unless everything is done with proper planning, this world is f*cked up. Aah… it makes my heart burst with excitement…' Zero thought as he controlled his surging emotions.

With Zero being pushed into one grave situation one after another, it ended up twisting his personality a bit. The bigger the danger, the higher the difficulty, the more thrill he feels. At this point, he might not be doing it only for the sake of saving his loved ones… but because of the heck of it.

He became infamous by a name among his enemies after the first Cataclysm.

The Crazy Daredevil.