QT: Against My Will

489 8.06 – The Strongest System – Monstet Heist

Nathaniel took a deep breath after witnessing Silvia’s actions, “How many days until she is discharged?”

“Two weeks,” Dr. Rinaldi replied. “Maybe more if she continues to leave the hospital without permission.” Her tone was serious, and it was clear that Silvia’s behavior was causing a great deal of stress for the medical staff, “What has she been doing in school that she always returns with a worsened condition?”

“I don’t know exactly, but a few students told me she has been having problems with a certain student.” Nathaniel’s tone was detached, and it was clear that he wasn’t particularly fond of Silvia.

Dr. Rinaldi’s expression darkened at the mention of the certain student. She was all too familiar with Victor’s behavior, and his recent actions were so unlike him. The fact that he set Silvia’s hair on fire and kept her vital points intact was concerning.

“Nathaniel! Dr. Rinaldi!” Bing Shi greeted them, her tone brightening up, “I apologize if I disturbed you.” As she walked towards Nathaniel with a bounce in her step, she made a detour towards the chairman’s office, “See ya later,” she said before disappearing around the corner.

“It seems like she has accepted her new look,” smiling to herself, Nora went back to work.

“Probably,” Nathaniel looked up at his wristwatch, accompanying her until they passed by the main entrance, “I know I asked you for a favour but don’t overwork yourself too much.”

“I won’t,” Dr. Rinaldi chased him out of the doors, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She didn’t know why the male lead was so invested in learning brain surgery right now, but she was not going to rush into anything without knowing more about the situation.

Nora, {Any cue about Olivia’s system?}

.....

Olivia’s system was the main reason why Nora wanted to get stronger. As a system, she really felt powerless in that world and was determined to never let it happen again.

When Victor appeared inside of his space, he unsealed the fragment of the dead soul—the surroundings immediately started to devour it like a black hole as if it wanted to get rid of its existence. After a few seconds, he quickly sealed it within his soul as a protective measure.

Victor, {I saw her keeping a snake as a pet, it must be her system}, a few droplets of sweat appeared on his forehead, {It’s consuming too much energy for something that is supposed to be dead.}

When it came to granting the final wish, Victor asked Nora what she wanted. Despite her low expectations, she requested to have the same powers as the strongest system in the HQ. She didn’t know why the HQ suddenly demanded Victor to erase his memories of Olivia, but it made him prioritize his feelings over hers.

Instead of obtaining a living soul, Victor received a fragment of a deceased soul. In exchange for some of his life source, he was able to access the soul’s memories, which mainly belonged to Olivia’s life.

Nora, {You should stop feeding it. It’s causing you too much harm.}

Victor’s voice was firm as he spoke, {How many times had we discussed this? I’ve invested too much of myself into this, Nora.} This dead soul gave him a sense of warning, a reminder of his own mortality. It reminded him that one day, he too might end up like her if he gave up. Forgotten and lost in time. It showed him that living was more worth than being dead.

Nora, {I understand how you feel, but your emotions are clouding your judgment. We need to think rationally about it. This world is not safe. You need to save your energy.”

Not only did they waste a wish on a useless thing, but Nora also had to deal with Kuro’s bragging about its host Bing Shi whenever she and Victor cleared a world. She didn’t believe Bing Shi could be such a big deal and thought that Kuro was preprogrammed to behave like that.

After Nora was done altering Dr. Rinaldi’s brain to behave a certain way, she contacted her brother again.

Nora, {I’m returning to the system space. I will be back in a year.}

Victor, {Hey, wait!}

Victor called to the empty space since his sister was already gone. Wasn’t she enjoying her life as a system a little bit too much?! She just called this world dangerous and left him on his own just like that!

He asked his sister what she wanted as her wish but intentionally made sure she wouldn’t receive it. His motive was to provide her with a sense of purpose to get better on her own, ‘I witnessed it countless times, Nora. The moment a person has all their desires fulfilled, it marks their end.’

· · ────────── · ???· ────────── · ·

Meanwhile…

Kuro departed from space together with Xuan Mu to collect Bing Shi’s accumulated spirit. It was typically amassed around the statues people build in her honour.

As soon as Xuan Mu came face to face with the angel carved out of marble, he listened to a few citizens asking the goddess for her blessing and protection from harm, “This is the last one.”

While Kuro collected the spirit, Xuan Mu put a health spell on the visitors. He was not doing this to help Bing Shi get stronger, the opposite. Now that she was back, he was trying to slow it down by sealing away the accumulated spirit and keeping it for later.

Xuan Mu had to ask a few powerful people for help, like the emperor Zhao Rong, general Yi Zen and his wife Fu Lian. Every time they reincarnated, he would unlock the memories they had of Bing Shi. Their task would be to maintain her strong presence in the society, “I’m going to tell him she is alright. You can go back.”

Nodding its head, Kuro spent its time lounging in Bing Shi’s space room, constantly flooding the system chat with fabricated tales it came up with XiaoPu during its stay in hubby’s space.

“Hey newbies, have you heard of Bing Shi? She’s the best host out there,” Kuro said in the system chat, “Trust me.”

“Oh please, not this again,” a few systems that just arrived from a mission world groaned out.

“Kuro is lying! Bing Shi is nothing special, just another average host,” another chimed in.

Nora joined in the chat, surprised to encounter Kuro, “I will only believe it if I witness it myself. Kuro, send me some proof. Let me see how great Bing Shi is because I believe my host is much more amazing!” 𝙛𝑟𝘦ℯ𝘄e𝙗nov𝙚𝑙. 𝐜𝑜𝗺

“You’re all jealous because your hosts never taught you how to hula hoop like Bing Shi, LOL,” Kuro retorted. “Bing Shi told me I will become the future hula hoop champion. Mark my words.”

“...” Nora couldn’t believe she was trying to provoke Kuro. The longer she knew Kuro, the more she was sure that this system was the weakest of them all. Not speaking about its host, who must have had the easiest missions in the universe. She would have never thought that Olivia and Bing Shi could have something in common with eachother.

Nora ignored Kuro’s spamming while trying to find traces of the strongest system. She had a clear idea of what the most powerful system was supposed to be like. She expected it to be advanced, efficient, and sophisticated, capable of handling complex tasks with ease. A system that would keep its identity hidden, probably someone who would never use the system chat.

Despite the negative reactions from other systems, Kuro continued to boast about Bing Shi’s supposed greatness. It didn’t care about others’ opinions and didn’t reply to anyone. Before her death, Bing Shi told it she might reach godhood faster if it helped her out a little like this.

Bing Shi wasn’t a jack of all trades like her husband. She relied heavily on the collective effort of other people as compensation for her lack of proficiency in particular areas. She devised so many methods to aid in her ascension to godhood that she forgot about a few ones like this.