Hal was surprised by the familiar feminine voice coming from the corner of the hospital room and hurriedly turned his head to look.
"Are you okay?, how are you doing?, hope you aren't feeling any pain?" She asked a series of questions without taking a breath.
"Bethany? I didn't know you were around, and yh, I'm fine, or at least I think I am."
Hal was quite surprised to see his little sister standing there in the middle of the room with red puffy eyes that Indicated that she must have cried herself to sleep last night.
She threw a scrutinizing look at him as if to confirm his answers through her eyes before her breathing became irregular, angry. And then as soon as Hal assumed a defensive position, she began punching him in all the unguarded parts while almost shouting.
"I told you to stop getting hurt! Do you have any idea how worried I was?"
".... I'm sorry."
"Do you want to die and make me twice an orphan? Don't you know how much you mean to me?"
".....sorry"
The strength behind Bethany's punches gradually reduced. She soon stopped and hugged him tightly as she sobbed into his chest and Hal slowly patted her back while thinking
'I was thinking of leaving behind this kid alone and dying, wasn't I....' He thought.
Well, it was a relief he made it out alive despite the possibility of that still being confusing.
When he looked back, there were too many brushes with death. He was lucky to have come out of each of them alive.
He was just grateful he got to see his little sister again.
Sniff.
Thankfully, his strong-willed sister stopped crying after a short while. Unfortunately for him, though, her nagging continued for over one hour afterward.
"Do you hear me? Make sure you never participate in a dangerous raid again or else I'll tie you down myself and go get a job."
"Okay, okay I've heard you."
Hal nodded his head as if he'd given up.
Only after she had gotten his assurance severally, did she leave his side to take a seat in the corner of the room.
"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Hal asked.
"No, I'm going to sit down here and watch you all day so you don't go running again".
Hal let out a chuckle.
"I ain't going nowhere, okay? So you can go out and have some fun, you Know?"
"Play with your friends?"
"No!" she protested.
"I'll babysit you if I have to."
"Come on, your big bro isn't going anywhere, okay? You have nothing to worry about."
After some while, he managed to convince her to leave but only after receiving a few more scolding.
"Whew! That was quite intense," Hal said with a light smile etched on his face.
As he was looking at the ceiling, a blue screen suddenly appeared in his view, and he could see 'words' floating in the air.
[You have several unread messages.]
*****
"What the heck!?"
Hal closed his eyes and opened them again.
[You have several unread messages.]
He shook his head a few times and even pulled the blanket over his head while closing his eyes, only for him to open them and see the words staring back at him.
The words remained floating up there without a single change.
Hal massaged his forehead and thought.
"It hasn't been long since I started hearing weird voices and now I'm even seeing things?"
Was this some kind of side effect of those near tremors he got when in a life-and-death situation?
Now that he thought about 'death' he suddenly remembered that annoying feminine voice he heard when he was about to die earlier.
"Does it have something to do with this weird screen?"
Too many weird things were happening at once but...
"What if...?'
There was a chance that this whole thing was not an isolated event but linked to one another. When he thought about it that way it seemed to make the slightest sense.
Therefore, he decided to see what the unread messages were and possibly find out more about the voice in his head and the screen itself.
Hal slowly raised his hands to confirm the messages and touched the words floating in the air.
But his hands went right through it.
''Huh? It's not touch-operated?"
It seemed like he had gotten used to using a smartphone.
"Okay, if it isn't touch-operated, then perhaps I just need to speak to it then."
'Like how I did back then with that voice in my head.'
After coming to this conclusion, Hal began to form the potential words in his head.
"Confirm."
"Confirm messages"
"Read messages"
"I want to read"
When he saw that it was unresponsive, he tried approaching it politely.
"Grant me the permission to read?" When that didn't work, he simply shouted at it in frustration.
"Just show me already, will ya! ?"
But the screen just kept still, like a phantom suspended in air, showing the same thing as if to mock him
[You have several unread messages.]
"F**k it!"
"Okay, let's be more rational here, eh?" Hal thought.
'Let's take it from the perspective of a video game since this type of screen is only possible in one.'
"So if I were to be in a video game, how would I open a message?"
Hal quickly racked his brain and got something.
"Okay, let's try this"
"Open mailbox"
Tti-ring
As soon as Hal said the word 'open', a clear beep sounded in his head, and the hidden messages revealed themselves.
"Yh!"
Hal raised his fist and punched the air as he praised himself for his intelligence.
[There are two unread messages.]
- Congratulations on becoming the Host of the " Celestial system" (unread)
- [ Daily quest: Preparations to become strong] is now available. (unread).
He thought that the first message sounded familiar, as if he heard it before from somewhere.
So, the first message, then.
- Congratulations on becoming the Host (unread)
'Confirm'
Tti-ring
[This system will support the growth of the Host and help him achieve great strength.]
[This system will issue quests that will help in the growth of the Host.]
[Failing to complete a quest given by the system will result in potential penalties.]
[Your rewards have been delivered.]
"Ahh."
He belatedly remembered it now.
Back then, the system was talking about a Host and an opportunity, wasn't it?
Of course, back then or even now, he still couldn't understand what on Earth was going on here.
The 'System,' 'opportunity,' 'growth,' 'penalties', and finally, 'rewards.'
The whole thing just left him confused.
'Just how will it help me grow, and what will it be rewarding me with?' He thought.
He decided to leave that for now and moved on to the next message.
- [Daily quest: Preparations to become strong] is now available. (unread)
'Confirm.'
Tti-ring
[Daily quest: Preparations to become stronger]
Running, 10Km: Incomplete (0/10)
Sit-up, 100 times: Incomplete(0/100)
Press-up, 100 times: Incomplete (0/100)
Squat, 100 times: Incomplete (0/100)
*Warning: Incompletion of daily quests will result in appropriate punishment.