Within no time, two elderly figures entered the room. One was wearing plain cotton clothes while the other looked very dignified.
The plain-looking old woman hastened her footsteps as she walked past everyone and reached Qin Wei, who had his eyes widened and face pale in shock and probably fear.
"Graa" "Graaa" "Graa"
As Qin Wei started making low-frequency rumbles, trying to converse with the old woman, the latter cried a little as she hugged the little boy. She was his grandmother from his mother's side.
"You are finally awake, my little cherub." Her tears of happiness continued to flow like a river. The other old woman, on the other hand, just stood there in silence. She was his paternal grandmother, who didn't have much affection for the boy.
Sometime later;
"Just don't worry about it and focus on taking rest, alright?" In a weak tone, his grandma tried to console the little boy who had tear marks on his cheeks.
Upon learning of the truth about the incident, Qin Wei couldn't hold back his tears.
In the battle against the Demon General, his father died. His beloved brother, Qin Yu, on the other hand, appeared to have been taken away by a mysterious expert on the same day. This powerful expert was the one who killed the 9-Tier Demon General and ended the invasion. Hence, no one dared to stop him from taking the young man away.
As a result, his grandfather had to come out of retirement and become the acting family head.
In his life, Qin Wei only had three people whom he could confidently call his family. One is his father, the second is his elder brother, and the third is his maternal grandmother. According to him, these three were the only people in his life who truly loved him.
And now, two of them were taken away from his side.
Suddenly, he felt like his whole world had turned upside down, and rage built up in his heart.
Meanwhile, Qin Rui, the paternal grandmother of Qin Wei, who was patiently waiting in silence, finally opened his mouth.
Staring at him with a frown on his face, she said, "Qin Wei, I'm here with a message from your grandfather." Even in her tone, there wasn't an ounce of affection for her grandson.
"Ms. Qin…" As the other woman let out a sharp hiss of displeasure, Qin Rui ignored her and placed her attention on the little boy, "Qin Wei, I don't have too much time. So, I will be direct. So far, we have put you on the list of missing persons, but since you wake up, soon, it will be announced that you died under your abductor's abuse. We'll show the disfigured body of a kid your age to the media as a piece of evidence.
From now onwards, you shall live with Liu Jia and use your maternal surname for the rest of your life, at this place, far away from your home. 10 million Zeni was already transferred to your grandmother's account, and I think it will be enough for your expenses to live in luxury until you become an adult.
As a part of your inheritance, another 40 million will be deposited in your bank account as a long-term fixed deposit. When you turn 18, the deposit will mature, and you can do whatever you want with it.
In return, unless you are powerful enough to defeat an S-class Hero or a Demon General, don't you dare return to Elinor or even claim the surname of Qin.
This is an order from your grandfather, as well as the head of the Qin clan. I have said everything I was told to inform you. I bid you goodbye."
After her job was finished, Qin Rui didn't even rest there for a minute. She turned around and walked away without a care about what the little boy would feel.
Liu Jia went after her to escort her to the car, leaving behind a silent and depressed Qin Wei in the room.
"Dad… Brother…" The ten-year-old wept as he curled up, lying on the bed.
The words of his grandma from earlier began to resonate in his ears.
How his family was affected, how those beings devastated the town of Elinor, the emotion of rage made its way into his heart.
Apart from the castle, the whole town was razed to the ground with estimated casualties amounting to 166,000. That is almost 36% of the population of the town.
Qin Wei didn't even know that he was capable of hating someone. All this while, he only blamed himself for every little thing.
Even when his cousins bullied him over his lack of potential and voice, he never hated them. He thought he deserved it and felt bad for his brother.
But, for the first time, he felt hatred.
A ten-year-old like Qin Wei might not be able to distinguish between dislike and hate, but then again, it no longer matters, as his mind was already affected.
He hated the demons for the massacre. He hated the Divinian council for abandoning the town. He hated the Heroes for not saving his people. He hated his stepmom for surviving and reaping the benefits. He hated how the public was blaming his family for this incident. And he hated his grandparents for abandoning him.
With his mind in a mess, he can no longer think straight.
In such a state, the ten-year-old spoke to himself in his head, "I wish I had enough power to take revenge. I will wipe out all the demons from the face of this planet, even if I have to burn down the country. I will make those bosses of the Divinian council apologize at my father's grave."
*Ding! The system recognizes the host's resolve.
*Ding! The Main Quest, "Resolve," has been completed. You received a starter package.
*Ding! A new Main Quest is added to the Quest list.
*Ding! Life Quest-1, "Eliminate the demon lord," is added to the Quest list.
*Ding! Life Quest-2, "Disband the Hero Council," is added to the Quest list.
*Ding! Life Quest-3, "Eliminate the Gods of Destruction," is added to the Quest list.
*Ding! The host hasn't given a reply to the earlier notification. Do you wish to go through the tutorial or skip it?
"Who are you? Are you my spirit beast? Please tell me about yourself." He spoke in his head. He had never heard of such a spirit beast that gave him notifications.
*Ding! Certainly, dear Host. The name I held in the past was Aria. Currently, I have no name. You can call me 'system' or name me something else.
*Ding! I'm an artificial intelligence program developed by Andro-Galactic Empire's Dr. K and her team. Later, I was merged with the orb of creation by sheer coincidence and became what I am now.
*Ding! I operate based on the power of my first host, Tyranthir, the primeval sovereign.
*Ding! Congratulations, you awakened the power to create prehistoric beasts of the planet Earth-46.
"Prehistoric beasts? What are those? Like Demons?" wondered the ten-year-old, trying to digest the knowledge he had just received.
*Ding! They are beasts that lived tens of millions of years ago on a planet located 3.76 million light years away.
*Ding! If you have no further questions, will you proceed to the tutorial or skip it?
"Fuu…" Taking a deep breath, he nodded, "Yes."
For the next few minutes, he learned how to operate this newfound power he got in exchange for merely cleaning the stone slab of a tomb.
And the details blew his mind, upon realizing that the potential in this power far exceeds his brother's. In fact, it might even make him the strongest in the world. However, he needs to work hard for it.
Or so Qin Wei/ Liu Wei thought as he opened the inventory.
The inventory has only ten slots, of which one of them was occupied with the image of a cardboard box.
He clicked on it.
*Ding! You received a dungeon tower, a Velociraptor token, and 1000 credits from the starter pack.
Arceus closed the notification screen and opened the inventory once again. He clicked on the Velociraptor token first, which looked like a silver coin with an image of a beast drawn on it.
The coin transformed into specks of light and disappeared, followed by a notification from the system.
*Ding! The velociraptor beast has been unlocked. Check out the Gallery for details.
16 years later;
Year 42, Third Age of Astron;
City of Triton, Republic of Lineria, Eastern Continent;
A young man with round glasses, wearing a half-blazer over his turquoise plain shirt that was tucked into his black trousers, was slowly sipping hot coffee from the mug as he was coldly staring at the city from the top of the tallest building. The city was burning in flames with an army of flame-spitting dinosaurs of various types rampaging all over the place.
"The heroes failed to stop the dungeon break, and now, the innocents paid the price once again. But, this isn't enough to change the opinion of the public, as there are only a few thousand casualties. It will be on the news for a week or two before everyone forgets it. At most, the blame will fall on the government, and some officials will become the scapegoats. It is best if I choose a whale… Hmm… yes, the Central City. It has more than twenty million people. Even if 1% die, the casualties will be in the hundreds of thousands.
Let's see if the heroes there have what it takes to protect people from dungeon breaks. If the headquarters of the Federation gets razed to the ground, it will surely shake the world, and even normal citizens will be forced to take up arms against demons..."
As he kicked the ground and jumped high, a nearby fire-spitting Pterosaur flew toward him, and he perfectly landed on its back before it flew away from the city that looked like it had gone through a great war.