System, are you messing with me? - Chapter 36: Chapter 36

[congratulation Host in completing all main missions.
1. Promotion to Lieutnant in three years ~ 2000 Points
2. Protect General Sun ~ 2000 Points]
System: "You have also completed the two side missions, burry Zhou An and marry. Those will give you 500 Points each. Your total number of Points is now 6700."
Alpha's body glowed in a bright yellow colour while he excitedly delivered Shu Ning's score. He even bounced up and down a few times before his energy settled again, but instead of giving the pleased reaction that the system was probably expecting, Shu Ning just calmly sat up in the big bed of the system space and rubbed the dizziness out of his eyes. Only once his thoughts became clear again did he focus his attention on the dimming globe of light that had begun silently sulking.
Shu Ning: "Show me the available skills."
System: "Coming right up. (¤﹏¤)"
Just then a black panel appeared in front of Shu Ning's eyes and after scroling through the skills for a bit, he noticed that the list had gotten slightly longer since the last time he had seen it. Some new skills like psychologie, farming and horse back riding had been unlocked and were now accessable. But he had no interesst in those just yet. Instead he continued reading through the available skills untill his eyes stopped on the words medicin - first aid and cooking - street stalls.
Shu Ning: "I choose Medicin and cooking. I also want to advance in the other skills I already have."
System: "Alright. The training space is being prepared for the skills medicin - first aid, cooking - street stall, martial arts - master, flirting - pillow talk (completed), ettiquets - advanced and swordsmanship - advanced. The training will last twelve years. Do you wish to enter the next world right after?"
Shu Ning: "Yes. I do not need any break."
System: "Understood. Entering training space now. 3..... 2...... 1"
As soon as Alpha finished with the countdown, the system space distorted slightly in front of Shu Ning's eyes and seconds later, he already sat on the white floor of the training space, starting his twelve years of schooling.
Once the time was up, he awoke to the sight of a white ceiling. A bright light shone from a simple lamp hanging there and he had to momuntarily close his eyes again until the slight burn from the sudden brightness receded. Only then could he carefully look around the small room that he found himself in.
The walls and ceiling of this place were painted in a plain white colour that had multiple dark smuges on them and in some spots even peeled off. The interior of the place was sparsely furnished and except for the narrow hospital like bed that Shu Ning was lying on, there was only a small table in the corner and a strange beeping machine attached to his head with cables.
Shu Ning lifted his hand to pull on the cords that were plastered to his temples and forehead. However, he had to relent very quickly as both of his wrists were bound tightly to the grid attached to the sides of the bed. He pulled a few more times to test the strength of the restraint, but even when his skin turned red from the friction, the bounds held tight. So instead of wasting his time on getting his arms free, he sunk back into the pillow to review the memorys that he got from the body he was occupying.
The boy's name was Shi Wei. He lived together with his mother and father in a medium sized hous in the center of town. They were not well off, but they were also not poor. When Shi Wei turned fifteen his parents brought home another boy his age to be his brother, as the other's parents had died in a car accident. His name was Xu Dan and from then on their family of three became a family of four. Xu Dan was a real angel and a wonderful brother. Always caring about the families well being. So It didn't take long for the boy to become an important member of the household and Shi Wei's parents started to dote on the guy. Shi Wei was really happy to suddenly have a new brother, but shortly after his sixteenth birthday something changed. He suddenly had trouble sleeping at night, he got easily angered, the food started tasting like ash or mud, he suddenly forgott important things and his body became weaker and weaker untill he fell ill every second day. Shi Wei was really scared by the sudden change in his mental and phisical health and felt really helpless, so when his parents suggested sending him to a health facility, he was completely in favour of it. However, instead of getting better, Shi Wei got constantly worse. It got to the point where he looked more like a corpse than a human. He got pale and thin. Obviously malnutritioned. His bones were pushing against the soft exterior of his body and the only fabric that covered his weak frame was a light blue gown that made his ghastly white skin seem almost translucant. At some point during this drastic transformation, the staff of the health facility descided that Shi Wei was a constant danger to himself and others and needed to be tied down on the bed, so that he didn't hurt anyone within his moments of madness.  And that is also the situation Shu Ning currently found himself in.
Internally cursing, he just wanted to call out to the System to demand an explenation when the door to the room swung open and a young woman stepped over the threshold. From the memories he looked at before, he could immediately tell that this woman was the nurse assigned to the original Shi Wei.
"You calmed down from your last outburst I can see. Had us worried for a bit. We thought that you wouldn't survive this time."
The nurse looked down at the clipboard she was carrying once she arrived at the side of the hospital bed. With a slight furrow between her brows, she looked over what ever was written there and then swept her gaze to the machine still beeping away next to Shu Ning's head.
"Hmm. Strange. How do you feel?"
"According to the circumstances....... appropriate."
Shu Ning pointedly looked down at his wrists when he answered the nurse and tried flexing his fingers without aggravating the raw patches of flesh any further. Unfortunately, the woman only raised one of her eyebrows at Shu Ning's sarcastic remark and then proceded to write on the clipboard in her hand. After she finished checking the display of the machine again, she pulled out a small vial from one of her dress pockets and stuck the needle of a syringe inside.
Shu Ning watched nervously as the liquid sloshed within and hoped against hope that the injection was not meant for him. Of course that was only wishfull thinking. With trepidation, he had to watch the nurse roughly plunge the needle into the crook of his arm and dislodge the content into of his vain.
"Ouch. Can't you be more careful?"
"Stop complaining. If you feel pain, then at least you know that you are still alive. Could fool us otherwise."
Shu Ning huffed in irritation and didn't say anything anymore until the nurse finally strode out of the room. Though the woman didn't even think about untying his wrists before leaving, making him yell after her retreating back. But obviously she completely ignored him and didn't even glance in his direction before she locked the door behind herself again.
Shu Ning: "That stupid jerk actually just left me like this. What kind of nurse is she to treat her patient like some kind of living experiment. No good one, that's for sure."
System: "...."
Shu Ning: "Yeah right. We have better things to do. Alpha? Can I look at the plot now? I have already received the memories but the plot is still missing."
System: "..."
Shu Ning: "Alpha? Oy, Alpha?"
System: "...."
Shu Ning: ".......Alpha?"
With a foreboding feeling in his heart, Shu Ning hurriedly closed his eyes to search for the System inside of his consciousness, but even after calling out to Alpha and looking in every direction, there was no glowing ball to be found. The System had dissapeared.
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Black. That was the first thing Alpha noticed when its body finally finished materializing. It was surrounded by a black so dark, that it would swallow any kind of light trying to brighten up this space. Even the System had trouble keeping up the soft glow of it's body, but luckily this place recognized it, allowing for it's passage through the gloomy atmosphere.
Alpha's body flickered a few times in nervousness as it made its way through the thick darkness. It's body unconciously guiding it along the right path until it arrived at a huge hovering door made out of mahogany wood.
At first glance the door did not look special at all, except maybe for its size, but appearances can be deceiving. Since every System could recognize this as a travelling portal, meant to connect two far away places with each other .
A lot of other doors with varying colours, materials and sizes were flying close by, but Alpha knew that the being which forcefully pulled it into this space was waiting behind the door it currently stood in front of. In a way, the System was actually excited to come face to face with the individual at the other side of the portal, as there were good news to relay this time. It made the light of the glowing ball brighten just a little bit more in anticipation.
With a soft touch against the dark wood, the door squeeked open to reveal the gray stone of the floor and wall of a big room. There was no furniture littering on the ground of this place and only an antique chandelier, hanging from the ceiling immersed the room in a dimm light. At the far back of this place hung a monsturous round metal objekt with metal wires connected to ceiling and floor, keeping it suspended in the air. Its sides were attached to long pipes, weaving over the cold stone of the room untill they each dissapeared through one of the walls. Right next to it stood a transparent bell jar and inside were two shattered fragments, carved with ancient runes. Soul fragments.
"Alpha...."
A husky voice sounded from the direction of the metal object in the room and seconds later a long glass window appeared in the center of it. With it came a direct view to a naked young man with silver hair, strong muscular body and toned skin. The guy had a breathing mask on his face as he was suspended in a slimy looking substance and he seemed to have some trouble focusing his eyes on the sole visitor of his territory.
Nevertheless, Alpha determently moved to the front of the transparent window and slightly pressed its body against the glass in affection. Unfortunately it was already accustomed seeing the man in a state like this, so it did not fill Alpha with fear or heartbreak any longer.
"Boss. I haven't seen you in so long."
"Yes. My child. It's been a while. I hope everything is going all right?"
"Of course. Shu Ning is a wonderful Host. He finished all of the missions so far and he does not complain all to often. We are getting along splendid."
"That's good to know. Anything else to report?"
"Yes. We have encountered someone called Sheng Su in the first world and Shu Ning descided to stay with him untill old age. In the second world, there was Sun Zhilong whom he stayed behind for. However, my Host still seemes to have some doubt about his lovers affection. Still, I'm quite sure that he will fall in love sometime soon."
"Seems like everything is going great then. Continue keeping an eye on those two. I knew that you were the right choise for this kind of work."
"Yes, Boss. I will not fail you."
Alpha send a wave of reassurance and dedication through the window that it was still touching and into the slimy liquid. In no time, the solemn expression of the young man yielded to the slight softening of his eyes and if the breathing mask wasn't there, then there would have even been a tiny smile growing on his lips.
"Go now, Alpha. You shouldn't let your Host wait too long for you."
"Alright. I will visit you again,........ father"
Shyly, Alpha changed it's colour from a light yellow to a pale pink as it muttered the last word and then quickly rushed back through the portal it came from, already reconnecting itself to it's Host's consciousness as it went. In it's hurry to escape, the System completely missed the pleasantly shocked eyes of it's Boss.