NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1 – My System Change
After two years of being a mere explorer, I realized that I had nothing to lose and faced the famous "Cave of Greed", I just didn't expect to reach the end of it alive.
"Wow..."
I came across mountains and mountains of gold and thousands of other items.
Thanks to the basic function of all systems, I could see the colors of the items mired in the gold and thus determine their rarity.
There were green, yellow and purple items, unusual, rare and epic. My eyes flashed with greed at that moment, as if my pupils took the shape of two gold coins.
If I took just a few of these items, I could retire and live a quiet life forever. I could get women, houses, cars, women, travel and did I say "women"?
I wanted to get everything I could fit into my small 3-slot inventory, but it was impossible.
[This item can't be obtained.]
"Tsk! How stingy..."
Few managed to reach the end of the 'Cave of Greed'. It was a tremendous challenge. An ancient legend said that all the items in this place were not real, but mere physical illusions. When I put anything in my bag or inventory, it would return to its original place like a mirage.
This situation was like pie in the sky, or like playing Stardew Valley and wanting to have a married woman for a wife. In the end, I could only stare at the items and wish for them with all my heart.
"But it's true... If someone could take as many of the items from this place as they wanted, first, the legend about this cave wouldn't even exist. The first person to reach this sea of treasures would have taken it all for themselves and become very rich, not spreading the existence of this place to everyone."
In any case, I hadn't come all this way for the battle equipment or the rare items that gave legendary spells. I calmed my mind and turned my attention away from the pile of treasured equipment.
Yes, I didn't want wealth - I mean, yes, I did, but I wasn't looking for it in this place. What I was really looking for in the "Cave of Greed" was the legendary magic book capable of changing my system.
At the age of eighteen, I finally passed the Wushia Academy of Compulsory Education in Republic City and showed myself fit to receive a system. I was hopeful, faithfully believing that because of my grades, I could receive a Legendary Combat System, such as the Crimson Swordsman System or the Divine Chef System. But what I got was the "Explorer System".
There were thousands and thousands of people with the "Explorer System". It wasn't a poor system, but it meant that I would only have skills that helped with exploration, i.e., I could create maps, see traps and be resistant to any poison, but nothing else. I had a support system, one of the weakest yet. Holders of the Arcane Mage System could also create maps and those with the Assassin System could identify traps and become resistant to poisons, but no matter how hard I tried, I could never obtain a combat skill.
It also meant that I would never be rich. Being an explorer wasn't a very profitable profession, unless I found items of rare quality or above. I was practically doomed to be a nobody for the rest of my life from the time I was a mere eighteen.
However, my outlook on this dreadful future changed when, during one of my explorations in a cave, I came across the bones of a dead guy. There was no one looking, and I'm not proud to say it, but I needed money and so I accessed his NeuroGear in order to loot it.
I didn't find many credits, but the bone had a document marked as important and I decided to read it out of curiosity. This document was where I found out about the 'Cave of Greed' and learned about the myth that said that among all the fake items there was a real one, an item from the First Age of Systems, and according to the document this was the only existing item capable of changing someone's system.
So, shaking my head, I took my focus off all that gold and concentrated on looking for something.
There were many items in this place and any of them could be the right item, but I could stay in this cave as long as the food in my backpack lasted.
So I took it off my back, unzipped it and... the backpack was practically empty. I had a canteen halfway through and two protein bars.
It had been three days since I entered the Cave of Greed. It was hard to get to the end, very hard. I knew the way back because I had created a map and getting out wouldn't take more than a day. However, there was also the legend that the "Cave of Greed" changed every five days, meaning that the path would have changed by the time I got back.
So my time here began to run quickly.
Quickly, I raised my head and my vision scanned those mountains of gold, looking for items that seemed important. On the spot, I saw something that made my eyes light up. A beautiful blue sword, probably made from meteorite crystals. I'd always wanted a Combat System. It was the easiest way to become something in life, and that's why I was in this cave, so the first thing I wanted to touch in this place was that blue sword.
I sprinted towards the sword, then began scaling the mountain of gold that it was stuck in, and I even resorted to using my bare hands to dig it out.
Suddenly, I heard the voice of the system in my mind.
[You have acquired a legendary item!]
[It's not in a suitable state. You can check the details using your <All-Seeing Eye> skill].
I stopped and looked at the item I was holding in my right hand. I was about to throw it back while reaching for the blue sword.
At first, I thought I had just picked up an old bird's feather, but I soon remembered what it was. It was a Writing Feather, from the old days when ink pots were still used.
"<Eye that sees all>? Why would I use a weekly-use skill...?" I was almost going to scoff automatically when I suddenly noticed that this item had a golden glow.
What I was holding was an item of legendary rarity.
"What the hell am I talking about? I don't even have the right to hesitate. It's a fucking legendary item!!!!!"
I was still in shock when I looked at the feather in my hand and said:
"Evaluate."
+
[Item: Eros Divine Feather]
Description: This feather contains the techniques and all the abilities of Eros. The first person to touch this feather after Eros has dropped it will receive his abilities and become The Multiversal Romantic Scripter.
Effects: Becomes the descendant of Eros.
Rank: Legendary
Requirement: None.
*Level and stats will change when used.
+
[An item capable of changing the system has been found!]
[Do you want to change the common rarity "Explorer System" for the single rarity "Multiversal Romantic Scripter System"? YES/NO.]
My body began to tremble.
It was better than a legendary item. It was the item I was looking for!
I wondered if I had seen it wrong, blinked several times and read the item description again. However, there was no change in the content.
"I've really found it!!!"
I wasn't hallucinating. I was extremely excited and could hear my heart beating wildly. I only used my skill because it was a legendary item, but it was actually what I had been looking for all along? What's more, it was of unique rarity, which meant that no one other than myself had anything like it. Having a Unique System didn't necessarily make me as strong as someone with a legendary system, especially since I didn't even know what exactly my system did yet, but there was no way a unique system could be bad.
"Most of the higher rarity items have it and this one doesn't! KUAHAHAHAT! I'm the happiest guy in the world!"
Before I knew it, tears were flowing from my eyes.
During these past two years, I've had to pay the interest on my student loan to Wushia Academy, graduate from school and try my hand at the profession of exploring. My friends left me one by one. The alumni of my school laughed at me. I was one of the best students in the class, but I achieved nothing.
My only plan in life as an Explorer was to sell the items I found and turn them into money so that I could pay off my tuition fees and household bills, but although the Earth was a world full of ruins to explore, I could barely get any equipment for myself, let alone some that I could sell.
However, now was different. A thrill spread through my body as I shuddered.
"It's over... I can say goodbye to this nightmare of a life!"
A system-changing item! I couldn't wait to try it out. Then I stopped to think and finally asked myself:
"What does a Multiversal Romantic Scripter do? Ah, never mind! It can't get any worse than an explorer!"
I clicked YES.
[The system change has been authorized!]
[You may feel your consciousness waver during the changeover, try not to faint.]
[Starting the system change!]
[Deleting "Explorer System"...]
["Explorer System" successfully deleted!]
[All your attributes have returned to the Human default. ]
[Installing "Multiversal Romantic Scripter System"...]
[0%...]
[28%...]
[67%...]
[99%...]
[100%!]
[Congratulations, Leonard! "Multiversal Romantic Scripter System" has been successfully installed!]
[You have acquired the following skills...]