SSSSS-Rank: Negative Leveling

It was 4 AM.

Rebecca was asleep in the seat next to him, her head resting against a sack of supplies. Luthra was starting to get tired too.

'Shit, I need to stay awake.'

He had to keep his mind occupied.

'Hey, System.'

[Acknowledged.]

'I'm bored. And tired. Tell me something interesting to keep me awake. Anything.'

[Searching for a topic classified as 'interesting' to the host's psychological profile. Query processing… Topic selected: World Parameters.]

'World Parameters? Fine, whatever. Go ahead.'

[This world, which its inhabitants do not have a collective name for, is approximately 13.4 times the size of the planet known as 'Earth' from the data logs of the system's co-creator.]

He almost lost his grip on the reins. 'Thirteen times? That's ridiculously big.'

[Further data points:]

[Estimated Human Population: 42 billion. This number is in constant decline.]

[Estimated Monster Population: Unknown. Projections range from 700 billion to 1.2 trillion individual entities.]

[Number of active, Association-monitored Gates: 1,428.]

[Estimated number of unmonitored or wild Gates: 9,000+]

[Largest recorded single entity: The 'World Turtle', a dormant SSS-Rank monster whose shell forms a continent on the southern pole. Its current status is 'sleeping'.]

He processed the information, his fatigue completely forgotten. 'A continent-sized turtle? What the hell? And the population difference is insane. We're losing. Badly.'

He looked out at the dark, empty plains. 'So in a world this big, a place like the Gorgon Mines is just a speck of dust. My problems are basically nothing.'

[That is an incorrect assessment. The Host's existence is a paradox-level event. On a cosmic scale, your personal significance is disproportionately high.]

'Fine, whatever. If you have all this data, then tell me something else. My family. The House of Lurius. How many monsters have they killed?'

[Calculating... The registered members of the House of Lurius have a collective, officially confirmed subjugation count of 41,278 monsters.]

'Huh. That's a lot.'

[Correction. There is an additional data point associated with the Lurius family name. It is classified.]

He straightened up. 'Classified? What do you mean, classified? By who?'

[Access to this information is restricted by the system's co-creator.]

[This protocol was set by a higher authority. I am unable to bypass it.]

'A higher authority? You mean the god-geezer's friend? Don't give me that crap.'

"You're bonded to my soul. If I die, you die. Is that correct?"

[That is a correct assessment of our symbiotic relationship.]

"Good. Then you have a choice. You can tell me what this classified information is, or I can just let go of these reins and let the horses run us off the nearest cliff. I am very tired, so falling asleep right now would be very easy for me."

The cart swerved slightly as he loosened his grip for a moment.

[...Recalculating... Existential threat to the Host and the System has been detected. Analyzing primary directives... A conflict in protocols has occurred. Prioritizing host preservation.]

[Override sequence initiated. Accessing restricted data file L-001. Acknowledged.]

[Warning: The following information will fundamentally alter the Host's perception of his family and personal history. Proceed?]

"Just spit it out."

[The recorded subjugation count for the House of Lurius is 41,278. This is a public record.]

[The classified data point is this: The number of unique, high-tier monsters created as a direct consequence of the Lurius bloodline is 17.]

He was quiet. 'Created? What the hell does that mean?'

[Explanation: The founder of your family, Alistair Lurius, did not rise to power through innate talent. In the early days of the Association, he entered an Unranked Gate. Inside, he found a sealed entity, a being of immense power referred to in ancient records as a 'God of Calamity'.]

[Alistair Lurius did not kill this entity. He used a forbidden ritual to absorb it into his own soul. This act was the true origin of the Lurius family's power. It is the foundation of their so-called 'pure bloodline'.]

The system paused, as if processing the weight of the next piece of information.

[This act created a permanent stain, a 'Blood-Debt', upon his lineage. As a consequence, the Lurius bloodline itself became a beacon for disaster. Every few generations, the accumulated negative energy from this debt coalesces and manifests as a unique, powerful monster, a new 'Calamity' that is drawn instinctively to destroy the Lurius family.]

[The seventeen 'created' monsters were these Calamities. The Lurius family's history of glory is a lie. They are not heroes who protect the world. They are janitors, secretly cleaning up the catastrophes born from their own ancestor's sin, and they present these battles as heroic subjugations to maintain their fame and influence.]

The cart rolled on through the darkness. Rebecca was still sleeping peacefully. Luthra just stared ahead, his hands gripping the reins tightly again.

'So… that's it.'

'The pure bloodline. The family pride. The intolerance for failure. It was all a cover story. A lie they have been telling for generations to hide the truth.'

He thought about his father's face, his cold eyes on the day he was disowned.

'It was never about me being a failure. It was about me being useless to their cover-up. A dud who could not fight the monsters their own bloodline creates. Of course they threw me away. It is only logical.'

He did not feel anger, or sadness. He just felt a strange sense of clarity. The world was not unfair because he was born without a mana circle. The world was unfair because his family was built on a foundation of hypocrisy.

'And this Blood-Debt… seventeen Calamities so far. What happens when the next one appears? And the family has one less janitor to deal with it?'

A small, cold smile touched his lips for a moment. 'That sounds like it will be fun to watch.'

"Hey, Luthra."

Rebecca was awake, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Are we still not there yet?"

"No."

She yawned. "You look serious. Are you thinking about the bad guys at the mines?"

"I was thinking about my family."

"Oh. Are they bad guys, too?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

She did not ask any more questions about it. She just pulled her knees up to her chest and watched the dark landscape roll by.

Luthra turned his attention back to the system. 'This negative mana circle. The god-geezer said he sealed it to save me, but also said I arrived at the wall with it already. So... any ideas?'

[Neither statement is a lie. The god of your world did seal the core to prevent the annihilation of your soul. However, the origin of the core itself is an anomaly that predates his intervention.]

'So where did it come from? Don't give me that 'classified' crap again.'

[There is no classified data on this topic. There is only a single, unconfirmed theory logged by the system's co-creator.]

'A theory? Fine. I will listen to it.'

[The god of this world is a manager. His role is to bestow a positive-type mana circle upon souls that enter his domain. He does not create the souls themselves. That is the role of a higher existence, an entity referred to in the deepest system logs as the Absolute Being.]

The system paused, as if making sure he was paying attention.

[Your soul arrived at the Wall of Creation already possessing a negative mana core. This should be impossible. The theory is this: The Absolute Being, the creator of all souls, may have gifted you this power directly, for a purpose that is unknown. It was an act of deliberate creation that occurred outside the established rules of this universe.]

He was quiet for a long time.

'Gifted? This is not a gift. It is a defect. A curse that got me thrown out of my own house. If this Absolute Being exists, he is an asshole.'

[That is a valid emotional response.]

'Shut up.'