My Wants To Kill Me - Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Host Selection

‘My 3 years of journey in the first Virtual Reality game ‘Divinity’ brought me to my death… Even that wasn’t enough for Maya as she made my remaining consciousness an NPC.’

‘I can still think and I have retained my memories, but I can’t do anything other than the specified tasks that I’m assigned by the game.’

‘Every day tens of newbie players come to me and ask ‘If I need any help?’. I can’t say anything other than telling them about my lost stick and the 3 beans that I will reward them with if they find my stick.’

“What the hell! Why in the world would I need help with finding a stick? I need help with breaking the restrictions of the game and free myself!”

Ryder wanted to scream his thoughts out loud, but he couldn’t even do that.

It was nearly evening when things finally changed, but not for the better.

“Hey NPC! I heard that you’re telling people to find your stick! I tried, but I didn’t find the stick! Why don’t you give me those 3 beans either way?”

A bulky man was standing in front of him. There was not a single hair on his head, but his beard was quite long. The man was over 6 feet tall and had a strong build.

“Please help me find my stick! I will give you 3 beans as a reward.”

Ryder didn’t want to offend the man thus he wanted to say yes to whatever the man desires, but the predefined reply came out of his mouth.

‘What the f***! Why can’t I give any other answer? When I was in the novice village the first time, all the NPCs were much more interactive and seemed like they had intelligence! They never felt robotic! Why is my character so messed up? Is the game intentionally fucking with me?’

Ryder couldn’t help but blame the game as he thought about his reactions carefully. It was definitely not the normal behavior of the NPCs in the game.

“You trash! Are you making fun of me? Do you think that you are smart? I’ll kill you right here and right now! Let’s see how you will try to act in front of me then!”

The bald man screamed at Ryder as he brought out his sword and pointed it towards Ryder.

‘This fool! He’s definitely a newbie! Doesn’t he know that as soon as he attacks an NPC, the Village People will come to save me? The whole village will turn against him! Wait a minute… what am I thinking about… Even if the village Elders turn against him and stop giving him quests, I would still be beaten badly!’

Ryder started sweating at the thought of getting beaten. He was an NPC now… He wasn’t sure if he would feel any pain, but he was definitely afraid.

“Please help me find my stick. I would give you three beans as a reward” The words again escaped his mouth without his control. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his misery.

“What the hell! Maya you bitch! What kind of restrictions did you put on me! Why do you want to kill me? I never offended you?”

Ryder screamed loudly but his voice was limited to only his brain. No words came out of his mouth, which remained closed. He had no control over his body.

“You bastard! Are you messing with me?” The bald man screamed as he punched Ryder’s face. Blood started coming out of his lips that were cut because of his punch.

‘Aaaahh… So much pain! Is the pain setting turned to 200%? Maya! Why are you punishing me!’

The pain was too much for him. As someone who played the game at 90% pain settings throughout his 3 years, He still couldn’t handle the pain. It was in a completely different league altogether.

‘That was only the effect of a punch, what would happen if he killed me?’ Ryder started sweating as he thought about it. He wanted to run away, but as before, his feet didn’t move.

‘Hey? Why the hell are you guys not even looking at him? I’m a fellow villager! You are supposed to group together and help me!’

Ryder fumed in anger, but his mouth didn’t say the words.

The whole situation was completely weird, no NPC came to his help. Even the village elder stood nearby, but he didn’t interfere. It seemed like none of them could see him being attacked.

‘There’s definitely something unusual. That’s not how it’s supposed to go!’

Ryder thought with a frown on his face. Wuxiaworld for visiting.

“Please help me find my stick. I will reward you with 3 beans.”

Again the words escaped his mouth.

That was the moment… he realized the universal truth… He was fucked.

The Bald man roared in anger as he finally attacked with his sword. He stabbed the sword right through Ryder’s chest.

‘The pain… all I could feel was the pain. The pain was even worse than the death itself. I wasn’t even sure if this was the end of my pained existence’

His vision started blurring and darkness shrouded his whole world.

The world turned dark as everything went blank. There was no sound, nor any light. It was as if a was floating in the boundless space of nothingness.

“Ding… The system has started… Host selected. Would you like to become the host of the system?”

A male voice echoed in the boundless void. The voice sounded like it belonged to a 13-14-year-old boy and contained some sense of immaturity.

“Host? System? Maya, are you again playing with me? You better let me die in peace than toy with me again!”

Ryder roared in anger. He was tired of being toyed with by the game. Killed by the malfunction of divinity and then again killed because of its Artificial Intelligence Maya’s restriction.

“Wrong. The system is not Maya. The system has no name and only the host can select a name for the system.” The voice said again.

“Are you the system developed by the Necrosis Corporation?” Ryder asked with a thoughtful look on his face.

“Wrong. No mere mortal can make the system.” The voice answered.

“What? Who made you then? How did you come into existence?”

Ryder couldn’t industry anything, In fact, he was starting to feel like he was going crazy and hallucinating by now.

“You don’t have the privilege to get the answers. If you decide to become the host, You will be revived. You will have a chance to get your real body back as well.” The voice told Ryder in an emotionless tone.

“I… If I can get my real body back. Then I am ready to do anything. I accept to become your host.”

Ryder said as he floated in the darkness.

“What other choice do I have? If I could get my real body back, then that is the only thing that matters to me. I can’t leave Alice alone in the world.”

“Ding… Host selection successful. Please select a name for the system.” The voice again said.

“Alright. Since you’re helping me with my new beginning, You’ll be called Janus.”

“That is the name I came up with. It was the name of the Ancient Roman God of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, and endings.”

“Ding… Successful. The system will be called Janus.” The system answered back.