CHAPTER 10: GOD’S ABYSS

Roy couldn’t believe his eyes and ears.

How did having no executable environment translate to entering God’s Abyss just to level up?

"Wait..." Roy froze.

Wrestling with the realization, he voiced fearfully, "Is God’s Abyss... by any chance an executable environment?"

[That is correct, Host.]

"Wha—" Roy felt his world shaken. He stumbled backward and sat down on his bed.

This wasn’t something that was widely known. Sign-in systems came around the time God’s Abyss appeared. This meant that if it’s an EXE that was just manifesting uniquely... then the Host might just be among the human race.

This had nothing to do with God!

"Unless..." Roy scrunched his eyes in thought and coldly asked, "What kind of system has three characters, not four?"

[A system with no upper restriction for the host.]

"Upper restriction? What’s that?" he muttered, making sure not to lower his voice lest someone heard him. Roy believed he was touching on some world-changing matters here.

[An upper restriction is the limit placed on most systems by the Maximum Inventor, capping them at Lv. 100.]

Roy’s heart raced again. "Wait, doesn’t that mean I have no upper restriction, and I can surpass Lv. 100?"

[That is correct, Host.]

Roy brushed his hair back and sank his head into his arms. He could place a thousand-dollar bet that God’s Abyss... was actually GOD.exe!

It was only dawning on him why his overall rating mentioned that he was given a unique system. There were surely no more than ten individuals on this planet who had three-charactered systems.

And frankly speaking, with the rising threats of Abyss Gates, it was hard to say that the current pool of Executioners could handle them.

Unwilling to accept the hypothetical weight on his shoulders, Roy asked, "Is it possible for normal system users to remove their upper restrictions?"

[...]

Roy waited for a few more seconds, but there was no answer.

’What the... Why is it silent? Dammit, is this what the forum normally says about the system not answering certain questions? I guess learning about the upper restriction is the limit of what I can know. I’ve never even heard of something like this before in the forums.’

Roy figured that it was because of his system’s uniqueness that he was even permitted to know such information. The case was surely different for the normal, four-charactered system hosts.

He sighed.

With his data staring right back at him, he decided to leave such matters for the grown-ups and focus on himself for now.

Absolutely nothing could rid him of the joy of having three stat points ready for investing!

Smiling, he murmured, "Which stat should be increased?"

+

[Overall Stats]:

Physical = 1.0

Willpower = 1.0

Attack = 1.0

Defense = 1.0

Chance = 1.0

+

Roy had to note, though, that unlike other system users who had their stat attributes tailored to their EXEs, his was kind of... general. Irregulars on the forum often shared their five stat attributes, so he had data to back it up.

For example, LOVE.exe had Appeal, FOOL.exe had Flexibility, ENGR.exe had Dexterity, whereas his 404.exe had Physical. And this was the same with the other stat attributes.

However, he didn’t know what it meant yet.

"Do I really have to start going for raids to level up?" Roy thought, wondering if the fact was to influence the decision he was about to make.

Logically speaking, Pierre was his only linked host, and considering the lad had reached the Final Boss of the level set, he wasn’t sure when next he would receive stat points.

His only option was really to enter God’s Abyss.

"Dammit. This is a tough one..."

In the end, he invested all the stat points in Physical, raising it from 1.0 to 4.0!

Immediately, Roy felt his body heat up, so he quickly pulled his shirt off. To his immense surprise, his chest was more defined, his abs were visible, and his muscles felt more capable than ever.

Three minutes later, the hot feeling subsided, and he posed in front of the mirror.

Standing a few inches below six feet, Roy had a slender frame, pale skin, and black hair. Across his back, there was a long, slim skin graft scar from the attack years back that claimed the lives of his parents.

"Heh. I’m cool now," he voiced, noting his face had also become clearer as compared to a few minutes prior, when it was still riddled with acne.

His physical stat attribute really comprised almost everything!

Grrr~

Roy’s face darkened. He couldn’t deny it any longer; he was quite famished.

After a few minutes of deliberation, he found himself in the kitchen, rummaging through the refrigerator to see if there was anything edible.

"Are you hungry?" An elderly voice called out behind him, startling him.

"N-No. I’m just... bored," Roy said, but his stomach immediately sang out, calling him out on his lie.

Nana hissed and raised the hands of her night robes. "Let me prepare something for you. Go sit down!"

Roy didn’t argue and was elated but he outwardly, but he clicked his tongue and sat down on the dining chair.

"Nana... I have to tell you something," Roy began.

Roy’s grandmother didn’t stop moving about as she replied, "Yes, what is it, my dear grandson?"

"I..." Roy deliberated, "I’m an Irregular now."

Chum!

The knife Nana was using to cut the onions suddenly stopped on the chopping board.

"I-I awakened my system this morning. I want to join a raid party and enter God’s Abyss."

Roy could’ve easily snuck out of the house and tried to keep it all a secret from her, but then she would surely sense it and start to worry needlessly.

Nana remained frozen for an extended period before turning around with a smile and saying, "I will phone Donald tomorrow and inform him. Let’s hear what he has to say."

"O-Okay." Roy had no problem with that. Although he noticed Nana was just offsetting the decision-making to Donald because she didn’t want to argue.

The next day, despite not having school to prepare for, Roy still woke up early, eager to hear what his older brother had to say.

He freshened up and came down for breakfast, greeting his grandmother when he saw her.

Luckily for him, she was already on the phone with Donald, and she handed it to Roy.

"Roy, how are you?" asked Donald.

"I-I’m fine."

"Nana tells me you have a system now. That’s nice. But you know, you’re still too young to start involving yourself in this kind of stuff—"

Roy already knew where this was going. He just sighed and returned the phone to his grandmother and then went back to his room.

He figured it wouldn’t be bad if Donny helped him join a raid party, as the dude already had connections in the game. But as usual, everyone believed Roy just couldn’t do it. Win, that is.

What an utter disappointment.