Theo snapped out of his thoughts right away.

"The second one," he muttered, his eyes widening slightly. "Almost forgot about that."

The blue system panel vanished.

A second later, a golden system screen popped back up.

[Would you rather—]

Option A: Have the system kill one person on the planet right now.

Option B: Receive the Obsidian Core Divine Thunder God’s Body spell manual.

Option C: Instantly heal any one person of all injuries, diseases, curses, and disabilities, regardless of severity.

Option D: Obtain a single fruit that grants any one non-living object life.

Option E: Meet the Primordial Being of Lightning.

———

Theo’s eyes swept across the five options one by one.

For several seconds, he didn’t even blink.

"What... am I even looking at?"

Sure, the system had offered him impossible things before.

But this... this was by far one of the most outrageous things he’d seen.

His gaze lingered on the first option for a moment.

’Kill a single person on the planet?’ he thought, anger flashing through his eyes. ’Doesn’t that mean I can kill her?’

The person responsible for his painful memories.

The one who’d wiped out his hometown and murdered millions.

’She even stated her name on live television!’

With how much of a threat she posed... eliminating her couldn’t possibly get any easier than this.

Theo’s breathing gradually slowed.

His finger began to hover over the first option as several faces flashed through his mind.

’It’s just one tap,’ he thought. ’Then she’s gone, and you’ll all be avenged.’

There’d be no chance of another similar situation.

No innocent people would get caught up any longer.

The thought was incredibly tempting.

Theo’s hand slowly balled up as he pulled it away from the screen.

’Would that really work, though?’

The system would only kill one person.

But even with her death, there’d still be countless more people who would follow in her footsteps.

Hell, the power vacuum could plunge many more nations into chaos.

Theo closed his eyes for a brief moment. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

’Besides...’

A complicated expression appeared on his face.

’If she dies like this, will I truly be satisfied?’

He clenched his jaw firmly.

’I want to kill her myself,’ he thought. ’If possible, in the most excruciating way imaginable.’

With that thought, he closed his eyes for a moment.

Slowly, he forced himself to calm down again.

After a few seconds, he finally let out a deep breath.

As his eyes snapped open again, his gaze dropped to the second option.

"The Divine Thunder God’s Body..."

Just reading the name caused his heart to pound.

"Another Obsidian Core spell," he muttered. "For my lightning element too."

Though he’d just received one from Elise, it didn’t mean he’d forgotten how insanely rare those spells were.

"And it’d fill up my lacking lightning spells too..."

He fell silent as he made a mental note of the option.

Finally, he glanced down at the third option.

’Heal any person, huh?’

He nodded slowly, his mind churning.

"That’s a nice option," he muttered quietly. "But knowing the system, I’ll have to choose someone immediately."

And that would be quite the problem... when no one close to him was injured.

"Might as well forget about that."

His gaze shifted to the fourth option.

Once he read through it again, he couldn’t help but pause.

’What am I supposed to do with this?’

Bringing any non-living object to life, although it sounded very cool... what use did it have to him right now?

’Guess I could bring my umbrella to life...?’

He pushed his lips together before shaking his head.

’Forget about that option.’

Finally, his gaze settled on the last line.

Meet the Primordial Being of Lightning, the Thunder Dragon.

For the first time since the options had appeared, genuine hesitation crossed his face.

"...Meet?"

His mind raced.

Seeing this line hadn’t just confirmed his theory about his affinities being related to the primordial beings... it had even told him he could meet them.

Theo’s heartbeat gradually sped up.

The more he thought about it, the stranger the option became.

’Just... meet it?’

There was no mention of anything else.

Nothing about it screamed that it was beneficial or a reward.

Yet, the system judged it to have around the same worth as the other options.

’How would such a creature even look?’ he thought, shuddering. ’Wouldn’t it just vaporize me on the spot?’

Theo remained frozen for several more seconds.

His eyes never left the final option.

There were so many questions and uncertainties racing through his mind.

Part of him wanted to know more about these primordial beings, and even the universe itself.

Another part of him wanted to go with guaranteed power.

He rubbed his temples slowly.

’The system isn’t saying where we’d meet either.’

What if the dragon appeared here and turned the world into dust?

There were simply too many unknowns.

Reluctantly, he forced himself to look away.

"As interesting as that sounds," he muttered, "I’d rather not gamble my life on it."

Theo let out a long breath.

"I’ve made up my mind."

His finger moved without hesitation and tapped the second option.

For a split second, nothing happened.

Then the golden screen rippled like the surface of a lake.

DING!

[Selection confirmed.]

A brilliant flash of blue-white light condensed in front of Theo.

Within moments, it solidified into an ancient-looking manual bound in dark leather, faint arcs of lightning dancing across its cover.

Even sitting on the couch, he could feel the immense aura radiating from it.

"Damn," he muttered, brimming with excitement.

Just as he reached out to grab it, another notification appeared.

[Would the host like to store the reward inside the System Space?]

Theo froze for a moment.

"System Space?"

He stood there stumped for a moment.

"Is this a new function?"

Before he could think any further, another screen popped up in front of him.

[Note: The system upgrade has provided the host with a safe space to store all system-related items.]

A massive grin spread across his face.

Without hesitation, he nodded.

"Store it."

The manual shimmered once before dissolving into the blue screen.

Theo’s eyes lit up immediately.

"Now that’s convenient!"

But before he could explore the feature, something changed.

DING! DING! DING!

A loud noise echoed through his mind.

The entire system interface flickered violently.

Its beautiful golden windows distorted completely as blue static spread across the screen.

Suddenly, deep red panels burst into existence in front of him.

[ERROR! ERROR!]

[INTERFERENCE DETECTED!]

[External au—thority attempting to establish— contact...]

Theo shot to his feet, a shiver running down his spine.

"What the hell?"

More messages rapidly overwrote the previous ones.

[The Primordial Be—ing of Lightning has n—oticed host.]