Gacha Kingdom Building-Chapter 304: System (Break) 06

--This Chapter is written using Piper’s POV--

...I entered university through a scholarship. I hoped it’d be different from high school, but to my surprise, things were pretty much the same.

Most girls found me boring and wanted nothing to do with me. I thought they were boring too, and wanted nothing to do with them, either.

The boys who approached me were all insincere. They’d lie to my face exactly what I wanted to hear, the same spew that had worked so far for them, as if it was some formula they could follow to get what they wanted. The few honest ones weren’t much better, either. They were too shy to make a move.

Before long, I found myself alone. An outcast, again.

I’d hardly see any faces when walking through the campus. People would turn away from me the moment they’d notice me approaching.

Maria was the exception.

Unlike everyone else, she paid me no mind. She’d see me passing, look at me, and then return her attention to her work.

It was the normal behavior I wanted from others, but coming from her... It bothered me.

It felt like she thought of herself as superior to me. Like I wasn’t even worth the effort of avoiding.

I really didn’t see eye to eye with her at first.

I’d almost hiss at her sometimes.

Almost... No, I did. And she caught me doing it, too.

She confronted me about it. Crudely.

I was ready to tell her off, after all, I had prepared plenty of insults during the discussions we had in my head.

Yet, I couldn’t escape the seriousness of her eyes. She was being honest, and frankly, I was being an idiot.

Uncool as it was, I meekly confessed. Couldn’t even hide my jealousy. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

It wasn’t fair. She was already smart and funny. How come she could be even more chilling than I?

We became friends after that, surprisingly enough.

I kept trying to get one over her, and she kept welcoming the challenge. Got my wins, got my losses...

It was fun.

But then she graduated.

The days started passing faster, and I could hardly keep up.

Still, we kept in contact. Maria was trying to get a job at a law firm but ended up with a gig as a journalist.

She met Marcus through this gig.

I met him during his trial, helping Maria defend him.

He was like a dream come true to me. His arms bulged through the shirt with the smallest movement. He spoke awkwardly but sincerely, and his values were as strong as his body.

Since they weren’t a thing yet and he was so thankful to us, I tried my luck, but it didn’t really work out.

That dummy even confessed his love for Maria to me.

Ah... Yeah, it hurt.

But she consoled me, so it was fine.

Only a few months later, the First Contact would happen, and soon after, the First Reminder.

I was at home, gaming, when I heard the screams that would haunt my dreams for the rest of my life.

I took a look at the window, and the brutality I saw didn’t even compare to that of my game. The monsters were savage, unrelenting.

They made their way through the street, destroying fences and gates, knocking down doors, and leaving homes drenched in blood.

Mine was next.

I barricaded the door. They broke the window.

Thankfully, I had played with my Gift a few times after the First Contact. It would only last a few minutes, but I could arm myself.

I killed the monsters that invaded, and before I’d exhaust my mana, I hid under the bed, praying for the nightmare to end.

I would never forget the relief I felt when Maria found me.

She looked even more desperate than me. But that night, she was my hero.

After a while, we began hunting monsters together. And when we were allowed, we became adventurers.

During this time, Maria and Marcus reunited.

He finally confessed his feelings for her, and their spark led to the two kids they’d have together.

Maya was the firstborn. She grew to be a demon-child. Always perfect, always questioning. No matter how much I tried to look cool in front of her, she’d always ask me questions until I had no answer to give.

Feeling challenged, I started studying things more in-depth. Every time I showed her something new, her eyes would sparkle, and when I finally answered all her questions in full, I earned myself a hug.

As I thought, she became as honest as the father and as annoying as the mother. Overall, an unbelievably great girl.

Shortly after Maya’s birth, I accepted the government’s offer to participate in a propaganda video. They wanted to film me and a few other adventurers cleaning up a city of monsters.

I didn’t really need the money, but I knew a couple who could use it.

It was a disaster. Almost everyone involved died.

I got the job done in the end. I was determined to make it through.

But it was ugly.

While I wouldn’t say this made my reputation what it’d eventually become, it wasn’t a good first step.

People celebrated my victory, but the idea that I was dangerous had already settled in their hearts.

I could tell from the way they looked at me. They still wanted to turn away, but they were too afraid to do so.

About a year after Maya’s birth, Marcus and Maria had their second child.

This time, it was a boy.

Since Maria named Maya, Marcus wanted to name the kid.

He had two restrictions. First, he couldn’t look names up. It had to come from his heart. Second, since their names all started with "M", the boy should be no different.

I guess there was a third restriction, too. He could only think of his own name, but Maria told him no.

In the end, he settled for Miwen. I thought it was a dumb name, but it at least rolled off the tongue well enough.

As a baby, Miwen was cute.

As a kid...

He was a problem.

More than his parents, Miwen resembled me.

The first time I met him, not as a baby, but as a functional child, he looked me in the eyes, and I felt judged by the endless depth behind them.

It was a familiar stare to me. The same chilling stare his mother gave me. The same I gave everyone.

I never expected to see it in a child who had not yet experienced the world. But I knew what it meant.

I knew it too well.

As the years passed, Miwen grew disappointed with the world and with himself.

The siblings had both been born to the Giftless Generation, but only Miwen seemed bothered by it.

His attitude never changed, though.

He was not quiet in a shy, nerdy way, nor in the boring, slow way. He was calculating.

If he judged it necessary, he’d go from reserved to cold. But to the few people he judged good, he showed his true self: Reliable. Responsible. Cheeky beyond belief.

Despite his own shortcomings and the circumstances he couldn’t control, Miwen seemed happy. As long as he had his sister with him, that was enough.

That was the most tragic part.

His sister was anything but satisfied. She was ambitious and determined.

No matter how much the siblings loved each other, their paths would never be the same.

Miwen would grow into a man who’d walk the same path of self-sacrifice and isolation that I did.

This thought haunted me.

But it wasn’t all bad.

We could stick together, as two birds of a feather.

Yet, after a few years without seeing each other... Miwen was different.

He acted the same. I could still sense within him the heavy pressure that pushed others away, the same outlook that made little room for those he didn’t like.

Only now, that same man was somehow surrounded by others who not only saw him for what he was, but also accepted him despite it.

I never could have predicted he would have made room in his heart for someone other than Maya. Much less for so many.

Perhaps he found something along the way.

That little something that everyone has but me.

Perhaps I had misjudged him.

He was ahead of me now.

And that...

For the first time, felt lonesome.

This time, the feeling wouldn’t go away.

Had I created expectations for the future? Or did I simply miss the past?

I couldn’t tell.

However, seeing him now, I began to understand better.

Miwen pushed his edges further back to make room for others, but they were still there, sharper than ever.

I should have reprimanded him. He was so close to becoming like the others.

I’d be happy to give him the last push, even if it meant pushing him away from me.

But...

Knowing that deep down he was still the same brought me comfort. And that feeling was inescapable for me.

Piper: "...Guess I’m the worst, huh?"

Before me stood Finn, the leader of the Neptune faction with the AOTG.

He had fallen to his knees, locked in place as gigantic boomboxes surrounded him, blasting soundwaves to my favorite playlist.

Unlike the otherworlders, Finn was afraid of me.

I could tell from the moment we began fighting that he was saving his best, unwilling to show his cards too early.

Meanwhile, the otherworlders who didn’t know the Witch of Narrations didn’t concern themselves and fired everything they had towards me.

Rookie mistake, on both sides.

Fighting me was already a losing battle.

Finn: "I won’t fall here!"

He focused all the strength he had in his right arm and, with a forward sweep, launched hundreds of blood drops towards me.

These blood drops instantly coagulated in the air, becoming needles that shattered upon contact with my skin.

Piper: "...Was that it?"

I was kinda disappointed.

I heard the leader of the Mars faction was supposed to be the strongest, individually speaking, but I expected other leaders to be strong too.

Finn: "Your defense is too high for your level... You must have enhanced yourself."

As I thought, true combatants were scary.

It wasn’t just the way he honed his Gift to fight or the techniques he created. Finn could easily see through me.

Piper: "Do you think it’s unfair? That you’ve put more effort, and yet, I’m stronger?"

I approached him, careful not to be caught inside the soundwave prison I had created.

Piper: "Can you face every single history humans have told? Because if not, give up. I’ll make it painless for you."

He lowered his head.

Jets of blood burst from his ears, blowing the two boomboxes near him.

Finn: "I don’t fear a hurdle such as you. Not when I know my cause is right."

All the blood on the floor coagulated into a giant spike, piercing my heart and sending me away from him.

He baited me, making me think my attack was the one causing his bleeding.

What an annoying guy!

Before dying, I changed my body to that of an alien species with multiple hearts.

It was hard for this body to move with only one heart, but Finn didn’t seem to notice I had survived.

In the second it took him to catch his breath, I summoned a healing tank behind me.

As my body fell inside the tank, I summoned more aliens to protect me while I hid and recovered my human heart.

Through the glass, I saw Finn fighting off the aliens with his blood. Despite being hit a few times, I couldn’t tell the extent of the damage. The blood that drenched his body was both mask and armor.

Piper: "Man, that’s cool..."

I got fixated on it for a second and ended up summoning characters with blood-related abilities, too.

Before long, the ground around us had been painted red.

Once I was healed up, I left the tank.

The strong smell of iron in the air was overwhelming.

Piper: "Ugh... Yeah, I’m never doing this again..."

I hated the smell so much. I had to get rid of it.

It also wouldn’t be good to give him such a favorable arena.

Using the power of a mermaid, I splashed ocean water around us, making the ground sparkling clear.

The blood cloud above Finn’s head started to change colors, briefly turning green before settling into a grey, silverish hue.

Piper: "Hey... Wouldn’t that make more sense for Mercury or...!"

He was having none of it.

The cloud above his head launched a small orb of quicksilver upwards, which exploded into the air.

The droplets that fell from the sky burned everything they touched.

Luckily, fiction was full of powerful umbrellas I could use in such heavy rain.

Finn: "Tch. Your reaction speed is also too high. Would you answer my question?"

Piper: "If you answer one of mine."

Finn: "Deal."

The blood strings attached to Finn were slowly becoming silver; the veins on his arms popping in response.

He stopped a few feet away, and, looking in my eyes, asked what I’d done to myself.

Finn: "Why are you fighting us? If the restrictions on Gifts fell, people like you would benefit the most."

Piper: "Ah, you know..."

I didn’t give it that deep a thought.

The most honest answer I could give was...

Piper: "The people I like are against you. That’s all that matters to me."

Also... Marcus called me.

I couldn’t refuse.

Piper: "Also... I’m not lacking in power, and I don’t trouble myself with authority or shit like that. As long as the world entertains me, it’s fine."

Finn: "I see. Utterly unprincipled."

If that was supposed to sting, he failed.

It was just true.

Piper: "So, what about you?"

Finn: "Erik proved to me that this is the way forward for humanity."

Oh.

He was more devoted than I thought.

Piper: "In that case, let’s put it to the test..."

I extended my arm.

Finn raised his eyebrows, giving every micro movement of mine all of his attention.

Piper: "What you have before you is all of human history combined. Every tale, every story ever told. Let it judge your so-called path forward."

Dozens of machine guns appeared mounted behind my back, all of them operated by tough-looking veterans.

All types of horses, from brown to black, from skeletal to holy white, surrounded me. Their riders carried too many different weapons to name.

Above us, angels cast their judgment. In front of me, dark lords of evil empires greeted the challenger.

I summoned a holy sword to my right hand. To my left, a cursed spear.

The quicksilver strands on Finn’s arms snapped.

The fluid took the form of a sword.

My army and the AOTG clashed.

Finn’s sword met mine.

His body had been strengthened beyond belief.

It was almost a fair match to all the serums I had working on my blood.

Yet, the holy sword shrouded itself in white light.

I had no technique. No combat awareness.

But I had power.

More than enough to disarm Finn.

Piper: "Look in my eyes..."

A vision of the hellish thoughts of a French author reflected in my pupils.

His darkest vision invaded Finn’s mind.

His will broke before his body.

The cloud dissipated, and quicksilver fell to the ground.

As did Finn, unconscious.