Seized by the System

“Darling, why are you doing this again? Put it down quick and let me do it.” A petite woman walked out from the cottage, her face hardened from life’s challenges, the rough skin on her hands evident of her lack of skincare. She looked old, but from the gentle expressions on her features, it was still possible to see that she had breathtaking beauty, and that she was not an old lady.

“It’s fine. I can’t have nothing to do all the time anyway. You’ve been through so much hardship by staying by me all these years.”

“What are you saying? I’ve had a great life with you, and I’m more than happy for that already. Sadly, God didn’t bless such a good man like you, and you’ve lost both of your legs…” The woman said, tears streaming down her cheek.

Outside, Fang Ning was silent as he watched their exchange.

“Do we do it now?” The System prompted.

“Let’s wait for a while.”

“You’re the one who wanted to get it done and over with, and now you’re asking me to wait. You humans are really a troublesome bunch.” Sir System was not amused.

“Cut with your bullshit.” Fang Ning was a huge introvert that has had minimal interaction with other humans, and even he felt tears welling up in his eyes.

“Are those your long-lost biological parents?” Sir System continued.

“Please. I’m 28 this year, and that woman is obviously younger than 40.” Fang Ning was speechless. The pair spoke again in their courtyard.

The man mumbled, “How is this a case of unrewarded good-heartedness? Despite everything, God did let me survive that. The only thing is that I dragged you down this life with me.”

“Don’t worry. Our savings are nearly enough now, and we’ll just need to wait for a few more years before we go to the hospital and get you the best artificial limbs. Then, you’ll be able to stand up once again.”

The man was overwhelmed with happiness at first, but his face dropped right after. “Where did you get so much money from? Haven’t you spent all our savings throughout the year by paying our debts gradually to those people?”

The woman hung her head low, quiet in the face of accusation.

“Why are you not answering me? Did you do that behind my back? If you did, I rather slam into the nearest wall and die!” The man hissed and started to steer his wheelchair outside.

“What are you even thinking of?” The woman reached out and held the wheelchair in place. “I didn’t tell you because I was afraid that you would return the money. All these years, there’s been a person that’s been sending us some money every month. The amount was small initially, but it’s increased through time, and there was a sudden leap these few months. I’ve finished clearing our debt and interest, and the amount we have left is still enough for you to get artificial limbs.”

“Who is that person? I, Zhao, don’t remember any friends or family that still remembers me after that incident.” The man was bitter, entirely unbelieving.

“That person did leave one message before, saying that it’s from a student you’ve sponsored during earlier years.”

“Student?” The man’s face looked like he had waded back into a pool of memories, and was now reaching for those that were deep down in the line of time. He soon shook his head with a self-deprecating smile, “I remembered I was feeling charitable during that year, and money was not an issue before. I joined a sponsorship program and had only helped 5 people, but none of them called me or messaged me during the sponsorship period. I did receive one call when I stopped sponsoring after the incident, and you know what he said?”

The petite woman shook her head in reply.

“He just said one sentence. ‘Didn’t you promise that you’ll sponsor me until the end of University?’ So, now you’re expecting me to believe that a student I sponsored all those years ago has been sending me money?”

The man shook his head. The good-man-rewarded argument he used just now was just an effort to comfort his wife. He never believed the concept of humanity after living the years after his accident; even if he was a good-natured person, he was only human, not an all-forgiving Bodhisatta.

Frustrated, the woman went into the house to dig out a postcard. It was slightly worn out, but on it was the face of a young man, and a simple ‘I’m working now.”

The man took the postcard and gazed at the face. He was confused at first, but his eyes brightened soon after he recalled a long-lost memory. “How could it be him? How is it possible! That’s just a military jacket that I’ve had for the longest time.”

His memories brought him back to those years, when he was a still a very young man, one that was tired and hungry. He was driving a truck on an unfamiliar road to stop and get himself some rest in the nearby motel. It was close to winter then, and at the edge of his vision, he saw a high school student rushing to school by the road. He stopped the youngster to ask for directions, who was very patient in pointing out the economical motels that did not attempt to cheat their customers.

He soon noticed that the young man was only clad in thin clothing. He asked if the latter was cold, and had passed the military jacket he had on his passenger seat as a gift to the youngster. The latter was hesitant at first, but accepted it in the end. He thanked him when he took the jacket, and asked for his name before he left. He did take quite a few glances at his vehicle registration number before he disappeared.

When he looked at it, this face was almost identical to that student’s, plus a few years.

Of course, he would have never known that that was the first time Fang Ning had a warm winter.

“Okay, I understand now. Maybe he’s made himself rich and successful. It seems like it was right, huh, the fuss of good-heartedness getting-” Before the man could finish his words, he fell backward on the wheelchair.

“Darling?” As the woman exclaimed, she collapsed to the ground as well.

///

“Sh*t, why didn’t you listen again?” When Fang Ning was neck deep in the scene, the System has once again took action.

“If we allow them to drag the conversation, we can’t do anything to them even if we waited until the morning. We need to get this over with and farm for more monsters!”

Well isn’t that great? A perfect, emotional scene was interrupted rudely by the inhumane Sir System.

The emotions that rose within Fang Ning disappeared into thin air, and he could only roll his eyes at the System’s answer. Sir System would be the stingiest when it comes to time and efficiency. Besides, it was never a human, and it could not actually comprehend human emotions.

He could only watch when the System proceeded to extract the man’s blood, make the artificial limb, and proceeded with the installation…

“Wait, it’s over?” Fang Ning was stunned when he realized the entire process took less than an hour. This was too quick to be reliable, no?

“Of course it’s done! I’ve exhausted quite an amount of vital energy and EXP to help you complete it. I can overlook the use of vital energy, but the usage of EXP was so significant that the monsters I farm for the next few days would barely make up for it…”

Before the System could finish complaining, it suddenly stopped. It only took Fang Ning a few seconds to know why.

System Notification: [The host has completed Obsession: The Kindness from a Clothing. The Host has triggered and unlocked a Special Achievement: A Drop of Water returned with a Burst of Spring ¹ . The Morality Module has been unlocked early, and the System will now receive one preliminary Morality Bar, and will receive one every 50 Levels. The System has received a permanent buff; if the Morality Bar is exhausted when a skill was executed, the skill would have a 100% increase in power. The effects of the buff and the Morality Bar can be stacked.]

Before Fang Ning could ask what has happened, the idiotic System has quickly asked, “Quick, think long and hard, Host. Do you have anyone else you would like to pay your gratitudes for? Let’s go and farm them all tonight!”

“Bullsh*t, how would it be possible? The others are just normal relationships and interactions.” Fang Ning replied with an amused huff.

In the past, he was willing to do the impossible and send a substantial amount of his income to his lifesaver, one that had experienced a devastating accident that had taken all his hopes away. That was because, despite having numerous shortcomings, he knew from his childhood experiences that it was important to pay one’s gratitudes. Besides, he never had the love he needed as a child, and as someone appeared just in time for him to know how valuable this was. After his experiences, it only amplified his intentions to repay what he had gotten.

“Why are you so shocked? Is this Achievement great?”

“In normal circumstances, the Morality Module’s Unlock Requirements require one to accumulate Fame to unlock the Reputation Module. Then, you’ll need to become a famous hero and level up the System to Level 50. Can you imagine how powerful it is to use something like that this early? We’re not even talking about the multiplier buff it has. However, Morality Points differ from Aggro Points in the sense that it is much harder to obtain. It can only be obtained by a small amount through serving justice, and it differs from EXP. The amount of Morality Points you get corresponds to the severity of the crime the person was committing, instead of the abilities they have.”

Fang Ning understood immediately. This Morality Point was something so great that it could overwhelm Sir System. It seems that what his lifesaver said was correct – good men will be rewarded, and if he was an ungrateful person, he would never unlock a module with such high requirements early on. Any gamer would know what it meant when you got a Level 50 skill in Level 10.

He wanted to know more. “According to the notification, if your skills use both the Morality Bar and the Aggro Bar, how powerful would it be?”

“Then, it won’t be as simple as an increase in power. Let me tell you this, if someone was hit with an attack fused with Morality, he or she would suffer continuous damage if he has even a shred of evil intentions within him, until the Morality Bar is exhausted. If this was used on naturally evil things like spirits and ghosts, the weaker ones could be killed just from that! There’s no need for a calculation of Damage Points.”

“Stronger ghosts and spirits will be constantly Weakened. Paired with the multiplying buff, these stronger ghosts and spirits will also be killed just from that if they do not have specific defense skills,” the System’s answered.

Fang Ning always had a fear of ghosts and spirits that has worsened after they had actually appeared in his reality. Thankfully, the System now had a new skill that countered them, which had greatly elevated his sense of security…

When he remembered what the System was asking before, he asked offhandedly, “How could you not know about those things if you could read right out of my memory?”

“Of course I couldn’t! You have thousands of thoughts in your mind every day, and memory is always a fickle and complicated thing. I can only see the surface, where the common knowledge lies, and I’m afraid you’ll go crazy if I go any deeper.” Fang Ning was slightly relieved after he listened to the System’s quick reply. He was once afraid that his embarrassing past would be revealed by the System, and now he no longer had to be worried.