[Congratulations, you have reached level 163.]
A black-haired woman breathed heavily after a hard, drawn-out battle with a level 195 boss monster. The fight had pushed her to her absolute limits, leaving her body aching and her lungs burning for air. Her draconic wings and the dragon scales that had been covering her body slowly disappeared, fading back into her skin as she returned to her human form. Wasting no more time, she collected the loot from the fallen beast and went on to search for the treasure box hidden somewhere in this region.
She had the Dragon Emperor System, which was one of the rarer and more powerful systems in existence. Earth had graded systems, and hers would be ranked SS, placing her among the elite. While others could struggle to fight monsters even levels lower than themselves, she was out here fighting boss monsters more than 30 levels above her own and coming out victorious.
That was a clear gap in power, one large enough to force her into becoming a solo player. She couldn't afford to show her true capability to others out of fear of becoming a target for those who would want to use her or eliminate her as a threat. Sure, she had a rich mother who could offer protection, but she disliked that woman with every fiber of her being and refused to crawl back to her.
'...Well, I should leave for now.' She thought, summoning her system window and returning to Earth. She appeared in her run-down apartment building, the familiar cramped space greeting her. Ever since she gave her mother the middle finger and left home without looking back, she had to survive entirely on her own.
Currently, the strongest beings on Earth sat at level 200. She was nearly at that level of power herself, approaching the point where she wouldn't need to fear or worry about anyone thanks to her strength alone. She had learned long ago that this world valued strength above all else, that power was the only currency that truly mattered. Take that away, and humanity as a whole would treat you like a punching bag, something to step on and discard.
She had seen it happen with her father. The world saw him as something lesser than human, as if he didn't deserve basic dignity. The concept of human rights seemed not to exist for him. Everyone her father thought was his friend turned their backs on him the moment he needed them most, abandoning him without a second thought. She promised herself she would never let that happen to her. She would become strong enough that no one could ever look down on her.
'...' Her eyes narrowed, noticing a letter sitting next to her bed. She frowned deeply, as it wasn't there before she entered the tower. That meant someone had entered her room while she was gone and left it here without her knowing.
She picked it up and read it, her guard raised. The letter was from her elder sister, asking them to meet. While Emma had given her mother the middle finger and left without ever looking back, her elder sister was different. Lisa didn't act upon emotions and instead always did the most logical thing, no matter the situation or how cold it might seem to others.
Emma sighed while pulling out her phone and texting the number written on the letter. Although she wanted her elder sister to just tell her what she wanted over the phone and be done with it, Lisa refused and insisted they meet in person. So, they decided to meet at a restaurant in the city. Emma caught the city bus, which took her there after a long and uneventful ride.
"I see life is treating you well." Lisa, Emma's elder sister, said with a small smile, seeing Emma walk into the upscale establishment. Emma couldn't even dress properly for the meeting, showing up in casual clothes that had clearly seen better days, standing out among the well-dressed patrons.
"What do you want?" Emma asked with an annoyed look, not in the mood for small talk or her sister's usual detached attitude... although she wasted no time looking at the menu, since of course her elder sister would be paying for whatever she ordered.
"I want you to travel to the trash yard." Lisa said softly, her tone calm and measured. Emma paused mid-read, the words hitting her like a slap. She slowly raised her head and glared at her sister with sharp eyes.
The trash yard was a forbidden area, a place no sane person would willingly go. If she went there and the world found out that she managed to survive that polluted and toxic land, many would naturally start questioning her system and strength, wondering what she was hiding.
"Let me explain before you say no." Lisa said, raising a hand to stop Emma's incoming protest. "I managed to create something I call God's Eye. You know, from one of those movies Dad used to watch with us when we were kids. It's like an eye in the sky that sees everything. I created twelve satellites orbiting outer space, each of which is recording Earth 24/7, capturing everything that happens on the surface."
As Lisa spoke, she pulled up a hologram from her watch, the blue light flickering to life above the table. It showed a detailed map of Earth, which she manipulated with her fingers. She zoomed in on a small apartment—Emma's apartment—which displayed footage of Emma standing at the window, looking to the side with tired eyes while brushing her teeth in nothing but her underwear.
"W-what are you doing?!" Emma instantly tried to hide the hologram with her hands, her face flushing red with a mix of embarrassment and anger. She didn't want anyone nearby to see that. But her elder sister didn't care much about her reaction, closing the video with a casual swipe of her finger as if it was nothing.
"Everything is being recorded 24/7. I also have an A.I. that goes through all of the footage and flags anything important, making my job easy." Lisa said seriously, her expression unchanged.
"Fine, whatever. What does any of this have to do with the trash yard?" Emma asked, looking at her elder sister as if she were looking at a pervert who needed to be locked away.
"I think Dad is there... well, at least his corpse. I want you to go and bring it back for me." Lisa said, her voice still calm.
The moment those words left her mouth, Emma released an aura that caused the entire skyscraper they were in to shake violently. The windows rattled, the lights flickered, and everyone inside was horrified by the overwhelming pressure she was giving off. Drinks trembled on tables, and several patrons scrambled to get away from the source of the terrifying energy.
Lisa looked at Emma with an indifferent expression, completely unaffected by the display. She knew the relationship between their father and Emma all too well. They had been best of friends, as close as a father and daughter could be. Something which was hard to tell from the outside, as Emma was always throwing fists at their father, who would always find new ways to make her mad. He always knew exactly how to get under her skin and push her buttons, and Emma, being so short-tempered, had always been his go-to target for teasing and playful torment.
"It's strange. I've had this program running for years now, and only recently has the A.I. noticed the traces of a person living in that forbidden zone. It caused me to go back and play through old footage, and it turns out that for the past few years, Dad seems to have been living in that place all alone... It's impressive he survived so long in those conditions, surrounded by all that pollution and toxic waste. I wonder if it had something to do with him being systemless, if his body adapted in some way." Lisa said softly, her tone analytical even as she spoke about their father's suffering. She ignored Emma completely, whose pupils had turned draconic and were glowing with barely contained rage, her hands gripping the edge of the table hard enough to crack it.
"Anyways, are you in or out? I haven't told anyone about this discovery. You're the first person I've shared it with." Lisa said calmly, meeting Emma's furious gaze without flinching.
"What do you want with his remains?" Emma said coldly, her voice low and dangerous. Emma knew that Lisa never acted upon her emotions. She always thought things through carefully before making any move, calculating every angle. So naturally, Lisa didn't aim to collect their father's remains just to give him the peaceful rest he deserved. She wanted to run tests on them, to study him even in death.
"I want to give him the rest he needs," Lisa said calmly, her face betraying nothing. With a flash of movement, Emma reached out to grab her sister by the collar, fury driving her forward. But a barrier appeared between them instantly, blocking her hand completely and stopping her in her tracks.
"Don't lie to me. You know damn well you want to run tests on him." Emma yelled angrily, her voice cutting through the restaurant. But Lisa said nothing in response, her face remaining carefully blank. She was always bad at lying, and her silence spoke volumes. Emma tried to break through the barrier, wanting nothing more than to beat Lisa senseless, but was stunned to find that her sister couldn't be touched no matter how hard she pushed against it.
"Then I will go get his remains alone." With a sigh, Lisa got up from the table and left behind some cash to cover the bill.
Emma was too stunned to act, too shocked to process what she had just witnessed. She had no idea her sister was this powerful. She watched as, without the need to cast a spell or utter a single word, small robotic things flew out from Lisa's body.
They spun rapidly in the space in front of her, their movements creating a swirling portal that tore open reality itself. Lisa stepped through it without hesitation, disappearing from this place entirely.
Emma was left sitting there in shock. She had thought she was capable, that she had achieved something impressive. After all, she had reached her level of power all by herself, clawing her way up through blood and sweat. But what was up with her sister? How had Lisa become so powerful without anyone knowing?
Gritting her teeth in frustration, Emma grabbed the money Lisa had left behind and stuffed it into her pocket. Then, growing draconic wings that burst from her back, she exploded through the restaurant windows in a shower of glass and rocketed off into the sky, shooting towards the trash yard at full speed.
"..." Lisa, wearing a full suit of sleek armor that covered her from head to toe, walked through the trash yard in silence. She emotionlessly scanned the desolate place around her, her sensors picking up faint traces as she followed tracks that led her to a cave made out of piled garbage and debris. She entered this makeshift shelter and saw a bunch of books carefully stored away on crude shelving, protected from the elements as best as possible.
'...Dad used to say they were manga...' She thought, her mind drifting back to distant memories. She picked up a One Piece manga, its pages worn from repeated reading. She guessed her father had spent his lonely time here reading these to pass the days. There were thousands of novels and manga volumes lining the walls, which matched up with the purchases he had made before he disappeared from their lives.
She paused as she came across a picture in a cracked frame, dried blood staining the broken glass. She scanned it and confirmed the blood belonged to her father's DNA. From her detailed scan, she was also able to determine that it was a fist that had destroyed the frame, knuckles driven into the glass with force.
She could piece together what happened. Her father had been angry and lashed out at the picture that reminded him of the people closest to him, the ones who had betrayed him when he needed them most. But in the end, despite his rage, he couldn't bring himself to throw it away. He had still cleared a special place where he kept the picture, unable to let go of the memories completely.
The family picture had everyone in it. Herself, her sister Emma, her little brother, their mother, their grandparents, uncles, and aunts, along with their cousins. They were all smiling at the camera, wearing matching clothing as if they were the perfect happy family...
She took the picture and stored it away in her system storage. She reasoned that his blood could serve as good research material. She also went on to take everything else in the cave. This was her father's treasury, the sum total of his final years, and she would go through it all to see if any more of his DNA was preserved there.
She sighed before closing her eyes for a long moment. She took a few deep breaths, pushing away the emotions that threatened to surface and cloud her judgment. She had promised herself long ago to never let herself become emotional or give in to such weaknesses.
After seeing how her father took such a thrill out of getting reactions from people, especially Emma, she decided she simply wouldn't show any emotion at all. This killed the fun for her father, which in turn brought her a strange sense of satisfaction back then. Everything they tried to get under their father's skin always failed, but she found the way, and even found more ways to rage bait him, leaving him running after her in rage while she laughed.
But... Over time, she had discovered that emotions seemed to blind people to many things. Emotions caused people to do stupid things, to ignore reality and common sense in favor of what they felt in the moment. So, she decided to always walk through life logically and never let foolish emotions get in the way of her decisions.