Chapter Text
〔 Host Dalian has died. 〕
〔 Penalty is being in placed. 〕
〔 Sending Host Dalian to Company B for further instructions. 〕
A screen appears in front of my face. DEATHS, SURVIVED, and STORIES ENTERED? My throat feels too dry to speak.
The screen emits a soft red glow with a little settings symbol in the corner. I won't touch it for now. I try to get up but my body feels glued to a bed. Where am I? Immediately, a voice answers.
「 Welcome back Host! It appears you have died in your home world! 」
A cute red panda with wings hovers over me.
“What is this place?” My throat tightens again.
「 Did our property malfunction again~? It appears you need the new system update! Don't worry, you will feel refreshed soon, dear Host! 」
System? Host?? Update??? None of this makes sense!! I try to protest, but my body suddenly feels like it’s shutting down. When my eyes are completely shut the screen reappears.
〔 Would Host Dalian like to change elements of their SETTINGS while SYSTEM B updates to SYSTEM B.2?〕
【 YES 】 | 【 NO 】
I click YES.
〔 Sending Host Dalian to SETTINGS… 〕
After ten seconds of waiting, a setting screen comes up. Things like: NAME, BIRTHDAY, PRONOUNS, COLORS, and LANGUAGE appear. The only thing I couldn't change was BIRTHDAY, which somehow was my actual birthday. Even my name was correct. I change the COLOR of my scene, FONT, SIZE, and GLOW to my liking.
Once I clicked CONFIRM I was brought back to darkness with a progress bar. It says: 「 Update estimated time: 1 minute remaining. 」 Cool. Just gotta stare into darkness for a minute. After one minute is up I feel a soft paw on my forehead.
「 Dear Host~ 」
The weird red panda is back.
「 Does my Host's property feel refreshed? 」
Property? Does it mean body?
「 Oh! Is that what new Hosts say now? I will update my dictionary. 」
Did it just read my mind?
The red panda glares at me.
「 Please get dressed, dear Host. 」
White clothes with a black strip on one side appear at the end of the bed. I put on the clothes that somehow fit perfectly! I attach the removable hood and put on a belt. There is a gorgeous mirror on the left wall. I go to the mirror to make sure I look appropriate. “My… my hair!!!” I scream. I run out of the room to see the red panda floating by a window.
“My hair!! Why are the ends blonde!!!!”
「 Every Host's hair changes to fit the environment the Host is currently in. At Company B every Host has part of the Host's hair colored. If my Host is done worrying about insignificant matters, our Lord calls for every Host to meet at the front of the Company. 」
Too many Hosts ….
「 Sorry Host, if you do not like my vocabulary, you must get accustomed to it. 」
“I wanna bash your brains out.”
「 You stated that aloud, dear Host. 」
“I know.”
The red panda mumbles. 「 I also do not acquire a brain to “bash in.” 」
The red panda and I walk down long endless halls. We stop when we hear a door fling open.
「 Host Kubota. Your pace is one of a snail! Our Lord will be infuriated by your lateness.」
A red fiery bird flies out the door.
“Does it look like I care about what Our Lord says, Bennu?”
「 You are too childish to be a Host, Host Kubota! 」
“And you are too uptight to be my system!”
A man no older than 30 argues with his “system.” I guess that's what these guys are called. His system seems to be one of a bird. A phoenix.
“Huh… Hi.”
「 HOST!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? 」
“I'm just saying hi. What's wrong with that!”
The man and the phoenix look our way. The red panda jerks back. “It seems like we have a new host joining us, Bennu.”
“Pleasure to meet you, I'm Kubota.” He extends a hand. I take it. “I'm assuming your system has given you a rundown of everything. Correct?”
“No actually. I don't even know its name.”
“Gasp! What a bad system~” I can't tell if he's trying to tease me or my system. “Then do you know about the INFO BOXES?”
“Info…. boxes…?”
「 You did not tell your Host anything, System Hun-ho! 」
「 My Host required updating, Bennu. 」
“For a new system you're really slow,” Kubota adds. Hun-ho glares at him.
「 Host! Check your INBOX! 」
“How?”
The group is left stunned. Kubota offers to help me. He said that every Host has an ability that allows them to get information on people, objects, and other entities. Some Host versions of this ability are more advanced than others. He even tells me how to get to my INBOX.
“Now try using it on me!”
“Okay….”
〔 Ability Info Box Lv. 1 is in use. 〕
〔 Kubota is a Host. Information is restricted to basic form. 〕
Info Box on Kubota
Name: Kubota
Age: 27
Pronouns: he/him
Species: Host
System Name: Bennu (phoenix)
Current Version: SYSTEM B.2
Company: Bindweed
Specialty: -RESTRICTED-
Abilities: -RESTRICTED-
Stories Entered: -RESTRICTED-
Deaths: -RESTRICTED-
Stories Survived: -RESTRICTED-
“Woah. This is cool and all, but isn't it an invasion of privacy?”
「 The whole of the system unit is an invasion of privacy, Host Dalian. 」 It was the phoenix system that answered me. 「 Appears there are five minutes before Our Lord's arrival. With haste Host Kubota and Host Dalian. 」