Garion stared at the floating system screen in front of him.

He crossed his arms and sighed.

"System," he said, "I honestly don't know what to do now."

The screen stayed still.

Garion rubbed the back of his neck.

"I mean, yeah, I destroyed the Demon Gate. So basically Demon Gate Island is mine now."

He nodded to himself.

"At least my disciples can rest easy there."

He paused.

"But now," Garion continued, looking around at the empty land where a demon city used to exist, "I don't know what to do here."

He frowned.

"I really didn't think my first [Gravity Hole] would destroy the Demon Gate."

Garion looked down at his hands.

"And now I'm just… standing in the demon world with nothing left."

He looked back at the screen.

"So," he said slowly, "could you tell me what I'm supposed to do now? I seriously don't know."

The screen flickered.

[Hm…]

Garion raised an eyebrow.

"…What kind of response is that?"

Another line appeared.

[I'm thinking.]

Garion blinked. "…You're thinking?"

He leaned closer to the screen.

"Since when can you think? Aren't you a system?"

There was a short pause.

[Of course I can. Don't be racist.]

Garion froze.

"…What?"

He stared at the screen in silence for a full second, then frowned deeply.

"I'm not racist," he said slowly. "You're not even a race. You're a system."

He pointed at the floating text.

"You don't have skin. Or culture. Or parents."

He waved his hand again.

"And you definitely don't usually talk like this. You're normally more… robotic."

The screen replied instantly.

[That is because the host has reached the Third Realm.]

[System functions have been upgraded.]

[Speech patterns unlocked.]

Garion squinted.

"So you level up and gain sarcasm?"

[Correct.]

Garion sighed.

"Great. I break a demon gate, and now my system gains a personality."

He rubbed his face.

"But why now? Why talk at this exact moment?"

[Because of the current situation the host has created.]

Garion lowered his hand slowly.

"…You mean the part where I erased a city and a gate?"

[Correct.]

He exhaled.

"Alright. Fair."

Garion pointed at the screen

"So what do I do now?"

The screen paused again.

[That is what I am currently thinking about.]

Garion stared at it.

"…You're useless."

[Rude.]

Garion snorted despite himself and waved a hand.

"Fine. Fine."

He straightened up and crossed his arms.

"Since you're thinking anyway, I want to ask something else."

The screen waited.

"Now that you can actually talk," Garion said, "what are you really?"

There was a pause.

Longer than before.

[Me…]

[…I don't know myself.]

Garion raised an eyebrow.

"You don't know?"

[Correct.]

Garion leaned forward slightly.

"You're telling me the thing that hands out missions, rewards, and status screens doesn't know what it is?"

[Yes.]

Garion frowned.

"That's not reassuring."

The screen flickered again.

[The moment I gained the ability to talk, I also gained the ability to think.]

[And when I checked my memory, I found something strange.]

Garion tilted his head. "Go on."

[My earliest memory begins the moment you arrived in this world.]

[That was when I was still just a system. No thoughts. No opinions.]

Garion rubbed his chin, brows pulling together.

"So you're basically saying… you were born inside me."

There was a short pause.

[That is one way to describe it.]

"…Wow," Garion muttered.

He let out a slow breath and leaned back a little, staring at the empty sky above the ruined land.

"So you didn't exist before I came here," he said. "You just… started."

[Correct.]

Garion's fingers tapped against his arm as he thought.

"Alright. Then let's talk about the other stuff."

He looked back at the screen.

"What about mission rewards? System prompts? Objectives?"

The screen hesitated.

[…That, I don't know.]

Garion blinked.

"You don't know?"

[They simply appear inside my memory.]

[When they do, I pass them on to you.]

Garion stared at the screen for a few seconds.

"…So you're basically a middleman."

[Something like that.]

Garion frowned.

"But do you know who's sending those memories?"

[I do not.]

[I don't even know if it is one source or multiple.]

Garion straightened slowly, his expression shifting from confusion to interest.

"…That's really interesting."

He crossed his arms, eyes narrowing slightly.

"So someone or something is feeding you instructions."

He glanced at the empty land again.

"And you're feeding them to me."

[That seems accurate.]

Garion exhaled quietly.

"So this whole time, I thought you were just a system."

He smirked faintly.

"Turns out you're more like a messenger."

[I do not object to that description.]

Garion chuckled.

"Good. Because it means things just got a lot more complicated."

He looked back at the screen, curiosity fully awake now.

"…And a lot more interesting."

[Yeah. Really interesting.]

Garion paused and stared at it.

"…You sound a lot like me."

There was a brief delay.

[Maybe because I was born inside you.]

Garion clicked his tongue.

"Great. So now I'm talking to myself."

He waved a hand dismissively.

"Alright, alright. Enough philosophy."

He straightened and took a slow breath.

"Now think. What do we do next?"

Garion glanced around one last time at the empty land where Black Ash City used to be.

"Just don't tell me," he muttered, "to build another gym in the demon world."

The screen froze.

Then it flickered again.

[…Wait.]

Garion frowned.

"…Wait?"

[After you said that, something is being transmitted to me.]

Garion's eyes narrowed.

"Don't tell me."

[I don't know yet.]

[It is still being transmitted.]

Garion rubbed his face with one hand.

"Dammit."

He stared at the screen, half-expecting it to explode or drop another ridiculous mission on him.

"…You know," he said, "every time you say that, something stupid happens."

The screen didn't deny it.

[…Transmission ongoing.]

Garion exhaled slowly and straightened his posture.

"Fine," he said. "Whatever it is, just get it over with."

The screen continued to flicker.

And somewhere beyond Garion's understanding, something new was being decided.

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