“Hey, sir.”
Dorian ignored the person poking him and kept still.
“Hey, sir. Sir”
Dorian turned his head slightly with a frown on his face.
“What?”
The thin male sighed and frowned.
“I was asked to come see if you’re dead. I’m with the security team. You just slammed into the oak tree on our company’s grounds. Is… is your spine broken in any way?”
Dorian frowned and let his mind roam. Maybe he was dead.
His body felt numb all over and he could barely feel a thing. People who were dead didn’t feel things, did they?
“Is there blood on my body?”
The frail-looking guard nodded and gulped worryingly.
“A lot. It formed a small pool around you.”
He was going to die.
“Leave me to die in peace please.”
Dorian averted his eyes and stared at the skies again, looking at the clouds roll by as the sound of a police siren and people murmuring played in the background.
Life was a joke.
So the police were here and they hadn’t even looked his way. Weren’t they supposed to call an ambulance to rush him to the hospital?
The thin-bodied guard poked him again and this time the look on his face was one of extreme worry.
“Actually, I can't do that sir. The car that just hit you belongs to the young master of some top family in the city. The police are trying to pacify him but he’s angry that someone stepped in front of his car. He’s looking for you, and my boss wouldn’t like it if he found you here, on our company’s property I mean. He asked me to move your body to the sidewalk and clean the blood on the grass.”
Dorian felt himself almost spit up blood in bitter amusement. He cocked an eyebrow and looked at the guard.
“Really?”
The younger man nodded and Dorian sighed.
There really was no fairness in this world. What kind of people would make such a request?
“Hey. Play dead.”
Dorian heard the panic in the order and did so immediately. Sure enough, a voice reached his ears a second later.
“Where is he!” The voice sounded angry “Where’s the wretch that hit my million dollar car?”
Dorian felt a frown begin to line his face but he repressed it quickly. Weren’t you the one who hit me with your million-dollar car?
~Hey, Host~
No.
~I know you can hear me~
Dorian schooled his features into a rigid stillness as an argument ensued in the background. He could hear the young guard trying to save him from some kicks and beating. They really wanted to beat a possibly dead body
~Don’t you want to know what I am?~
Dorian’s brows creased together slightly and he resisted the urge to frown harder.
~Shut up. I’m trying to play dead here~
“What… is the corpse frowning?”
Shit. Dorian smoothened his face out and lay still like his life depended on it. He heard an exasperated sigh from the voice in his head.
~Aaaanyway…… I’m your new system~
Oh for fuck’s sake.
“Beating up a dead body would reflect badly on your image, Lord Grey. People would say you’re giving your much-needed attention to a dead body. That’s going to be a waste of time.”
A slap rang out and Dorian felt his body go rigid.
“Don’t tell me what to do you fool.”
Lord Grey sounded every bit the pompous arrogant windbag he probably was. Dorian felt phlegm hit the side of his face and he shivered.
“My father will hear about this. Let’s go.”
The sound of footsteps receding wafted into Dorian’s ears and he didn’t dare move a muscle. Someone sighed heavily close by and a harsh order was given out.
“Well don’t just stand there, cover the body!”
“Yes, sergeant. Right away sergeant.”The sergeant stalked off and after a while, Dorian moved his eyes. Only the security guard was still there, and blood oozed from a nasty tear on his cheek. Sensing Dorian’s area of focus the guy simply shrugged and leaned down.
“He was wearing his ring when he slapped me. But no worries, you’re safe now.”
Dorian felt emotion clog his throat and he didn’t know what to say. Or what to do. He should probably get up now.
The guard retreated as Dorian pulled himself up with ease and he hissed at the slight pain behind his head. When he touched it, the area simply throbbed a bit but there was no severe pain.
“Your shirt’s ruined.”
Dorian checked the arms of his shirt and it was soaked with blood. His blood.
How was he even alive?
“Hey! What’s going on over there?”
The guard shouted a very loud and confident “Nothing!” and Dorian found himself trying to gather the facts in his head and set them straight.
He was hit by a car. He slammed so hard into a tree that his skull probably cracked, hence the blood, but he wasn’t dead. He…. actually he felt okay and that was strange.
Normal people didn’t survive being hit so hard by a car they went flying into a tree. Unless…..
~Now you’re ready to acknowledge me?~
The voice in his head wasn’t just a voice after all.
“Take this and go. No one’s watching, I'll take care of the blood.”
Dorian accepted the package with little to no enthusiasm and nodded, walking away immediately. People gasped as he passed by and they squealed in shock but ultimately they did nothing. For all they knew this could be a costume. Dorian frowned.
“What did you say you are again?”
Hells, he was talking to the voice in his head.
Like the voice wanted to spook him it didn’t respond for a while, but the world suddenly burst into a bright halo and Dorian found himself surrounded by energy, a pure bluish-white energy that revolved around him one moment and was gone the next.
The voice announced itself with an air of wonder and enthusiasm.
“I, am the Infinite Skills System. Source code 966857. Influence level: Cosmic/Interdimensional.
I am the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that beings of power beyond your wildest dreams would give anything to get.
I am freedom! I am advancement! I am…. Going to convince you that I'm not talkative and hey, that’s offensive of you to assume okay?”
Dorian entered a park and sat down on a chair in a secluded area.
“So you can do more than just talk?”
A flare of pain lashed through Dorian’s brain and he hissed, clenching his teeth and going dead rigid in his seat.“What the fuck dude!”The system scoffed and Dorian imagined it frowning.“I am not a human, or a dude. I am a being of infinite possibilities and people are usually more appreciative when they get me y’know. I’m really hard to come by.”The pain in his brain subsided all at once and Dorian breathed deeply, trying to steady the fast pounding of his heart and his boggled brain.The thing in his head was real.~Already established~And it had a snarky attitude.A slight chuckle rang out in Dorian’s head and something strange happened. A glass-like screen appeared before him. Almost the same shape and length as a full-length mirror. He couldn’t ignore the fact that it was there because it was. When he moved his head to the side, the large screen moved too. Golden letters lit up the surface of the screen and words slowly came into focus.INFINITE SKILLS SYSTEM. BASIC INFO.C
Dorian approached the last shop on the street his home was located in and he checked his reflection in the shop's glass fitting as he passed.Maybe part of the reason he kept on getting rejected was because of the blood stains still on him, and maybe he shouldn’t have started searching for a job immediately, but the timer was ticking and he had searched for the effects of liver loss on his way here. The system had assured him that nothing about the procedure of removing his liver would be painless or quick, and for some reason, he wholeheartedly believed the devil system.A job was a job, right? He didn’t have to get any major one just yet. What if the system turned out to be a flop and he failed there too?He wouldn’t be able to handle the surge of emotions that would come next.Instead, he had decided on this. He would get an easy job he knew nothing about. So far he had applied at a bakery, a tannery, and now he was here, a pizza shop.He didn’t know how to make pizza, but he coul
Dorian burst in through the door with barely a few seconds left.The cold feeling running down his spine finally dissipated and he breathed a breath of relief. Panting lightly, he watched the ominous red light flashing on the system’s screen finally fade away.The panic he had felt when that started glowing, was unlike any he had ever experienced in his life! Couldn’t the system acknowledge the fact that last night was tough on him and he needed more time to recover?The system’s reply was instant.~No one cares if the sun fell on your house or the moon shat on your car. Get to work on time regardless~Dorian gritted his teeth and straightened up when his new boss came out.“Good morning.” The man regarded him for a second, nodded, reached behind the counter, and pulled out a shirt. He threw it lightly to Dorian and Dorian caught the shirt.He also caught the keys that were thrown at him next.“Change into that shirt. There’s a stack of pizza boxes in the back. The delivery locations
“Deliver the rest of the pizzas out back.”Dorian nodded and walked past his new boss to get the cargo. Somehow, someone had spread the word of this pizza shop having the fastest delivery service and now everyone wanted a pizza that would be delivered in less than five minutes.~You haven’t told me thank you.~Dorian frowned at the voice in his head as he stared at the pile of pizza boxes he had to lug to the bike.“Thank you for what?”~For granting you this cool skill of course! You’d have had to pay a lot of money to get the skills you’re driving with today.~ While Dorian couldn’t deny the fact that the expert-level driving skill was awesome, something about having to deliver pizzas for hours on end didn’t appeal to him much.He was happy he was good at his job. Luigi, his new boss, had even told him he was doing a good job and he was happy he could finally get a name and a small smile out of the man.If this continued, then in a few more days, they could dominate the pizza delive
“Leave me alone! Please!” The cries were very audible and deep wracking sobs followed next.Dorian watched as a young woman stumbled out of the alley, her eyes wide in panic and tears running down her cheeks in rivulets.The few people also towing the alleyway stopped to look at her. She was very pretty. With a dainty shape and wearing a black dress that outlined her slim waist and curved hips. Her ebony hair curled at the tips and her skin was nice, near flawless.Everyone was enamored by the crying damsel and some made moves to go to her but they froze the next minute like an electric current just ran down their spines. Under the clear sunlight of the afternoon, four huge men walked out of the curve of the alley. They had menacing looks on their faces and they appeared rough but what made everyone stop was the single slash on their left cheeks.Dorian cursed under his breath.“Blacktips.”The Blacktips were a well-known local gang this side of the city. They burglarized, robbed, m
“Do…… you usually…… drive like a maniac?”The Blacktips were just behind them and right now, Dorian was sure they were going well past the speed limit.So far it had been thirty minutes since the chase started. The speed his bike was putting out was admirable.“Hey, pizzacunt! Catch!”Dorian leaned to the left at the last moment and the projectile whizzed past his ear. A boomcan landed on the bare ground of the expressway and Dorian gritted his teeth in annoyance.Thankfully this time when the can exploded they were a good distance away from the explosion. The Blacktips had their little locally made explosive explode right behind them and Dorian’s mind sparked with an idea. The crackly voice of his passenger was almost lost in the wind whipping around them. “They’re going to throw more of those things.”Dorian nodded both to her and to himself. She certainly wasn’t from around here. She didn’t know what a boomcan was.~System, I need a good trick!~The mechanical voice was what repli
~HEY DORIAN!~Dorian jerked awake like someone hit his head in his dream.“I’m up! I’m up!”The system chortled and Dorian’s still muddled brain tried to grasp what was happening right now.His eyes darted to the clock in the corner and he groaned.~Did you have to wake me up at the crack of dawn with such a loud shout?”It was like a foghorn had screamed his name in his head. Urghh.~Get up lazy pants. You have to get to work.~Dorian scowled and resisted the urge to groan.“Right, work.”His body felt like his spine would give out. His butt ached for some reason and his shoulders and back muscles throbbed. Maybe he had to go see a doctor.A ding rang out in his head and Dorian tried to open his half-lidded eyes to see the glass screen hovering a few feet above him. It was tilted so it could face him properly without him having to strain his neck.[HEALTH: 80%/100%]Dorian took a deep breath and watched as the meter climbed to 81%. In essence, he was being told he was okay and he di
"D.... Dorian?"Dorian nodded and stared at his girlfriend.He didn't know what to say. What was he supposed to do in a situation like this?"Is this the guy you've been telling me about?"The smug voice of the male in the room rang into Dorian's ears and he clenched his fists. They'd been talking about him.Amelia of all people, a woman who he would trust with his life if it came down to it."I asked you a question Amy." The male's voice was much nearer now and Dorian watched as the guy slung an arm over his girlfriend's shoulder. He was holding her in the casual manner Amelia would never have allowed him, her boyfriend to hold her in and he was grinning.He already knew what was happening here."Answer me Amelia. Or are you going to suddenly develop some virtue right here and now?"The decision was clear in Amelia's eyes because she nodded briskly." Yeah. He's the one I was telling you of. My boyfriend, Dorian Flint."Dorian felt something sour enter his mouth at her words. So he wa