I Hate Systems

<Ding!>

[Quest: Destroy the Evil Mastermind, Compass Carburettor]

[Quest Description: A mysterious man with no past and no future, but a present of carnage. He's an expert of deceit and manipulation, an evil boss that has dealings with the underground mafia]

[Time Limit: 21 days (Time Left: 3 Days 17 Hours 11 Minutes)]

[Quest Failure: Continuation of the sufferings of the victims]

[Reward: +1 to the Skill level of Appraisal]

The teenager glanced at the System window hovering before him, sighing as he thought, 'If not for this, I would have almost been led by his thought process. As expected of an evil mastermind.'

'I should just kill him and be done with it.' He thought, scanning the figure of Compass Carburettor, 'He doesn't seem to have any weapons on him. He hasn't even condensed his items. Is he that confident?'

He then glanced at Grisha, 'But, this woman has been giving me a strange feeling for some reason. It's like we've already had an encounter in the past.'

"Well…" Having sensed the emotions through the teenager's Mental Energy stream, Compass Carburettor changed his choice of words, deciding that now was a good time to attack, "You seem to be someone that loves to clear conspiracies. Then, let me point you at a conspiracy that you haven't ever considered…"

Seeing the confusion of the other party deepening upon his choice of words, Compass Carburettor grinned, "Do you think Devils love to deliver justice?"

"Devils? What the heck? They aren't real, even in our changing world." The teenager retorted.

"Well, they are fiction alright." Compass Carburettor nodded, "But, for a moment, let's just consider that they are real."

"Fine, I'll play along." The teenager nodded, ready to attack the moment Compass Carburettor pulled any tricks.

"What do you think Devils love to do the most?" Compass Carburettor asked.

"Well, they make people sell their souls to them." The teenager replied as a matter of fact, "That's how their lore goes anyway."

"And, why do you think they do that?" Compass Carburettor asked next.

"For food, maybe?" The teenager said.

"Well, let's consider it to be the case for now." Nodding in response, Compass Carburettor's smile deepened, "But, how do you think they do that? People aren't fools you know. They fall prey to scams and wise up after that, becoming guarded against such things. So, what makes you think they would sell their souls, something infinitely more valuable than money?"

"How do they do it…?" The teenager thought for a moment. It was interesting because he loved conspiracies and the means to eradicate them. So, even though the other party was an enemy, he did enjoy unearthing another conspiracy, even though it was just fiction.

Moreover, he still had enough time to complete the Quest, so he wished to humour the other party, 'Maybe I'll discover something that would increase my rewards.'

These were his true thoughts. Because in the past, when he stumbled upon a different line of thought, his System generated him new Sub-Quests, increasing his rewards.

"That's easy," He smiled after figuring out an answer, "They take advantage of people's desires, to grant them the means to attain that. After all, not everyone can achieve them. And for young people without the means to do so, they become perfect targets for the Devils…"

As he arrived at this point, the teenager stopped speaking, alarmed as he suddenly broke into a cold sweat. A simple statement resounded in his mind now. What if…the so-called System in him was just a Devil? After all, it did grant him what he desired the most in a convenient manner.

"If scams don't evolve, people wouldn't ever fall for them." Right at this time, Compass Carburettor nailed the point home, "So, they continue to change, adapting to the times. Because, there is one thing that you must know. For something to become a myth, it needs a source for people to believe it. And always, there is a source to everything."

"Y-You're lying…this isn't possible, this…" The teenager stuttered, his legs wobbling as he was unable to remain firm like before. He was emotionally shaken up, drastically so, unable to think straight.

"There is one thing I've seen in you, even though you don't seem to have received much education." Compass Carburettor said, "You do have some smarts in you. At least based on how you've unearthed all of my information. So, whatever is happening, you must be the most aware."

'System, is it true?' The teenager shouted in his mind.

[No]

The Conspiracy Slayer System responded immediately.

[I'm not something as puny as a Devil. A System is a System, nothing more, nothing less]

'Then, how did you come into existence? Where were you born? Why did you choose me? When and how did you enter my body?' The teenager blasted off a flurry of questions immediately.

[Host doesn't have the qualifications to access that data]

"Heh…haha…hahahaha!" The teenager began to laugh as tears streamed out of his eyes. He clutched his face, slumping to the ground, "And to think I had been playing in the palm of the Devil's hands all along."

"Does that mean every conspiracy that I unearthed before was a sham?" He lacked the strength to even speak now.

"Bro, did you become dumb all of a sudden?" Compass Carburettor spoke with a mocking tone, triggering the teenager that stood up all of a sudden, glaring at him.

"Just shut up!"

"Just because you've been under a devil's influence doesn't mean whatever you did was nothing but a sham." His mocking tone increased in depth, "Data can be fabricated. But there would always be chinks in fabricated data. Of course, you must have encountered such things many times."

"I can say with assurance," He spoke confidently all of a sudden, "Except for whatever it said about me, everything else is the truth. Your actions, whatever you had investigated about others, including me, are all the truth. Since I am its enemy, it takes such a roundabout approach."

"First it'll make you solve proper cases to firm your trust in it and your abilities. And then, it would direct you to deal with its actual target. And here, that's me, its age-old enemy." He laughed, pointing at the teenager, "Even now, it must be trying to do something to you to ensure you'll become my enemy. Probably erasing your memory or something."

"After all, Devils cannot exist in this world and can only take action through the people of this world." He said solemnly, "So, as long as you are in control of your thoughts and actions, it cannot influence you."

"Become the master of your life."