I Hate Systems

Chapter 8: The Spinning Top

“As to how you can perceive a System’s Grade and Level?” Fourth shook its head, “That’s entirely based on experience. Your only point of reference is your system’s true form and the sense of danger it emitted. Based on that, try to create an estimate of what level a Grade 1 System would be at.”

It turned around, looking at Compass Carburettor, speaking after a sigh, “And, one thing you must note. Even if you enter a world and managed to obtain some of the powers of that world, they would all vanish the moment you appear here. Your current state is what you possess. You can only possess a power of some sort that’s available in your homeworld.”

‘Then…Earth doesn’t have any powers of that sort. So, I won’t have any powers even if I were to learn them in another world.’ Compass Carburettor nodded, asking, “Then, how were you able to make that powerful attack?”

“That’s the power of this sword,” Fourth showed, “And, demons in my world are innately able to wield mana. And, this sword was the pinnacle of my world’s treasures. To save you, all I did was unleash this sword’s abilities. This is one advantage of being a denizen of a world with innate powers.”

“Humans, demons, elves and the likes are one of the most common sentient races. So, a lot of the worlds have them.” It then turned around, walking away while motioning with its hands, “Follow me. I’ll show you first hand the method to enter a world.”

Compass Carburettor nodded, following it as he still maintained a distance of five metres between them. He watched his gun appear and disappear from his hands, familiarising himself with the action. He knew that when it disappeared, it turned into energy that remained within his body. And, this energy was just the part of the Money-Making System’s body that he had turned his.

So, it wasn’t something whose quantity could be increased in the future. And, Compass Carburettor realised that this energy now formed his core. So, it contained all of his information, from his thoughts to even thought processes. It was basically the core data that formed the individual, Compass Carburettor.

“There are no powers in my world,” While walking through the thicket of trees, Compass Carburettor closed the distance and whispered when he felt a sense of danger from many locations. “Is there no way for me to grow stronger?”

“System Fragments are the only way I know.” Fourth replied, “There are millions of Systems with billions of abilities. Everything depends on which ability of them you obtain while refining a part of their Host’s body part.”

“Are they able to sense our existence while in a world?” Compass Carburettor asked.

“Of course,” Fourth nodded, “But usually, they would either assume we are Hosts to a System or someone that has fallen prey to some System’s power. In bigger worlds, numerous Systems would be operating there. So, it isn’t rare to run into one another.”

“Another thing is that,” Fourth laughed helplessly, “None of us System Slayers are worthy enough for a System to care about. So, they won’t even glance at us, as long as we ensure to hide ourselves the moment we land in a world, since we usually appear somewhere nearby the System Host. This is also the best chance for us to identify a System Host.”

“I see,” Compass Carburettor nodded as he thought, ‘Otherwise, identifying a System Host is really difficult. I have to figure out their identities based on my experience and the information I read through many stories. I hope it works.’

Fourth suddenly raised its hand, motioning for Compass Carburettor to stop. It then slowly sheathed its sword. Now that they were close, Compass Carburettor looked at Fourth’s sword, noticing that it was gold in colour, possessing a spectacular engraving.

Embedded in the hilt was a gem that lacked any lustre. But, he remembered that it was a faint green before, ‘Maybe it has different states for different modes of attack.’

He copied Fourth’s actions, hiding behind a tree similarly as he peeked out a little, noticing a spinning top hop around from one branch to another. The spinning top was tiny, barely spanning a height of 20 centimetres. It sported an eye at the top as it innocently hopped from one branch to another.

The sense of threat it exuded was barely anything as Compass Carburettor followed what Fourth had said to him, trying to gauge an estimate based on the sense of danger he felt from the Money-Making System, ‘Definitely a Grade 1 System. And possibly a level 1 or 2 at most.’

He had hidden behind a tree that allowed him to see both the spinning top’s movements and Fourth’s. And now, he noticed the expression of Fourth seemed a tad excited as he kept his sword ready, trailing behind the spinning top as he constantly hid behind the trees, using its cover to proceed forward.

Compass Carburettor only moved occasionally, increasing his distance from Fourth as he could feel something was amiss in the expression of the other party. Just to be safe, he maintained his distance, ready to summon his gun when necessary.

He then noticed the spinning top pause upon landing on a certain tree branch as it spun in place for a good one hour. All along, Fourth lay in wait patiently.

Finally, the spinning top landed on the ground, choosing a place that had some open space without any trees in a range of a metre around it. It then shrieked with a cute tone, looking like it was trying to take a dump while suffering from constipation.

After struggling for almost two hours in such a fashion, it condensed a portal before it, only big enough for its body to pass through. And, just this action alone seemed to have exhausted it severely as its body seemed tired.

Compass Carburettor gazed at the portal from afar, noticing that the other side seemed to be an ocean of sorts. And currently, the point of view was getting closer to the ocean, ‘It probably chose something that had jumped into an ocean or something?’

He then noticed that Fourth had lifted its sword that turned blurry. The gem on it had turned a shade of grey now.

And, the moment the spinning top jumped into a portal, it slashed its sword forth, unleashing a beam that landed on the portal right before it disappeared.

Compass Carburettor noticed the beam land on the portal, turning around to look at Fourth to notice that the demon had disappeared.