Seized by the System

In a small bar at a random town in America. It was night time, and the lights were low.

This had become the norm in the Shenyuan Era. In order to save on electricity bills, many shops tried their best to operate with only one light.

This would have been unthought of in the past. America was then one of the countries in the world that was ‘running on car wheels’. The energy they exhausted in a year was practically countless.

“No! I, David, would never step foot in that damn sanctuary even if I died of hunger, or get scared to death by ghosts, or even get myself eaten by demons and monsters! And I would never get myself injected by that damn management chip!” a young and virile Caucasian shouted determinedly to his companions before he threw a glass of rum onto the floor.

The liquor splashed and the glass pieces flew about, cutting some people on the face which bled.

This, however, gave the opposite effect and made the group even more rowdy with passion. The cheers within the bar were endless.

“Great words, David, good for you!”

“For freedom!”

“We support you!” A group of skimpily dressed dancers blew passionate flying kisses to this brave young man.

Not long after, the chandelier on the ceiling started to shake. The light started to flicker on and off.

At the same time, outside the French window of a nearby street, the wind started to howl and one could almost hear a grieving sound coming from afar.

Even the noisy bar could not prevent the noise from entering everyone’s minds.

The bar suddenly went silent.

It was like the beginning of the perfect horror story.

The expression on everyone’s faces changed.

It was the fourth year of the Shenyuan Era. This long period of time was enough for a young person with strong adaptability to learn whatever they should learn.

The Law of Nature demands that under the pressure of being eliminated, one’s learning ability would be at its peak!

“Hurry up and let’s get out of here!”

“There’s going to be another mythical occurrence…” the young men and women were shrieking.

The waiter behind the bar had already escaped via a secret tunnel… He had no intention of saving any of his customers.

“Run! The Pharos of the East would need 3 seconds to 3 minutes to investigate this. Hold on and we’ll be able to live!” Someone was comforting his crying girlfriend as he pulled her towards the wide door.

Most of the people were pushing windows open and jumping out of them.

One of the requirements for places of business during the Shenyuan Era was the need for all exits to be made as wide as possible. All windows facing the street had to be French windows — ones where it was easy to push open.

“Get out of here! There’s a management chip injection booth two hundred meters from here, there are Pond-level cultivators there! It won’t take more than one minute to get there,” someone shouted as he ran.

Judging by this alone, one would be able to see that this group of youngsters were pretty decent people.

If it was characters in a novel, they would be making their own escape. Who would have the time to give others a reminder?

They would probably use someone who was confused in the bar to serve as bait.

In an instant, the bar was empty. All the young people were running towards the injection booth on the dark street…

It was the only place that was lit up in the night, with a thin layer of blue fog surrounding the injection booth.

There were more than a hundred thousand injection booths around the globe. Each booth was manned by someone who was at least a Bucket-level cultivator. As for Pond-level powerhouses, they were in charge of the booths in major locations within the cities.

They would at least be able to conduct simple formations compared to the very weak Cup-level cultivators.

These formations might not be able to hold these demons and monsters for too long but normally, it would help gain a few more minutes.

In reality, there really was no powerful demon or monsters on Earth, thanks to a certain someone… Those with potential had long been captured while the powerful ones had been taken care of.

With these few extra minutes, it was enough for this certain someone to arrive.

The young people who gathered at the bar reached the injection booth quickly and were crowded right in front of it. The coating that looked like a thin layer of water turned into a moat, separating them from the light.

“Let us in!”

“Only those willing to be injected by the management chip can enter,” a black man in a suit smiled as he said those words.

The booth was not big and could not fit so many. However, a formation that was cast around the area happened to be a fountain square; it could fit hundreds of people.

“Then give me the injection! I’m a model civilian! I’ve got the best social credit and I’m a beginner for cultivation!” a young man shouted as he pressed forward.

He was the fittest, strongest, and was even a Cup-level cultivator. Naturally, he had run ahead of everyone else.

“Hey, that really loud person, isn’t he David?” Someone had recognized him.

“What a hypocrite!” someone said in contempt.

Many more men had lowered their heads in fear of someone recognizing them.

Not long after, everyone who crowded the booth had entered the formation. They started to form a queue and laid down for the injection without fuss.

Right at this moment within the bar.

A plain-looking Caucasian with a small built was hiding under a table in the corner. He was hugging his head as he shivered, trying his best not to make a sound.

It was not that he did not want to run away, but he was too afraid. When the strange situation occurred, he went so weak in the knees that he could not run.

He took part in this gathering because he did not want his friends to boycott him. Moreover, there was a girl he liked there as well.

Who would have thought that terror would silently befall them? Every one of his friends had run off while he was left all alone.

He did not harbor grudge for anybody. Someone had shouted for everyone to run out and everyone listened. He could only blame himself for not being able to move.

A horrific beginning would no doubt end on the same note.

A phantom green spiritual being floated in from the windows.

This spiritual being was spookily terrifying. It looked like someone who was burnt in a fire.

It floated into the bar and moved around randomly.

“Come on back, Fire Spirit. Those cowards have long been scared away. Our leaders would be pleased with our work.”

The spiritual being revealed itself. It was someone who had half his body burned. He looked terrifying. If he was acting in a movie, he would definitely be the main villain of a horror film.

“Okay then. This group of people is really cowards. Judging by all that vigor in the gathering, I thought I’d had to scare a few people before it worked. Too bad for me.” The burnt spirit shook his head as he walked out of the bar.

“Don’t forget that film mimics life. Those who run the fastest in horror films are those who appear to be the most courageous.”

The two voices got further into the distance and subsequently disappeared into thin air.

Sam now had the courage to come out from under the table but it took some effort for him to stand up.

He gave it a thought before he walked towards the injection booth without looking back.

Everyone was queuing up to get their injections at the booth.

He stood outside the water curtain and said quietly, “I’d like to have the management chip injection too.”

“Hey, isn’t that cowardly Sam?” Someone recognized him from the bright lights of the booth.

“Never thought he’d be the last one among us to come here requesting for the injection.”

“Looks like we can’t be calling him Cowardly Sam anymore. It should be Courageous Sam.”

“Right, Courageous Sam!”

The group of people started to kick up a fuss.

“Could be just the opposite. I’m guessing he was so scared that he couldn’t run,” someone exposed the truth.

“Hahaha, I believe that’s the true story.”

“Then it should be Lucky Sam. Who would have thought that this cowardly guy could survive until now!” someone jeered.

Sam wanted to slap these people in the face by revealing the truth, but all he could do was make a few squeaks. He was still too timid to say anything.

He may not be courageous, but he was not a fool. This was reality, after all, not a movie. He was not some stupid sidekick for the smart and brave main character in the movie.

He was very clear, as someone who had gotten a formal education, that the truth would not help him. No one would be willing to believe his words. As the person who exposed the truth, he would be offending powerhouse cultivators and might really be attacked by demons and monsters!

These people were just trying to cover their embarrassment by making fun of him.

At the very least, these people would not beat him up, so laugh away! After all, they would not be able to attract all these pretty girls by punching a well-known coward.

…

No one was aware that the Pharos of the East they previously mentioned was standing above them in the dark, watching them.

“Is this all there is between people, only tricks?” Sir System said faintly.

“What would you like to be left? Friendship, love, and justice? If it wasn’t for our deterrence, this would not just be a simple trick. That being was half human and half spirit, he would have killed a few people before he stopped. That coward would not have gotten out alive, that spiritual being had already spotted him… but was confident he would not reveal the truth,” said Fang Ning.

“What do you mean by ‘our’? This is my credit, stop trying to steal it.” Sir System was quick to make the correction.

“You know what, I’m really too lazy to hash this out with you. Somehow, I feel that this is advancing too quickly. A demon must be involved when something is wrong. How long has it been since discovering God’s missionary? Is global social pattern about to evolve into sanctuary survival mode?” Fang Ning shook his head and sighed.

“What more would you want? I’m a hero system and I can’t forcibly change that,” Sir System said resentfully.

“Just forget about it, let’s just take care of things as they come,” Fang Ning stopped his thoughts. After all, the tremendous change that was going on had no effect on him.

Sir System was also no longer relying on small provisions to spend his days.