I Hate Systems

Shika swallowed an orb, obtaining a new ability. She condensed her crossbow and show an arrow, one that hooked itself to the top of another building.

She then slid over the rope, arriving atop the other building. In such a fashion, she travelled from one building to another, finally shooting the hook into the wall of the building she was upon before jumping down.

The crossbow she had now was different from before, attached to a rope while having a spring mechanism within, allowing her to descend slowly, storing potential energy within. And with a thought, she could activate it, causing the crossbow to pull her up rapidly.

This allowed her to scale up heights with ease. Unfortunately, she didn't have a flying ability. But still, it posed her no trouble, as she had her means to travel from one place to another, thanks to the variety of orbs that she had gathered.

She landed on the ground, activating her latest Skill—Night Mask. Immediately, her figure dispersed into the darkness of the night, allowing her to move undetected.

It only made her figure dark, so in places of light, she would look like a three-dimensional shadow that was moving about.

"Blub Blub is eating a lot these days." One of the men said, exiting as he carried a large container, "Just the shit it is giving out has doubled in the past two days."

"It has grown four horns, after all, and exploded in size." Another man accompanying them smirked, "But, it's a good thing indeed. There was a shortage of manure for the plants recently. With this, it'll be easy to satisfy the food demands of everyone."

"That is true," The man carrying the container smiled, patting it, "I could feel that this batch of shit is even purer. The plants would grow tremendously fast with the help of this."

"By the way, have you gained an ability? You seem stronger than before." The other man spoke in surprise.

"Yeah, after consuming the highest quality fruits daily, I've managed to reach Stage 1 and condense my ability. This is a passive ability that applies the burst element and strengthens my body constantly." The man with the container laughed, "I also felt an orb forming in my body after this. So, I'm growing stronger by the day."

'An orb in their body?' Shika was flabbergasted, unable to accept it, 'How? Humans are unable to gain strength like the mutated beasts…'

Only then did she notice the man with the container reach the designated room, place the container within and exit it, removing his hazmat suit, revealing a tiny horn growing on his forehead, 'But that's impossible! He's a human and not a mutated beast!'

As the thoughts of Shika boomed within the space, Compass Carburettor frowned, 'I cannot sense any space within any of them. So, it is true that they aren't humans anymore, at least based on the power system of this world.'

'Is this what relying on the produce of the goldfish results in?' He thought, intending to observe further.

After all, that had been his intention at the start too, when he discovered the goldfish's uniqueness. But, he wasn't sure of whether it was worth the effort to make it a member of Secret Society.

After all, unlike the other members, it was a water-based creature. And, as everything he did was on land, it couldn't accompany him.

There were too much risks involved without any apparent benefit that was worth the effort. That was why he had been putting off with making it a member.

'Well, a System Host would be able to investigate things better. Or even otherwise, they'll be able to trigger mysterious changes.' He smiled, anticipating Shika's next action.

When Shika retracted her ability, two mutated beasts appeared within the space when he condensed a pair of hands using the energy blade and grabbed hold of them, preventing them from disturbing him.

Considering the strength of the energy blade, it was impossible for them to break out of it.

Shika inched forth, using the areas that were dark to infiltrate the clubhouse, calmly inching forth as she avoided alerting the others.

Now that she was aware that they were growing horns, she focused on the foreheads of everyone she passed by, noticing small bumps in some of them, 'So, not everyone has managed to condense a horn yet.'

'But still, a human possessing the power of a mutated beast. That is horrifying.' She shuddered.

She was gullible, but wasn't dumb, at least after the enlightenment she experienced recently. It allowed her to think about things with a bit more depth as compared to before.

Eventually, she made her way to the swimming pool, noticing a goldfish swimming there nonchalantly, sporting dead eyes, as if it had no desire to live.

There was a pile of grass at the edge of the pool, something that it munched upon whenever it was bored. And, after its stomach was full, it shat out a pile of excreta in another direction, accurately aiming for the large container that was kept there.

Moreover, from time to time, it opened its mouth, producing bubbles that floated towards the ceiling and passed through a tube that had been installed there. The tube was connected to a water container nearby.

This acted as the freshwater source for everyone living there. So, whenever the goldfish was bored, it generated bubbles, looking at everything with a blank stare.

But, upon gazing at it, Compass Carburettor was stunned. For, its size wasn't like before, having reached a length of three metres. It was not to mention the number of horns on its forehead.

There were four of them!

'There's already a mutated beast that managed to grow four horns?' He was shocked. But, after thinking about it further, it made sense. After all, the goldfish and the cat had grown two horns a day into the apocalypse.

So, they were special existences.

As he had killed the cat, that only left the goldfish. And now, without its predator, it had grown in size and became powerful.

As Shika continued to observe it, the goldfish's eyes suddenly turned scaly like a reptile as it gazed at her, able to see her despite her remaining hidden in the darkness in the corner.

And, right as it had done so, the gazes of all the surrounding humans fell on her.

"Oh, Shit!"