I Hate Systems

"You've done your best, dad. I won't allow you to say otherwise." Stencil snorted before patting herself with a smug attitude, "Besides, haven't I grown up pretty well? That's the sign of you being a great parent."

"Now, stop crying. It doesn't suit you." She said, patting his back as she looked around, "Dad, I've been wanting to sightsee this world all along. Now that we're free of all burdens, let's travel and explore the place."

"You're right." Compass Carburettor smiled in response, laughing in joy soon after, "Why didn't I think of that? You're a genius, Stencil."

"Hehe, you shouldn't praise me that much." Stencil behaved smugly, "It'll get to my head, you know."

"How long do you plan to look around?" Hazen asked Stencil all of a sudden.

Even though Hazen too was a form of Compass Carburettor, Stencil didn't feel that sense of familiarity between the two, nor did Hazen either.

After thinking for a moment, Stencil said, "We'll first complete our end of the deal to help Rhizen. We can always return here after that."

She then faced Compass Carburettor, "Dad, I can open portals to the System World now and even access their Astral Network. Tell me if you want something. I can get anything from there."

"Alright," Compass Carburettor smiled before staring at Hazen, sighing as he said, "You can stay behind if you want. The rest of us should be able to finish the task on our own."

"No, it's fine," Hazen said before vanishing, retreating into Compass Carburettor's body.

"Everything feels strange." Gahrat said, massaging her aching back, "Until our egos grow enough, we'll move as one. And after that…only time would tell."

"I understand." Compass Carburettor nodded watching Gahrat and Domino Plottopia return to his body. From the start, Domino Plottopia hadn't spoken a word. She silently stared at everything, maintaining absolute secrecy, so much so that sensing her figure was hard even for him.

"Is this good or bad…?" He sighed, unaware of what these changes would entail in the future.

After all, the Main Character was a combination of four individuals now, with him possessing most of the power related to the Core Skill of Lore.

But only when all four were combined did the Core Skill of Lore gain the maximum potency.

When separated, only he was able to use Lore while the other three couldn't. And as the abilities of all Personal Fragments had changed once again with the awakening of Lore, he needed some time to get used to everything.

The Core Skill of Lore had existed in him from the moment the fragment of the Main Character System became a part of him.

This was what resulted in the development of each of his Personal Fragments. Among the variety of powers involved, Lore played the biggest part, manifesting the legacy he had created in every world.

He enacted as a Spirit in the Darble World, weaving a tale for himself that took root in a lot of people. And when he obtained control over a Dungeon's devotion, the Personal Fragment of Secret Society was formed, taking shape based on the lore he had concocted until then.

In the Apocalypse World, it was by breaking through the lore established by the Systems that he saw through the trap of System Slayers and became the Main Character.

And Hazen's birth was the same.

Even without knowing the reason, he had been doing actions in accordance with the power that was in him from the start. And now that it had awakened, he gradually came to understand it.

Though, the fact that there were three other individuals representing himself was somewhat unnerving. He wasn't sure if that was the right path or not, but no matter, as it was already done, he could only adapt to the changes.

Besides, all of those were only the secondary concerns. His primary concern, his daughter, was safe and sound.

Besides, she now had enough power to protect herself from any threat that she might face. After all, she controlled two Systems, one of which was the infamous Happy-Go-Lucky System. It meant that unless she faced the Main Character or beings like Rhizen, she wouldn't ever come in danger.

Moreover, both the Systems under her control could still grow. This meant that with Compass Carburettor helping her, she would grow by leaps and bounds.

"Shall we go to the…that World?" Stencil asked.

"That's a bit risky." Compass Carburettor frowned, understanding that Stencil was referring to the System World. As the Restriction Order was lifted, uttering the word of System while aware of Systems would bring down punishment. And hence, she mulled her words.

As the message came across, Domino Plottopia took action, coating them with a layer of secrecy, preventing any Systems from detecting them.

"Awesome!" Stencil smiled as her body gradually morphed, becoming a Coordinate before infusing the power of the Secret Refiner System, turning into the Secret Refiner System itself.

As Compass Carburettor stared at her, wide-eyed, Stencil smiled, snapping her finger to condense a portal before her. The cultivation world seemed to stop as everything turned monochromatic.

"Let's go, dad." Stencil said, entering the portal first, followed by him. The two arrived at the System World and stayed there for less than a second as Stencil condensed a portal immediately.

They entered it and arrived at the Apocalypse World, startling the middle-aged man nearby.

"You are…?" Rhizen was shocked before sighing in relief, "Compass and Stencil, I'm glad that you arrived before this loop ended."

"Hmm?" Compass Carburettor looked around, surprised by the state of things, "Things are…different since the last time I was here."

"I've already begun working on everything necessary. I've already informed the peak powers of the apocalypse this time of the truth about this world." Rhizen said, "But, I can't do anything concrete until all traces of the Systems are wiped out from the minds of everyone here."

"Only after that can I put my plan in motion," Rhizen said. "And I'll need your help for that, Compass."

He then looked at Stencil, nodding in response, "Yours too, Stencil."

"Sure!" Stencil smiled, happy to help.

Author's note: IMPORTANT~!!!

I've created a comic titled [Rage of Calamity] and joined a contest on www.webtoon.com.

If I win this contest, I'll be able to write full-time and focus fully on my novels. Meaning: Increase in the update rate of IHS and PADS by at least one more chapter per day.

To win, we need as many subscribers, likes, and comments to the webtoon series. So, please help me and check out my most ambitious project to date, "Rage of Calamity".

Webtoon is also available as an app on android and ios, so do help me. If we win, you'll get more content to read starting from next month itself.