6 Initiating E.S. system...

"Why me?" Aiden said curiously. He met Levi two years ago when the final training for the mission had begun. Besides being a friend, they didn't have anything special between them. Yet he chose him as the inheritor.

Aiden felt that Levi's eyes were sad when he said, "Please forgive me, Aiden, I have been forced."

Aiden's heart skipped a beat. "Forced?" he didn't know what Levi meant, "Do you have anything to do with my situation? Did Alex force you?"

Levi stood there without responding, and it irritated Aiden more. He ran to him, grabbed his collar and shook him, "Tell me why do you want to kill me?"

And there was no answer to that. Aiden was trying to punch Levi. It connected, there's still no response.

[Second Officer Levi had no recollection of any event related to your situation.]

"Then?" He felt empty, and the system didn't respond. "Tell me, Levi, why are you sorry?"

"Just forgive me, Aiden. I'm forced to do that." Levi started from the place where he had been stopped. "It's going to sting a little."

[Initiating inheritance…]

[Inheritor: Aiden Law.

Status: Severely Injured. Dying.

Element: Wind

Level: 2

Grade: D]

The view in front of him has changed. It was a room of 27 cubic metres. And the words kept flashing in front of Aiden's eyes.

[Verifying condition…]

[Recommendation: Levi Park (Second Officer)]

[Criminal Record: None]

[E.S. System: Dormant]

"The E.S. System?" Aiden was sure that he had never heard of any such system of personal assistance. Even though he only used PADS or his counterpart, he was quite knowledgeable about them.

"Maybe Levi used one of the specially customized systems." Aiden laughed, thinking about the lavishness, "He could think about the future of his system even when he died!" But he couldn't keep his smile much longer.

"Aaaaaaaaaaa." Aiden grabbed his head and fell. It's like someone pounded his brain with a sledgehammer. He rolled over the floor like a headless chicken.

No tears were coming out of his eyes. The blood that would have come out of his nose had not appeared in this virtual space.

[Waiting for Captain's approval…]

Another notification arose, but Aiden was so drowned in pain that he had not noticed it.

[...

...

Approved.]

[Initiation Complete.]

[Activating E.S. System…]

[Unlocking DNA sequencing…]

[The host is requested to bear the pain till the activation could be completed.]

Alas! The person to whom the words were directed was unable to respond. This virtual space was created in Aiden's consciousness. He couldn't have lost consciousness, even if he wanted to. All he could do now was to suffer in silence...

There was nothing in the cube to show the time. A long time had passed before Aiden could stand on his feet again. He struggled to stand up while he was clutching his head.

But to his surprise, there was no pain at all. On the contrary, he felt much lighter than before. He wasn't sure it was because he was in virtual space, or his wounds are healing right now. Yet he was very happy.

The same clear blue screen was in front of him. But it was the data that shocked him the most.

[Inheritance complete]

[E.S. System Activated.]

[DNA sequence is unlocked]

[Please check the status for better understanding.]

Age:16

Rank: Second Officer

Team: EP00 (Previously UG93)

Condition: Fatigue. Hungry. Acute Mana Poisoning.

Element: Wind

Level: 3

Grade: E

Strength: 12

Agility: 28

Endurance: 39

Dexterity: 25

Intelligence: 42

Health: 92/127

Mana: 87/111

Battle rating: Level 6

Innate skill: [*Light Foot*] [Skill Mine] [*Zone*]

Skill: [Reduce Drag] [Air Punch] [Air spike] [Wind Skin] [Wind Burst] [Wind Scythe] [Wind Gale]

]

"What the hell is this?" Aiden couldn't believe that it was his status. "PADS, what the hell has happened to me?"

[Welcome, Second Officer of Aiden. That inferior program has been deleted. Please consult me in case of need.]

"Who are you? "Aiden frowned, hearing the unfamiliar voice.

[E.S.S.: Empirical Survival System. This is the state-of-the-art military survival system.]

"PADS-X was also a military system."

[Huh! It was a cheap knock-off.]

"What the hell are you doing? How could the system have so much ego? "Aiden was stunned and angry at the same moment.

[Yes. That's what you call the state of the art. ESS can express various human emotions.]

"You don't have an expressionless mode?" The ESS had fallen silent to his surprise. And the silence was enough for Aiden to understand, "ESS, activate the emotionless mode."

[Tch. The emotionless mode is activated.]

"Even if you can choose not to reply, you can't ignore a command. Can you?"

[No]

Hearing the same cold voice, the ear of Aiden was more satisfied. "Explain the situation here."

[The ES system is a state-of-the-art military survival system. The system is specially developed for earth exploration after 'Mana Apocalypse.' The system is based on the experience and data collected by previous explorers.]

"The previous explorers? "Even if Aiden could have understood the meaning, he had a hard time digesting the context of the phrase," Is it Levi? Or did someone else die, too?"

[Yes. 728 explorers, including Levi, had come to earth…]

"What is it? Are you kidding me about that? We are the first to be sent to Earth in the last 20 years."

[Before this exploration mission, 93 more missions have been carried out over the last 20 years. Codenamed UG00 to UG92.]

Taking another look, Aiden understood the meaning of the team's name. Still, it was hard for him to accept, "Is this some kind of conspiracy?"

[No...]

"Forget it. You don't need to explain that. Whatever it is, I don't care." And it was the truth that Aiden didn't have any interest in this kind of thing. What he was more interested in was his status.

"What is [* Light Foot *], [Skill Mine] and [* Zone *]?" As long as it's a skill he could use to kill Alex, it's more than enough for him.

[[Light Foot]: A traceless agility skill. X1.5 normal speed. Duration: 10 seconds

Cooldown time: 1 minute. Maximum use: 10 times/day

[Skill Mine]: A long-distance bestowal skill. Can bestow known magic skill to an inanimate object. Object limit: 3. Mana limit:1. Activation distance: 1 meter.

[Zone]: A limit breaker skill. Double all the physical stats. Duration: 5 Seconds

After effect: 10 minutes. Cooldown time: 24 hours. Maximum use: 1 time/week.]

"What's this? Some kind of game, huh?" No matter how error less these systems might be, something like this could never be true. "You're playing a joke with me?" Aiden couldn't stop frowning.

[Innate skills are derived from the DNA sequence, mana properties, mana circulation, body core, mana vessel, training habit, and 72 other variables. The system can't guess what kind of innate skill one has until it appears.]

Although the voice was cold, Aiden still felt that the system was angry. But he didn't care about it. "So can I use it without mana?"

[Yes. However, in the current situation, the host can not use [* Light Foot *] [* Zone *] due to acute mana poisoning.]

"Fu*c you." Aiden cursed out loud, "What do you want me to do? Cure an incurable disease? If you don't want me to use it, why give it?"

[The system can not guess…]

"Yeah, yeah. You can not possibly guess it. If you can't just shut it down then.' Aiden was visibly angry and had no intention of carefully choosing his words. "What do you expect, then? Get me out of this place."

[The host is requested to have a look at the available missions.]

"What do you want? Mission, Huh! I have six days to live, and I'm not going to waste my time behind that. I have to kill a man."

[The host is requested not to kill…]

"Get me out of here," Aiden growled, and the system was silent. Silence concentrated for a few moments before the scene around Aiden changed again.

It was the same green meadow, and Levi was still waiting for it. Looking at Aiden, he smiled.

"You looked stronger now." Aiden was startled by his response. "How do I know that? Because everyone gets an innate skill after an inheritance, so they're bound to get stronger."

"I'm sorry about that, Aiden. I didn't want to drag you to this place. It could be painful to get through the inheritance. "Levi's voice was sad. It's like he was sorry.

"You might be powerful right now, but the mission is going to be harder. You can die." Although Aiden was angry a while ago, Aiden still couldn't help but smile at Levi. It's like he's really worried about him.

But what Levi didn't know was that Aiden was dying in a couple of days, and it was like a boom to him instead of being a headache. So he was very grateful that Levi had given him a chance to take revenge.

He gave Levi a deep bow, "Thank you. Thank you so much for everything."

"There's no need to thank me. I'm dead." Levi smiled," But help me with something."

Aiden hesitated for a moment, "I'm going to die in six days. If you want me to take your body home, that's going to be impossible."

"I know you're going to help me." Levi reacted as he didn't hear Aiden. "Please take care of Owen."

Aiden was dumbfounded. That was the last thing he had hoped to hear from Levi. 'Owen, huh? Is he seriously thinking about Owen when he died?'

"I know he might be clumsy, but he's a good kid. He's like a little brother to me. Without my help, he can't do anything..."Aiden was sure that there were tears in Levi's eyes, his voice was shaking, but he continued.

"I know that sometimes I can be tough on him, but it was for his good. I just want to..." Levi shook his head, "Look at me, I'm still rambling about him even after death."

Levi smiled again at Aiden and gave a deep bow, "Please take care of my brother after I'm gone."

Aiden did not realize that looking at Levi, tears had begun to come out of his eyes. Aiden waited for Levi to stand up again, but Levi did not move.

"I can't do that. I'm going to die soon." That's what Aiden was trying to say to him, but he couldn't say those words. "I'm going to take care of him as long as I live." Only when he spoke, Aiden understood that he was crying too.

'Do you know how much I have misunderstood you? 'Aiden sighed in his heart as he took tears out of his eyes. 'I never thought that receiving the last wish of a dead man could be so heavy. Is there going to be one next to me when I die?

'On the other hand, only after Levi had received the words of reassurance, he stood up. He ran to Aiden and hugged him, even before Aiden could move.

"Thank you, my brother. Thank you. I know that I can put my faith in you." Levi's voice wavered again. "You're a good man, Aiden. I know you're going to survive."

Even if it was virtual space, even if all this was happening inside his consciousness, even if Levi was dead, the warmth that Aiden felt in his embrace melted away his heart. And his last struggle to hold his tears back faded away.

His tears were no longer listening to him. He was weak, he would have already fallen without Levi. All the anger, frustration, pain, sadness, and all the emotions flowed out of Aiden at that moment.

"Goodbye, brother." The voice of Levi sounded in his ear, and at the next moment, his support had vanished. Aiden wanted to hug tighter by instinct, but he couldn't. Aiden stumbled and slumped on the grass, unable to control himself.

"Ah hah" Aiden's mournful cry echoed through the dead space. There were no best recruits, there was no confident money-grubber, there was no avenger.

There was a son, a brother, a lover, and a teenager who knew about his death and he was crying in the middle of the green meadow.