Nervous Boy

The silence continued to prevail as all eyes in the room reflected the glowing, floating screen in front of them. Magnus too, received the same system message, since his system and its copy had been synced, which allowed for the universal events and messages to pop up to everyone at the same time.

"The hell is this…?" someone finally spoke up. But before someone else could say something, the message vanished, and replacing it was a new message.

[Chapter 1

In the wake of the changing worlds, the people had realized that dangers now lurked from every corner of The Universe. First, they became afraid, which was a natural reaction. But then, they came to understand that being afraid was not going to help them. With this growing realization, a desire deep within their minds began to take root; it was a desire to become stronger. Upon sprouting, it called for the one thing it needed the most in order to grow: power.]

The message remained on the screen for about ten minutes, allowing the readers to mull over every word.

Meanwhile, Magnus was busy analyzing everyone's expressions. Their minds were probably trying to come up with every possibility imaginable. His eyes searched for Summer who was deep in thought, before she noticed his stare.

Magnus couldn't help but gulp in anxiety. It was evident that he'd known about all the strange things that kept happening one after another. Which was why, unlike the others who were scared and unsure of what was going on, he was scared and unsure of her reaction.

However, Summer just stood there looking a bit…sad?

Before Magnus could begin to study her emotion any longer, the floating screens shifted once again.

[Congratulations! You have been awakened! You are now able to use magic and are no longer restricted by the natural limitations of a mortal.]

Magnus saw this as his signal. 'System, awaken Summer now.'

A couple of seconds after everyone got the awakening notification, Summer finally received the same message. Slowly, they all began to feel slight changes within and around their bodies, as if there was a faint energy coming into contact with them. The only ones who didn't get the notification were Magnus and TJ, whose eyes met in understanding.

Quickly afterward, a new message appeared.

[Your life is about to change, but so is everybody else's! From now on, the strong ones will rule, and the weak ones are going to be left behind in the dust. You don't want to be another one who bites the dust, do you? Of course not! That is why the system is here to help you! So, now what do you do? You get more power! Gain XP, level up, and get stronger! Sounds simple enough, doesn't it?]

The wording within the message was supposed to sound funny and uplifting, if it wasn't for the current strange chain of events and the great uncertainty swirling around the atmosphere. The message was then followed by the first appearance of Status Window in this Universe—excluding the moment TJ's Status Window first popped up.

However, while everybody was reading and studying their stats, slowly beginning to understand what they were in relation to their physical states, Summer's eyes were zooming in on one part of her Status Window.

[Author: Magnus 2.0]

Just as she was about to tear her eyes off the screen, a notification appeared on it. It was one that was meant only for her, because nobody else received the same notification.

[Congratulations! You have been chosen as a Protagonist. Author: Magnus 2.0.]

Magnus had been expecting the line to show up on her screen, and it was clear to him when it finally did. Summer's eyes searched for his, shooting him a questioning look. He then mouthed the word 'later' to her and nodded reassuringly. She could only return her gaze to the Status Window, her face looking unsure but still keeping its calm. Magnus was glad she was taking all this patiently.

After a while, no new message appeared. It seemed as though the strange occurrences that had been happening had finally died down. For now.

Magnus observed as everyone was busy entertaining all kinds of possibilities in their heads. And after giving them time to think for a bit, he finally said, "You guys can dismiss the screen just by willing it to disappear. However, you can always recall it back by saying 'Status Window' either out loud or within your mind."

Instantly, everyone's eyes were drawn to him. He could feel the pressure pushing down on him. But surprisingly, the pressure only lasted for a moment before it let up. Everybody was clearly expecting him to spill out everything this instant, but for some reason, they all just stood in silence while exchanging certain glances with one another.

At this reaction, Magnus was clearly puzzled, and it immediately showed on his face.

"Don't think we didn't notice your subtle fidgeting, boy," Owen Haysmith, TJ's father, finally spoke up. "It's clear you've known this was coming and have been anxious about it the whole time. It's the thing I like about you the most; you're honest with your emotion, and therefore a bit see-through when it comes to your feelings. That's what makes you trustworthy in my eyes. So, why don't you start telling us what's really going on?"

"He's right," Mrs. Wang chimed in. "I haven't known you for long and even I can see that. Now stop looking so nervous and start explaining."

Those words had come unexpectedly for Magnus, but the relief they gave him was undoubtedly very welcome. "Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Haysmith, Mrs. Wang, and all of you. It's true, I've been drowning in anxiety these days, because like Mr. Haysmith said, I knew this day would come. It's the reason why I postponed my birthday party, and why I asked TJ if I could use his house. I needed all of you to gather in one place so I can keep you safe.

"You could see the earthquake and hear the chaos outside. The reason why this house stood like a sturdy rock in the middle of the earthquake, is because I used a skill of mine to steady the ground beneath it. But before I can say any further, please give me a moment to shield us from some prying eyes."

'Other me, are you ready?'

'Aye. Give me a second,' replied Magnus 2.0.

ʳ Keeping all the people in this house safe, especially his family and Protagonists, was Magnus' number one priority. He couldn't imagine what would happen if the gods were to know what he was going to do to achieve that. He hated the feeling of having himself and those he cared about watched like some lab rats. Therefore, he came up with a protective measure that was better than the previous anti-god membrane. This was called the anti-god coating. And as if answering to his strong desire to repel the group of rude eyes, the coating immediately enveloped the entire protective blue dome surrounding the house. ʴ

Anti-god coating. Both Magnuses had come up with the idea a few days ago. They had realized the membrane was going to be useless, not to mention inefficient, when the time came for him to shield a lot of people at once. Which was why they needed a type of protection that was bigger and better.

The coating costed 200 AP per hour, with a fifteen-minute cooldown period. The system and both Magnuses had arrived on this final price after a long back-and-forth negotiation.

What was taking place inside this house would definitely affect many changes that would birth new Realities in the future, with the people here being the roots of these Realities. This very reason was what made the anti-god coating expensive. However, it would've been even more costly had Magnus 2.0's narration said for the coating to protect the house on its own. That was basically saying that the system had to create and weave the Strings of Fate all by itself while Magnus was sitting on his ass doing nothing. But in this case, he had already provided the foundation for the coat, which was was his skill [Unbreakable], cutting the system's work by half.

'Aight, done,' said Magnus 2.0.

'Thanks, man.'

Taking a deep breath, Magnus said to everybody, "Now, what I'm about to say might sound super unbelievable, which is why I'm hoping for you guys to first confirm via phone calls about the state of the country—no, the world right now. I think the internet still works, but I'm not too sure."

"Already done it," Henry Williams, Garrett's father, said while holding up his phone. "I've texted my cousin living in New York. He said the same things happened to him and everybody else there, with some casualties from the earthquake."

"Same here," Nikolai, Katja's father, spoke up. "I've contacted my business partner in Moscow. Same shit's happening all around the world."

Magnus nodded, already expecting as much. "I hope that's enough proof that the situation right now is very serious, and you need to trust that I'm not about to spout any joke. I'm gonna tell you guys the truth about the fact that I'm…"

Someone who had crossed multiple Realms to look for a paradise, at the same time being controlled by a hateful god, until he eventually found someone he loved so much he decided to marry and settle down, giving up on his dream, before his wife got killed and he went on a quest for revenge and finally arrived at the god's residence before he stole the system that could use the power of fate to literally make a copy of the entire Universe, so that he could come back to a point in the past before the Prolog happened to reunite with his reincarnated wife and so that he could protect everybody he cared about?

Nah, that tale was too much. Instead, he could just sum it up in one sentence.

"…that I'm from the future."

Silence ensued. In everybody's eyes, Magnus could see a hint of doubt, but also a mix of other emotions. It was as if they were telling themselves that however ridiculous it sounded, what Magnus said could actually be true, as evidenced by his prior knowledge regarding the arrival of this cursed day and all the previous strange occurrences. Plus the blue barrier that was currently surrounding the house, which was clearly his doing.

Seeing the many thoughts that appeared to be running in everybody's heads, Magnus half-nervously, half-jokingly said, "Now might be the time for one of you to shout, 'You think we'll believe you?'" He then gulped while grinning awkwardly.

Surprisingly, it was Matt who replied. "And you believe that we'd think that you think we won't believe you?" the tall and muscular teenage boy asked while crossing his arms.

"What?" Magnus asked back, a bit dumbfounded.

"Magnus," Matt continued, looking into his friend's eyes, "how do you expect me to believe you when you already believe that we would think that you think we won't believe you?"

For a moment, Magnus couldn't even begin to find any words to answer Matt's question. He just stood there looking like an idiot.

Seeing his friend's puzzlement, Matt walked up to him and wrapped his big arms around Magnus' shoulder. "Listen, yeah? I think, it doesn't matter if we believe you or not."

"Actually, it does kinda ma—"

"What's important," Matt cut him off, "is that we're now in this fucked up situation. Well, I guess the whole world is. And we can't make heads or tails of what's going on. All we have is you, telling us you're from the future and thus know what's going on. So, buddy, shed some light to us, help us so that none of the people here will do something stupid like running to the street and getting bitten by a zombie."

"But there's no zom—"

"Now then, Magnus my friend," Matt cut him off again, "What can you tell us first?"