A Non-Helper System

"Dang, he doesn't have a single talent?" he muttered, shaking his head. 

He expected mediocrity, but this was just cruel.

Aside from this, though, his system had a dreaded everlasting feature. 

The Ascendants enforced another strict rule: every action has consequences. Stray too far from the mission, and the system shall answer. 

If he regressed, he got a Penalty Quest—one that would make his mission even harder. 

In his last mission, when he started training for a running competition in school, his health improved. 

The system punished him with [Penalty Quest: Eat three balanced meals every day for one week.]

Or sometimes, he'd receive a set of healing potions that prolonged his life even more. 

In short, it was a non-helper system to the core. And now, with a mission as unclear as 'live an ordinary life,' he had no idea what landmine he'd step on next.

"Zeno!" Doha exclaimed, making him snap out of his thoughts. 

"Yeah?" he absent-mindedly said. 

Doha sighed and shook his head. "We're here." 

"Oh," he muttered. Zeno followed Doha out of the bus, his jaw nearly dropping as they stood in front of a large mansion. 

They lived in this place? Is that the reason for his mission? Did he need to downgrade this guy's life? 

"Mommy! There's a weirdo staring from outside," a child suddenly shouted.

Doha held onto the back of Zeno's shirt and dragged him away. "What are you doing? Our apartment is this way," he said. 

"Hmm," Zeno hummed. "In this neighborhood?" 

"You could say that," Doha muttered. "We live on the highest level." 

Zeno's eyebrows raised in surprise. A penthouse? 

However, as they walked a few meters more, Zeno realized that within their neighborhood were two drastically different social classes. 

In front of him appeared to be a thousand flights of stairs. On both sides were rental units that were barely large enough for a single person. 

"Hurry up, Little Zeno!" Doha exclaimed, appearing energetic even amidst the monstrous stairs. 

Zeno, on the other hand, was out of breath. Didn't he just get discharged from the military? Why was he so out of shape? 

"Finally!" Doha exclaimed as they reached the top. Standing before him now were four rental units similar to the ones perched on the stairs. "We've arrived at our penthouse!" 

Zeno was still catching his breath. However, his eyes slightly widened when he took in the scene before him. Behind the four small units was a view of the entire city. 

Just then, a loud sound was heard. Along with that, hundreds of different colored paper fell to the ground. 

"Happy birthday!" three voices exclaimed. 

Zeno turned around and saw Doha holding a cake, along with two unfamiliar faces with confetti poppers. This must be Minji and Eli, based on Doha's stories. 

Then, he gazed at the cake, making him forget everything else. 

"24," he muttered. 

"That's right!" Doha exclaimed, wrapping one arm around Zeno's shoulder while using his other hand to hold onto the cake. 

"You're already 24! Can you believe it? One more year and your frontal lobe will finally develop," he added. 

"24," he repeated, a smile of disbelief appearing on his lips. Then, he let out an empty chuckle. 

The Ascendants had a way of surprising him every time. 

If he was 24 now, then he had one more year to accomplish his mission.

"Stop talking to yourself, and let's eat," Minji said, dragging the absent-minded Zeno to the outdoor bed just right outside the units. 

The bed was filled with various dishes. Meat on sticks. Fruit on sticks. Hotdog on sticks. Just a whole lot of food on sticks. Still, Zeno didn't quite register them. 

"I thought you lost him," Eli said to Doha. 

"I did," Doha said. "We were in the park, then he suddenly sprinted. Fortunately, I found him in the streets when you texted you've already set everything up." 

Eli glanced at Zeno and shook his head. "It's still surprising to me that he has lost his memories. He was already stupid enough, to begin with," he said, earning a slap on the back of the head from Minji. 

"Don't say that!" she whisper-shouted. "His doctor said not to use terms like 'crazy' and 'stupid' when he's around." 

"He's not even listening," Eli said, pointing at Zeno. 

"Let him be," Doha said. "I'm just glad he's still alive! Let's just watch some TV," he suggested. 

With that, he turned on the television. Zeno finally snapped out of his daze and stared at the screen. 

"Oh, it's finally here!" Minji exclaimed. "It's the teaser for 'Broken Chains of Justice!'"