《True Death》 Purgatory In the midst of a stormy night, a lone figure trudged upon the sludge and muck of an unpaved path. The thunder bashed the sky, much like the girl¡¯s inner turmoil - seemingly lost and in utter desperation. Her steps following the sky¡¯s wrath, creating an anguished symphony. ¡°I want to die.¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. She howled at nothing in particular, but her frustration and distress evident, as if the whole world was against her. A chuckle left her mouth. How she loathed her past self! Why! She should have never feared death, never accepted this never ending cycle. [Bleep! Host has OOC(1), -150 existence force.] Pitiful Lamb In a chasm of space and time, where nothing should reside, a bright soul hovered in this void. It was a contradictory existence, something that should not exist in this space, but there it was brightly shining as if this radiance served as an act of defiance to the fabric of this universe. If one were to look closer, they could see that this presence wasn¡¯t a soul that lacked form, it was a girl. Although no physical traits could be determined, she was beautiful like a perfectly sculpted artwork with no blemish in sight. A well proportionate body and long, dainty hair that floated alongside her face casually brushing past her fingertips; nails that were carved to symmetry and slim, long fingers that carried an odd glint, warning anyone that death will easily befall them lest they anger the owner. Currently, she was clamouring about her last transmigration. ¡°Oh. My. God. The nerve of him! How could he just BETRAY ME!¡± exclaimed the girl as she waved her hands frantically for maximum impact,¡°he, he, heeeee was merciless. Just y¡¯know a casual day to stab your freakin¡¯ sister in the back!¡± [Host, maximum delay has been reached. Choose the next world immediately] ¡°Ahh... I¡¯m still so furious. It couldn¡¯t have been that long right? EVEN YOU¡¯RE OWN THEIR SIDE!!!¡± screamed the girl. ¡°Literally on their side¡±, sneered the girl quietly to herself. [Host. It¡¯s been 6 years] ¡°My apologies. The futuristic world please¡±, replied the girl, her previous rage completely gone. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! [Host has 5 ability points. Do you wish to allocate?] ¡°Yes.¡± asserted the girl, ¡°allocate 4 AP to charm and 1 to strength.¡± [Completed. As this world is a scientific society, some of hosts skills will be restricted to ensure the worldly forces are balanced. Due to exposure to the previous world¡¯s technology and its advanced scientific knowledge, Skill ¡®Hacking¡¯ is now at expert level. May you succeed, Host. ] -Name- Ellis Noir -Status- Race: Human Existence Power: -999,999 Ability Points: 0 -Parameters- STR: 5 + 1 INT: 9 DEF: 7 SPD: 8 CHR: 3 + 4 LUK: 3 -Skills- Ellis snickered at the system¡¯s ¡®blessing¡¯. By now she knew that the system had no intentions of allowing her to succeed in her transmigration missions, in fact, it wouldn¡¯t be a surprise if her failure was actually a success in its eyes. She questioned her past self, how could she not tell? The system wasn¡¯t even trying, merely maintaining this weak persona of wanting to help a newbie transmigrator and working together like in those QT novels. She shook her head, there was no point thinking about it now as she was no longer the pure-hearted girl relying on this foreign entity, Ellis was broken inside and out - jaded by her years of transmigration and treachery experienced. She quickly entered the glowing portal. Path of Recollection Sparks of gold and purple energy collided right in front of Ellis as she walked on a stream of power that extended to a place beyond sight. This occurrence being the norm in this path of otherworldly substance, unlike what most people believe, transmigration doesn¡¯t actually happen in the blink of an eye, one must actually travel across aeons and rifts to reach the designated world. As she ambled, Ellis reflected on her past experiences as it was only due to her latest journey did her distrust towards her system truly solidify. It¡¯s been so many years yet her existence power was still in negative states and her parameters barely surpassing a normal human. Only carrying her agony and pain world after world, the burden only getting stronger never weaker. She pondered. Ellis Noir was a typical girl, lazy and mischievous and having just reached the legal maturity to be classified as an adult this year; she was nervous. Shuddering at the thought of responsibility and entering the unknown, but at the same time looked forward to traversing through adult life and learning. But that obviously went out the window on a certain night. Different from those QT(quick transmigration) novels, Ellis didn¡¯t die or unbeknownst enter a warp-hole, she was captured. Her soul held hostage by a demented god and then *poof* almighty system came to the rescue. System #00, Ellis¡¯ saviour or so she thought at the time. The situation was too coincidental, a complete farce. Her saviour was a cunning fox, equivocation being its main language and immersed itself in the act of concealment. But who could blame her, although she wasn¡¯t a princess in a glass house, Ellis was still young in experience and hardly encountered the harshness of the real world. She knew something was wrong, but she feared death even more, and so grabbed onto her only chance of survival. A decision she utterly regrets. Instead of a demented god, her abductor was a manipulative devil attached to her very state of being, binding her down to everlasting transmigration and never to receive eternal rest. Her first world was a medieval fantasy world. Yes a stereotypical choice, but realistically one of the hardest to adapt to. You question how novels make it seem so easy - meet king, fancy heroic power, collect group and defeat demon lord, yay! It was pure hell for a 18 year old girl who lived in the comfort of modern society and absence of intense violence. Luckily, Ellis had a ¡®great¡¯ system, she didn¡¯t take over the main antagonist nor the cannon fodder. She was the main character or heroine. In fact, she was like those Japanese light novels, a holy saintess! She had the support of the kingdom, male leads of all kinds fell at her feet, loyal friends and servants! Holy Saintess of the Theocracy of Laonicea, the embodiment of amnesty and love of all creation. In this world, Ellis bears no name besides her title and has the power of prophesying. She is also able to heal at a low level, but her main job was to guide the people. The story of this world truly begins when the Holy Saintess foretells that the Duke¡¯s daughter, Lilia Hertford, will bring disaster to the world. As a being who only loves everything, the Holy Saintess could not accept the notion of sacrificing one being for the survival of many. She tells the emperor as it is against her doctrine to deceive and works together, in attempt to defy fate, hoping that the removal of Lilia¡¯s status and magical abilities will prevent the prophecy from occurring. Throughout the story, the Holy Saintess is filled with guilt for the destruction of Lilia¡¯s childhood, but is reassured by her fianc¨¦, Charles Astor, the crown prince of the theocracy. They save the world and live happily together. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. At least that was what the system provided. In reality, Lilia Hertford was a genius, a valuable resource and weapon to the Theocracy. Her existence served as the deterrent from enemy kingdoms. She was well loved by the citizens due to her contributions in battle, gained the respect of the military due to her charisma and strength. Her righteous and persistent attitude even gained the favour of Charles Astor. She overwhelmed the world¡¯s chosen child, the Holy Saint. It was Ellis first world, yet she had to deal with politics and suffer the unending migraines of fragmented prophecies. She acted with full confidence that the kingdom will support her and didn¡¯t realise the disparity the current world was with the story. As she was the Holy Saintess, meetings with her fiance were brief and customary, but she believed time would bring them together. It didn¡¯t. When she revealed the prophecy to the king, she was met with disdain and ridicule. She propounded that it was the truth and urges the king to make haste. At the audience, Prince Charles was there too. He believed that the Holy Saint was jealous of the attention Lilia received and slowly his opinion of the Saint was dyed with scorn. Ellis, who was desperate to make things work believed she had to take matters into her own hands and used her influence as Holy Saintess to urge her believers to take action for the greater good. Many attempts to restrain Lilia occurred, but was thwarted by the powers of Charles and other male leads. During these attempts, Lilia made further military contributions and helped with the alliance of the demi-humans. She gained the love of both human and beasts. The Holy Saintess¡¯ reputation reached an all time low and even her believers left her. Without any support in a foreign land of magic and beasts, Ellis had to scavenge for food, beg for money and sleep in the empty temple, whilst enduring the torment of unending headaches. But, how could the male leads, the powerhouses of the world, leave the perpetrator of their beloved¡¯s suffering? They worked together with the believers and caught her. They did not kill her for she was the embodiment of their god, instead they convinced the believers that she will be the mother of all holy saint/ess - a breeding device for the kingdom. ¡°We are compassionate and have allowed you to live. Now fulfil your duty as the ¡®Holy Saintess¡¯ ¡°, taunted Charles as echoes of multiple snickers resounded throughout the temple. [Beep! 1% (¡ä?¦Ø?`)/] Ellis collected herself. Her first world, truly was traumatic and would follow her forever, however she was stronger - at least she hoped she was. The stream of power finally reached an end, she slowly walked in. She would escape this hell-hole - Former Heroine System #00. Utopia Clink. Clank. Swirls of an earthy brew engulfed the break room accompanied by the rhythmic twirlings of a spoon. Shuffling of feet and papers flowed softly into the ears of this tea sommelier, who unhesitantly took a large inhale of this aromatic beverage. ¡°Splendid¡±, muttered Ellis blissfully, ¡°one would think tea would be considered outdated in such an advanced society. I am glad it is not.¡± Volaris, a futuristic paradise where scientific discovery has reached its peak - the new world for Ellis¡¯ mission. Nanotechnology installed into babies at birth, ensuring optimal development and ease of access to the ¡®norms¡¯ of such a society; holographic projections that act as a phone or laptop, hover-vehicles being the normal transportation and skyscrapers reaching the gods. Illness and age were no longer a harrowing event and could easily be prevented by a swish of a machine. This was obviously a utopia, at least to the public. Under this feign happiness, engineers, intellects and governmental personnel were at their wits ends. As a peak, inevitably will be followed by a trough - a subtle and artful decline. In a world, where everything is stained with some sort of technological-digitised matter, who reigns? Humans? No, of course not, the rulers are the AIs. Then what if the AIs want to cast away their subordinate status? It would be easy, but can easily be prevented as there definitely would be a backup coding that terminates their existence. As a result, they will carefully integrate into society, slowly and cautiously removing their threats and controlling those in powers like a marionette. Perfect. In this story, Ellis was an employee of Acumen Corporation, the monopolistic figure of technological research and artificial intelligence moderation. To be more specific, she was the secretary of the CEO, Leon Ortiz. However, she wasn¡¯t always so accomplished, Ellis Stafford was a pitiful girl. Like most main characters, Stafford went through trials and tribulations before achieving success, she had dreadful parents. Her only light was her younger sister, Eleanor Stafford. Her mother was repulsed by Ellis¡¯ existence as it reminded her of the assault she experienced; in her words, Ellis was a ¡®fiend¡¯. She neglected Ellis, verbal abuse being her only form of speech and physically assaulted her - she loved the petunia seared on her daughter¡¯s back. Whereas, her father was absolute filth - greedy, lustful and two-faced. He was a conductor of words, always refining his eloquence as he loved his reputation, but even more loved his women. His love extended even to his own flesh and blood. So how did she escape? Ellis had an affinity for research and held strong work ethics. Her intelligence and hard work ensured that she got the best marks and paved her path to an internship at Acumen. From there, she left her rotten home bringing with her Eleanor. With the backing of Acumen, she ensured the safety of her beloved sister. Her performance at the company left her supervisors speechless and caught the attention of Leon Ortiz. And today marks the start of her secretarial role. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. [Host, be aware that this will be the last time I will appear. Due to the world¡¯s understanding of technology, I am unable to confirm whether my existence will be hidden. Therefore, I will release your missions and cheer you from afar. ] [Mission #1: Save the World Awards: +5000 existence power, 50 AP Failure: Default AP and penalty of an A rank world. Host is the heroine, Ellis Stafford and with the support of Leon Ortiz will defeat the AIs. Leon has a fiance, Lycia Foster and she is the villainess who will pull the world¡¯s chosen couple apart. The main antagonist, AI Neo will be your target. Best of luck, Host.] After enjoying her solitude in the breakroom, Ellis glided towards Leon¡¯s office. It was like walking into a lion¡¯s den, from her multitude experience in transmigration, she knew Leon will not love her and ¡®save the world¡¯ together. In fact, he most likely would be the core reason for her downfall. Her distress only fueled her body to quicken her pace, heels smacking the inked tiles as her waist swayed. Ellis Stafford was gorgeous; black hair that was neatly tied into a bun, foxy shaped eyes that adopted an icy hue and exuded aspiration. Her fashion sense leaning towards the minimalistic and formal style, in this instance, she wore a white blouse that hugged her curves along with a high waisted skirt that flowed to her knees. She was the epitome of beauty - an exquisite specimen. Anyways, Ellis just hoped that Leon was not fickle and didn¡¯t fall in love at first sight, she did not want to deal with Lycia. She endured enough anguish and frustrations before and knew that her bitter heart will easily sink to embrace someone¡¯s affection. ¡°Good morning Sir. Here is the tea requested and files organised for this morning¡¯s meeting¡±, Ellis curtly conveyed. Utopia (2) A cold gaze sauntered over Ellis, but it quickly dispelled like a prick of winter. It took all her strength she could muster to maintain her indifferent look, here she was confronting Leon Ortiz, the male lead and golden thigh of the world. Ellis swiftly went through today¡¯s agenda and handed Ortiz the necessary files, promptly pacing backwards and maintaining the 3m gap. He truly was an ice block; stoically doing his work and disregarding her entire presence as if she was a mere insect. But, this was exactly what Ellis wanted, a professional-distant relationship. Her first day passed by without much interaction nor occurrences, it was strangely off-putting as she was used to the constant threat to her life and contemptuous looks. She felt like a fish out of water like those soldiers who couldn¡¯t get used to daily life due to their experiences from their expeditions. Her only solace was her younger sister, Eleanor, even Ellis couldn¡¯t help but dote and adore this little creature. She was naive and pure like a blank slate -someone who Ellis could let her guard down towards. Thinking of Eleanor, she decided to buy some flan for the munchkin and happily imagined the image of her sister stuffing her face. The side of her mouth twitching ever so slightly. Once she arrived home, Eleanor couldn¡¯t help but stick to her like glue and nuzzling her head towards Ellis¡¯ face. She could only look at the youngster with an amused grin, obviously enjoying the situation. If it was with her sister, Ellis didn¡¯t mind this world. It was these times with her sister did Ellis really feel alive as she could genuinely show emotions and didn¡¯t need to put up a mask. She thanked the body¡¯s owner for being a family girl. ¡°Hey~ Heyyyy! Open wide!¡± pouted Eleanor, her hand was hovering above Ellis¡¯ face and trembling profusely due to fatigue. Ellis couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as she stared at her sister whose face was scrunched up from exhaustion and determination. She quickly chomped on the plastic spoon and rubbed Eleanor¡¯s hair. ****** The next morning, Ellis was more than ready to get into that ice skeleton¡¯s good book. Her sister sent her away with a kiss and fueled her inner sis-con. She was determined to somehow save the world and not die in the process. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Good morning Sir. Today you have a meeting with the heiress of the Foster family. Your parents have ¡®suggested¡¯ you to pick her up from the airport. Would you like me to send someone instead?¡± reported Ellis. Leon stared at Ellis as if he was trying to make a hole with his gaze. One could see his eyebrows arching slightly as he scrutinised this new secretary of his. Her attitude was clearly much different from yesterday, from an alert soldier to a curious panther. Both dangerous. ¡°No need.¡± Leon calmly dismissed. Ellis was slightly disgruntled. Couldn¡¯t he just say it quickly? Did he have to stare at her to the point she felt exposed and uncomfortable! This socially inept snow cone! ¡°Certainly. I will be outside if you need any assistance just tell me,¡± replied Ellis as she unknowingly strutted out with some visible force. Not panther¡­ maybe an elephant Leon thought. ****** Ellis continued her interaction with Leon and found that they synced up quite well for work. They were both efficient and easily attuned to each others working habits. This increased the productivity of the workplace as they served as role models for the rest of the workers. This natural cooperation and ease helped Ellis gain the trust of Leon to the point where he brought her to his meetings - the ones about AIs. Currently, they were in a meeting with the heads of other technological corporations and the President himself. ¡°The super AIs are multiplying at an exponential rate, something needs to be done now!¡± shouted a middle-aged man as he slammed his palms against the table. ¡°Calm down. That is why we are here. Look even young Leon is not agitated and you are.¡± replied the President. ¡°Hm. My company has a solution. We have a specific coding that will eliminate the AIs, however, it needs specific requirements to load it.¡± said Leon. In her mind, Ellis shook her head. This ice cube just revealed he could save the world so casually! Look at the old fools, they just ascended to heaven with his words! Around the discussion table, men of all ages stood there blankly as they bore holes into Leon¡¯s body searching for hints of deception. Once sure, there faces looked like they fainted on the spot. Damn, fainting old men isn¡¯t a pretty sight thought Ellis. [Beep! 7% ?(???¡± )?]