บท 7: Sozin -The God of Games.

There was a boy named Sozin who appeared before Mark the day that he got his system. Sozin introduced himself as the god of games and he told Mark that he was choosing Mark to be his sole champion. At that time, Mark was only fourteen years old, so, of course, he was excited about it. There were no such things as Superhumans yet, and Mark thought that he was just going to get a system that he could use to do whatever he wanted. After all, Mark has read many stories about systems in light novels and how the user used them to become great overnight. Surely things would not be different with Mark.

But immediately after he got his system, that was when the first Armageddon appeared in this world. When the apparition occurred, Mark was living with his parents on the richer side of the city. Mark couldn't even begin to understand what was happening when his parents suddenly came and grabbed him to put him in a car and started to run away from the area! The Armageddon appeared very close to their house, and his parents were trying their best to preserve their lives by running away from there. But there was no way to run away from an Armageddon with only a flimsy car. The Armageddon got to them faster than they ever imagined, and it destroyed the road and all the cars that were trying to run away together with nothing but one swing. The car Mark and his parents were in flipped more than ten times, sending both Mark and his parents flying through the air and slamming into a large building at the other side of the road!

Mark crawled out of the car with many red warnings flashing in his system! He had only just gotten the system, so he had no idea what all those warnings meant! The only things that he could see over and over again were:

[User has suffered a major injury to his right leg.]

[User has suffered a major injury to his hand.]

[User has suffered a concussion.]

[User has suffered three broken ribs.]

Mark couldn't breathe! He couldn't walk, and he couldn't even raise his hand up to ask anyone for help! He was just lying there wondering why his life was such a shit show of bad luck! He looked to the side to see if his parents had also survived the crash, but there was no way that would be possible! The only reason why Mark managed to survive after an accident like that was that he was a Superhuman. His body was much stronger than a human's, and that was what gave him the strength to not be crushed immediately when the car hit the wall. At that time, Mark prepared to die against the Armageddon since he knew that there was no way for him to gain strength quickly enough to fight against this monster. But then time seemed to slow down until it stopped as a playful-looking little boy appeared before Mark.

Sozin, the god of games was wearing blue shorts and a red top, and he had a cute hat on his head that covered his white hair. The boy laughed as he looked down at Mark's broken and torn form.

"Are you really so pathetic? How did my champion end up like this less than twenty-four hours after getting his system? You would think that you were blessed by the god of bad luck or something!"

Mark felt irritation fill him as he heard the little boy say this, but he couldn't retort because he knew that the boy was right. It was only bad luck that would allow someone to face a monster like this only twenty-four hours after gaining the power to do anything you wanted.

The boy laughed for a few more minutes before he finally sobered up and looked up at the monster standing over Mark. It was a huge monster as tall as a skyscraper. It had a dragon-like body, but it didn't have any wings, so it could only slowly walk through the city, crushing everything in its path and spewing fire over the mass. If it was something like this, then it was definitely possible!

The boy grinned down at Mark playfully!

"Hey, champion, you wanna play a game? A really fun game."

Mark was surprised by the request, and he could only stare at the boy as he wondered what he was talking about. Did this bastard think that Mark was in any condition to play a game right now? Look at how Mark was bloody and broken! Who can play a game in this state!?

It seemed like the boy could read exactly what Mark was thinking as he just chuckled and playfully floated into the air! He picked up a small pebble on his way up and held it in front of Mark.

"It's a fun game, I promise. Nothing too extravagant. You see, I want to help you, I really do! But I can't just go around giving help to my champion when the other gods aren't allowed to do it either! So I have to give you a fair chance at winning and losing. If you can win against me, then I'll grant you the power you need to win against that monster. Of course, terms and conditions apply. I can't just give you power without getting anything in return for it, so I will be taking something from you as well."

Mark could only think that the god of games sounded like a shitty salesman with a pitch like that. Mark was always told by his parents never to trust strangers who try to sell him things, but this situation was different. He was not going to die here! He needed the power that this god was selling him! So Mark could only nod and agree to the game, and the god of games laughed happily as he threw the stone up and caught it with both hands behind his back. He brought his two hands forward as closed fists and gave Mark a sharp look.

"Tell me where the stone is in ten seconds, and you win the game! If you can't find where the stone is in that time, then time will start moving forward again, and I'll leave you to be scorched by the monster over there! You have exactly ten seconds!"

Ten! Nine!

Wait, what!? What the hell is a game like this!? Mark was stunned by how archaic the game was! He thought that there would be something more intense since this was the god of games, but it was just a shitty guessing game? Mark was expecting to have to play a playstation or even a gacha pull.

That meant that Mark had a fifty percent chance of both winning and losing here! If he gave the right answer, then he could gain a lot of power, but if he gave the wrong choice, then he would die here, and that would be it. Mark was filled with dread as he began to look between the two hands with wide, desperate eyes as he tried to find the one that was a more sensible choice.