Chapter 3: System Mission
After listening to Maximilian's question, a loading icon appeared in his mind, indicating that the system was processing the answer. After a brief moment, the response came.
[Answer: The system was designed with the ease of the user's power inheritance in mind. All the powers the user has acquired and will acquire in the future come from the souls of the 12 Villains trapped within the system's structure.
The trial winner is decided through a best-of-three format. The trial master—or the villain you are fighting in the trial—has the right to dictate a special rule for the trial. The default format is trial by combat, unless the trial master exercises their right to change it.
For example, Owen Lane, a villain also known as Blood Mongoose, used his special rule to withhold all key information. This resulted in the trial participants entering the trial without knowing what had happened to them. All of them died and failed the trial—except for you, the last participant.
Fortunately, you passed the first round of the trial, which allowed you to absorb half of Blood Mongoose's skills and abilities.] The system explained.
"You said I was the last participant in the trial. What would have happened if I failed?" Maximilian asked.
[Those who fail the trial will have their souls consumed and stored as energy for the trial master to use to free themselves. This means the trial master will do everything in their power to make you fail the trial. Please expect unfair rules and foul play.]
Hearing this, Maximilian couldn't help but gulp. He had been so close to failing the trial. If it weren't for his sheer determination to kill that bastard and refusal to give up, his soul might have already been consumed.
"By the way, your system seems a bit inconvenient. I thought systems were supposed to be more user-friendly, like having a shop to buy powers, issuing missions, and earning points to spend in the shop," Maximilian argued. In truth, he didn't fully believe things like systems were to be real either, so his question wasn't so much an argument as it was curiosity.
[According to the 'Law of Conservation of Energy,' it is stated that 'Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be transformed from one form to another or transferred from one object to another.'
Think about it, host. If there were a shop and the system provided you with things like a newbie gift pack or free energy points from quests, where would that energy come from? It must come from somewhere, right? What is the source of the energy you use? Will you need to repay it one day? Is there something 'extra' that comes with that energy? Wouldn't you question it?