I Hate Systems
chapter-4

The demon named Fourth looked at Compass Carburettor, "There is a reason a System enters the body of a living being and helps them unconditionally."

"And why is that?" Compass Carburettor inquired, standing a fair distance away from Fourth, unable to trust him wholly.

Fourth didn't mind the distance, rather looked at him with a nod of acknowledgement, "Every world follows its own laws and rules. And the sentient races living in them have distinct differences. But, all of them have one thing in common. And, that is their ability to think, communicate, and feel."

"Think, communicate, and feel?" Compass Carburettor felt like he was able to glean something from it, but the idea was blurry. He then looked at Fourth, wishing for it to complete its explanation first.

"The Power of the Mind, or Mental Energy to be exact is what is common among every sentient race. It's both common and mysterious. If you can think, your brain's ability to consciously think is what Mental Energy is. And, this is exactly what a System needs to develop," Upon seeing his confusion, Fourth smirked.

It then said with a smile, "Just think of your life. Weren't you forced to do a lot of missions that placed you either in awkward situations or in the eyes of the public?"

Compass Carburettor's eyes widened as a plethora of memories flashed through his mind, "Yes, I've faced such a situation so many times that I got used to it in the end."

"Have you ever heard about the term, Sheeple?" The demon said.

"Sheeple? Do you mean sheep-minded people? That term?" Compass Carburettor recalled a popular internet slang used during his youth.

"Yes, the same." Fourth nodded, "It is common in every world. When there is a trigger or a cause, people rally forth along with it whether they are knowledgeable or ignorant about it. Most of the time, they cause a wave for something that never necessitated something of such a scale in the first place."

Its voice then turned solemn, "And, this is the power of the mind, a sea of collective thoughts. And, the Systems thrive by eating it up. So, when they host someone, they would give rewards and in exchange, put the host through numerous situations where they are the target of people's thoughts. This way, they grow."

"But," Compass Carburettor frowned, "The rewards they give are lucrative. Even if this Mental Energy or whatever is that strong, the things the System produces is always beyond the world's logic."

"Oh, that's simple," Fourth laughed, "What seems to be impossible in your world might be commonplace in another world. And, all Systems share access to a marketplace where they trade all sorts of abilities."

"So, suppose you are given an ability to fly as a gift. And suppose the notion of a human flying is considered absurd in your world, the value of such an ability to you would be…priceless, right?" Fourth said, watching Compass Carburettor nod in response.

It then stated, "But, for Flight System, Elevation System, Flying System, etc. these are just their basic abilities. So, your System would exchange for their ability temporarily by paying a suitable price and would then bestow it upon you. Its value would be exorbitantly bloated in your perspective, but to your System, it must have been dirt cheap."

"Through this market, all Systems give their Hosts seemingly out of their world abilities. And this way, their Hosts become the target of envy, jealousy, admiration, hatred, etc. of a large group of people. And a massive volume of Mental Energy flows to you as a result that your System gobbles it up happily." Fourth shook its head, sighing, "If you talk about it in terms of money, suppose the actual value of an ability is one unit to the System. But from your perspective, it would be worth at least 1000 units. As the System picks the abilities it rewards you with, it would always give such abilities where the profit margin is tremendous."

"So, that's it." Compass Carburettor nodded; realisation finally hit him. As the richest man on Earth, millions of people talked about him on a variety of topics. So, it made a lot of sense. But, he suddenly thought of something, saying, "Then, why did my System stop doing that and return here?"

"This is the home of the Systems, called the System World. It's where they return at the end of their journey." Fourth said while waving its hands. It then pointed at him, "You said it yourself, remember? In the end, you got used to it."

"What does that mean…?" He was confused.

"Mental Energy isn't an absolute quantizable substance like other forms of energy. It works from a relative perspective. How much you are overwhelmed by something? How much does something mean to you? How much do you long for something? Depending on these, the Mental Energy obtained by your System varies." Fourth said.

It then gazed at the thicket of the trees, frowning once, "That's why your System always places you in the most precarious or embarrassing situations. This way, you would be mentally affected by them the most. And that's also why it would give you abilities that would fuel your ambitions and instigate you to eventually reach the peak of the world. This way, the scale of people being influenced by your activity increases. And by this, the amount of thoughts being generated towards you from others form an ocean that gushes towards you."

"And, when you reach the peak of your world is the time the System reaps the fruits of its harvest, obtaining enough Mental Energy that it would be able to upgrade itself many times in a short duration. But," Fourth shook its head, "Once you get used to it, it means you are no longer affected by the thoughts, opinions, and feelings of the masses. That means, the Mental Energy trickling into you experiences a drastic reduction. Once you reach such a phase, you no longer have any worth to the System."

"So," Fourth looked at Compass Carburettor, "It finishes its journey and returns to the System World, devouring you, and then looks for a new target."