"How long have we been here?"
A voice echoed in the darkness, soft, and almost bored.
"A few hundred years I guess," a second voice replied, equally distant.
"Five hundred? Six hundred? Be specific."
"I'm not sure either, it's difficult to even count the days lately without anything to measure time with."
"Then how do you know that we've been out here for so long?"
"Don't ask me, I don't even remember why we are out here in the first place…or why we're still trying to go back."
"Huh, didn't we plan to kill that guy after going back?" a third voice cut in, this one was sharper and seemed irritated.
"Kill? We don't even feel angry anymore, let's know why he did it."
"What are you two blabbing on about? We want to go back and correct things."
Then.
[Hey, hey, idiot! Snap out of it, are you finally losing it? It's going to eat you!]
A loud shout exploded in his skull like someone struck a gong beside his ears.
"Huh, what the hell was that voice?" the boy murmured.
"I don't know where it's coming from, is it crazy? Why would something want to eat us?" the second voice replied.
[You're the one who's crazy, your whole family is crazy! Snap out of it right now before we both die here!!]
Alex's eyes, which had been dull for who knows how long, suddenly regained some spark as he came back to his senses.
He blinked hard.
'Was I talking to myself again?' He thought to himself.
"System, why are you shouting so loudly? You're making my head hurt," he said with annoyance after realising that he had been having a conversation with himself, and his system was the one who was calling for him to snap out of it.
[You donkey, you finally woke up. Quickly do something about this worm before we become void fertiliser!] The voice of the system continued to echo in Alex's head.
'Fine, fine. Stop nagging already, you sound like an old woman.' Alex shot back with his thoughts, annoyed by his system constantly insulting him.
At the same time, his focus returned to his present situation.
He was currently wrapped up by the limb of a gigantic worm and was being dragged toward an enormous mouth that was the size of a black hole, the mouth was filled with huge teeth that were millions of times bigger than Alex and a bottomless black hole behind them.
"Oh, right, I was fighting a void worm before suddenly falling asleep," Alex mumbled as he remembered what had led to his current situation, no wonder his system was pissed.
His eyes flashed with a black glint as he activated one of his skills.
VOID EMPEROR!
Alex suddenly vanished from his entanglement and appeared above the void worm.
The void worm was an extremely large creature with a gaping maw that could swallow a planet. Alex couldn't even be considered a grain of sand beside it.
After appearing above the creature, he raised his left hand and swung down lazily.
Bang!
A deafening sound echoed through the empty void as an invisible force slammed onto the void worm and caused its enormous body to explode into countless pieces that drifted through the void.
[Ding! Exp gained! Please check your progress.]
Alex received a notification after killing the void worm. The notification was accompanied by the annoying voice of his system, which started to nag about him falling into a daze while fighting such a dangerous creature.
Alex sighed and didn't respond.
He didn't feel anything from killing the void worm as such a creature was simply too weak to threaten him.
Although it would have been a different story if he had been eaten so he didn't argue with his system since it was right this time.
Alex flew toward a nearby asteroid and sat on it. The asteroid was currently the size of what Alex remembered about being a three-meter-tall building; it was originally the size of a planet, but the shockwave from when Alex killed the void worm had shattered it into several pieces.
This asteroid was one of the pieces left.
After sitting down, Alex summoned his system profile.
…..
SURVIVAL SYSTEM!
HOST: Alex Yxev
LV: 70
P.B: 0%
SPEED: 7000
STRENGTH: 7000
DURABILITY: 10,000
STAMINA: 8000
SKILL: Void Emperor. The Fortress!
…..
"Oh, I finally reached level 70, that's a surprise," Alex mumbled after reading the details of his profile, his reaction didn't really show that he was excited about reaching level 70.
[That's it? You don't even seem happy about it.] His system snickered in disdain.
"What's there to be happy about? It's not like levelling up will help me get out of this place." Alex replied lazily while resting his back on the asteroid and staring at the dark space above him.
[I've told you countless times to be patient, we should be able to find the Origin Fragments and then you can return to your universe!] The system replied, feeling agitated by Alex's hopelessness.
"Yeah, yeah, that was what you said when we first came here. How long has it been since then, five hundred years?" Alex retorted.
Everywhere fell into silence after Alex said that, the voice of the system didn't sound in his head again either.
After a long minute of silence, Alex let out a sigh.
"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to lash out at you. It's just that I don't think we'll be able to find the Origin Fragments." Alex said.
[Have I ever lied to you?] The system finally spoke up.
"No,"
[Then trust me when I say I'll help you return to your universe.]
"...Okay."
[Good,]
"Sure,"
[Shut up, that meant you should stop talking!]
"Go away, old lady!"
[Arghhh!]
While Alex and his system engaged in another squabble, their argument wasn't even enough to cause a disturbance in a small corner of the void.
Yes, Alex was currently stuck in the void, the infinitely large space between universes.
He had arrived here several hundred years ago after he was cast out of his own universe by someone he once regarded as family.
For a long time, Alex had roamed this large empty space with just his sentient system as his only companion. Facing different dangers that roamed the void, an example was the void worm that he had killed some moments ago.
Honestly, he believed that he would have gone insane if not for his system and there were even some points when he had nearly lost it despite having the system.
During those years, Alex had tried everything possible to return to his home universe but didn't even know which was the right direction.
His system had proposed that he look for the seven Origin Fragments and that he would be able to return to his universe, but Alex hasn't been lucky enough to even find one.
Although the system constantly reassured him that they would find the Origin Fragments, Alex had long lost hope and was just currently roaming around and trying to increase his strength as much as he could.
Maybe he would be able to find his way back if he reached level 100? He knew it was the highest level of the system so it must hold some surprises.
Alex was only at level fifty when he was cast into the void, he had increased by twenty levels since then.
His system was different from the systems of others, so how he levelled up was different from others in his home world. Alex honestly didn't understand how the levelling up of his system worked either.
Which was why he had only increased by twenty levels after several hundred years.
The corner of the void where Alex was chilling on an asteroid returned to silence after he stopped bickering with his system and just stared blankly at the empty space above him.
His long white hair, which was now long enough to be mistaken for a white cape, dropped down from the side of the asteroid like a waterfall.
At this moment, something strange happened. Something that Alex hadn't witnessed for a long time he had been here.
A bright white light pierced through the ever so lightless void, cutting through its darkness like an arrow of light.
The strange scene forced Alex to sit up as he stared at the passing light in surprise.
[That's it, head for that light quickly! It'll take us to the location of an origin Fragment!] The voice of the system rang in Alex's head.
Alex didn't question the system and shot towards the light with all his strength, the force of his jump further shattering the asteroid into smaller bits.
He didn't know how true the words of the system were about this light bringing him to an origin Fragment, but he really didn't care anymore; he was tired of staying alone in this void and would take any chance to leave.
Even if it meant following a strange light that appeared out of nowhere!
Alex got close to the light and realised that it wasn't as big as he had imagined from afar, it was just an orb that was barely the size of a child that was shining so brightly that one would mistake it to be as huge as an asteroid.
'What do I do now?' Alex asked his system after getting close to the orb of light. The light was currently moving and Alex was following it.
[Touch it,] the system responded.
Alex didn't hesitate to stretch out his right hand towards the orb but the moment his finger made contact with the orb, he was sucked into it without being able to resist.
….
"Welcome, great heroes of legends!"