The Mortal Evolution

Aaaaaaa....

[Detected Pure Energy Surge in Host's body]

[Job Ephyreon will help transform the excess Energy]

As soon as this message appears, Hao-Yun's swelling stops. He slowly recovers. His body returns to its normal state.

"All the pain has gone... I am also feeling my power is increasing, but it doesn't hurt at all."

"Whoa... What's this? The Bright Light's source was a crystal orb."

"It's finally fading..."

"How much energy that would have been?"

When the Orb completely fades, a new message appears.

[Job Ephyreon has transformed all the excess Energy within the Host's body]

[Initiating process to upgrade Host's powers by utilizing the transformed Energy.]

"What? I'm getting a status upgrade?"

"The amount of energy I absorbed from this orb was humongous. Exactly how much will I grow?"

[Initaition complete.]

[Upgraded Stats]

[

STATS:

Strength: 1785

Speed: 1926

Vitality: 1347

Endurance: 1628

Intelligence: 1111

Willpower: 1423

Charisma: 1996

System Affinity: 59

Luck: 337

]

"M-M-My stats are in f-f-four digits? Isn't this leap... too big?"

"Doesn't this mean I might be the strongest human on Earth, even compared to Evelyn, my stats are nearly 3 times higher."

"Ahh, but in these kinds of settings, there are often hidden experts who don't come out without any reason."

"Anyways, with these stats, I can easily get out of this mess, and even defeat that Monster."

"Should I take this orb back with me, or leave it here?"

"Let's just take it home..."

Hao-Yun once again tried to touch the orb. He couldn't forget what had just happened to him a moment ago. He reluctantly touches it, but nothing happens; the energy was already absorbed by him.

However, just as he picks the orb from its place, it triggers yet another mechanism. Beneath the orb was an advanced holographic device that activated itself. A Old Man appears on the screen. From a close look, it could be seen that he is not a human. He had pointy ears like those of an elf from fantasy stories, feather wings that made him look like a harpy, and blood-red eyes that said he was desperate.

"Hello, my dear friend."

"I don't know who you are, but I trust you are one of System's victims."

"You must be wondering what this place is and what's happening to you."

"Let me explain it a bit for you."

"This is the world of Vama, and we were the residents of it, unknown years ago."

"Our race was called 'Bifi'. We were the longest living race in this world."

"There were no fights and conflicts. Everyone lived their life in peace. We did everything we liked."

"But one day, the peace transformed into a catastrophe, and a blue colored strange object showed itself. It called itself System."

"It bound our lives. We couldn't do anything except do whatever it told us to. We didn't want to lose our lives."

"Eventually, our world grew in technology. We became strong, way stronger than our past selves."

"The small-sized races and those who lived in a small territory began waging wars on others. Our population declined sharply."

"Time passed. And in just a few years, we were able to control our Solar System, and we used up all the energy from our star. So, we built an artificial light on Vama similar to our star."

"But one day, we were told to do something that was impossible. It was a Task to find the God of our Galaxy, the one who manages it."

"We desperately tried to find them at first. But, soon, our reserves were all used up. We couldn't do anything at all."

"At last, we had no choice; we knew our death was inevitable. We also knew that this System is also trapping many other races across existence."

"So, we extracted all of our remaining pure energy and put it in an orb, hoping one day another victim would come and might get a bit of a boost to survive longer."

"Before dying, we also prepared a gift for you, my friend."

The pedestal, where the orb was placed, opened up. But Hao-Yun didn't see anything inside it.

"Gift? But I can't see anything?"

"Maybe it's one of those gifts that could only be seen by fated people."

"I know what you are thinking, my friend."

"But, don't worry, the gift is there, it's just too small."

"Just try putting your hand there."

"Where... in the Pedstal? Like this...?"

Kzzzk... Kzzzk... Kzzzk...

"Whoa... What's this happening?"

"It's like tons of ants are crawling on my body, it feels too weird..."

[Detected Host's body has been fused with Nanobots]

[Host has obtained some skills from higher beings]

[Learning compatible skills...]

[Due to Job Ephyreon's influence, the Host is able to learn all kinds of skills]

[New skills:

Instinct Override (Celestial Grade): Time slows in near-death moments (only for Host), allowing last-second dodges or counters.

Devourer's Claim (God Grade): Host can devour the essence of a monster he kills and claim its 1% power as his own permanently.

Poison House (Passive) (Ancient Grade): Makes the Host's body immune to all kinds of poison. 

]

[Detected Job Ephyreon has refused to learn other skills.]

"How do you like your gift, my friend?"

"There's one last thing left. It should be working by now."

[Detected Nanobots have completely infiltrated the Host's body]

[New Ability Unlocked: Renegration]

[Renegration: Allows Host to re-integrate any part of the body completely]

[Cooldown period: 3 days]

[New Ability Unlocked: Eternal Youth]

[Eternal Youth: The Host cell generation process has completely changed. The Host will remain young as long as he lives.]

[Lifespan Increased]

[Current Lifespan: 20/890]

"These Nanobots are our Civilization's best work; they are not made out of metal, but made out of real cells."

"Well, I don't think you would understand it even if I explain."

"Just remember, they will help you a lot in the future."

"Now, it's time to end this conversation."

"Keep living, my friend."

The Hologram disappears as soon as he finishes explaining things to Hao-Yun. Hao-Yun still couldn't grasp what had just happened to him.

"I'm not dreaming, right? So many things..."

"More importantly, I transcended human limits completely."

"I could live for 890 years as long as I complete System Tasks."

"I will remain young, I'm powerful, I'm..."

"No... this power is entrusted to me by this world's residents, I will definitely grow stronger and one day find this' System's Origin and who is behind it."

"This absurd amount of energy was just a remaining power of Bifis in their weakened state."

"I can't even imagine how strong they would have been in their prime time. Yet, they were also powerless in front of the System."

"Just how powerful is this System?"

"I can't waste any more time here, let's return for the time being and report the Squad's death..."

As Hao-Yun walked towards the sealing, it opened itself like an automatic door. The Monster was nowhere to be seen. Hao-Yun walked to the area where the dead Squad was lying. He thought he would at least give them a cremation, but it seems he was too late. The Monster was there. He had already eaten all of them. Not even the bones were spared.

"You Damned Monster!"

Hao-Yun was too angry; he leaped at the Monster in a split second and reduced it into shreds of flesh with a single punch. This was the difference in power. The Monster didn't even have time to react.

Hao-Yun picked up the large-deep green colored core of that Monster, and prayed for the dead.

Suddenly, He noticed something. Behind the place where the Squad members were piled up, there was a door.

He opened the door, went inside, and found some stairs that possibly led to the outside world.

"Should I walk on these stairs..."

"Would they really take me outside?"

"What if I encountered another dangerous anomaly?"

"But, well, I've gained these powers, and don't have any other way to go out, let's see what happens."

With that in mind, Hao-Yun began walking on the stairs.