Leveling Up With My Deviant System

The Search For Kara

Micheal pulled up his system interface. As he sank into the cushy king-sized bed, he studied his profile with interest.

{{Profile Tab}}

[Name: Micheal Baker]

[Titles: Decimator Of Profanities, The Lone-walker]

[Class: Pariah]

[Rank: Forged]

[Progress: 5/80]

[Skills: Outcast’s Law (Passive), Divide (Active)]

[Inventory: Sharia’s Blade, 12x Basic Sword, 2x Rare Armour, Water Pouch, 13x Rune of Restoration, 12x Rune of Vitality, 10x Rune of Resilience, 7x Moonstone Bag, 2x Enchantment Rune, Malliad’s Greatsword, Special Ability Seed, x142 Profane Core]

…

“I got a new named weapon,” Micheal eagerly inspected the weapon's description.

From his gathered knowledge, named weapons came with enchantments, unlike basic or rare-grade items. Sharia’s Blade had served him well during his time in that hellhole, and it had an enchantment which aggravated wounds.

[MALLIAD’S GREATSWORD]

[RANK: REGAL]

[ENCHANTMENT: POSSESSES THE ‘RAMPAGE’ TRAIT. THE MORE ENEMIES SLAIN, THE MORE POWERFUL IT BECOMES]

Micheal’s eyes widened uncontrollably. “Regal rank?! That’s the first time I’m seeing such a rank. That should be the next after Epic, right?”

Sharia’s Blade was epic-grade, and he knew just how powerful it was. So, how devastating would a regal-grade weapon be?

Micheal couldn’t wait to test it out in one of the levels of the tower.

Following that, his eyes drifted to another item in his inventory.

“Special Ability Seed? What’s that? Is it similar to skills?” He mumbled and clicked on the item, causing the system to pop up with new info.

[SPECIAL ABILITY SEED]

[ABILITY NAME: MARGIN OF DIFFERENCE]

[RANK: ???]

[TYPE: PASSIVE]

[LEVEL: 1]

[ABILITY DESCRIPTION: ANY INTENT/ACTION INVOLVING USER HAVE A 3% CHANCE OF DEVIATION]

[DO YOU WISH TO USE THIS SEED?]

[WARNING: A USER IS LIMITED TO ONE SPECIAL ABILITY! IT CANNOT BE CHANGED UPON USE!]

Micheal immediately frowned. Why was the ability’s rank obscured? The same thing had happened after receiving his previous quest.

“The rewards were obscured, and I eventually got some sweet drops. Does that mean this ability is quite powerful?” He wondered.

“Margin of difference. Actions involving me will have a 3% chance of deviation. Deviation? Isn’t that extremely vague? Is it a deviation towards good luck or misfortune?”

“Also, it states that one cannot change special abilities after picking. I can’t help but feel like this is a trap.”

Micheal thought for a long moment, trying to weigh the usefulness of such an ability. 3% was extremely small anyway, so what were the chances that it would come into effect at all?

Wouldn’t it be better to wait till he found a more direct and powerful special ability seed?

“Still, I got this seed from that test, which had been designed to aid me in my journey. Isn’t it common sense to think that this ability is also meant to help me greatly?”

“That mysterious figure said a special reward would be waiting for me, should I pass the test. Is this it, then? Is this the reward he was referring to?”

After a long moment of pondering, Micheal decided to trust the mysterious figure. He confirmed usage of the seed and immediately felt a wave of energy rush through his body.

“Electric…” He gasped softly.

He drifted to sleep quickly afterwards.

…

The next morning, Micheal was awoken to the sound of a doorbell. He rolled around for a moment, before reluctantly stepping out of bed. He wondered who could be at this house at such an hour.

It took quite a while for him to reach the door due to the sheer size of the mansion.

When he opened the door, he saw Cassandra standing with her back to him, her gaze fixed on the distant maple trees that lined the streets.

“Good morning,” Micheal greeted with a chuckle.

The lady flinched and hurriedly turned around.

“G-good morning, Micheal.”

“What brings you here?” He asked, before suddenly frowning. He added, “Hm? There’s something different about you…”

Cassandra’s cheeks flushed slightly. “You can tell? I finally leveled up to ‘Marked’ last night. I acquired better gear with the moonstones you gave me and joined a late-night hunting party.”

Micheal smiled faintly. “That’s good. So, what brings you here?” He asked again.

“Ah, right! I figured you might need some help regarding settling in properly, so I came over. I hope that’s alright?”

Micheal thought for a moment, before saying, “Actually, there’s something I need help with.”

Cassandra’s smile bloomed.

He continued, “There’s someone I’m searching for. Is there a way I can check the list of survivors now living in the tower?”

She shook her head. “Ah, that’s something only The Zenith are privy to. However, you can check the Hunter association for the list of registered hunters. If the person is a hunter–which is very likely–you’ll be able to check which guild they belong to. Finding them after that should be easy.”

Could Kara really have become a hunter? Micheal fell into a momentary silence.

Frankly, there was a more glaring possibility. And that was that his sister hadn’t survived the initial attack on mankind. But Micheal strongly refused to believe that.

His sister had to be alive, no matter what.

He forced a smile and said to Cassandra, “Thank you. Would you be willing to show me where the association is?”

“Of course.” She nodded eagerly. “You need to get registered anyway, if you plan on hunting in the tower.”

“Alright then. Please, wait in the living room while I get changed.” Micheal said, inviting her in.

Cassandra nodded shyly before taking meek steps into the beautiful house. Although she had been there the previous day, she couldn’t help but marvel at the extravagance of the place. She sat on a sofa, waiting patiently for Micheal to return.

When he did, they left the house. As they walked towards the heart of this replica city, Micheal began to notice glaring differences.

There were no vehicles at all. Micheal also hadn’t spotted any mobile devices. The city wasn’t overly large, so every district was more or less walking distance. But he couldn’t understand how people communicated over long distances.

He decided to ask, “What’s the replacement for phones? How do you get in contact with people?”

Cassandra glanced at him. “You don’t know? The system makes up for that. It can do other things aside from showing your profile information and mission tab.”

“Really?” Micheal was pleasantly surprised.

She nodded. Then she said, “System, pull up my friend list.” Then, whilst Micheal was puzzled, she reached out to grab his hand.

“Add friend, Micheal…”

“Baker. Micheal Baker.”

Almost immediately, Micheal saw a screen pop up in his vision, with the system announcing a new friend alert.

[Name: Cassandra Kane]

[Title: Hunter of Profanities]

[Class: Phantom]

[Rank: Marked]

Micheal immediately frowned.

You can see a bit of your friends’ info? I should avoid this in the future. I’d prefer to maintain a low profile for now.

In that moment, the system suddenly announced in his head:

[ABILITY ACTIVATED! MARGIN OF DIFFERENCE; YOUR SYSTEM’S INFORMATION WILL NOT BE VISIBLE TO OTHERS!]

How utterly convenient! Looks like this ability is more amazing than I thought!

Just as he had the thought, Cassandra muttered, “Hm, that’s strange. All your information except your name is being concealed by the system.”

“Oh?” Micheal acted surprised. “Must be a glitch.”

“Probably,” She brushed it off. Then, she explained, “You can communicate with your friends via the system. Either through text or call. It’s quite convenient, actually.”

“Noted.” Micheal nodded.

Soon, they reached the association building. It was a tall, gothic structure that stood out from the surrounding architectural style. Cassandra ushered him in, and she helped with his search.

Unfortunately, after looking through the entire list of hunters, he wasn’t able to find Kara’s information.

Dammit… Did she really not survive? Micheal clenched his fists in frustration. His seething rage towards Devon and his group soured even higher.

The only thing that tempered his hate was that he had spotted all their names during the search. Meaning, they were alive, and he could inflict as much pain on them as he wanted. The only issue was that their parents had not only survived the attack on humanity, but they also managed to climb to the top of the hierarchy in this new civilization.

Meaning, they would be heavily protected.

“Sorry you couldn’t find the person…” Cassandra muttered next to him.

Micheal gave a soft hum as a response. He wasn’t in a good mood.

“Do you want to get registered now? You’ll receive an official badge.”

Micheal fell into thought.

Noticing his silence, she quickly added, “You can also choose to be an unregistered hunter. The downside is that you won’t get the weekly payment and other such benefits.”

“I’ll be an unregistered hunter.” Micheal replied without hesitation.

His plan was to maintain a low profile for now.

I’d prefer not to reveal that I’m alive to Devon and his lackeys. That way, no matter how much I torture them, It won’t be traced back to me. On that note, I should probably get a proper mask for when I head to other levels to hunt.

“Alright then,” Cassandra didn’t try to convince him. Then, she said, “You should try to hire a few maids from the Househelp association. Such a big mansion will require proper maintenance.”

“There’s such a thing?” Micheal raised a brow.

“Of course. After all, not everyone can stand the sight of blood, not to talk of killing monstrous creatures. The youngsters who do not possess systems are pulled into the Servant program. They help various households in exchange for shelter and feeding.”

Wait… Micheal’s brain snapped into thought.

If there’s such a program, there’s a huge chance that Kara is one of them!

He said to her immediately, “Take me to the association’s headquarters!”