The FORST

Nathan's body lay still on the ground, motionless for an enduring thirty minutes. The air held a palpable stillness, broken only by the faint ticking of a distant clock. Then, a heartbeat echoed through the room, breaking the silence like a gentle drum.

Minutes later, a more robust heartbeat reverberated, sending a subtle pulse that seemed to resonate throughout the entire room. The stillness of Nathan's form was interrupted, and the steady rhythm hinted at a resurgence of life, casting a hopeful shadow over the once-muted scene.

Half a minute crawled by, marking the arrival of another heartbeat. Soon, Nathan's pulse regained its regular cadence, but a subtle shift lingered in the air – each heartbeat resonated with newfound strength.

A gasp escaped, a breathy punctuation in the room's stillness. Then, a prolonged, deep intake of air echoed as Nathan wrestled back to life. Swiftly rising from the ground, he scurried to the wall, settling into a lotus position. Even in his seated repose, he continued to breathe fervently, the rhythm of his breaths mirroring the intensity of the moments that had just transpired.

Having danced on the edge of mortality for the past three hours, Nathan now clung to life with each heavy breath. The solution, it seemed, lay in the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest, a determined effort to ward off the specter of death.

As he continued the vigorous breathing, Nathan became aware that the pain that had gripped him earlier had dissipated. With the easing of his discomfort, the intensity of his heavy breaths waned, allowing him a moment to cautiously assess his own condition.

As anticipated, the bones that had jutted out from Nathan's body were now conspicuous by their absence, but the evidence of his ordeal lingered in the form of dried blood clinging to his skin.

Surprisingly, instead of feeling drained after the harrowing experience, Nathan found himself pulsating with a newfound energy. It surged through him, an electrifying force that demanded an outlet. Unable to contain it, he channeled this vigor into a spontaneous burst of physical activity. Starting with push-ups, he transitioned seamlessly, delivering punches with precision to the two hardened yet smooth sections of the wall. Each movement radiated a vitality that seemed to defy the recent encounter with mortality.

As the surge of energy found its release, Nathan gradually settled into a newfound calmness. Returning to his seated position, his face bore an expression of sheer astonishment.

Uncertain about the reality of the experiences preceding the fainting spells, Nathan clung to one undeniable truth. With a profound certainty, he acknowledged that he now possessed a strength that dwarfed his previous capabilities, a revelation that left him in awe of the inexplicable transformation he had undergone.

In the ongoing struggle to comprehend the inexplicable events, Nathan found himself engulfed in contemplation for several more hours. The passage of time went unnoticed as he grappled with the implications of his newfound strength.

As the clock struck midnight, marking the inception of a new week, Nathan remained wide awake, lost in his thoughts. The quietude of the late hour was abruptly shattered when the same voice that had reached him hours ago echoed once again, jolting him from his contemplative reverie.

The white panel materialized once again, echoing the words, {Please, roll the dice to begin for the week.} This visual prompt mirrored the spoken directive from before. While Nathan harbored a desire to delve into the myriad questions crowding his thoughts, an unspoken urgency compelled him to prioritize something else at this moment.

The Dice.

Nathan's eyes scanned the entire floor, a focused search underway for the dice he had casually tossed aside earlier.

The mention of the dice triggered a recollection, bringing not only their existence to the forefront of his mind but also something else that had been lurking in the recesses of his memory.

Those dice appeared to be intricately linked to whatever had transpired with him, and Nathan couldn't afford to misplace them before unraveling the mysteries of his recent experiences.

Within mere seconds, he located the dice and gingerly retrieved the two tiny cubes from the pool of blood on the floor. The significance of these seemingly ordinary objects now held a weighty importance in Nathan's quest for understanding.

"Excuse me. Who and where are you?" Nathan inquired, holding the acquired dice, finally obtaining what he had sought from the outset.

A moment of silence followed, and Nathan wondered if his query had gone unnoticed. Just as he contemplated asking again, a response to his question reached him, breaking the silence that hung in the air.

{Answering both questions will certainly consume a lot of time, and time is something we lack. The answer to those questions will be fed to your brain in the form of memories, and I'm sure you'll understand better that way.} The unexpected response was a promise, assuring Nathan that the answers he sought would be directly transferred to his mind.

Now armed with new knowledge, Nathan deduced two critical aspects. The speaker, it seemed, was female, and whatever entity or force it represented possessed the ability to transmit information directly into his brain.

The first revelation about the speaker's gender became apparent through repeated encounters with the voice. However, the second aspect remained speculative, requiring tangible proof. Before Nathan could articulate his request for confirmation, the proof manifested abruptly.

A sharp, electrifying sound—Bzzzt!—filled the air, causing Nathan's body to quiver as if jolted by electricity. Simultaneously, a searing pain surged through his head, providing an undeniable and visceral confirmation of the speaker's ability to transfer information directly into his mind.

"Ouch!" Nathan exclaimed, rubbing his temples, and was instantly assailed by a flood of new memories. These recollections weren't his own, yet they felt intimately familiar.

As the memories settled within his brain, Nathan found himself naturally equipped with the answers to the questions he had posed earlier. The unique transfer of information had not only left him physically discomforted but also gifted him with a profound understanding that transcended traditional forms of communication.

"So you're saying you're a self-aware system that only responds to a certain lineage, and you've been in existence for over a thousand years?" Nathan voiced his thoughts aloud, even though the room was empty. He harbored the certainty that his questions wouldn't be left unanswered.

{Precisely. I am the system and guide that led to the rise of your ancestors as well as their downfall. Those before you have enjoyed not only wealth but also power, knowledge, ideas, growth, and command above all human limits, but unfortunately, they all fell to greed, which led to their falls.}

"And I'm guessing you're also the reason why none of them are etched into the history books," Nathan remarked, drawing an observation from the memories he had received.

{That is also correct. I can make and unmake a person. I can build and ruin my host.} The acknowledgment carried a weighty implication, unveiling the immense influence wielded by the self-aware system over the fate and legacy of those it guided.

Nathan nodded thoughtfully. "The Fortune System seems too long of a name to call you. How about The FORST or simply Forst?" He proposed an abbreviated moniker for the sentient being that had chosen him as its host.

His mind buzzed with an overload of information about this entity that now coexisted within him. Nathan recognized the necessity to digest the newfound knowledge. There remained a plethora of unanswered questions—details about the system's purposes, how to access and effectively control it, its origin, the history of his predecessors, and a myriad of other inquiries that lingered in the unexplored corners of his consciousness.

Before delving fully into the memories, Nathan sought clarification. The system claimed to have lived for over a thousand years, yet the memories presented seemed far less than what one of such age should possess. "Is this all the information about you and my predecessors?" he inquired for confirmation.

{Certainly not. That's less than ten percent of it. As you grow, more will naturally be revealed.} The response held a promise of unfolding revelations, implying that the depth of understanding would expand with Nathan's own growth and experiences.

Nathan grinned, finding reassurance in the response. "How do I grow?"

{Absorb all the memories and information you've received, and you'll naturally get the answers to whatever questions you have the urge to ask.}

A moment of silence lingered before the voice returned. {Feel free to call me Forst. I certainly hope to be of service to you.} With a newfound ally in Forst and a path of discovery laid before him, Nathan prepared to embark on a journey of understanding and growth.

Nathan chuckled and started absorbing the memories when a subtle change caught his attention.

"Hmm?" he murmured, his head turning toward the gate of the room as though he had caught a distant sound.

Soon, the soft cadence of footsteps reached his ears, and not long after, the shadow of someone approaching gradually emerged at the entrance of the room.

"What was that?" Nathan asked himself, having sensed the approaching figure even before their presence became noticeable.

Having maintained a fixed position, with his head facing downward and eyes focused on the ground, Nathan's lack of acknowledgment seemed to elicit a presumptuous response from the approaching figure. "The son of a bitch has finally given up on life," declared a deep, husky voice, unmistakably male. Despite the presumptive declaration, Nathan remained indifferent, not bothering to raise his head or spare a glance. The familiarity of the voice had already identified the figure without the need for visual confirmation.

The figure positioned themselves in front of the gate and flicked a switch mounted on one side of the wall outside the room, bathing the entire space in light.

Accustomed to the darkness, Nathan, caught off guard, instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sudden, blinding illumination.

"Tch! The bastard still lives," remarked the figure, now revealed as a man in his late forties, as he clicked his tongue upon realizing that Nathan had managed to survive.

"Unfortunately, father… I still live," Nathan stated with an emotionless tone, acknowledging his father-in-law's presence.

Haden, Nathan's father-in-law, surveyed the room with disdain, his eyes narrowing as he observed the muddied floor stained in places with a familiar shade of red. The recognition dawned on him – a realization marked by a discernible shift in his expression, revealing a mixture of concern and curiosity. The presence of blood became an unsettling sight for the man.

He narrowed his eyes at the significant amount of blood on the floor, his gaze then returning to Nathan, who was visibly covered in dried blood. "What the hell did you do in there?" Haden inquired, his tone a blend of accusation and concern.

Haden harbored a grim hope that Nathan might have succumbed to the beating without receiving treatment, but his disappointment was palpable upon realizing that Nathan still clung to life.

"I did nothing, father." Nathan raised both hands in the air, a deliberate gesture to naturally inform his father-in-law that his arms were now functional.

As expected, Haden frowned upon witnessing Nathan lift both hands. He had been present when Nathan's left arm was left in ruins, and now, a mere ten hours later, Nathan demonstrated the unexpected recovery of the once-injured limb.

"Seems like you're in better shape than when you first got here." Haden attempted to conceal his frustration, but the effort proved futile.

Nathan nodded without offering any verbal response. The smile on his face, however, seemed to irk Haden, intensifying his fury. The desire to witness Nathan in pain for insulting his wife fueled Haden's resentment, mirroring the deeper animosities that had taken root between them.

Sighing, Haden addressed Nathan, acknowledging that his plans for retribution would have to wait. "Come. The family head would like to see you."

Nathan had been lost in his own thoughts while Haden spoke. "Hey, Forst. I saw a crazy amount last time. Around a billion dollars or so. Where's it?"

{In the system's account. Would you like me to move it to your main account?} Forst's response carried a tone that brought a grin to Nathan's face, contemplating the newfound possibilities that the substantial sum presented.

Haden frowned upon noticing the grin on Nathan's face. "Hey! Have you finally gone mad? I said let's go. The family head would like to speak to you outside."

Nathan maintained the grin as he rose and walked toward the opened gate. "Sure thing," he replied, calmly passing by the man who was soon to cease being his father-in-law. The unspoken tension lingered in the air as Nathan prepared to face the family head and whatever awaited him beyond the gate.

One of the things Nathan had learned before Haden's interruption was that he could communicate with the system without saying the words aloud. "Not yet. My ex-wife's currently with the phone. I'll let you know when it's needed," Nathan mentally conveyed to his new system.

{Understood. I already have access to any digital property of yours, but as you've ordered, I will await your command.} Forst replied with a tone that conveyed its anticipation.