Finally, I turned 18. I could finally see what my grandfather had left me. I went straight to the bank and claimed it.
It was a book. A fucking book, along with a note. I didn't read either until I got back to my apartment. I sat at my desk, placed the book and the note on it, and read the note.
I didn't care about all the bullshit he wrote. Only one line caught my attention: "This book will give you superpowers."
I'm not a jerk. I just hate my grandfather. He's the reason my parents died, after all.
I threw the note aside and turned to the leather-bound book. I don't know much about leather, but this was clearly high-quality stuff. A raised spider symbol stood out on the cover.
It looked like a book, but it wasn't really one. More like a box. And whatever was inside was supposed to give me superpowers, at least according to the note.
I felt a rush of excitement, my heart pounding.
"Three…" I placed my hand on the lock.
"Two…" I opened the lock.
"One…" I opened the book.
A big hairy spider sat inside. Before I could jump back in fear, it leaped straight at my face and latched on.
I jumped, knocking the chair over and crashing to the floor. I thrashed around, punching wildly in horror. The worst pain I had ever felt burned across my face.
The fucking spider had bitten me. The pain spread through my entire body. I clutched my head.
It was unbearable. Then everything went hazy. I couldn't see a thing.
I lost consciousness.
—
I opened my eyes.
Everything was blurry at first. I saw my ceiling. I shot upright, stood up, looked around, and touched my face.
No spider. No pain. But I felt… weird.
I went straight to the mirror on the wall and checked my face. It looked normal.
The chair lay on the floor. The book was open on the floor too. No spider anywhere.
Where the hell was it? I scanned the room, terrified.
I searched the entire room. Was it just a dream?
But it had felt so real. And the box was open. If not the spider, then what had been inside?
I grabbed a weapon from the kitchen and started searching the place like I was hunting a monster. Then came a knock at the door. I set the weapon down and went to open it.
Without even checking who it was, still shaken by the spider, I saw a man in his twenties wearing a military uniform. He held an envelope in his hand.
"Good morning. Are you Leo Pincha?" he asked.
"Yeah," I replied, cautious.
"This is for you."
I took the envelope and looked at him before starting to open it.
"Today you turned 18," the man said, "and you've been called up for military service. Our system automatically selected you to become a super soldier. After graduating high school, you've been doing nothing useful for society. Not studying at university, not working, not paying taxes—nothing.
You're just living off your inheritance. Don't take it personally," the soldier added when he saw the anger on my face.
"That's what the system said, not me. And this is our system that flagged you. You have one week.
In that week, either you do something useful or you report for military service. If you don't, you'll be in trouble. The letter has all the details if you want to read it.
Any questions?"
"Yeah, I do actually," I said. "What do they use in the military to make super soldiers?
I've heard a lot of rumors, but I couldn't find anything official on the military site. Nothing at all."
"You probably didn't look hard enough. It's no secret. It's a compound developed by the military. One hundred percent guaranteed, no risks, and it'll make you super. But the abilities you get? That's luck.
"What if someone already has powers?"
" Are you one of them?" he asked.
"No, just curious. What if someone was already chosen by the tower, or already used a private company's compound, or inherited powers from their family, or anything like that?"
"Doesn't matter. If the system flagged you, you either figure something out or you do your military service. No exceptions. If you come to the military, you'll meet people from big families too. There's no escaping mandatory service.
It's required. Alright, any more questions?"
"No," I said.
"Okay, I'll head out. Read the letter carefully. You have one week. Don't forget."
The soldier left, leaving me standing there staring at the letter. Fuck. I slammed the door shut, sat down, and started reading it, completely forgetting about the spider for the moment.
I had forgotten all about the military service. Why did they show up today, on my birthday?
As soon as I turned 18, they hit me with this like some twisted birthday gift. What the fuck? How was I supposed to escape this military bullshit?
I didn't want some shitty superpower from a shitty compound just to become a shitty servant for the military. I had wanted the tower to choose me, to inherit something from my grandpa. But I got nothing.
I just wanted a fucking system.
The moment I thought that, a blue screen appeared in front of me, transparent and glowing.
I stood up, shocked. The blue screen followed my movement as words began to form on it.
[Welcome to the Spider System, Leo Pincha].
[The Spider System has successfully installed.]
[ Congratulations, you are now at level 1.]
[Your abilities:]
[Wall climbing, level 1. ]
[Spider senses, level 1. ]
[Rapid recovery, level 1.]
[Stats: ]
[Max Strength: 100 kilograms. ]
[Max Speed: 25 kilometers per hour. ]
[Max Jump: 1 meter. ]
[The main objective of this system is to help you achieve your goals. ]
[Your life goal (which you can not change) is:]
[ becoming the strongest in the world. ]
[ Analyzing your goal…]
[Strongest to who?...]
[Your life goal is clear]
[Becoming the ranked 1 hunter in the world]
[First mission to achieve that goal:]
[You must accept the mandatory service]
[Any goals you set in the future will be added here, and you will receive missions to help you accomplish them.]
[ If you do not join the mandatory military service, that means you do not want to achieve your main goal, which means there is no point in this system and you will lose your powers.]