Trash Host, Ruining My Youth!

Alex froze.

In the rush of the day, he had already forgotten about the system attached to him—and the mission it had assigned him, with failure resulting in erasure.

Despite consequences severe enough to threaten his life, Alex seemed completely unconcerned. He had not made the slightest move to complete the mission. If he could, he even wanted to punch Barry two more times.

He knew it perfectly well. Besides not fearing death and refusing to let the system control him, the system's supposedly lethal erasure had never felt threatening from the very beginning. His instincts had not sensed even the slightest danger. It was as though its declaration of "erasure" was just a joke.

A body capable of reaching its limits was not merely about strength. It encompassed everything—sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste, perception, and spirit. Combined, they gave him an unparalleled sensitivity to danger. Whenever his safety was involved, his sharp instincts would warn him of danger. He would never simply notice nothing and die peacefully.

In fact, Alex had not felt even the slightest threat from the system.

Therefore, Alex had always thought this system was an idiot.

Just then, the system issued a new mission in Alex's ear.

System:

Mission: Subordinate.

As a future superhero, one who defended Central City's safety with his own body and intimidated villains in every direction with his name, how could he not have a hero team of his own!

Control The Multiplicity and make it your subordinate.

Failure: Erasure.

Alex removed his black-framed sunglasses and gently set them on the table. He showed no reaction to the mechanical electronic voice in his ear. Closing his eyes, he lightly rubbed his eyelids, easing the sore, weary feeling in his eyes after spending the entire night reading materials.

He did not want to talk to this system anymore, and he decided to kill The Multiplicity.

The system seemed somewhat awkward. In its electronic voice, it spoke into his ear again. "Congratulations, Host. You have successfully bound to this system!"

Alex rubbed his eyelids and could not help laughing.

Did I want to bind to you? I told you to fuck off!

He had never seen such a shameless system. It was forcibly twisting things around to make him complete its mission, forcibly binding itself to him.

"Host, please complete the mission seriously."

"Host, please complete the mission seriously."

"Host, please complete the mission seriously."

"Host, please complete the mission seriously."

"Host, please complete the mission seriously."

The system turned into a broken record, repeatedly reciting the mission and reminding Alex over and over in his ear.

The endless droning in his ear was like flies and mosquitoes buzzing around him. The piercing mechanical voice was like fine needles, making his heart restless and his blood agitated. Alex frowned, lowered his hand from his eyes, opened them, and a flash of impatience crossed his gaze. He coldly snapped, "Shut up."

"As long as you complete the missions seriously, we'll be good friends. I'll help you become the ruler of Earth, the God King of DC. You'll have everything you want, and all your desires will be fulfilled!" The system sounded sincere, earnest, and humbly servile, like a salesman.

"No need, thanks. Please unbind from me." Alex's expression was cold. He did not want to believe the system even one bit.

A thing that controlled his behavior by endlessly issuing missions—Alex could not imagine anyone willingly letting it manipulate them.

Once you lost the freedom to choose, your will and spirit would soon become twisted, and you would fall into the abyss of mental hell. That would be more painful than living. Alex could not tolerate that.

Better dead than unfree.

"Enough, Alex. I know you're stubborn and prideful, always trying to save face. I've given you enough face already. Don't force me to erase you!"

The system's anger rose. It had never encountered such a damn hardheaded bastard.

Just do the missions obediently! With me, sooner or later, you'll rule the world. Three hundred million beauties in your harem, becoming a king or god would be right around the corner—so why the hell were you still resisting?

"Please erase me." Alex sneered. He already knew that this system had no ability to erase him. Otherwise, it would not have silently completed its own binding mission.

Whenever the system took a step back, he took a step forward. If he did not crush it completely, Alex would not feel at ease.

The system abruptly fell silent. Alex could practically imagine it slamming on the brakes, clutching its heart, utterly helpless before him.

The basement fell quiet.

The air was comfortably warm. There was an excellent ventilation system here, and it was not stuffy at all.

Alex remained silent, his expression indifferent. He lightly gripped the arms of his glasses and put them back on, concealing his striking looks.

"You're not afraid of death?" the system suddenly asked in a faint voice. It felt that perhaps it had misjudged this man's survival instincts and will compared to other living creatures.

"No."

Expressionless, Alex adjusted his glasses with one hand, his eyes calm. If the system truly had the ability to erase him at this moment, then it would only prove that he was nothing special in this world.

It would mean he was incompetent. If he died fighting for his freedom, then so be it. He would have nothing to say.

He had never feared death.

No one could avoid death forever.

But when death came, he would fight it, and he would accept it.

Because that was how this world was. Death would spare no one.

"That's impossible! The most basic instinct of living creatures is survival. No creature is unafraid of death!" the system shrieked in shock. It could not understand what Alex meant by "not afraid." Weren't living beings supposed to survive, live on, and become stronger? No creature would ever claim not to fear death.

Alex was speechless. For those with convictions and spiritual beliefs, death was not frightening.

Take an extreme situation: Superman and seven billion people on Earth. If Superman's death could save those seven billion people, what would Superman choose? Superman would gladly die to save them. Protecting life on Earth was practically his spiritual belief. He might regret his own death, but his actions would not falter.

In DC, many heroes would be willing to do the same—The Flash, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern... They would all make that choice.

Alex was the same. He would not save seven billion people, but freedom truly was a spiritual belief to him. Better dead than unfree.

"You can erase me and choose a host who fears your erasure."

"You can also choose a host who fears death and believes he might someday escape your control."

"You can even choose a host who thinks, 'Who isn't afraid of death? As long as there's a sliver of hope, I should fight for it, cling to life, and keep doing missions for you.'"

"But I am me, not them."

Alex remained calm. He chose to resist from the very beginning, because choosing to resist was his freedom, his will.

The system fell silent and did not speak again.

About ten minutes later, the system recovered.

Suddenly, Alex frowned. In his mind, in his spirit, it felt as though a hollow needle had pierced into his hippocampal cortex. Information flowed through the hollow tube and was directly injected into the hippocampus where memories were stored, merging with his original memories.

Just as Alex was about to focus and resist, the system had already completed the injection.

"Controlled Nuclear Fusion!"

Alex's gaze sharpened. In an instant, his mind was filled with information on Controlled Nuclear Fusion that was more than halfway complete. The flood of information made his head swell, but his powerful will and spirit supported and accepted it. It quickly merged into his memories and became his own knowledge.

At that moment, the system sounded like a weak man who had emptied himself dozens of times in one night, his legs and waist weak, his face pale, looking like he was about to die from kidney deficiency. In a feeble voice, it said:

Mission: Subordinate.

As a future superhero, one who defended Central City's safety with his own body and intimidated villains in every direction with his name, how could he not have a hero team of his own!

Control The Multiplicity and make it your subordinate.

Success: Obtain the remaining key information on Controlled Nuclear Fusion!

Failure: Special punishment!

The mission had gained a reward for success, while the punishment of erasure had been removed.

Hearing the system's kidney-deficient, weakened voice, Alex concluded that it simply had no way to erase him. Even the information it had transmitted into his hippocampus had only made his head swell; it had not caused any significant harm, much less endangered his life.

Alex frowned deeply and unconsciously touched his chin with his fingers. Nodding slightly as he thought, he said, "So that's how it is. You can't erase me, so you gave me what I need and switched to tempting me with benefits. What a trash system."

The instant it heard Alex's evaluation, the system's fury exploded. Its rage surged, and its mechanical voice cursed hoarsely and hysterically, hurling a relentless barrage of obscenities directly into Alex's ear.

"Fuck you! That was your binding system reward!"

"You trash host!"

"Give me back the Controlled Nuclear Fusion information!"

"You have no gratitude for what others give you, no character or morality at all! And you even insult a system of noble character!"

"Why don't you go jump off a building and kill yourself!"

"Why don't you die? If you won't die, there's no point in you living in this world!"

"You're wasting Earth's oxygen and polluting the entire atmosphere!"

"Trash, trash, fuck you!"

"Fuck you!"

Trash host, ruining my youth!