I Hate Systems

"Gah!" Muscle Lantern woke up with a start, feeling groggy as he looked around, disoriented for a minute before regaining his senses as he looked around, "Where\'s…that guy?"

"Sir, you\'re finally up." The staff approached him, sporting a wry smile, "We tried waking you up for the past two hours, but you didn\'t budge an inch. We were worried and called an ambulance, but even they were unable to lift you."

"Unable to lift me?" Muscle Lantern frowned, only then realising that his ability had been activated in full swing, causing him to weigh a couple of tonnes now. But surprisingly, there was no difference in his physique, unlike before when his body bulged according to the mass gain.

Moreover, he was clear-headed, sensing millions of thoughts clash in his mind, almost making him drunk from power as a result, for his mind currently operated at speeds from his prime, when he had yet to unleash his trump card.

It was surprising, to say the least. \'What…happened to me?\'

It was just then that he recalled the fact he had come to the café to speak with the Contained Villain. He got up, startled, looking around to see a couple of customers looking at him with slightly guarded gazes and one nurse with a first aid kit seated at a nearby table, drinking coffee while observing his condition.

Muscle Lantern looked at the staff, "Where\'s the guy I was with?"

"He paid the bill and left long ago." The staff replied.

"Anyway, thank you for looking after me." Saying so, Muscle Lantern excused himself, waving at the nurse to state that there were no issues with himself before exiting the café.

He quickly returned home, stumbling along the way when he noticed how he reoriented himself sooner than he could normally, \'This level of reflex is faster than my prime.\'

Currently, it was like he had attained the body and mind of his prime but retained the experience and strength he currently possessed, leading to rapid gain in strength.

"Dear, is something the matter?" Pink Jail asked, noticing that her husband didn\'t seem to be in the best of his health.

"No…nothing." Muscle Lantern felt damn exhausted as he replied, removing his shoes as he entered his room to plunge onto the bed, falling asleep immediately.

What he wasn\'t aware of was his body gradually acclimating to his changes. Even now, his power was in effect, strengthening his body accordingly. And after some changes happened, his power deactivated, but his strength didn\'t vanish.

The changes became his base state, giving him a natural improvement. It was only a small degree of improvement, but over time, it would be noticeable, especially since he was still experiencing growth.

\'The moment he wakes up, Muscle Lantern would be in for a surprise.\' Compass Carburettor smiled casually as he walked through the city, taking in the sights. He fished out his wallet, staring at the wadding notes inside, smiling when he wasn\'t the least interested in them, "I\'ve finally matured enough."

He wasn\'t a slave to money anymore!

Before, whenever he chanced upon any commodity, whether money or even intangible stuff like Mental Energy or Mental Fragments, if they could be accumulated, he wished to get his hand on as much as possible.

That was the standard merchant approach to anything. Or in curt terms, being a slave to a capitalistic mindset.

But now that he stared at the cash, he didn\'t experience that urge to accumulate more of it. That wasn\'t all, when he stared at the people around him, he didn\'t see them as Mental Energy farms.

Truth be told, after a certain point, he treated everyone he came across as potential Mental Energy banks, his actions no different from Systems. It was just that, his actions were to an extent even better at exploiting people for Mental Energy. After all, he was a damn good merchant.

\'Indeed, it\'s not being the Main Character but the Main Character System.\' Compass Carburettor nodded, smiling as he waved at a baby that smiled at him, \'But now, I don\'t feel the urge to do that anymore.\'

To a certain extent, he had evolved beyond such urges, fully in control of himself. That didn\'t mean he would stop accumulating Mental Energy though. But he had strict morals towards that.

He wouldn\'t absorb Mental Energy emitted by other people. The only Mental Energy he would accumulate is what his mind generates, nothing else. And since he constantly generated Mental Energy by absorbing sunlight, he didn\'t have any other needs.

He wasn\'t above materialistic needs though. But rather, he was trying to retain some of them, since he wished to be close to a normal human as possible.

Arriving at an ice cream shop, he took out a note from his wallet and paid it to the shopkeeper, safely tucking in the change as he received the ice cream, happily walking while licking it, relishing the taste, \'How many decades has it been since I last ate this?\'

He suddenly stopped, pausing his stare on the ice cream, turning sullen for a moment, "I should experience such simple joys in life with Stencil."

"She\'s an adult now. She can manage herself." He mentally berated himself before continuing his journey, "As a parent, I only need to support her from the back."

…

"Vanilla is my favourite." An old man seated at a park bench commented, "It\'s just as good as when I tasted it in my youth."

His blazing hair danced in the wind, akin to a river stream as his eyes sparked with joy while he enjoyed the dessert. He then looked around at the silence in his surroundings, turning a tad sullen, "I wish my family was here to enjoy this moment."

…

"Dark chocolate is a man\'s romance." A middle-aged man ate from a tub of ice cream, sitting in his house while watching television. His blazing hair was damp, slightly balding at the top.

The television showed the scene of a couple reuniting after a climactic battle against the villain, sharing a romantic scene at the end. At the sight, the middle-aged man sighed, staring at the photo frame nearby that displayed the picture of him and his wife in their youth.

Judging by the deep sigh and the messy, damp state of the house, it was apparent that she was no more. His bulging belly danced at his deep sigh, "I miss her. She loved dark chocolate."

…

Similar scenes happened in multiple locations of the world. Which world, you ask?

\'A resonance, huh.\' Compass Carburettor thought, observing the thoughts of the people living in his Dreamland, one that had become a functioning world, with the Secret Society members there living their respective lives.

They were all him, Compass Carburettor, but growing up in different environments and conditions. And when he had the ice cream, through the shared thoughts, everyone experiencing similar emotions as him in their lives resonated, suddenly casing a spark of Mental Energy that wasn\'t a starlight stream, but akin to a star itself.