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Chapter 16 - Chapter 16: Qualifications

[System Online]

After hearing the cute voice, Arthur's reaction wasn't one of surprise or horror. Instead, his face twitched, his eyebrows furrowed, and he stood up, yelling.

"What bullshit?! Where's the camera? Who the heck are you? Mom! Did you let some YouTuber prank me in my room?!"

His voice was so loud that even his mother couldn't take it anymore.

"Why don't you come down here and help me finish our food for dinner, you lazy kid! What YouTuber? What nonsense is that?!"

Arthur paused for a moment, still standing in his room, trying to gather his thoughts.

"Oh! Sorry, carry on, Mom!" Arthur replied, clearly not planning on helping with dinner anytime soon.

Hehehe, he chuckled. Okay, so this must be real, right? Let's try it out.

"Hello, system, you there?"

"Yes, Mr. Arthur."

Arthur blinked. He squinted.

> "Oh, so it's in my mind! Well, it's quite advanced, but I don't like the voice. It's way too childish! It's cringy every time I hear it. I'll change that later."

Just then, Arthur heard a loud, buzzing noise in his ears, shocking him into silence.

"Bastard! What did you say? My voice is childish? How dare you!"

"I've been working day and night to integrate your scrawny body into my system, and this is how you repay me?!"

"I've crossed time and space, and your ancestors' age couldn't even reach half of mine!"

"And this world? This tiny planet? With its pathetic spiritual Qi? This world is nothing! You're all nothing!"

"Come on, trash talk me, lowly human! I'm so mad at you right now! Bastard!"

Arthur was frozen, blinking at the chaos inside his mind. The system was ranting like a child who had just spilled juice on their favorite toy, and frankly, he was getting a headache.

He felt a mixture of shame and anger. His ancestors and his entire planet were being dragged through the mud, belittled by this weird, childish voice. His fists clenched, and he wanted nothing more than to reach through the air and strangle the voice if he could.

But it was in his mind… and he had no idea how to physically punch it.

He sighed, taking a deep breath to calm down, before responding through gritted teeth.

"Sorry...?"

"What?" the system asked, the tone in its voice dripping with disbelief.

"Sorry." Arthur repeated, barely holding back his frustration.

"Sorry, what?" the system replied, clearly mocking him.

"You!" Arthur was about to burst. "Sorry, I'm so sorry!"

"I beg your pardon, I'm blind," the system quipped, totally unfazed.

Arthur finally exploded in frustration. His face flushed red as he shouted mentally.

"You bastard! I curse you and your family, your creator, and the entire 18th generation of your ancestors! I hate you! I hate your voice—it's cringy and ugly at the same time! Didn't you hear that? Oh, I'm sure you didn't! That's great news because your family's a bunch of ugly voice actors! Even my pants are wet just hearing you! Wait, you're not even alive, are you?"

Arthur took a moment to breathe, but the system wasn't done.

"You! You've got no muscles, you look like a stick from a dying branch of a tree, and you were probably born in a garden of idiots. You have no respect for others! I'll send you to 18 floors of hell! Qualification test, OPEN!"

Before Arthur could react, a black hole appeared in the space before him. It pulled him in at breakneck speed, faster than he could even comprehend.

Whoosh!

Seconds later, he was spit out of the black hole, sent flying like a ragdoll—three meters away, landing with a bang.

"Ah!" Arthur yelled out, his body slamming into the ground. His head spun, and dizziness took over.

He was angry. How could that childish voice not be on his side? This was so frustrating!

Just as he was about to yell again, a low growl echoed from behind him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He turned, his heart racing.

And there it was. The tiger.

The huge tiger.

It locked eyes with him, its gaze dripping with hunger, as though he was the tastiest snack it had ever seen.

"Shit, I'm gonna die!"

The tiger's growl echoed again, louder this time.

"Rahhh--!"

Arthur's face drained of color as the tiger lunged forward.

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