Versatile System Online

"We have arrived", Ray said as he stepped out of the car and took a breath of fresh air.

"Finally, it was such a long journey", Tim said as he stretched his limbs.

"It wasn't that long. It took us a couple of hours at max and considering the traffic, I would say we reached on time", Elina chimed in as she gave a fierce look in Tim's direction, while her mom just watched it all unfold.

"Okay, guys. No time to waste, let's get going", Ray said as he happily marched forward.

"Where to? We are in the middle of nowhere and there is no house anywhere near us", Tim said in a panic as he thought that Ray had finally lost his mind.

"Oh, that? It's just an illusion. Let me help you all with that", Ray replied as he accessed his system and granted them the ability to see right through the illusion.

"Ding! The host has allowed friends Elina, Tim, and their mother to negate the effects of protective illusion",

The system notification popped up while Tim exclaimed in surprise,

"Such a big and imposing mansion! Ray, don't tell me that you are an heir of some big family", Tim asked in shock as he kept his eyes glued to the mansion.

"Nah! I just made it big in System Online. So I thought to buy this place just in case", Ray said as he walked to the gates of his mansion.

The gates were nothing special and so was the case for the entrance of the mansion, none of them were imposing in any manner. The factor that made the mansion so imposing weren't the gates, entrances, or its size.

It was the huge multicolored dome that covered the whole mansion. The dome was the result of Ray fusing his barrier-type ability with an artifact. Thus, providing Ray with a protective dome that shielded the mansion from any sort of attack and also hindered any type of foreign surveillance.

As Ray walked to the doors, they automatically opened up as a robotic voice sounded,

"Welcome back master Ray",

"Who was that?", Tim asked in excitement as he heard the voice.

"That is an automated security system that I installed sometime before. Seems like it's working splendidly", Ray happily replied as he gave Tim and the others a full tour of the mansion.

As the tour continued, everyone reached the inner area, Ray opened the main door and he announced out loud,

"Mom! I'm home",

"Yay! Brother is back home", Katie said in excitement as she raised out of nowhere and hugged Ray.

"I missed you big bro", Katie said as she looked up at Ray with her cute puppy eyes.

"Big bro missed you too my dear sister", Ray said as he looked down at her with a content smile.

"Also, I brought you gifts", Ray said as he changed the topic. He picked up Katie in his arms and took out a bunch load of toys and started to play with her.

Meanwhile,

Elina and the others stood in their place in shock as they looked at Ray behaving so naturally with his sister.

"A sis-con for sure", Tim and Elina thought as they looked at Ray messing around with Katie.

After a while, Ray turned around and said,

"Guys, this is my sister Katie. She is a good girl but can be very mischievous as well", Ray introduced Katie to his friends and then looked at Katie and spoke,

"Katie, these are my friends Elina and Tim. While beside them is their mother, they will be staying with us for a while", Ray said as he introduced everyone.

"Yayy! More people to play with", Katie said in joy as she got out of Ray's embrace and started to run around excitedly.

"Okay, that's enough. Go to your room, for now, brother has some for work to do", Ray ordered Katie as he went on to search for his mom.

And as always, he found his mom in the kitchen preparing snacks for everyone.

"Mom you have to take some rest. We could have ordered anything", Ray said as he fetched his mom a glass of water and asked her to take a break.

"I couldn't help but make something for you. After all, you have been away for quite some time and I don't know what kind of food they give you there", She said as he took a sip from the glass.

"Also, are your friends here? You told me that you would bring a couple of friends with you", She asked as she looked around in curiosity.

"They aren't down here. I showed them to their room, they will be down here after freshening up", Ray said as he continued,

"Also, Mom! I need to talk to you about something important", Ray said in seriousness as he took a seat beside his mom.

"What is it, Son? Did something happen?", She asked in worry while she caressed his face with care.

"Mom, I am fine. Nothing happened, it's just that we need to hurry. The end that I told you about is coming faster than ever. We don't have more than a month till it starts", Ray said sadly keeping his head down in melancholy.

"Don't worry son. We have been preparing for quite some time now. I am sure we will be able to face it and survive through it without much harm. Also, I have been visiting System Online occasionally", She encouraged Ray as she told him not to worry.

"I guess you are right. I should try to calm myself down and not stress out too much", Ray sighed as he stood up and said,

"Well, I will also freshen up and then we will have a good meal together. I will also introduce you to my friends", Ray said as tried to ease the tension he felt and diverted the topic.

"Okay", His mother nodded with a smile while Ray went to his room.

"Your father would have been so proud of you", She thought as memories of fond times took over her.

A few hours later,

"The food is so good, I could eat this every day", Tim mumbled as he gobbled down one plate after another.

"Where at your manners young man? No talking with food in your mouth", Tim's mother scolded as she hit his hand with a spoon.

"Mrs. Barnes, please let the kid enjoy. It's no use being so strict, they are kids after all", Ray's mom smiled as she put more food on Tim's plate.

"Sigh, this kid of mine is such a brute. He needs to learn some manners at least. Or else, he would make a mess everywhere", She sighed and said with a smile while leaving Tim to his devices.

Ray just shook his head at this interaction as he thought,

"They will be good friends in no time",

After having the scrumptious meal, Ray and the others went for a walk around the mansion as Ray spoke,

"I will be training in System Online for the next three days and I want you both to train with me. This way, we could enhance our coordination while getting stronger simultaneously", Ray said to Elina and Tim as he waited for their reply,

"Count us in", Elina smiled as she nodded to his proposal while Tum merely nodded.

"Okay, so let's hunt some beasts tonight", Ray said with enthusiasm as he thought of the new moves he had to try.

While they walked Ray asked Aurora,

"Aurora, what are the requirements for reaching the next realm",

"There are five requirements to fulfill before ascending to the next realm", Aurora answered,

"Could you tell me what they are?", Ray asked eagerly,

"Nope. That's your mission", Aurora refused flatly as a new notification popped up.

"Ding! New mission received,

Ascend to the next realm in the coming month.

Requirements:- Unknown

Penalty:- -2 stat points for all stats

Reward:- One new affinity",

Reading the notification, Ray's eagerness and smile vanished as worry took over him.

"What the hell Aurora? What kind of mission is this? Also, why do I get the mission after a whole month of having the system", He asked in anger as the thought of losing more than 16 stat points made him worry.

"First of all, I don't give out missions. They are system generated, next I don't care if you fail the mission or complete it. It's your benefit if you complete it, not mine", She said nonchalantly as she cut the connection, leaving Ray heaving in anger.

"What happened Ray?", Elina asked in concern as she looked at Ray acting strangely.

"Nothing, I just remembered something", Ray said as he dodged the bullet with a smile.

"My system having an awakened consciousness is still a secret. Only God knows what would happen if they get to know of it", Ray thought as he sighed in relief.

With that, Ray and the others finished their walk and headed for their respective game capsules as they entered into the world of System Online.

....

A/N:- A message to all my readers. I am very thankful for the support being shown to me. Especially those who gifted the novel with golden tickets and all those readers who pay for the novel.

I will be uploading bonus chapters on Sunday. So be ready for them.