I Awakened as an SSS-Rank System Maker!

Chapter 25 - A year?

The air around them trembled with an almost tangible energy. Shi Yang stood, his golden hair flowing like a banner.

"Shall we go for the round, Siman?" asked Shi Yang, his tone casual, though there was a sharpness beneath the surface.

Siman, who stood a few steps away, remained silent for a moment, his hands clasped behind his back. His expression was unreadable, with a faint smile at the corner of his lips.

Lucas, who stood to the side, looked between the two of them, confusion filling his face.

"A fight between two SSS-ranked individuals? Why and where?"

The word "SSS" hung in the air like a heavy cloud, reminding Lucas of the vast distance between him and these two men, whose power could reshape the fabric of the world if they so desired. Their strength was something he hadn’t fully grasped yet.

Siman turned to Shi Yang, his eyes narrowing slightly, and his words piercing through Lucas’ mind. "Alright, let’s go, but we’ll fight in a neutral world."

Lucas furrowed his brow. "A world? What do you mean?"

Shi Yang’s lips curled into a small smile. "Oh, you still don’t know anything about the universe?" he muttered, as if speaking to himself. He shook his head, as if in pain from explaining something so obvious. "Hmm, it’s hard to explain." He paused, then looked at Lucas. "We are in the main world, the strongest of the worlds. We are in the Great Wigan Galaxy. There are thirteen sub-planets alongside the main planet we are on now. Siman and I are from two of these planets."

Lucas’ mind spun as he processed this information. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The Great Wigan Galaxy? Sub-planets?

The words sounded strange, as if they were pieces of a world he didn’t belong to. He opened his mouth to say something but found himself stumbling over his thoughts.

"What? What are you saying? Why didn’t I know any of this?" Lucas muttered, his voice laced with frustration and disbelief. How could he have been blind to this entire universe? How could he not know something so basic?

Siman’s gaze turned sharp, his eyes now piercing. He shrugged, as though the answer was simple, or even trivial. "Because you’re weak, Lucas," he said plainly. "Only those of S rank or higher know this information. But now you know. Anyway, we’re going to fight, and you’ll leave the dungeon and tell them we died and sacrificed ourselves, and only the three of you survived."

Lucas felt his heart race. His chest tightened. "What? What are you saying? You won’t return?" he asked, his voice betraying his growing panic. The thought of losing Siman... even for a short while, was unsettling to him.

Siman took a deep breath, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. "I will return," he said, his tone far more casual than Lucas had expected. "But I’ll fight with Shi Yang, then I’ll do a few things, and I won’t be back for a year."

"A year?" Lucas’ tone cracked slightly as he tried to understand what Siman was saying.

A year?

He couldn’t grasp the meaning. The idea of being without Siman for such a long time, especially with the threats he didn’t yet know about, made him feel vulnerable. "What are you saying? André won’t be able to develop without you."

Siman’s eyes softened a little, though his words were still sharp.

"What? What are you saying?" He shook his head. "André is now rank A, and Dalen is a rank B healer. You can enter any dungeon and level them up."

Lucas hesitated, his mind racing to find a solution. Siman was right, of course. André was no longer the weak person he once was. But the thought of tackling dungeons alone, with only Dalen, made him feel uncertain.

"That’s true, but how will we meet after a year?" Lucas asked, his voice barely a whisper, doubt reflecting in his words, mirroring his inner turmoil.

Siman replied lightly, smiling. "Come on, what are you saying? You should be famous by then, right? I’ll be waiting for you after a year, at SSS rank, okay?"

Lucas couldn’t help but laugh, a light feeling easing some of the tension in his chest. "Haha, alright, goodbye, my friend," he said, his voice full of the lightness only an old companion could bring. His heart felt heavy and light at the same time.

He turned to Shi Yang, his voice becoming more serious. "Goodbye, and thank you."

Shi Yang’s expression remained unreadable, but there was something in his eyes that made him seem less threatening than usual. He tilted his head slightly, a small, almost invisible smile on his lips.

"Take care, Lucas," said Shi Yang calmly, his voice much softer than Lucas had expected. "Don’t lose focus on what’s important."

Lucas nodded, though his mind was still spinning from everything he had just learned. The world they lived in was bigger and more complex than he could have imagined. Thoughts of galaxies, sub-planets, SSS ranks, and dungeons weighed on his mind, and he knew this journey was only the beginning.

As Siman and Shi Yang prepared to leave, Lucas stood silently for a moment, watching them as they walked away. His thoughts raced, but a strange sense of calm washed over him. It wasn’t just about strength anymore. It was about navigating a world that was both alien and familiar, where strength came in many forms, and survival depended on more than just physical power.

The silence of the moment stretched on, but after Siman and Shi Yang disappeared into the horizon, Lucas’ resolve hardened. He now had a path to follow, one that would lead him through challenges he couldn’t predict. But he would walk it, no matter how uncertain the road ahead seemed.