Chapter 1

'What in the world is happening?!'

Pain assaulted his ribs, back, and head. A groan slipped from his lips. Several pairs of hands shook his body. Voices called out an unfamiliar name. His vision swam for a few seconds, but he gradually adjusted and focused on the surroundings. From what he could tell, he was in a square shaped room similar to what boxers or martial artists might use for sparring and training based on the exercise equipment and circular fighting ring in the room.

Three boys who looked no older than fifteen shook him while calling out the same unfamiliar name. The jarring movement only made his chest and head hurt more. More groans slipped from his lips with every shake.

Further away, he noticed an athletic teenage boy sneering at him. The boy's brown hair was spiked in a purposeful bedhead style. His white collared school uniform shirt was untucked and had the top two buttons undone. A golden hawk insignia was embroidered on the left chest area of the shirt, opposite a small shirt pocket. Pride radiated from the boy's condescending eyes as he crossed his arms like some sort of wannabe mafia boss.

Next to the athletic boy, a beefy but chubby teenage boy with short red hair styled in a neat combover stood there like a trusty sidekick. His large yet tight-fitting school uniform consisting of black pants, a white dress shirt, and a black cardigan wrinkled due to him raising his arms and cracking his knuckles. The boy's beady brown eyes glared at him as though ready to deck him if he stood up again.

Behind the athletic and chubby pair of boys, a teenage girl with long black hair and bright purple eyes averted her gaze when he glanced in her direction. Her white blouse had the same golden hawk insignia embroidered on the right side in contrast to the male uniforms.

One of the boys shaking him, a somewhat muscular boy who had the sides of his head shaved in a patterned fade and longer hair on top combed forward, interrupted his observations by yelling, "Saryn! Are you alright? Hang in there, dude! We'll beat up these idiots for you!"

"Ugh. Shut up," The injured boy groaned. His mind spun as he tried to grasp the situation. Unfortunately, the sharp pain in his chest and skull prevented his thoughts from flowing properly.

"Got it! We'll beat them quietly!"

"Forget that," Saryn groaned. Since it seemed like the three boys closest to him seemed close to him for some reason, he added, "Get me to a hospital."

"Eh? The idiot only punched you once, though?"

'Are these guys brain dead?'

"Call an ambulance or something," Saryn grunted. "I don't even know what's happening right now, and - *cough* - it hurts to talk or breathe."

"Maybe hitting his head jumbled his memory?" One of the three boys wondered aloud.

"Maybe," The teenager with the faded hairstyle replied. Then, he scratched his head and raised his arm. A holographic apparatus that looked like a transparent orange gauntlet flickered into existence around his right arm from a black wristband.

"I guess the almighty 'young master' was all bark and no bite, huh?" The athletic-looking boy taunted in a spiteful tone while chuckling to himself. The chubby boy laughed along with him, but the black-haired girl quietly frowned and rubbed her left wrist held within her right hand in front of her waist.

"Yu Tian, you bastard!" The muscular boy standing at Saryn's side exclaimed. His face reddened with fury. Unable to hold back anymore, he shut down the hologram around his wrist and leapt to his feet.

Just when the three boys were about to charge at the athletic boy supposedly named Yu Tian, Saryn grumbled, "Ignore him."

The three boys all looked at him like they had just seen Sasquatch shopping at a grocery store. In contrast, the brown-haired boy clicked his tongue. The chubby boy's forehead wrinkled in confusion, and the black-haired girl raised a brow as though she hadn't expected such an outcome.

Noting the accuracy of his assumption that the brown-haired boy was trying to goad them into fighting him, Saryn sighed and rested his head on the padded concrete floor beneath him. Luckily, he prevented his supposed allies from falling for the bait.

'Before anything else, I need to get out of this dumb kiddie fight and figure out where I am.'

"Tch. This is boring," Yu Tian grumbled while crossing his fingers behind his head, "I expected more from the vice-captain of our school's combat team. As agreed, I'll take your place as Vice now, Saryn. Also, leave Ningyue alone in the future. A toad shouldn't lust after swan meat."

Saryn merely glanced at the teenager for a moment before closing his eyes and ignoring the immature attempt at provocation and disgustingly boring insult. This teenager was still too green. The taunt couldn't compare to the brutal cunning, scheming, and backstabbing he confronted as fresh blood in the business and political realms of what now seemed to be his past life if his current young body and different name were anything to go by.

'Although this situation isn't great, it's better than fearing for my life every waking moment,' Saryn mused while trying to keep his mind off the burning pain in his chest.

"You don't deserve that spot, Yu Tian," The muscular boy at Saryn's side chided. "Just wait. Saryn will take the position back in no time and show you who's boss."

Saryn grimaced. Who cared about a stupid school position? Starting a business and moving on with his life sounded like a far better use of his time.

Yu Tian smirked confidently and retorted, "Come at me any time. I'll be happy to lay you flat whenever you want."

After that, Yu Tian's group left through a sliding door. Shortly after, a couple of paramedics rushed into the training room. One of them activated a silver-blue hologram gauntlet and pointed an open palm toward Saryn. Beams of neon blue light emitted from the gauntlet-like hologram tool and formed several circles around him until forming a hologram-like tube that held his body in place. Rather than a hologram, though, it felt more like small yet sturdy strings of yarn had wrapped around him. Then, the paramedic moved his arm. Saryn's body floated into the air as though defying gravity, and he felt the strangely physical hologram strings straighten out his body. He stifled a surprised reaction. It came out as a pained grunt instead.

Once situated in the air, the two paramedics walked back outside the training room with Saryn floating in the air behind them. The three boys said goodbye to Saryn and walked in the opposite direction. After parting with the three boys, they passed through a large gymnasium lined with similar training room doors on each side of the room lengthwise. Then, they exited through one of the many electronic sliding doors leading outside.

The moment he saw the outside, Saryn's mind grinded to a halt.

Several buildings of beautiful artificership surrounded him. Part of him recognized that they were part of a school campus, but the sleek design of the buildings looked nothing like he had ever seen in his almost three decades of life. Beyond the campus in every direction, numerous buildings with multicolored metal structures towered into the sky and formed an eerily beautiful urban chaos. Hovercraft of all shapes and sizes darted between the buildings in an organized fashion as though directed by an algorithmic program. Since he was laying in the air on something akin to a holographic stretcher, he could see straight into the sky. He blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. At that point, he couldn't even display a surprised expression at the giant space station that looked like a mushroom cloud made of steel floating in the atmosphere above the city. He imagined that the full scale of the structure must be massive if he could see it from the ground.

'...Where am I?.'

Unfortunately, a metal roof blocked his line of sight seconds later. The paramedic carrying him placed him down on a surprisingly comfortable stretcher and released the magical hologram that had carried him out from the training room. The other paramedic climbed into the front of the vehicle and sat in what looked like a pilot seat. A barely noticeable whir hummed from the engine, and the vehicle lurched upward.

Briefly caught off guard, Saryn ground his molars together and sucked in as deep a breath as possible without exacerbating his chest pain. After calming himself, he looked around out of curiosity. Fewer medical devices than he expected surrounded him. When the paramedic at his side started inspecting his body using the hologram gauntlet tool, he closed his eyes and rested his mind. The stable flight of the vehicle lulled him into an almost half-asleep state while the paramedic continued his tests.

*DING*

[Host soul has stabilized. Impuratus System initializing.]

Hearing the eerily genderless voice echoing in his head, Saryn grimaced and sarcastically thought, 'Wonderful… Just wonderful…'