Chapter 1:The System
The alley was silent except for the faint dripping of blood pooling beneath lie a broken body.
The body's face was unrecognizable, A dreams of a life extinguished. Standing over him, A man wiped his bloodied hands with a handkerchief, his cold eyes devoid of remorse.
"You went too far"A girl spoke, her voice filled with disgust. "I told you to break him, not kill him."
John smirked, his arrogance evident. "He touched what was mine. He deserved worse."
Salena sighed, her gaze lingering on Grey's lifeless body. "He could have been useful."
John shrugged and slipped an arm around her waist. "You don't need him. I have more than enough to give you everything you want."
With that, they walked away, their footsteps echoing through the empty alley, leaving Grey's corpse behind like discarded trash.
---
As the blood seeped into the cold ground, something stirred within the lifeless body.
[Ding!]
[Host has died!]
[Retrieving all host memories...]
[Searching for a suitable host...]
[Host found!]
[Activating transfer]
[Something is dampening the system...]
[Unable to reach the desired host]
[System is forced to choose the nearest suitable living being...]
[System shutting down...]
---
Some time later...
Ray, a worker at a Lucky groceries, took a daily shortcut through the alley on his way home.
On his way to home he happened to witness the murder of a guy but he hide away to not get into anymore trouble then he already has.
After nearly 10 minutes later.
He went to see the 'poor guy who got robbed and ended up dead.
But upon seeing the body he paused at the sight of the bloodied corpse, his stomach churning upon seeing the mess of a body.
"Really a poor guy, he should have given them his money but No this is what you get" he muttered, as he begin approaching the corpse as it was in his way to home and the guys that killed this fellow went the opposite way.
"?".
Despite the unease creeping up his spine, curiosity got the better of him. He hesitated, then crouched down, his trembling fingers reaching toward the body to search for any identification or valuable left by the thieves.
The moment his skin made contact with the cold flesh, a mechanical voice echoed in his mind.
[Ding!]
[Nearest Living target detected...]
[Checking compatibility...]
[Ding! Compatible!]
[System forcefully binding with target...]
[Binding successful.]
Ray's vision blurred, and before he could react, everything went black.
---
When he regained consciousness, his head throbbed, and his mind was flooded with fragmented memories—memories that weren't his.
Flashes of another life filled his thoughts: a young man named Kevin Macy , a college student from Earth who had an obsession with anime and web novels.
Kevin had been hit by a truck while walking to his dom. Instead of dying, he transmigrated into Grey Morton's body just a day ago. Drunk on the idea of being the "protagonist," he indulged in arrogance, chasing women recklessly, believing himself untouchable. But reality was cruel, and his delusions led to his downfall.
"Grey... you were a fool," Ray sighed and said.
"You should have lay low and waited till you became strong or got any form of power but you thought, you are invincible not even considering if you even have any system".
'Yes, that fool didn't even check for anything else. As soon he learned that this body had big rich family he ran to brothel for sex'Ray thought after seeing few of the memories.
'I didn't get all the memories of this grey fellow only some and some of Kevin' Ray thought after massaging his temples.
'Lets get out of this alley the Morton family guard should be searching for this body' Ray mumbled as he stumbled out of the alley, his heart raceing.
...
Minutes after he left, a group of people arrived, their faces grim. Seeing the body, they swiftly wrapped it up and carried it away.
A man in a suit pulled out his phone. "Master, the young master is dead. We're investigating the culprit."
The call ended abruptly.
---
Fortune Community
Ray finally reached his apartment, a flat on 32 floor shared with two other girls. They rarely interacted, and he preferred it that way.
Finding the apartment empty, as usual, he entered his tiny rented room, locked the door, and collapsed onto his bed. His mind was a storm of thoughts until exhaustion took over.
When he awoke, his body felt heavy, his mind foggy. It was morning, but it felt as if he had been trapped in another reality. His muscles ached, and his head pounded with the remnants of Kevin and Grey's fragmented memories.
Ray sat up slowly, trying to separate his own thoughts from the foreign memories that now felt eerily familiar. The weight of what he had inherited settled in his chest—equal parts dread and determination.
His lips parted, and he spoke the words he had read in countless novels through Lin Feng.
"System"
"System, show yourself."
Silence.
Ray's heart pounded. "System!"
No response. Anxiety crept in, but then—
[Ding!]
[Remaining time: 00:30:33]
A countdown.
His breath caught. "What is this? A timer for what?"
Then, like puzzle pieces falling into place, Grey's few fragmented memories answered. The world was ending. The timer marked the beginning of the apocalypse.
Kevin had transmigrated and received the system to survive and thrive in this world. But his arrogance led him to an early grave. The system, unable to leave Grey's body binded him upon contact.
With only thirty minutes left, Ray sprang into action. He gathered supplies, reinforced his apartment, and prepared for the unknown.
As the timer reached zero, the world changed.
---
A red mist began seeping from the ground, rising like an eerie, creeping tide. At first, it was barely noticeable, like faint dust, but soon it thickened,spreading across cities, devouring everything in its path.
Ray opened his phone for any information, attracted by something on the news, eyes widening at the worldwide reports. No one knew where the mist came from or what it was.
On a steaming platform, a popular streamer was live. Standing amidst the red mist, he laughed.
"It's harmless, guys! See? I'm touching it, and nothing's happening—"
His smile faltered.
"Uh… guys? There's something—"
The stream cut off abruptly.
Ray's heart pounded. He knew what this meant.
"The end of the world has begun," he whispered.
[Ding!]
[System reboot complete.]
His grip tightened into a fist. Kevin, "you may have been a fool, but your system is now mine. And that filthy thief… if you're still survive out there, I'll make sure you pay" he said with some anger as the memories had even affected him somewhat.
The world had changed.
'I will face the end and survive' Ray thought while convincing himself.