Chapter 7 - Gold, Memory, and Madness

[System Notification] Assets transfer completed!

Leo's hand moved swiftly and tapped "Okay".

[System Notification] Total assets value is 100 million Philippine pesos.

"I have that kind of money?" he muttered, his eyes grew a little wider. Even as Eman, he never knew exactly how much money he had. "As long as they are profitable," he always told himself.

[System Notification] Convert assets value?

He tapped "Okay".

[System Notification] Calculating PHP to gold coins ratio…

[System Notification] 1 PHP = 10 gold coins

"Ten gold coins for every peso? That's insane!"

[System Notification] Converting assets…

[System Notification] 1,000,000,000 gold coins received.

The number was staggering.

Leo returned to the table, his heart pounding from the recent event. But as soon as he sat down, he slowly realized the enormity of the amount. "No, no, no—" he whispered, as he shook his head. He glanced back at the window, holding his breath as the zeroes seemed to stretch on.

He continued to count, and by the time he reached the ninth digit, his mind was blown away.

"Nine!" he exclaimed. He jumped to his feet and the chair clattered to the floor from his sudden movement.

"Living in the capital? Pft! Who needs to scrape by in some cramped apartment when I can buy a castle and still have enough gold to feed us for a lifetime?"

Leo placed his hands on the table, his body still trembling from excitement. He picked up his chair and sat back down, resting his body against its backrest. He dropped his arms, letting them limp at his sides.

He sighed deeply as he threw his head back.

To think I could reclaim the wealth I'd built in my past life… this changes everything…

He then remembered that he could use gold coins for the Share the Pain perk.

Leo quickly straightened up and navigated back to perk's target's list. After tapping Amanda's name, the same message box appeared. He dragged the slider to 100 years—the maximum duration and tapped "Activate using gold coins."

[System Notification] You are about to use 10,000,000 gold coins to raise the success rate to 100%. Do you want to continue?

He tapped "Yes".

[System Notification] Syncing 100 years for about 60 seconds. Please secure your location before proceeding.

Leo fixed his chair, it scraped the wooden floor before he stopped at a comfortable position. His mind reeled with emotions. He was about to sync with Amanda's 100 years of life experiences.

Can I endure everything?

The thought of reliving a century of pain and joy sent a shiver down his spine. What if it broke him?

Time seemed to slow around him as he continued to think.

What if I uncover truths that should have been left untouched?

The room was quiet, but he could clearly hear his heartbeat and breathing. He paused and closed his eyes. Determination etched his face as his new founded strength surfaced.

And with a final deep breathe, he tapped "Proceed"

The screen flickered and a timer appeared. Its numbers counting down like a reversing tachometer. Leo's heart pounded its rhythmic beats mingling with the timers ticking seconds.

Suddenly, a wave of paralysis drowned him, locking his muscles in place as if caught up in an invisible death grip. His vision fractured, the world around him shattering into a thousand swirling screens. Each fragment was a piece of Amanda's past, spinning and whirling around him.

The countless images were too fast to grasp, too intense to comprehend.

The discord of images and sound flooded Leo's being. His mind barely had time to process a single screen as Amanda's century long experience continued to barrage him.

What have I done?

His vision started to fade. Amanda's laughter, cries and shouts of defiance echoed faintly almost lost beneath the bottomless pit of physical, mental and emotional distress he's confronting.

I can't…

The first few seconds blurred by. And the nauseating dizziness started to engulf him.

..take this anymore…

His stomach churned violently as he struggled to hold onto some sense of reality. Every pain from Amanda's battles—every strike, every cut—lashed through him as if its raining with swords in the sky.

What if I can't…?

What if I die here instead?

His consciousness began to break as he continued to question himself. But the memories and experiences intensified not showing any mercy from his battered form.

Leo's body convulsed uncontrollably. He dropped to floor and coughed violently, tasting blood in his mouth. He vomited everywhere as the injuries he sustained began to feel more heavier—deadlier.

The world around him became a blur of motion and emotion.

After forty seconds, his body twitched even more. But the syncing process continued and the last waved of years flooded through.

The timer finally reached zero, and the overwhelming assault of sensations ended. The screens vanished, leaving Leo lying on the floor, his body still twitching and convulsing. His breath came in ragged gasps, and blood continued to seep from his lips.

[System Notification] Sync with Amanda completed.

[System Notification] Calculating synced years.

[System Notification] Successfully synced 100 years.

[System Notification] Congratulations, receiving successful sync reward.

[System Notification] Increasing all stats by 1000.

Leo laid there, his body slowly stilled as the system completed the process. The room was silent except for the faint sounds of his labored breathing and occasional body twitching.

And then the inevitable happened. In a split second, an inexplicable shift in the air was felt that stretched across the Human kingdom and its neighboring lands. Weaker souls collapsed where they stood. Even seasoned warriors, battle-hardened and unshakable, fell to their knees, powerless against the invisible force pressing upon them.