So i died the way i lived. Pathetically.
Face down in a puddle of warm soda, hands still crammed into pants, bloodshot eyes rolled all the to the back of my head—and the cherry on the top, tentacle orgy flickering with all its glory on my grimy moniter.
I think its safe to say that wasn't best way to go...
Yeah...
You know the best part?
The cause of death: Choked on a goddamn meatball.
But honestly, it was not like i was living some glorious life to begin with.
I was surviving, that too, barely.
Abusive parents. An unstable home. Constant bullying—both in and out of school—and poverty so deep i could see hells floor. Even my office life, which was supposed to be fairly uneventful was absolute hell.
It all felt like some sick joke.
I could almost imagine some kind of... Cosmic Deity chuckling as it saw poor me waddle through my miserable life.
And so when death finally arrived for me, and the lights went out, i thought i had finally earned some kind of rest. A peaceful slumber for this troubled—naive soul that had the luck to be born.
Heaven being out of the quesiton—i almost hoped even for limbo.
Maybe some oblivion.
Yeah...
I think you know where this is going.
Fate said "Fuck No."
So here i was, lying buttass naked in some kind of bizzare forest with nothing but the swaying branches giving me some shade.
The moist bark is digging into my spine. There's dirt in places dirt has no business being. My nuts are literally shriveling from the cold morning breeze. And i unless spontaneously grew an extra limb, i was sure that there was something crawling on me.
For a moment—utterly disoriented, i think i'm still of fever dream. Maybe i passed out and this is just my brain cooking in the last five seconds of oxygen.
But then i smell it.
Fresh air.
A kind of clean, earthy scent that never existed in the dirty streets of seoul. The light filtering through the leaves above weren't fluorescent like a bulb—it was sunlight, golden and harsh. Slightly warm on my skin.
Which meant that i was either alive... or some sicko had left me in the middle of a fantasy themed park with a fog machine and a twisted sense of humour.
Then it happens.
A sudden ding—not in my ears, but in my skull. Like a notification straight to my being.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]
Welcome, Host!
You have been chosen as the vessel of conquest/
I stared at the golden display infront of me, mouth slightly agape, wondering if it was kind of hologram... or even a hallucination.
Maybe there was something in the air...
But no, it was real. As real as the cold hitting my exposed-
OKAY, ENOUGH.
[CONGRATULATIONS HOST]
System installation is complete.
Your objective is: [Dominate, Ascend]
Every subject reshapes fate.
Failure results in death.
"Okay, so, what the fu-"
Another screens pop, interrupting me. And this one's somehow even more cryptic.
[ BASIC SKILL UNLOCKED: INSIGHT (LVL1)]
iNSIGHT (LVL1): Allows basic appraisal of potential subjects.
Range: 10 Meters
Cooldown: None
"Uh huh, not creeoy at all..."
[YOUR STARTING LOCATION IS: THE FOREST OF FALLEN LIGHT]
[Good Luck, Host]
The screen vanished with an uneventful shimmer.
I slowly sit up with a groan, dirt sticking to my ass, and look around. There were trees, as far i could see. There was also the small rustle of wind. And somewhere in the distance, i heard water running.
Birds chirped overhead, almost like they were mocking me.
No people.
No instructions apart from "Grow Conquer"
....
Fantastic!
Here i was—just died chocking on a meatball while mid-jerk—and now i'm supposed to turn into some interdimensional alpha stud...
So yeah...
I looked down on myself, inspecting my new body. Atleast the system was generous. I've been ugraded—not by much—but definitely no longer average.
Still, i needed clothes, some food, and maybe even a town if i was lucky.
And most importantly, a damned system that didn't treat me like some kind of bizzare hentai plotline.