Chapter 2: Awakening in a New World And System-I
The soul enters the lifeless body, and then...
A mysterious energy surged through the lifeless body, knitting torn flesh and revitalizing dormant cells. The wounds on his chest, once deep and fatal, slowly vanished as his pale complexion regained color. As the energy continued to surge inside the body, it grew stronger, and infused with a force that was beyond anyone's understanding.
Minutes passed, before the body breathed air again.
His appearance could only be described as striking, an effortless allure, as if sculpted by god himself with precision rather than born of nature. The transformation had not only restored his body, it had refined it.
There is a movement in the body… A pair of eyes fluttered open in the dimly lit alley. Confusion flickered within those eyes… as he stood.
The man stood in a dark, unfamiliar alley. The air reeked of rotting waste and open sewers… he feels he is in a slum.
Vector's eyes looked around but he found nothing unusual but as looked down he saw a pool of blood beneath his feet. But when he checked his body…he didn't find any injuries… as he flexed his arms and legs around.
His body felt… different.
He could feel great strength surging through him, every fiber of muscle responding with ease.
His mind, unusually sharp, processed the situation with inhuman speed.
"But why does my mind feel so clear? It's as if my brain has never worked this sharply before."
"And most importantly… Why am I here?" he muttered, as his voice echoed in his mind.
The man who awoke was "Vector", the same university student who had been standing on a railway platform moments ago, awaiting his train. Or at least, that's what he last remembered.
He is trying to recall his memories of the train accident flashing through his mind. I was hit by the Train, "wasn't I?"
"I should be in a hospital… but here I am standing in a slum."
Then, another thought struck him, one that sent a chill down his spine.
A vision of himself being pulled into a swirling vortex, his soul engulfed in a vast, mysterious energy. And he is floating in a region where he felt only emptiness, yet familiar.
"Could that have been real?... Or am I still dreaming?"
Before he could think further, suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his brain. His vision blurred, his mind flooded with memories that did not belong to him, but yet they felt familiar.
The memory that flooded tells him things… What he never expected?
He was now on the planet Ethereum, in a nation once proud and vast, the Novastra Empire. But that empire was being invaded, its states occupied one after another by the invader Lionheart Empire.
The city he currently stood in, Carnatic City, had already fallen. Once a bordertown of Elaris State, and bordered with Redfield State. Carnatic City was now occupied by the Lionheart Empire, patrolled by enemy soldiers, and echoing with the whispers of resistance… and betrayal.
The Novastra Liberation Front, a resistance movement fighting against the invading Lionheart Empire, a military superpower in the distant continent.
Then came the memory that made his breath catch in his throat.
A knife stabbing between his ribs… Blood soaking the ground.
Vector, remembering this scene, suddenly gasped for air, stumbling backward as his hands instinctively reached for his chest. His fingers didn't find the injury but traced smooth, clear skin with no sign of the fatal wound.
His heart pounded as realization set in.
"I... died. But not just me. The original owner of this body died too. And now, I'm him."
"So, Train-kun really did send me here?"
"The scenes of me seeing the swirling universe and web-like structure. My body floating in that emptiness region… is all true."
The man whose body he now inhabited was Vector Astrum, a member of the resistance. And heir, Young Master, of the Astrum family.
He had infiltrated, as a gardener, the household of a Lionheart Army colonel stationed in the Bordertown Carnatic City. He normally steals any classified war documents and provides any information to help the resistance fighting against the Lionheart Empire.
But he was betrayed, stabbed in the back by one of the members of the resistance.
Vector clenched his fists, his body trembling with residual rage and cold eyes. Betrayed by his own trusted subordinate...
His mind raced, analyzing the situation. If I'm truly in a different world, then that means... I've transmigrated?
"The soul of this body's original owner has merged with mine, not as a blending of personalities, but as a silent imprint. Its presence acts as a mark, it proves that I am from this world and ensures the universe does not reject me as an intruder."
"Yet this merging came with a price, the original owner's burning emotions now dwelled within me... His desperate yearning to liberate Novastra, even his tangled feelings for those he'd left behind…"
"But these emotions didn't feel foreign, they had become mine, as if they'd always been a part of me."
"I don't know if I am still me after receiving these emotions… Even if it did change, I am happy for this change… The family."
The fire to liberate Novastra, the resolve to defy the Lionheart Empire, even the fierce devotion to protect those he…No… we, loved… all of it burned within me now. And this time, fate had granted what his past life had denied: a family.
"I would not waste this second chance. No matter the cost, I would keep them safe."
Now I had a family father, mother and a cute little sister. I am going to protect them at all costs… Vector knows that he is also influenced by the emotions of the Original Vector… but he doesn't mind and Ironically, he also welcomes these emotions, even if it changes his personality.
It gives him memories that he wanted in his previous life. And he is also going to continue and complete what the original Vector is trying to achieve, to liberate the Novastra Empire.
That mysterious energy has healed his body. Probably that mysterious force has sent me to this world. I don't know how powerful that being is to force my soul to transmigrate to another universe.
"But why?"
And above all;
If this were a novel, then by all logic, he should have received a golden finger, a cheat-like ability that granted overwhelming power. That was how protagonists in those novels always gained cheat-like power in the world and walked through the world unhindered.
Yet reality proved far less generous.
"Well, fate has given me a second chance…and this time, I'm going to live it with my family and loved ones… no more lonely life."
"Also that Mysterious Energy had already strengthened my body. So I can consider it as my cheat…" a smile formed on his lip.
As if responding to his thoughts, a mechanical yet oddly sentient voice echoed in his mind. At the same time, a translucent blue interface shimmered into existence before his eyes, hovering silently in the air, its presence both alien and strangely familiar.
It is like a game interface… he played in his previous life.
---
[Void Library System, Awakening Initiated.]
[1%... 10%...]
---
Here…it's here….then suddenly…
Vector's body stiffened as a gentle power surged through his mind.
Information poured in, revealing the origin of the mysterious energy that had brought him here.
The force that had pulled his soul from the brink of death was called the "Will of the Void".
[To be continued...]