*Click.*
The sound of his bedroom door locking echoed with finality through the quiet room. Jiang Dao leaned against the wooden frame for a moment, listening to the muffled conversations downstairs and the relentless drumming of rain against his window. The storm seemed to be intensifying, matching the restless energy coursing through his veins.
His reflection stared back at him from the darkened window—ordinary, unremarkable, human. But beneath that familiar exterior, something fundamental had changed. The memory of raw power, of muscles expanding beyond their natural limits, of strength that could crush stone... it called to him like a drug.
*I need to understand this.*
Moving to the center of his room, Jiang Dao closed his eyes and reached inward, searching for that spark of transformation he'd felt earlier. At first, nothing happened. The power seemed as elusive as smoke, just beyond his grasp.
Then, gradually, like a muscle memory awakening, he felt it—a warm current flowing through his body, starting from his core and spreading outward. His breathing deepened, his heartbeat quickened, and slowly, almost reverently, he allowed the change to begin.
His frame began to expand. Not dramatically like before, but in controlled increments. His shoulders broadened, his arms thickened, his height increased by several inches. The sensation was intoxicating—like being reborn into a stronger, more perfect version of himself.
"This!....." Jiang Dao clenched his fist, feeling like he could kill a cow with one punch. "This power... it feels so good!"
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Dao found himself addicted to the feeling of being strong—so addicted that he couldn't extricate himself from it.
This power would be his foundation in this strange, weird world.
From the first day since he'd arrived here, he had been living on tiptoe, in constant fear that he would die again without even knowing the cause. He didn't even dare tell his family what had happened because he couldn't guarantee whether it would bring danger to them.
He tried to return to his original form. His body became smaller and leaner, shrinking back to its normal proportions.
Then he grew larger again, muscles expanding with practiced ease.
Back and forth he went, testing the limits, feeling the power ebb and flow through his system like a tide he could control.
As he experimented, something curious happened. The more he used the power, the more he began to understand it—not through conscious thought, but through pure instinct. His body seemed to be teaching him, showing him the pathways of energy, the limits of transformation, the cost of each change.
After nearly an hour of testing, Jiang Dao sat on his bed, exhausted but exhilarated. Even in his normal form, he felt different. Stronger. His muscles were more defined, his reflexes sharper, his entire body humming with newfound vitality.
"I better put this into data," he muttered, reaching for a notebook.
He grabbed a notebook from his desk and began to write, but then stopped mid-motion.
"Wait!" Jiang Dao paused, pen hovering over the page. "Since my body follows my commands, how about I make this like a system?"
He couldn't help but think of the famous genre that had just started to emerge recently in his past life. "System"—this genre had become popular because of how easy and simple it was, but also because it made the main character's progress clearer and more trackable.
Since his body could send him information about his abilities, it was only natural for it to present that information in a system-like manner, right?
*Let's try it.*
Closing his eyes, Jiang Dao concentrated, willing his instinctive understanding to organize itself into something more structured, more readable.
After a while, he felt the chaotic energy settle into familiar patterns. Opening his eyes, he could almost see the information floating before him like a translucent screen:
**Name:** Jiang Dao
**Age:** 15
**Gender:** Male
**Techniques/Skills:** None
**State:** Normal {First Form (Unlocked)}
**Energy:** 1 (Can be used to strengthen the body and create or upgrade skills/techniques)
"This is it!!" Jiang Dao grinned, satisfied with his masterpiece. With this system, it would be easy to keep track of his progress and know his current state at any given moment.
But questions immediately arose. *What exactly is this energy? And where did I get it?*
As if responding to his curiosity, his body—or perhaps the system itself—began feeding him understanding. The knowledge flowed into his mind like water into a cup, clear and undeniable.
After a few moments of this strange mental download, he finally knew the truth and gained clarity about his situation.
That energy had come from the bead—or what he now suspected was some kind of egg—that he had swallowed, which had provided him with the power to save himself at that crucial moment when death had been bearing down on him.
But he was also surprised by another information. At first, he had thought that the enlarged first form was his body's default power, some kind of baseline transformation. In truth, it had manifested because he had desperately wished to be saved at that moment, so his body had responded by becoming stronger and bigger to preserve his life.
*So it's reactive,* he realized with growing excitement. *The power responds to need, to desire, to will. Which means...*
The possibilities stretched out before him like an endless road, each one more thrilling than the last.
After a while of imagination his thoughts came back to Earth.
"I better keep my feet on the ground for now,"
Jiang Dao muttered, shaking his head. He then sat down at his personal computer, the light from the screen reflecting on his face as he searched the latest news from some GC (Group Chat) or private chat group.
He hadn't forgotten that this world was completely new to him. Even the first entity he almost met at the building made him feel like it was invincible, even with his current power. And he didn't think that would be the strongest thing in this world.
If he were to really let himself go wild and blindly hunt some weird creatures or monsters for energy, he could almost imagine himself getting slapped to death by a strong passerby.
It would really be too late to cry if he got himself killed because of greed.
After a while, Jiang Dao came across a martial arts promotion. Clicking on it brought up a middle-aged man with a straight posture like a pine. He introduced his martial arts as "Fierce Bird Fist."
In the video, a man in a white martial arts uniform was standing alone in an empty hall. Because the picture zoomed from far to near, Jiang Dao first saw the other person's figure. More than 1.80 meters tall, with broad and powerful shoulders, strong muscles, a standard inverted triangle, and a strong sense of oppression.
From a distance, he looked like a tall iron tower lying in front of him.
The line of sight zoomed in, revealing the man's appearance, a kind of fierce gentleness.
"This guy..."