"Host! Are you feeling alright? The soul transfer has been successfully completed!"
The voice was bright, bubbly, and so cheerful it felt out of place. It echoed inside Ji Yu's skull, a sharp contrast to the heavy, throbbing fog that clouded her mind. It was the voice of the little system, Zhangli. Slowly, as if pushing through layers of thick, murky water, Ji Yu felt her consciousness start to piece itself back together. The first thing that returned was sensation—the soft, cool cotton of sheets beneath her fingertips, the slight chill of air conditioning on her skin.
She opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry, swimming with indistinct shapes and halos of light. She blinked, long and slow, her eyelashes fluttering against her cheeks. The world was a smear of muted gold and shadow. She blinked again, more rapidly this time, forcing her eyes to focus. The hazy mist began to clear, sharpening into the details of a room.
She was lying on a large, plush bed. To one side was a nightstand with a sleek lamp casting a warm, gentle glow. Across the room, heavy curtains were drawn shut over what was probably a window. A flat-screen television was mounted on the wall opposite the foot of the bed, and a small desk held a coffee maker and a stack of complimentary water bottles. It was a hotel room. A nice one, by the looks of it—clean, modern, and comfortably impersonal.
A dull, persistent ache pulsed behind her temples, a rhythmic pounding that made it hard to think. She pushed herself up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. The movement sent a fresh wave of dizziness through her, and she had to brace her hands on the mattress to steady herself.
What's the time now? she thought, the question forming slowly in her mind.
The cheerful voice responded instantly, as if it had been waiting for her to ask. "It's 10'o clock in the night~ host~"
"I see," Ji Yu replied silently. She brought a hand up to her forehead, rubbing her temples with her fingers. The headache was a deep, churning pain, like her brain was trying to break free from her skull. She sat there for what felt like a long time, just breathing, waiting for the storm in her head to calm down.
After about five minutes, the intense throbbing began to recede, fading to a manageable dull ache. As the pain lessened, her thoughts started to flow more clearly, like a frozen river beginning to thaw in the spring. Memories, sharp and vivid, began to flood back into her consciousness.
Her name was Ji Yu. She was not just anyone; she was a genius scientist from the Interstellar Empire, a person whose name was known across star systems for her groundbreaking inventions. She was also a top-level Alpha, one of the rare few with an SSS-grade mental strength—a power that set her apart even among other Alphas. It was this immense mental power that allowed her to pilot the most advanced mechas and command vast armies with a single thought.
But that wasn't all. She had another identity, one that carried even more weight and commanded even more respect. She was the youngest Marshal in the history of the Interstellar Empire. She led her own army, hundreds of thousands of soldiers loyal to her and her alone. Her power was so great that even the Empress herself treated her with deference and respect. Ji Yu was a legend, a force of nature.
And then came the memory of the battle. The brutal, bloody war against the Zerg Empire. She had been on the front lines, piloting her legendary ancient mecha, a machine of immense power that was bonded to her soul. The Zerg had come in a seemingly endless swarm—a tidal wave of claws, teeth, and alien fury. For hours, she had fought, her mecha a whirlwind of destruction, cutting down thousands of the creatures. She had pushed herself to her absolute limit, her SSS-grade mental strength the only thing keeping her going.
She had won. The Zerg army was decimated. But the cost was unimaginable. Her mecha was in ruins. Her body was even worse. Her arms and legs were completely shattered, the bones splintered into countless pieces. Great chunks of flesh had been burned away by plasma fire or sliced off by razor-sharp claws. Her internal organs were damaged, some barely held inside her body. It was a miracle she was still alive. For anyone else, it would have been instant death.
But she was Ji Yu. Her will to live, reinforced by her incredible mental power, was enough to keep her heart beating and her mind working even as her body failed. She should have been able to recover. Modern medicine could regenerate tissue, graft new skin, and rebuild bones. Given time and the best care, her body could be made whole again.
The problem wasn't her body. It was the final, desperate attack from the Zerg. As the last of their forces fell, one of their commanders had unleashed their empire's ultimate weapon: the Soul Reaper. It was a terrifying heirloom, a weapon said to be forged from the bones of ancient dragons. It didn't harm the body; it attacked the soul itself.
Even with her SSS-grade mental strength, she was exhausted, her defenses at their weakest. The blow from the Soul Reaper struck her soul directly. She felt it like a cold shatter deep within her very being. She knew instantly that while her body could be saved, her soul was breaking apart. The feeling was like a fine crystal vase cracking, the fractures spreading slowly but surely. Once her consciousness faded, her soul would shatter completely, and that would be true, final death.
As a scientist, this was the very problem she had been researching for years. How to counter the Zerg's ultimate weapon? She had studied the soul, a mysterious and poorly understood aspect of existence. She knew that finding a material strong enough to directly shield against a weapon made from dragon bone was impossible. The empire didn't have anything that powerful.
Just as she was about to give up hope, she had a breakthrough. She couldn't block the attack, but maybe she could repair the damage. Years ago, she had invented a device she called the "Mirror World." It was a revolutionary machine that could generate entire realities based on the stories and novels created by human imagination. Her theory was that by placing a damaged soul into one of these constructed worlds and letting it live out a life there—experiencing emotions, challenges, and growth—the soul could naturally heal itself. It was a long shot, but it was the only shot she had.
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Thanks for reading.
Stay tuned for more!
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Hello dear readers. Many of you may have read the novel that I deleted sometimes ago. This is actually the same one, but I have changed the whole plot. I was debating about the plot for some time and couldn't make up my mind. I finally had an idea and wrote a completely new novel and of course, the chapters that you read in the deleted novel will also be here, though changed but in a better way.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Make sure to leave some power stones and a few comments! >.<