Chapter 1: System Activated
"Run! Those demons are here again!"
Kael was jolted awake by the sounds of panicked shouting.
Blearily, he opened his eyes. All he could see were countless villagers, their faces gaunt and sallow, dressed in coarse linen as they fled the small village as if their lives depended on it.
He stared blankly at the scene, having no idea what was going on.
Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over him, and a flood of unfamiliar memories rushed into his mind.
His last memory was of picking up his charging smartphone. Then, an excruciating pain tore through his body. His vision went black. When he came to, he was met with the chaotic scene before him.
"The Land of Hot Water… Clearwater Village…"
"Demons…"
"Where… is this place…" Kael muttered, rubbing his throbbing forehead.
The village was a pocket of lush greenery, surrounded by square rice paddies that stretched into the distance. The people here lived off the land. He was an orphan in this village, helping on various farms during the busy seasons in exchange for food and a small wage. Normally, just like the other villagers, he lived a simple, peaceful life.
But today, for some unknown reason, the villagers were scattering in every direction, fleeing as if they'd gone mad.
Kael's brow furrowed. As he quickly sorted through the new memories in his mind, his expression twisted in horror.
"Jashinists!"
Holy crap! Don't tell me this is the Shinobi World! Am I dreaming?
Kael's scalp tingled with fear, and he broke out in a cold sweat.
SMACK!
He slapped himself hard across the face.
Instantly, a bright red handprint appeared on his cheek.
He winced. "It's not a dream!"
The moment reality set in, he had no time to worry about the stinging pain on his cheek or the question of how he'd been transmigrated. A single thought dominated his mind: Run!
In this body's original memories, the followers of Jashin were cruel, bloodthirsty demons. Every appearance was accompanied by slaughter and destruction.
In fact, this body's biological parents had been brutally murdered by those very same fanatics!
Kael quickly scanned his surroundings, chose a small, overgrown path that was rarely used according to his memories, and bolted.
The small village was already in chaos. In the distance, the crazed war cries of the demons mixed with the terrified screams of the villagers.
He couldn't help but glance back.
The sharp scythes in the hands of the Jashinists were already stained with blood. They swung them wildly, cutting down the terrified villagers like ripe stalks of wheat. Bodies were falling in droves.
Kael weaved through the fleeing crowds and darted onto the weed-choked path.
For now, the Jashinists' attention was focused on the large group of villagers. Dozens of scythe-wielding cultists were chasing the main crowd with frenzied looks on their faces, seeming to savor the terror in their prey's expressions. No one paid any mind to a single, scrawny kid breaking away from the pack.
Kael's current body was weak and undersized, clearly suffering from malnutrition. He kept his body low, sprinting through the tall grass, on the verge of escaping the Jashinists' line of sight.
Just then!
A cultist, having just finished painting a strange pattern on the ground with blood—a triangle within a circle—looked up for his next target. He had just completed some kind of dark ritual and paused for a moment.
In the distant woods, he thought he saw a figure flash past.
"Is that... a villager?"
The blood-soaked cultist froze for a second before a grin spread across his face. A thrill shot through him, making his blood boil with excitement.
"That's right! Run for me! Run faster!"
With a burst of movement, he shot off in Kael's direction.
Half an hour later.
The cultist watched the figure ahead, whose speed had clearly dropped, and let out a wild, excited laugh.
"Out of steam, are we? You can't escape from me!"
Up ahead, Kael had managed to calm his heart. He was navigating from memory, searching for the river he knew was nearby as a plan began to form in his mind.
Seeing the familiar yet alien forest and terrain, Kael's confidence in his escape grew. He risked a glance behind him while panting for breath. The Jashinist was about four or five hundred meters away, and the distance was closing fast.
"He started nearly a kilometer away and still hasn't caught me. That means he's just an ordinary person. Stronger and faster than me, sure, but not a shinobi with chakra. Otherwise, I'd already be dead! Which means... I still have a chance..."
The more desperate the situation became, the clearer and calmer his mind grew.
Thump, thump, thump...
His feet were a blur, kicking up a thick cloud of dust and dirt that obscured his figure, causing his pursuer to lose a clear line of sight.
Kael's coarse clothes were no match for the thorns and branches. In just half an hour, his body was covered in so many cuts that he looked like he was painted in blood.
Finally, he saw the glimmer of the small river.
As he got closer, a hint of excitement appeared on his face. This body was an excellent swimmer; its previous owner often came here to catch fish and shrimp to eat.
The river wasn't wide, maybe five or six meters across, but it was deceptively deep. You couldn't see the bottom just by looking.
The pursuing Jashinist saw him making a beeline for the riverbank, and his expression changed.
"Damn it! The kid is going for the water!"
By the time the cultist reached the river, Kael was gone. The only sign he'd been there were the faint, fading ripples on the water's surface.
The cultist's face darkened as he scanned the river. Suddenly, his expression turned sinister.
"Found you, brat!"
About ten meters ahead of him, a string of tiny, almost unnoticeable bubbles rose to the surface. To the uninformed, it would look like fish breathing. But he knew better. It was someone hiding underwater, carefully exhaling!
SHING!
He swung his scythe, the blade slicing nearly two meters deep into the water. A moment later, a crimson cloud blossomed beneath the surface, rapidly dyeing the river red.
"Hahaha! That'll teach you to run from me!"
The cultist retracted his scythe and laughed triumphantly. He didn't strike again immediately, choosing instead to admire the beautiful red stain spreading across the water, nodding as if appreciating his own masterpiece.
Underwater.
Kael desperately clutched the wound on his arm. His face was growing pale from blood loss, and his limbs felt heavy. His plan had been to hide until the enemy left, but he hadn't accounted for one critical detail: it was the dry season, and the tide was low.
The water was only two or three meters deep. Any movement at all could be spotted by a careful observer on the bank.
Just as he felt his strength failing and despair began to set in, he failed to notice that some of his blood was flowing toward a jade ring on his left index finger.
He had picked it up at a flea market in his previous life. He liked the look of it and had worn it ever since. He had no idea how it had followed him into the Shinobi World.
As Kael's consciousness began to fade, he suddenly felt a sharp, needle-like sting on his left index finger, yanking his attention back.
The pain grew more intense, followed by a powerful constricting sensation, as if his finger was about to be snapped in two. He used his right hand to try and pull the ring off, not wanting to suffer this bizarre torture in his final moments, but it was fused to his finger as if it had grown roots.
What… what is this? And isn't this ring from my past life? How did it come here with me? he thought in disbelief.
Then, a simple, blank panel materialized in his mind's eye. It was blurry at first, as if a second pair of eyes had opened in his head. A moment later, lines of text appeared on the blank interface.
[Binding Synthesis System...]
[System binding successful.]
[Activating Synthesis Interface, please wait...]