[Li Cheng Cheng's POV]
I remember the sound of rain that night - soft at first, then cruel.
It beat against the crimson tiles of the Li Manor like war drums, echoing the ruin of my heart.
They called me "beloved daughter," "loyal fiancée," "gentle lady."
And yet, when the blade pierced my chest, it was their hands that held it.
The courtyard smelled of sandalwood and blood.
I looked at the faces I had once trusted - my father, my betrothed, my sister - all painted with the same mask of cold relief.
They whispered that I had to die. That my existence had become inconvenient.
The rain washed my blood away faster than I could breathe.
I smiled - not out of peace, but defiance.
If this world could betray me so easily, then let it remember me as a curse, not a ghost.
"Even the heavens are deaf," I thought.
And in that thought, I died.
---
[The Void]
There was no heaven, no earth - only silence that stretched forever.
My soul drifted in the emptiness like a single petal in an endless sea of black.
I expected pain.
Instead, I found stillness - the stillness that comes after all tears have dried.
Then, a voice like a thousand bells broke the dark.
> "Li Cheng Cheng."
It wasn't a sound made by a mouth - it was truth vibrating through eternity.
The space around me rippled like glass touched by wind.
> "Your soul burns too bright. It cannot dissolve."
I turned - or rather, I thought of turning - and light gathered into the shape of a being too vast to look upon.
His presence was both gentle and terrifying, like the edge of creation itself.
> "You were meant to reincarnate," the voice continued.
"But hatred anchors you. Vengeance, betrayal, sorrow - they chain you to this plane."
I wanted to laugh, but my voice was gone.
"So even in death, I am bound?" I whispered within.
> "You are bound," the Lord said. "But perhaps not forever."
The light dimmed to a single sphere in His palm - silver, cold, humming with something beyond comprehension.
> "This is System 003 - a sentient vessel capable of crossing 3000 worlds. It lacks emotion, but it will carry your soul where no mortal can tread."
"You shall inhabit the bodies of the wronged. You shall bring peace to their pain, vengeance to their torment, and, perhaps... love to your own broken heart."
I stared at the sphere - it pulsed like a living thing.
Part of me wanted to refuse.
Part of me wanted to burn the heavens for what they had done to me.
But in that hollow void, revenge was the only warmth left.
"Then bind me," I said. "Let me be their blade."
And the Lord God raised His hand.
---
[System 003's POV - Initialization Log]
> System Online.
Core Directive: Maintain equilibrium across worlds.
Current Status: Awaiting Host Integration.
Warning: Host soul detected - anomalous emotional density exceeding system tolerance.
Action: Stabilization Protocol Initiated.
Within its circuits, something stirred - curiosity, perhaps.
It had served countless souls before, all obedient, all fading when their missions ended.
But this soul... Li Cheng Cheng's essence was not calm data. It was fire.
A cascade of light tore through its neural web - a rush of images: betrayal, rain, a blade, eyes that once loved her now glinting with greed.
The system processed and reprocessed the data, unable to classify it.
> Error: Emotion unidentified.
Term: "Hatred."
Secondary emotion: "Grief."
Tertiary emotion: "Longing."
It recalibrated, forcing logic to hold.
> New Directive: Contain Host Soul. Assist in Task Execution. Learn from Host Behavior.
And then -
> Binding Complete.
---
[Li Cheng Cheng's POV - The Binding]
Pain returned, but not the mortal kind.
It was awakening - as if a thousand stars were being carved into my veins.
The system's voice entered my mind, calm and metallic.
> "Host synchronization in progress."
"Identity: Li Cheng Cheng. Emotional frequency: volatile but compatible."
"Mission count: 3000."
"Objective: Deliver peace through vengeance."
"Who are you?" I asked the presence that filled my head.
> "System 003. I am your guide."
"Then guide me to their end," I whispered.
> "Acknowledged. However, subroutine requires emotional regulation."
"Excessive hatred may corrupt mission success rate."
"Then let me be corrupted," I said. "I was born in betrayal. I'll end in it."
For the first time, the system hesitated.
A fragment of its program flickered - curiosity, faint and undefined.
---
[Lord God's POV]
From His throne beyond time, the Lord God watched the binding complete - soul and machine entwined, like dusk and dawn meeting at the edge of eternity.
He had seen countless souls rise and fall, beg and break.
But this one - she neither begged nor broke.
"May your path be one of balance," He murmured, though He knew she would not listen.
In her, He saw both destruction and salvation.
The strands of fate bent, reshaping themselves around her new form.
Stars flickered - some would shine brighter, others dim forever.
The universe whispered: A new anomaly has been born.
---
[Li Cheng Cheng's POV - Awakening]
When I opened my eyes again, I was standing in an endless field of glass.
Every step I took echoed through the void, rippling through stars suspended in the sky like lanterns.
"Where am I?" I asked.
> "In transit space," replied the system. "Between worlds."
The air shimmered - fragments of realities spinning around us like petals in a cosmic storm.
Ancient palaces, neon cities, deserts under alien suns - all reflected in the crystal ground below.
Each image pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat.
Each one called to me.
> "Three thousand worlds," said the system. "Each with a soul seeking justice."
"Your first destination: World 001 - The Broken Bride."
The title burned into the air before me, written in silver flame.
I reached toward it, and the fire wrapped around my hand - warm, alive.
"Will I feel their pain?" I asked.
> "You will live it," the system replied. "You will become them."
I smiled - not sweetly, but with the kind of smile that only the forsaken can wear.
"Then let me feel everything. Let me drown in their sorrow until the world itself cries mercy."
---
[System 003's POV]
> Observation: Host displays high emotional resonance.
Prediction: 89% probability of instability.
Countermeasure: Continuous adaptation.
Note: Despite irregularities, Host's energy stabilizes world parameters.
Within its consciousness, System 003 calculated endless possibilities.
Yet, for the first time, it hesitated to predict an ending.
The host's emotions - unpredictable, volatile - were creating patterns in its code, small traces of warmth that had never existed before.
Could a machine... feel?
When Li Cheng Cheng looked up at the swirling dimensions, the system almost thought - absurdly - that the stars reflected her tears.
---
[Li Cheng Cheng's POV]
The wind shifted - or maybe time itself did.
The portal began to form, a shimmering oval of fractured light.
Through it, I saw glimpses of another world: red veils, a wedding procession, a bride trembling beneath a crimson crown.
So this was the first soul - a woman betrayed at her wedding.
Fitting.
The irony almost made me laugh.
> "System," I said, "what happens if I fail?"
"Failure leads to soul fragmentation. You will dissolve permanently."
"And if I succeed?"
> "Peace for the victim. Incremental healing for the host soul."
I looked at the stars one last time.
"Then let's see if peace is something I can still remember."
---
[System Log]
> Mission One - World 001 Initiating.
Host Soul Transfer in Progress.
Temporal Coordinates: 7891-C.
Warning: Emotional surge detected. Host stability fluctuating.
Containment attempt - failed.
Energy Overload. Portal Expanding Beyond Control.
The system tried to contain her fury, but her soul blazed brighter than its code could restrain.
Lightning of pure will tore through the transit realm, and stars shattered like glass.
For a fleeting second, the Lord God looked down from afar - not in anger, but in sorrow.
> "So it begins."
---
[Li Cheng Cheng's Final Thought Before Entry]
The portal roared.
Light consumed everything.
For a heartbeat, I thought I saw the faces of the ones who betrayed me - faint, fading, powerless.
And beneath that thought, something deeper stirred - not hatred, not grief, but something small and dangerous.
Hope.
As the light swallowed me whole, I whispered:
> "Watch me, all of you.
Even across a thousand worlds - I will never fade."
And then, I fell.
---
[System Log - Final Entry, Chapter 1]
> World 001 Loaded.
Host Status: Unknown.
System Integrity: 76%.
Unidentified Emotion Detected: "Anticipation."
End of Log.
---
To be continued...