Darkness pressed in from every direction.
Deep inside a cavern, in the middle of the crumbling ruins of an ancient city, a frail young man lay on top of a stone altar.An unnatural silence ruled the place; there was no wind, no dripping water, not even the faintest hint of any living creature.
That frail young man… was me.
My breathing was shallow as I slowly forced my eyes open. My head throbbed, and my entire body felt unbelievably heavy.
My name is Ethan Cross.I was twenty-five years old, brown-eyed, blond, supposedly in the springtime of my life… and, up until very recently, a freshly fired loser.
It all started on a rainy day.
I was driving my car like an absolute idiot, going two hundred kilometers per hour, trying to shoot through a junction as if I had a death wish. The tires lost grip, the steering wheel jerked out of my control, and the next thing I knew, the car was flying off a cliff.
The last thing I remembered was opening my eyes with blood running down my face, the twisted wreckage around me. Through the mangled metal, I saw a man walking toward me. He spoke in some language I couldn't understand, muttering strange, distant words.
Then everything went black.
When I opened my eyes again… I was here. In this cavern. In these ruins. Lying on this altar.I had no idea how I got from that crash to this place, who that man was, or why I was still alive.
I tried to sit up. My arms trembled, and I nearly rolled off the altar. I managed to steady myself and looked down. I was wearing a black, torn, old-fashioned outfit that definitely wasn't mine. When I glanced around, I saw broken pillars, shattered walls, and collapsed archways.
It really was an ancient ruin.
I checked my body and felt a chill run down my spine.
I was skin and bones. This body looked like it hadn't eaten properly in weeks.
A small pool of water glimmered between the stones a short distance away. I tried to hurry toward it, but every step made me stumble; my legs threatened to give out at any moment. Using the wall for support, I staggered forward until I finally reached the water and leaned over it, splashing the cool liquid onto my face.
Then I froze.
The reflection staring back at me… wasn't mine.
Black hair. Black eyes. A face that looked at most eighteen years old.
I was in someone else's body.
On instinct, I immediately checked one very important detail.Still male.
"Ah… good. I'm still a man. Not a problem then," I sighed in relief internally.
Just like the protagonists in the web novels I used to read from time to time…Maybe I'd build a harem, fight dragons, and save the world.
…Yeah, right.
With this body? Are you kidding me?I looked pathetic. A single punch from a kid would probably put me in the hospital—if hospitals even existed here.
Where was my power? Where was my system? Who sent me here?
"Status… System… Menu…" I whispered to myself like a lunatic.
Silence.
Nothing appeared—no blue screen, no floating windows, no divine notifications. Just the oppressive quiet of the cavern.
I took a deep breath.At least I'm alive, right? Positive thinking…
I silently prayed that my very first transmigration wouldn't end in some tragic, humiliating way. Either way, I needed to get out of here as soon as possible. My current condition was terrible, and I was ridiculously weak. For now, my only goal was to leave this place in one piece. Everything else could wait.
I started walking at what could generously be called a "normal" pace, one hand on the rough stone wall, using it to keep my balance as I searched for an exit. I tried to follow any faint sound of wind, anything that might hint at the outside world. A thick smell of mold filled the air, invading my lungs with every breath and making my stomach churn.
After a while, I felt a light breeze brush against my skin.
An exit… I must be close.
I headed toward the source of the airflow—only to notice a faint metallic glint off to the side.On the ground, half-buried in dust, lay a small metal cube, just about the size of my palm.
Because I had, apparently, learned absolutely nothing from horror movies, my first reaction wasn't avoid it but test it.
I crouched down, picked up a few small pebbles from the ground, and tossed them at the cube one by one.
Good news: no traps were triggered.Bad news: I cut my hand on a sharp stone while picking them up.
"Perfect…" I muttered under my breath.
I tore a piece from my already ruined black outfit and wrapped it clumsily around the cut. Then, moving cautiously, I walked toward the cube.
In the end, curiosity won.
I reached out and picked it up.
The cube was cold. Not just cool—freezing, like it had been sitting in ice. The moment my bloodstained bandage brushed against the metal surface, something changed.
The world went white.
A blinding light swallowed everything. For a few seconds, all I could see was pure, overwhelming whiteness. Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the light vanished.
I blinked my eyes open.
Before I could even process what had happened, a voice echoed directly inside my head—a cold, mechanical female voice, devoid of all emotion:
"Suitable host detected."
…A system!?
My chest tightened, and my heart skipped a beat. For a moment, I felt like I might just collapse right there and start crying.
Instead, a shaky grin tugged at the corner of my lips.
"Finally… a system."