Pain.
That was the first sensation. It wasn't the sharp, piercing agony of the accident that had claimed his life on Earth, but a dull, throbbing ache that pulsed behind his eyes like a second heartbeat. It smelled of mildew, old wood, and something faintly medicinal—herbal, not chemical.
Kai gasped, his lungs inflating with a sudden, violent desperation. He sat up, his body snapping forward like a loaded spring released from tension. His hands clawed at his chest, searching for the wound, the blood, the shattered ribs.
Nothing.
Instead of a sleek, blood-soaked t-shirt, his fingers brushed against coarse, rough-spun linen.
"What the..."
His voice sounded different. Lighter. Less ravaged by years of smoking and cynicism, yet undeniably his own.
Kai blinked, his vision swimming as the blur resolved into shapes. He wasn't in a hospital. He certainly wasn't in a morgue. He was sitting on a narrow, hard bed in a room that looked like a set piece from a low-budget period drama. Wooden beams crossed the ceiling, dark with soot. The walls were uneven plaster, peeling in the corners. A single window with paper panes let in a diffuse, grey morning light.
"I died," Kai whispered, the realization cold and absolute. "I know I died. That truck didn't swerve."
He swung his legs over the side of the bed. They felt light, weak. He looked down at his hands. They were calloused but slender, lacking the scars he had accumulated over twenty-five years of a hard life.
He rushed to a cracked bronze mirror leaning against the wall. The face staring back was him, yet not him. It was Kai—but younger. Nineteen, perhaps. His jaw was softer, his eyes wide and dark, lacking the predatory edge he had honed on Earth. He looked... average. Painfully, forgettably average.
"Transmigration?" Kai muttered, a concept familiar to him from thousands of hours reading webnovels to escape his mundane existence. "I kept my name. I kept my face. But I'm... weak."
A sudden, sharp chime echoed inside his skull, vibrating through his teeth.
[Ding!]
[System Initialization Complete.]
[Binding Host: Kai.]
[Welcome to the Supreme Dual Cultivation System.]
Kai froze. The air in front of him shimmered, splitting open to reveal a translucent, luminescent blue screen floating at eye level. Text scrolled across it rapidly, glowing with a soft neon hue that looked alien against the rustic backdrop of the room.
"A System," Kai breathed, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. The fear of death evaporated, replaced instantly by the ruthless calculation of a gamer who had just been handed a controller. "Finally. My turn."
[Status Window]
Name: Kai
Race: Human
Cultivation Realm: None (Mortal)
Level: 1 (0/100 EXP)
Physique: Mortal Shell (Impure)
[Attributes]
Strength: 4 (Average Adult Male: 5)
Agility: 5
Constitution: 4
Intelligence: 6
Charisma: 3 (Below Average)
Yang Energy: 1 (Critically Low)
Kai scowled at the screen. "Charisma three? Below average? And Strength four? I'm weaker than a standard peasant?"
[Correction: Host is currently in a state of malnutrition and underdeveloped cultivation foundations. The System allows the Host to increase stats, alter physical appearance, and ascend the Heavens through the absorption of Yin Essence and Quest Completion.]
The text shifted, highlighting the words Yin Essence. Kai understood immediately. This wasn't just a hack-and-slash adventure. This was a path of conquest—carnal conquest.
[Alert: New User Bonus Detected.][Would you like to open the Starter Pack?]
"Yes," Kai said instantly, rubbing his hands together. In the novels, this was where the protagonist got a legendary sword, a god-tier cultivation manual, or a pill that washed the marrow and cleansed the soul. "Give me something broken. Make me a god."
A virtual box appeared on the screen, shaking violently before bursting open with a shower of digital confetti.
[Starter Pack Opened!][Received: Minor Healing Potion x5][Received: Purified Spring Water x5]
Silence filled the small, dusty room.
Kai stared at the inventory slots now occupied by five red vials and five blue bottles of water.
"That's it?" Kai asked, his voice rising in disbelief. "Water? You gave me water? Where is the Heaven-Shattering Technique? Where is the Dragon Bloodline pill?"
[The System assists those who help themselves. Points are earned through Quest completion and successful dual cultivation. The Shop function will unlock as you progress.]
[Current Quest: None Available.]
Kai sat back on the bed, burying his face in his hands. He was level one. He had the charisma of a wet brick. And his grand arsenal consisted of hydration and a few band-aids.
"Fine," Kai gritted out, his eyes hardening. "I can work with this. I just need to know my standing. System, analyze my background. Am I a hidden Young Master? The illegitimate son of a Duke? Tell me I have resources."
[Background Analysis:][Host Identity: Kai of the Ye Family (Outer Branch).][Status: Commoner / Lower Class.][Assets: None.][Current Location: Servant Quarters, Azure Wind City.]
"Servant quarters?" Kai snapped, his head snapping up to look at the ceiling as if he could glare through the roof at the gods who sent him here.
He wasn't a young master. He wasn't even a fallen noble. He was a nobody. A low-class, poverty-stricken nobody in a world where the strong crushed the weak for sport.
"You have to be kidding me!" Kai yelled, throwing himself backward onto the bed. He kicked his feet into the air in a fit of pure, unadulterated frustration, thrashing against the thin mattress. "I died and came back to be a peasant with water bottles! This is the worst transmigration in history!"
He lay there, panting, staring at the soot-stained beams. The anger didn't leave him, but it transmuted into something colder. Something useful. Ruthlessness. If the world wouldn't give him power, he would take it. He would use this System, climb the ranks, and take everything—and everyone—he desired.
Just as he clenched his fist, swearing a silent vow to conquer this realm, a sound broke his concentration.
Knock. Knock.
The sound was gentle, tentative against the wooden door.
Kai froze, his heart skipping a beat. He scrambled to sit up, smoothing his messy hair, his eyes darting to the door.
A soft, melodic voice drifted through the wood—warm, mature, and laced with a sweetness that made his blood hum.
"Kai? Are you woke up, honey?"