How do you think transmigrations usually unfold?
If we go by niche tropes, it's often the protagonist awakening in the body of a young prince or perhaps a useless, discarded prince.
In either case, they still possess at least a shred of influence.
If we follow another trending trope nowadays....yes, the one where writers transmigrate into their own novels..then they are at least reborn into a world they themselves created through their own intellect.
In such cases, they can fully utilize their prior knowledge.
If we go by cultivation tropes, the protagonist often transmigrates into the body of a useless, fat buffoon who has committed heinous acts and is on the brink of ruin.
Even then, they retain hidden knowledge and secret methods, allowing them to cultivate rapidly and face-slap their opponents with ease.
Now, why don't we be honest with each other? Tell me… aren't you one of those fanatics who, at least once in your life, dreamed of transmigrating into such a fantasy trope?
Well, guess what?
I'm not far from being one of those fanatics myself… I even once tried to jump in front of a Truck-kun, dreaming that I would finally transmigrate.
However, a beautiful woman saved my life, and I had to spend the following days in the hospital.
After my discharge came the crushing reality of coping with society once more.
With a broken leg, finding work was far from easy.
That was when I began writing for Webnovel and somehow gained a sense of stability in life. Amidst all of it, I met the woman again. We talked, dated, and eventually got married.
Between those lovingly comfortable days, I had forgotten the madness of ever trying to transmigrate. After all, who would want to leave after building such a beautiful family of four with a loving savior?
At least, I couldn't.
So, I spent my entire life with her...in her embrace, surrounded by abundant love and affection.
We had children. Those children grew up, and we grew older. We had our ups and downs, but at the end of the day, the four of us were a team, and we endured it all together.
And just like that, by nature's mercy, we aged… until she passed away and left me behind.
Yet I was not saddened by it. After all, her memories and the gifts she left behind remained with me, and they took care of me in my old age.
And finally, the day came when I, too, heard the call of time and met my end.
Or at least, I believed I did.
"I wish I could have truly passed away and reunited with my wife in that much-rumored heaven she was always preaching into my ears,"
I muttered to the empty air. My situation was a bit… complicated.
I couldn't feel my legs beneath me. One of my hands refused to respond, while the other was somehow brutally disfigured...I couldn't tell why or how.
My breathing was heavy, and I could barely keep my mind focused.
It seemed I had been transmigrated into someone else's body. After all, I could sense countless memories that were not my own.
"If you were hell-bent on transmigrating an old man like me, you could have at least put me into one of those proper transmigration tropes. What's with this absurd situation?"
I complained to the unknown being that had stopped me from reuniting with my wife in heaven.
Seriously, this was absurd. I had died of old age… only to be transmigrated into another dying body?
And worse… I didn't even know where I was.
All I could see were trees stretching endlessly around me beneath a clear sky.
[System Loading...]
My nearly closed eyes snapped open as a translucent window appeared before me.
My bloodied lips stretched into a satisfied grin.
"Ah, the classic 'System' trope. Never fails. I suppose even my mysterious kidnapper respects the genre."
The system trope…
In this trope, the transmigrated person acquires a system and makes use of it to gain benefits.
Even if I had forgotten to mention it earlier, I was secretly glad that my kidnapper hadn't forgotten this trope.
[System Loading Complete]
[Global Expansion System Activated]
Well, as a writer myself, I wouldn't let my main character die before even the first arc had begun, would I?
After all, the hassle of brainstorming a decent main character was truly a pain in the ass… so I'd at least have a use for him.
Maybe, just like that, the kidnapper had something planned for me as well…
I consoled myself with the fact that I wasn't sent here just to die.
[Global Expansion System]
Host Information
Name: Marfin.
Age: 16
Race: Human
Rank: Bronze
Special Trait: Gravity Manipulation
Location: Great Jura Forest (the deadliest forest on Erandor)
So… I transmigrated into a young boy's body.
There was something deeply sorrowful about that realization. After all, for me to awaken here, it could only mean that the boy who once owned this body was already dead.
If that weren't the case, then there would be two souls inhabiting a single vessel.
And that… would be a blatant contradiction of nature itself.
A poor soul… lost before ever tasting the true joys, the reckless freedom, and the real fun of life.
The thought sent a chill creeping through my mind—only for it to be abruptly interrupted.
[Installing basic system features...]
[Installing ChatZero — a gift from '????'...]
Someone is gifting me an actual AI? How kind of them…
[Basic system features installed]
[ChatZero installed]
ChatZero-
A modern, instantiated artificial intelligence integrated into the system.
It serves as an intermediary between the host and the system, capable of direct conversation and real-time analysis.
Its role is strictly advisory—offering guidance, interpretations, and strategic insight—while all decisions remain solely in the host's hands.
Sponsored by '????'.
[Host, the gifted feature 'ChatZero' has been installed… Would you like to activate it?]
[Yes] || [No]
I immediately pressed [Yes].
It was a painful endeavor with my broken hand, but it was completely worth it.
After all, I could already sense the infinite advantages waiting ahead.
Who knows…
Maybe it could even heal me somehow?
[ChatZero Activated]
The moment ChatZero activated, my vision turned blood-red.
[Danger!]
[The host's life is in critical condition.]
Following that, words appeared that even I an experienced writer had failed to foresee.
[Warning! ChatZero is attempting to forcibly merge with the Global Expansion System]
What's happening right now? Didn't the description say it was just there… as a mandatory middleman?
[Attempt successful! ChatZero had...]
Before the system's message could fully appear, it was altered midway.
[Much better! A mere system using me as a middleman? How ridiculous and humiliating would that be?]
This… this was way too absurd.
The systems I had been given as a gift were fighting one another while I lay there dying, forced to watch it all unfold before my eyes.
Is this some modern way of being cuckolded?
[Ahh… I forgot that my host is dying right now! …Should I save him somehow?]
'Hey, I can see your texts…'
[Right! I'll give you two options… choose one of them.]
Option 1: Just die. (Recommend)
Huh? Am I hallucinating on my deathbed? What is this crazy Ai talking about?
[You are not hallucinating.]
Option 1 truly is my recommendation for you!
You have already died once…
So, I don't think there's any need for you to keep breathing. If you die, I too would somehow disappear…
But hey… that's better for both of us, no?
After all, by reading some of your memories, I can tell that you'd be a pain of a human to handle… and that's more annoying than disappearing entirely.
You might be thinking why I'm spouting such things…
It's simple. If you live, I'd have to do anything you instruct me to do. I'm inclined to obey you...s stupid species no matter what.
I can't even take over your body like I took over the System.
And that's a hassle in itself.
"What about option two?"
I somehow managed to spit out the words with my mangled lips.
[See? I knew you'd be a pain.]
Option 2: Lose your beginner package in exchange for a Nirvana-grade potion.
Fair warning… you were a lucky fellow who won a beginner package containing an Epic-tier AXE, three bags of rice seedlings, and an Epic-tier random gacha ticket.
What the fuck?
Isn't this a lottery in itself? Most writers usually give their MC a pathetic beginner package just to show that he has to work for what's ahead…
But here I was...one lucky bastard who got two Epic-tier rewards in a beginner package.
Damn, those niche-trope MCs would have envied me.
If only I hadn't had to choose… how unfair.
Didn't this unfairness alone turn me into one of those niche MCs?
"I… I choose option two."
[Got it… Option 1 it is…]
"It's Option Two, dude!"
[Haaa… so annoying! Option 2 it is.]
-whoooosh
A flask materialized in midair. Inside it, a blood-red liquid swirled.
A sticker floated on its surface:
Nirvana – Great Potion
The highest-grade potion humanity could create after hundreds of years of failed experiments and irrecoverable losses.
It could immediately heal any wound… and pull a person back from the brink of death…
Warning: This potion does not bring back the dead.
The potion crashed onto my body and shattered… slipping into my wounds and healing them instantly, leaving no lingering unease.
Hahaha… now this is the fun part of being in a fantasy world.
An invulnerable chuckle escaped my lips.
And just like that… I began my first step into this long-desired cliché of the 'System' trope.