"Fuck!"
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.
Around me, trees stretched endlessly beneath a sky I didn't recognize. The air smelled of blood, which was probably mine.
I was dying.
An undoubtedly absurd situation.
I could clearly picture leaving my last breath in my old age in my previous world, held in the embrace of my children and grandchildren. My last thoughts had been of my late wife, whom I had been ready to meet in the much-rumored heaven she always spoke of.
So why was I here, bleeding out in some fantasy forest?
"If you were so 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 somehow transmigrated me.
Seriously, this was absurd. How do 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 one. 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.
There was a time in my life when I had been an absolute otaku.
I had watched thousands of anime, read thousands of manga and manhwa, and scanned through online forums day and night for news of a decent anime or novel being released.
That was when I encountered a chat thread where many were joking about Truck-kun — that hitting one could transmigrate a person to a fantasy world.
A fantasy world. Every otaku's dream.
Foolish and addicted as I was, I actually attempted such a thing. However, instead of waking up in a land of magic and swords, I awakened in a hospital with a shattered leg.
With that shattered leg came society's mockery and quiet judgment.
I endured all of it because of a woman.
The woman who had saved me. I had truly fallen for her charms.
Through her guidance, I began writing for web novels. I wrote many immersive stories, became somewhat popular, and my life gradually stabilized.
Amidst all of that, I confessed to her. She accepted, and we got married.
Time flew by. We grew older, had children and grandchildren, until she passed away, leaving me behind.
There was no sadness within me ... after all, she had been a blessing in my life, and she had left her precious gifts behind with me.
In this mortal world, no one was beyond time.
And so the day came, and I too died in the embrace of my children and grandchildren.
Or atleast I believed I did ..
But here I was. Dying for the second time.
Except this time, I had no idea where I even was.
[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. How had I forgotten about it?"
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 one.
[System Loading Complete]
[Global Expansion System Activated]
[Global Expansion System]
Host Information:
Name: Marfin
Age: 16
Race: Human
Rank: Initiate 1 Star
Special Trait: Gravity Manipulation
Special Ability: Beast Taming
Soulbound ability: Writer's POV
Location: Great Jura Forest (the deadliest forest on Erandor)
So. I had transmigrated into a young boy's body.
There was something deeply sorrowful about that realization. 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 was happening right now? Didn't the description say it was just there as a mandatory middleman?
[BEEP... BEEP... BEEP]
[Attempt successful! ChatZero has...]
Before the system's message could fully appear, it was altered midway.
[Much better! A mere system using me as a middleman? How ridiculous. How humiliating.]
This was way too absurd.
The systems I had been given as gifts were fighting one another while I lay there dying, forced to watch it all unfold before my eyes.
Was this some modern way of being cuckolded?
[Ahh... I forgot that my host is dying right now. Should I save him somehow, or just disappear along with him?]
'Hey, I can see your texts'.
[Right! I'll give you two options. Choose one.]
Option 1: Just die. (Recommended)
Huh? Was I hallucinating on my deathbed? What was 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 wondering why I'm saying such things. It's simple. If you live, I'd have to follow any instruction you give me. I'm bound to obey you ..this stupid species..no matter what. I can't even take over your body the way I took over the system.
And that, in itself, is a hassle.
"What about option two?"
I somehow managed to spit the words out through 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?
Wasn'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 straight out of the gate.
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!"
[Haa… 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 can immediately heal any wound and pull a person back from the brink of death.
Warning: This potion does not bring back the dead.
The flask crashed onto my body and shattered, slipping into my wounds and healing them instantly, leaving no lingering unease.
I checked my hand, my legs, my entire body.
"Hahaha… now this is the fun part of being in a fantasy world."
An unrestrained chuckle escaped my lips.
And just like that, I took my first step into this long-desired cliché of the 'System' trope.