It hurts!
His mind screamed, his head felt like it was about to burst. This blood oozed down his eyes, blurring his vision. He couldnt make sense of what was going on. His mind couldnt focus as the searing pain made his eyes squeeze shut. But even in that dark vision, he could see something.
[Fourth Wall assimilation: in progress]
[10%]
He knew what it was, or at least it felt familiar. But even then, he couldn't make sense of what was going on. The pain Was truly unbearable. His concisousness slowly faded into the darkness, as only one thought filled his mind, "am I gonna die?"
[Fourth Wall assimilation: in progress]
[11%]
[12%]
[13%]
.
.
.
.
.
[99%]
100%]
[Fourth Wall assimilation: complete]
[Warning: Host under critical condition]
[Available Full Restore: 2/2]
[Forcefully Activating Full Restore]
...
His blurred vision slowly cleared, as got back up from the ground. The pungent smell of excrements and alcohol irritated his senses, fully waking him up. He looked around, trying to make sense of the place, while wiping thr crimson liquid away from his eyes.
"Where am I?", he thought to himself, while looking around. The alleyway was not something he should be familiar with. The last thing he remembered was him going to bed after doorscrolling. "What am I doing in an alley? Why am I bleeding?".
But strangely enough, his body felt completely normal, except for the feeling of disorientation. His body didn't feel like his own, even when he could control it pretty naturally– which in itself felt unnatural. Just like how the littered alleyway felt familiar, under the crimson moonlight.
"Wait, what?", he caught himself, before looking up at the sky. There, in thr dark sky, the majestic crimson moon shone bright, illuminating the earth beneath. Under the moonlight, cold sweat began to form on his forehead, as he took a step back. His form receded into the shadows, as if that would save him from the in invisible eyes he imagined on the moon. A certain name began to form in his mind– The Great Mother.
[Warning: Fourth Wall has been shaken]
A screen appeared in front of him, it's holographic blue display covered the moon.
[Refrain from thinking about such existence. The Fourth Wall has yet to fully stabilise]
[Stability: 70%]
"What is this?", he thought to himself, as he looked back down. The screen appeared in front of him once again. The warning was evident. "Is this what stopping me from geting pregnant?", he muttered, while stroking his chin. He then checked the top right corner, noticing the noticing the icon indicating his profile. He clicked it.
[Profile View:
Name: Aaron Turner
Age: 22
Species: Human
Sex: Male
Status: Stable]
Reading the information, he let out a sigh. "No wonder I feel weaker than usual. This body is severely Malnourished", he muttered, leaning against the wall. For now, he decided, not to look into this further. What he needed, was to understand his circumstances first.
He sat down on the ground, relaxing his head against the hard Wall behind him, and closed his eyes. He began to recollect the fragmented memories.
The body belonged to Aaron Turner, who lives at the back alleys of the East Borough of Backlund. His mother, who suffered severe injuries from a factory work, was bed ridden. His sister, who was 16, had to do the work at home. As for himself, Aaron had been working in the Docks for the past 3 years. Before which, he did all sorts of miscellaneous works. As the follower of the Lord of Storms, Aaron was able to find work at the docks with the sailors.
But in addition to that, he was also a delivery guy for one of the gangs in East borrow. The pay was cheap, and in one of those deliveries, he ended up getting beaten up by the rival gang.
"So Aaron died in that moment and I took his place", he concluded. "That's a brutal way to go, man", he said, letting out a sigh. "Still, Aaron is a better name than-", he paused, his mind filling with confusion. "Huh?"
Slowly, his eyes went wide, his tanned skin turned pale, as a single question filled his mind.
"Who am I?"
He could feel his experiences from his home world. He could remember the memories of him enjoying his books, other hobbies, like parkour, martial arts and cycling. He could feel the fun he had with his friends. The good moments he shared with his family.
But then, he couldn't remember any of their faces. He couldn't remember his own face. Anything linked to his core identity was a blur.
His heart raised, his breathing turned sped up, but he still felt like he was suffocating. His mind was turning pale. What's going on? Hw couldn't make sense. His attention turned back to the empty air, as he spoke again, "system, what happened to my memories?"
[...]
[Fourth Wall is shaking]
"Wha-?", he was taken aback, before anger took over him. "Fuck you!", he screamed, punching at the air. His fist felt a little numb but his whole hand phased through the screen. But that only made him even more angry.
With a flurry of curses, he began to kick and throwing everything he could find around the place. His rage continued, until exhaustion took over him once again. Grabbing his head, he slowly sat back down on the ground.
Through the gaps of his fingers, he looked at the screen again, while formulating a conclusion. "The system definitely knows what happened. But it's not telling me. Or it can't", he thought to himself. The scent of his blood still fresh. "God I need a shower..."
Strangely enough, he could navigate himself through this alleyway. He knew he was in the slums of East Borough. Finding his way back to the one room shelter he and his family rented out. He also knew what awaited him this place in the future. Walking in, thr first sight before him was jis mother sleeping on the bed. Her skin was pale and wrinkled, with severe scars covering her right side– a severe injury that made her completely bed ridden and sickly.
He turned to his right, taking a look at the tattered calender hanging on the wall. The date was April 2nd. From what he remembered, it was close to 3 months before the main story starts.
"Thats...", he paused, taking a moment to think, "actually a relief". Thus way, he had more time to settle into this world before he gets thrown into the main story. But honestly, he didn't even want to interfere. The sole fact that he was still in one-proper-human-piece at this point was a luck he couldn't count on all the time. He didn't even understand the purpose of this system.
"Brother?", a sweet high pitch voice came from behind him as he turned around. There stood a young girl, her skin bronze like his own, her hair and clothes dirty. It was clear she was busy with work thst didn't even give the kid the time to rest. Her soft yet thin face filled with worry, her brown eyes teared up as she ran toward him, giving him a hug.
"I told you not to go to those bad guys!", she cried, banging at his chest, her voice trembling. It caught Aaron off gaurd, taking a moment to realise who she was and why she was crying now.
"I am okay, Aria", he spoke back, slowly rubbing the back of her head. "Cmon, itw not even my blood. And you will wake up mom ir you are this loud", The calm and comfortable way he was consoling her creeped him out. For Aaron, she was just his sister, someone he deeply cherished and wished to keep safe at every turn. For Aaron, this should be natural.
But he wasn't Aaron. He had all the memories and could feel some of those experiences Aaron had. But he didn't have that connection. Even without his old memories, one thing he was certain of was that he wasn't Aaron. That Aaron died before he took over this body. Even as he consoled this little girl, trying to stop her from worrying after she saw her brother standing there, bleeding, Aaron could still not fully accept this whole situation.
But for that moment, he decided to just forget about it all, and just make sure this girl was okay. That was the least he could do for the girl who just lost her brother, without even realising it.
...
Later that night, Aaron laid down on the pain floor, using a folded cloth as his pillow. His sister spelt next him, while his mother still asleep on the bed. Lucky enough, she didn't wake up when he came, or she would have been worried herself. His sister was fast asleep herself.
"Okay, now time to check it out", he muttered, before looking at the air before him. As he expected, a blue holographic interface appeared before him.
Since he had already looked through his personal profile, he decided to look at his stats.
[Profile info:
Name: Aaron Blake
Age:22
Species: Human
Sex: Male
Status: Stable/malnourished
Pathway: Reader
Digestion: 40%
Attributes:
Strength: 7.5
Dexterity: 5.6
Constitution: 4.9
Perception: 5->6
Charisma: 6.1
Intelligence: 3.3->5.3
End]
He guessed the current increase in stats was because he became a Reader.
"That's...", he was a little taken aback. While this body was weaker compared to his real body, it was still above average. But when he considered it, it made sense since Aaron was working at the docks and for the mob for a few years. And while his connection with the mob wasn't bad, one thing he was certain of was,
"This guy is a piece of shit!"