[ International Esports player, Lukas Wykes was found dead in his lover's apartment. Cause of death: Mauled by a dog. ]
The news channels were having a field day with the surprising death of Lukas.
They spun the story in several ways, some targeting the pets and others portraying Lukas as a thief who entered illegally!
But unknown about the mortal conspiracies, the soul of the dead man was floating in the void peacefully…
Unconscious, dark, and devoid of life…
***
[ New soul has been discovered. ]
[ Scanning dormant success potential… SSS grade entertainment potential. ]
[ Requirement: >S has been achieved. ]
[ Scanning memories for personalized progression route… ]
[ Host's desire to possess a system outweighs other progression routes. ]
[ Designing a System. Grade: SSS ]
[ Note: The host's soul is found to be inherently weak. Power has been suppressed. ]
[ System grade: B (Upgradeable) ]
[ System Focus: Entertainment. ]
***
After what felt like a moment to Lukas, he found his eyes assaulted by a bright light.
The kind of light that falls on your eyes when someone pulls open the curtains in sleep.
He quickly raised his arms to shield himself from the light as his senses began to return one by one, slowly painting his silent, dark world with sounds and colours.
The first thing he heard was a faint whirring sound, and then came the smell, the fragrance of whiskey and stench of cigarettes.
He shakily removed his hand from his eyes, blinking several times to focus his vision.
*Trrk* *Shatter*
A slight movement from his hand caused a beer bottle to roll over the bed, falling onto the floor and shattering into many pieces.
But that shattering sound had managed to snap him out of his daze, reminding of what happened to him in Aella's apartment.
Pain. Lots of it.
Tommy had brutally torn his flesh apart while he was choking on his own blood, feeling his strength slip away and his vision fading.
There was nothing he could do except scream in pain and try to trash the dog with no success.
'I… died?' he thought incredulously.
If he died, then why was he alive? Paradox? Hello?
That doesn't make sense at all!
[ Yes, host. You have died physically and your soul was transmigrated into another world for another chance at life. ]
'The fuck is this floating screen?!'
Lukas once again snapped out of his reverie, jumping back onto the bed as a sudden floating window appeared in front of his eyes.
He continued to move backwards until his back hit the wall, and yet, the hologram remained where it was. In front of his eyes.
He had read several stories, comics, animes and what not, all of them showing a system that was capable of changing the MC's life.
But reading was one thing and actually seeing it in reality was another.
[ This floating screen is the projection of your mind to help you in acclimating to your new reality, host. ]
He blinked.
'Heh, projection of my mind? Then whatever that's being written is also just a projection of my mind too?'
[ The host catches on quickly. The system is honoured to be your chosen assistant. ]
"..."
Lukas stared at the screen blankly, and then looked down at his own hands, tightening them into fist and then opening them.
His skin was looking much paler than before, the shade that was more unhealthy rather than attractive. The nails appeared to be longer, like he hadn't cut them for ages.
And worse, his hand appeared to be bigger than what he remembered.
He couldn't be wrong about that information since he knew his hands quite closely. They were a core part of his life.
As he used them to play the games. Just games.
'If this system is my mind's projection, doesn't it mean I am technically talking to myself…?'
His eyes widened, staring at the holographic screen in front of his eyes.
'I'M SCHIZOPHRENIC?!'
[ Host is not schizophrenic. ]
The text changed, but that seemed to prove his suspicions even more.
'I am in denial too… is my subconscious controlling this screen or something…?'
[ No, the system is being controlled by the host's soul as well as with the help of !*@*##$. ]
"The last word is glitched out." Lukas pointed out, noticing how his voice felt more deeper and drier than what he remembered.
[ I know, host. You do not possess the authority to gain that information. ]
"Then why even hint me towards it…" he deadpanned, "I would've been fine without knowing till I have the 'authority' to know the truth.
Now my mind is going to overthink who is meddling with my brain and that's going to take up my energy for no reason.
In addition, I have a lot of other things to think about.
This body doesn't feel mine, I don't know where I am, I don't know what kind of system you are, and I also don't know if I am even on the Earth or not. That's a common troupe in fantasy novels."
The system patiently waited for Lukas's rant to end before displaying a different message that didn't quite answer his questions but in a way… it did.
[ Do you wish to retrieve the previous soul's memory remnants? ]
There was no way that Lukas was calm, as in reality, it was the opposite of it.
He was feeling so overwhelmed by every sort of emotion that he didn't quite know how to portray them.
And that confusion gave off a feeling of calmness, allowing him to focus on things that actually matter while allowing his emotions to cancel themselves out.
His excitement about being transmigrated with a system was being cancelled out by the feeling of pain and death, his last emotions.
His worry about his original body, his family and his friends was being cancelled out by the growing curiosity regarding the system and his current circumstances.
And lastly, his rage towards that fucking parrot… well that wasn't cancelled. No amount of emotions could cancel the unfiltered rage he felt towards that flying cretin.
But, it was indeed being suppressed by his pumping adrenaline, anticipating a twist in his life he never imagined before.
Thus without holding back, he whispered.
"Yes. I want to retrieve the memory of the previous soul."
[ The memory remnants, host… ]
"...Yeah, that."
***
10 Minutes later.
Lukas gasped, watching the fragmented life of this body's past soul, playing like a documentary film.
And yet, by the end, he could only stare with mouth agape…
"What the fuck is wrong with this guy!? A DEATH GAME?!"