BANG!
Such a crisp, clean blast. Masterful sound design.
A brand new pair of headsets and a copy of the latest Call of Honor: Black Ops 16, generously bestowed upon me by my parents.
It was my 19th birthday. Life was simple back then. Barely an adult, old enough to work but not enough for my parents to kick me out of the house. Maybe.
Oh, and let's not forget the twelve-year-old kid I just killed, right after he claimed to have slept with my mother.
That day, I was just playing the game, waiting for dinner and having a good time.
"Are you winning, son?" my father asked, while tapping at the door.
"Yeah, thanks for the game, it is really fun," I said, while keeping focus on the screen, "and this headset is killer."
"I'm glad, Keegan. But don't neglect your studies, okay?" he said, with some sort of teasing tone.
I just nodded back and continued playing, as I had some time until dinner was ready.
Personally, I think I was a good son. I did well in school, had graduated with honors, and was soon to start college, aiming for an engineering degree. I wanted to make them proud, to return something for all the love and support they gave me. Even if I didn't always know how.
However... I was always an outcast. I struggled to relate to my classmates, and although they always tried to include me, I never felt comfortable.
Maybe I was just a shy, introverted little boy. Or maybe just stupid, but I like the first option more.
Anyways, as you may have guessed, I had a negative amount of friends. Well, my sister and I had a good relationship, but there were days where we wanted to kill each other, so that doesn't count. Besides, she was six years younger than me.
I wondered what would I do next. Did I really want to study engineering? Could I pull it off?
Maybe... just maybe, if I worked on myself a little, I could get some friends, hell, even a beautiful girlfriend.
All I did was play games, read webnovels and comics. Not that I didn't like it, in fact it was a good life, but some part of me wanted more.
So right there, as the match was ending and the same kid that insulted me earlier now killed me about ten times in a row, I decided to expand my horizons, to change and be a new person.
But life, being the absolute bastard it is, had other plans. And none of them involved a beautiful girlfriend.
I was just about to power off my console when a sharp, brain-rattling screech ripped through the room, and everything changed.
The world seemed to stop.
Sound faded, as if the universe had hit mute.
Then... it happened.
Every screen, at least the ones I could see, blinked off, then flickered back on, like something had seized control.
My TV. My phone. My computer monitor.
All of them lit up with the same message.




[SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT]
EARTH HAS BEEN INTEGRATED INTO THE ARKANIS MULTIVERSAL ORDER.
ALL SENTIENT, COGNITIVE BEINGS WILL NOW RECEIVE SYSTEM ACCESS.
PREPARE FOR ADAPTATION. SURVIVAL IS NOT GUARANTEED.




I froze. Heart hammering. Breath caught somewhere between terror and pure, unfiltered nerd joy. Part of me dreamed that something like this would happen one day.
Hell yeah. I’d trained for this. In fiction. In theory. Through hundreds of webnovel chapters and late-night wiki dives.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Boy, I thought I was ready. My delusional little teen brain believed I had this in the bag. I didn't even consider that some whack could've hacked the local broadcasting system to air that message.
Still buzzing with adrenaline and anime protagonist syndrome, I ran straight to the kitchen, where my family was.
When I looked at my family, my heart beat even faster.
I could see yellow, crisp holographic screens in front of them, hovering in the air like I had always read. But now... it wasn't just my imagination.
"You guys saw it too, right?" I asked, practically vibrating. "The message, the system!"
My parents stared at their screens like they were reading some legal document written in alien. Understandable. They didn’t get how cool this was.
"I... I don’t understand this, dear," my mom said, squinting at the glowing screen like it was a recipe written in runes.
I quickly approached her and checked it.
"Holy crap, you're an S-class healer, Mom! That’s absurd! That’s busted!"
It was really happening. Classes. Stats. The golden dream of every webnovel nerd with no social life. It was real.
"What are you, dad?" I hurriedly asked him.
"An A rank tanker? What's a tanker?"
Holy shit. An S rank healer and an A rank tanker. My parents had a lot of potential. I wanted to see my sister's system window too, but she was staying at her friend's house. I would ask her later.
My heart pounded as I turned toward where my screen should’ve been. I didn’t even need to look. I knew it had to be there.
I glanced up, expecting to see my stats, my class, my new future...
But there was something strange.
There was no yellow window in front of me.
Nothing hovered. Nothing glowed. Just empty air.
My smile cracked. That… wasn’t part of the dream.
"Honey, are you ok—, " my mother said while reaching out to me, but in that moment, a big, flashy red message appeared in front of my face.
Fuck yeah, I thought, seeing its vibrant crimson color. I was just about to get an overpowered version of the system, because I was destined to be the main protagonist and of course, the main protagonist should have top of the notch version.
This wasn’t just the system. This was the main character special edition.
Red text? That’s protagonist energy. Absolute unit.
I was about to get some broken-ass cheat version. Legendary-tier. Unpatchable.
Finally, destiny was acknowledging me.




[SYSTEM ERROR: FATAL]
INTEGRATION FAILED.
SUBJECT CLASSIFIED AS NON-COMPATIBLE.
PURGE SEQUENCE ACTIVATED.




What?
What the hell did that mean?
Where was my legendary-class system? My overpowered stats? My destiny?
I think my parents read it too.
I don’t remember my expression, only the look in their eyes.
Panic. Confusion.
Fear.
They reached out for me. Too late.
It hit all at once.
Agony. Pure, searing, soul-ripping agony. Like I’d been thrown into a meat grinder, doused in acid, and set on fire for good measure.
Every nerve screamed.
Every inch of me burned, twisted, cracked apart.
I watched as my hands turned to dust.
Fingers first.
Then arms.
Then everything else.
I tried to scream for them. Mom, Dad.
But my voice didn’t make it out.
And then… nothing.
No light. No sound. No system.
Just the dark.
 

 
When I opened my eyes, I was immediately greeted by searing light and the overwhelming scent of dirt, death, and disappointment.
You’d think the first thing I saw would be awe-inspiring. It was. Right before it made me want to die.
Two suns hung above me, one a blazing red giant, the other a pale, ghostly blue. The ground looked like rust and rot had a baby, and smelled like something the Geneva Convention would’ve banned.
I tried to stand.
But it hit me all at once: the pain of being disassembled and slapped back together, the twin suns burning through my eyelids, the stench curling into my lungs.
I threw up. A lot, for longer than I care to admit.
Then I collapsed, face-down in radioactive mud, trying to remember which mistake had led me here. Oh right, being born.
But hey, at least I could breathe. For now.
I forced myself to move and face the sky. The heat pressed down like a giant hairdryer set to apocalypse. I needed shelter. Fast. But first, I had to stand up and start walking.
With some struggle, then some more, and just for fun, a bit more struggle, I finally managed to stand and slowly walk.
I shielded my eyes and scanned the horizon. Anything. A plant, a rock, a dead tree, a cave. Anything not actively trying to cook me.
Just when I was to hit medium-rare, I saw a small hole in the ground. All that crossed my mind at that moment were prayers to all the deities I knew, begging for it to be the entrance to a cave.
I forced my legs to move faster, stumbling, half-limping, until I reached it.
Thank the gods, the universe, or whatever the fuck was out there, it was indeed the entrance to a small cave.
Without thinking, I yeeted myself in like it was a cozy little Airbnb for the damned. Thinking back, what if there was some kind of dormant beast sleeping there? What if Nyarlathotep was peacefully having tea time and I interrupted it?
Lucky me, it was empty. Unlucky me, the smell down there could strip paint off a starship.
Peace, finally.
My skin was already bright red, but the cave's cool air dulled the pain. I exhaled, shaky, half-relieved.
But then the adrenaline started to fade... and the memories came rushing in.
Earth. My family. Mom. Dad. My little sister.
They were still there, on a planet now part of some higher order, something I didn’t understand, facing changes I couldn’t protect them from.
I didn’t know if they were okay. I didn’t know if they would survive.
Hell, I didn’t even know where I was.
Tears came before I could stop them. Cold and fast.
Then came the sobs. Then the screaming.
I punched the floor, cursed at the air, at the gods, at the fucking system.
The wet dirt didn’t fight back, but it hurt all the same.
This wasn’t what I wanted.
I didn’t ask to be thrown out. No guide, no system, no path.
I just wanted to wake up in my bed.
To hear Mom’s voice calling me for breakfast.
For this to be a bad dream that faded under the weight of pancakes and warmth.
Instead, I was alone.
And I had no idea how I was going to survive.