The beeping of the heart monitor echoed softly in the sterile white room. Fluorescent lights cast a cold glow on the boy's pale, emaciated face. His name was Arin—a name that had once belonged to a child full of laughter and life. Now, it belonged to a fragile seventeen-year-old whose body had been slowly ravaged by leukemia. The chemotherapy had taken his hair, his strength, and eventually, his hope. Only the steady beeping marked the final battle his heart was fighting.
Outside the hospital window, the world moved on—cars, people, the sunset bleeding orange across the skyline. Inside, time stood still.
A soft sigh escaped his lips. "I wonder if there's a world out there where I can live... really live."
The monitor let out a long, final tone.
Then, silence.
And then—darkness.
But not for long.
----
He awoke to a sharp gasp, air flooding into lungs that felt... younger. Lighter. His eyes flew open to a different ceiling—not hospital-white, but a cracked, water-stained surface. The walls were old plaster, and the floor was rough wood. A faint draft came in through a broken window, carrying the smell of dust, oil, and something fried in the distance.
Arin sat up quickly. His hands—small. His body—childlike. His heart pounded as confusion flooded him. Then, like a dam breaking, memories poured in.
Not his.
The boy he now inhabited was named Orin. Ten years old. An orphan in the lower districts of Velden City, a modern metropolis with highways, airports, social media, and smartphones—but shaped by a world-altering history.
A thousand years ago, the first portals appeared. Strange rifts in reality, connecting Earth to other dimensions teeming with monsters. At first, humanity was helpless. Cities were lost. Millions died. But then people began awakening—gaining classes and abilities tied to their very souls.
Everyone in the world awakened their class at the age of eighteen, a coming-of-age ceremony that marked the start of a life that could either rise or fall drastically depending on what class they received. Some awakened as Farmers or Medics, others as rare and powerful classes like Voidmancers or Spellblades.
Those who fought monsters, cleared portals, and sold rare resources were known as Professionals. Entire economies grew around the rifts. Some cities—like Velden—thrived because of the portals nearby. But if a portal wasn't cleared regularly, it would break, releasing monsters into the surrounding area. That was the terrifying reality of this world.
The Orin whose life Arin now held had lived in a run-down orphanage barely funded by the city. He'd scrounged food, avoided trouble, and dreamed of making it to eighteen, of getting a powerful class and leaving the streets behind.
But he died. A fever, untreated. No one even noticed for hours.
And now, Arin—once a dying boy in a hospital—was here.
Alive.
He got to his feet and looked out the cracked window. Below, the street buzzed with people and cars. Neon signs glowed. A billboard advertised a combat academy: "Awaken Your Future. Be Ready for the Rift." And above it all, in the distant sky, shimmered a portal—quiet for now, pulsing gently with light.
"I get another shot," Arin whispered.
No powers. No class. Just a second chance.
And he wasn't going to waste it.
Orin sat in the quiet room, the creak of old wooden boards beneath him, his gaze still fixed on the distant shimmer of the portal visible from the cracked window. His thoughts swirled, overwhelmed by the sudden change—new body, new world, a second chance. He had barely begun to process it all when—
[Ding!]
A sharp, synthetic chime echoed in his mind, as if a notification had popped directly inside his skull.
"Who?" Orin snapped his head around, scanning the sparse, dim room. There was nothing—just the same peeling paint, rusted bedframe, and faint hum of the city beyond.
"Who's playing a prank?" he muttered.
But the sound hadn't come from outside.
It had come from within.
Then more followed. Clear, mechanical, and undeniable.
[Life Simulator is binding...]
[Binding successful!]
[Host: Orin Kumar][Age: 10][Occupation: Not Awakened][Simulation Frequency: Once per week]
Orin blinked. A shimmering blue panel had materialized before his eyes, hovering in the air like something out of a sci-fi movie. The letters floated, glowing faintly.
Then, a new block of text appeared.
[Introduction: The Life Simulator will completely simulate your future according to your development trajectory in the real world. After the simulation ends, you will receive 1 reward. Simulations refresh weekly. Each simulation begins with a talent draw. Talents are ranked: White, Blue, Green, Yellow, Red, Colorful, and Black. White is the most common. Black is the most powerful. Talents are not judged by usefulness, but by their depth of interaction with the rules of existence. Black talents are the rules. They cannot be refused or avoided. Once drawn, they immediately apply to the host in the real world.]
Orin stared, mouth agape. His heart thundered in his chest.
This... this was the kind of thing he had only seen in novels and manga back on Earth. A cheat. A system. A golden finger.
He rubbed his eyes, then looked again.
Still there.
Then came two simple choices blinking on the panel:
[Start Simulation?][Yes][No]
Orin's lips curled into an incredulous smile. His hands trembled as he reached forward.
"All those stories were true..." he whispered. "A transmigrator does get a cheat."
He jabbed the "Yes" option.
[Simulation begins!]
[As this is your first simulation, all talent levels have an equal chance of being drawn.][Random talent draw in progress...]
Time slowed. A wheel appeared, spinning through a kaleidoscope of colors. White. Blue. Green. Yellow. Red. Colorful. And then—an eerie black glow.
It clicked.
[Ding! Congratulations on obtaining the Black Talent: Mortal Body Accession!]
[As a Black talent, it is immediately applied to the host.]
[Warning: Talent contradicts multiple core simulator parameters.]
[Mutual adaptation is progress]