Liam had a long day, he just wanted to get to sleep. He'd just turned 18, but no one knew that, except for him. Only his parents wished him a happy birthday, but they couldn't afford to buy him a present. He knew that, he knew they were trying their hardest to save right now, to put him through college. He just felt so bad about it. It wasn't their fault that his grades sucked, it was his! Well... it wasn't really his. It couldn't be his fault that he was never able to make it to class on time, right? It was those stupid bullies Max, Tom, and Josh. They always waited for him in the hallway, a silent threat for what was to come if he tried to get past them. Sometimes they weren't so patient, and would just chase him, steal all his money, then shove him in a locker. He was skinny, so he fit, it wasn't even that uncomfortable, but the sting of losing his parents' hard earned money, still left him hurting.
He knew they would never be caught or punished, they were cunning, but the main reason was, Tom's uncle was the Principal and he doted on Tom. Once, he fired a teacher that Tom didn't like citing molestation. The investigation was still ongoing, but Liam had a feeling that the court would rule in the favor of the Principal, especially after Tom went up to the podium to testify.
Today had been just like any other regular day for the school's smallest student. He was 18 and still built like a stick that a beaver had been chewing on. He got to school early, hoping to avoid his bullies and make it to homeroom today. There, he'd be safe. Unfortunately he had no such luck today, he was still spotted and shoved into a locker, he was going to look forward to the next 4 or so hours in the locker until someone opened it. So Liam decided to use that time to get the sleep that he so desperately desired.
Liam had no way of knowing that the locker that he was placed into on that fateful day was airtight. The student who modified it, did so because they wanted to keep food in it without attracting animals. Unfortunately, the locker attracted the bullies, and Liam, now inside the locker, had drifted off to sleep, not knowing that it would be his last day on this Earth. Liam passed away peacefully in his sleep, oxygen had ceased to exist within the locker and Liam had asphyxiated in the locker.
Liam's body was discovered not 20 minutes later by the girl who modified the locker. She was a lifeguard at the local pool, but although she tried to resuscitate him, he was already long gone. The bullies tried to plead innocence but they were all sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 20 years. Liam's parents were devastated and held a small funeral for their son with the funds they were going to use to pay for his college.
...
Liam awoke to the sun hitting him directly in his eyes. His last memory was falling asleep in that locker. So what happened? Did he get discovered and taken to the nurse? Liam sat up and shook his head side to side a couple times, trying to shake off the dizziness that he felt. He looked around, he was in his room, but it looked like it had been hit by a hurricane or maybe two. His walls were torn up, the wallpaper was coming off, his ceiling had a big hole in it, which is where the sunlight was coming from, and, worst of all, his room had bugs in it.
Liam had never been the biggest fan of bugs, too creepy and crawly and slimy to interest him. It was his belief that if he killed one its spirit would come haunt him in his sleep. The same went for spiders, bears, humans, really anything. He would avoid killing anything if he could. Sometimes it couldn't be helped, however. Sometimes there would be an ant in his way, or a spider on his bed and then he'd do what he had to... But for the most part, that involved capturing the bug and putting it outside, where it belonged.
Liam looked for his slippers, finding them resting on the floor next to his bed. Thankfully there were no bugs on them, however they were as disgusting as his room, so he still hesitated to step into them. As soon as he stepped into his slippers he heard a squish, he felt something slimy on his feet and realized that the bugs weren't on the outside of his slippers but they were on the inside! He drew his feet back up onto his bed quickly and looked at the damage. Luckily there wasn't much bug on his feet, but still, he carefully wiped it off with some paper lying close to his desk and then decided to go barefoot. Just then, he heard a loud *DING*. In front of him were glowing words.
<1/3,900Power>
<1/3,900,000 Talent>
<2x Power> - 2
<2x> - 4
<2x> - 8
<2x> - 16
<2x> - 32
Final Stats:
<32/3,900 Power>
<32/3,900,000 Talent>
At the same time as the numbers popped up on the screen in front of him, Liam began seeing faces in his mind... memories, as though they'd been there his whole life, he just forgot them for a minute. He learned that his mom was gone, his dad was abusive, and he was something called a Transcendent, a being who could wield enormous power. However, his talent was trash, and his level was trash. He couldn't even get into a class at "The Academy", the college for training as a Transcendent. Liam remembered that he got his admission letter, and where it said class, his read other. No class number like C-2 or D-2 or F-9... just other.
His father nearly killed Liam when he showed him that result. All his father wanted was to afford more Pound (a strengthening drug). That's where all their money went, but he never got enough. One minute highs are what were advertised for pound, but it didn't talk about the addictiveness, the side effects, or even the violent tendencies. Liam's been avoiding him since that day, but they both know that a Normie can't possibly become a Transcendent, not even with all the resources in the world.
Now fully integrated with his new memories, he realized that he'd transmigrated. Liam was in shock, at least as much as he could be while avoiding the bug covered floor. He wondered how this body died... he wondered how he'd died. However, no answers seemed to be coming to him, regardless of how many times he slapped himself. This wasn't a dream. This was a whole new world, with new possibilities. He was still about to graduate high school and move on to college. With his stat window, maybe he'd be able to fight back against the bullies that continue to torment him, even across worlds.
There was one thing that he couldn't seem to get out of his head though. Why did his stats only seem to double when he stepped on those bugs? Maybe he has a perverted system, one that requires him to step on things to gain his powerups. He would be doing his absolute best to avoid killing any more bugs though. The thought of what he'd killed was already giving him shivers. It was going to be a long day.