In a tenebrous room where no light reached, a young man was sleeping, surrounded by a mountain of junk food. The young man in question was Sorin Ren. A seventeen-year-old high school dropout who had all but given up on his future.
The young man had stayed up all night playing video games and was now oversleeping until noon.
Without warning, his alarm, which was the sound of a rooster, wailed throughout his home.
The loud and unpleasant sound caused Sorin Ren to jump up and hit the frame of his bed with his head.
The young man clutched his head and squirmed on the floor in pain.
"Goddamn it, stupid alarm".
Now wide awake, Sorin walked over to the blinds and opened them. Instantly, light enveloped the room, which told Sorin it was noon.
Normally, Sorin would be late to school by now, but after deciding to drop out, days like these were normal.
'Who cares about school anyway? I'm finally free from its clutches.'
Sorin sighed and walked over to his door.
At his feet was a plate of pancakes, with a note on top.
The note read, "Please stop waking up so late, big brother, you should be getting at least three meals a day. Also, clean your room and get a job, you smell like shit for crying out loud!"
Sorin grimaced at the note, but deep down, he knew his sister had good intentions, so he was willing to let her little jabs slide.
'That little brat, I'm so going to teach her a lesson for her language.'
Sorin grinned as if plotting something devious for the girl and put the plate on his desktop.
Walking inside the bathroom, Sorin looked at the mirror, and the person that looked back seemed like an absolute bum.
He knew he had let go of himself, but it left him in utter shock.
His long and disheveled black hair was all over the place, and Sorin had dark circles under his eyes. Most noticeably, he was growing a beard and mustache, which made him truly repulsive.
His sister made fun of him for looking like some vampire rat, but he had truly become one.
'Gods, what have I become?'
Sorin sighed and started cleaning himself. An hour later, his face was smooth, and he no longer reeked.
**
Sitting in the living room by himself, Sorin was playing video games. He usually had the house to himself at times like these since his sister went to school and his mom was at work. Also, he had no friends.
A moment later, his mom walked into the house. She came home earlier than expected, which startled Sorin a bit, but he smiled at her nonetheless.
"Good morning, Mom, how's it going?"
Sorin's mom put down her groceries with a sorrowful look on her face.
"Everything's going well, thank you, but Sorin, are you content with this?"
Sorin frowned.
"Content with what?"
His mother lingered for a bit but finally responded.
"Content with living like this. Kids your age should be at school, spending time with your friends. It hurts when you do this to yourself. You will only continue to stunt your growth at this rate."
Sorin scoffed and tried to find a rebuttal to her words, but simply couldn't.
Instead, he muttered, "I'm trying."
A brittle smile found its way onto his mom's face, and she said in a soft tone, "Good, because we care about you, I know things haven't been the best since your father-"
Before she could finish those words, Sorin cut her off and gritted his teeth.
"Please don't go there."
With those words, Sorin headed towards the door as if he wanted to run away from this specific conversation.
"I'm running to the convenience store. I'll see you later, Mom."
Sorin's mom frowned a little, but she simply waved at him and continued putting the groceries away.
Walking down the streets of his city, Sorin tried to forget his mom's words, which brought up unwanted memories, but little did he know that would be his last time seeing her.
**
Exiting the store with cup noodles and some other snacks in his bag, Sorin frowned.
The conversation from earlier had clung to his mind like a parasite and simply refused to go away. Sorin sighed.
He thought he had come to terms with his father's death, but he had not. His behavior reflected his feelings towards the matter, so until he was able to change, the tragic event would still haunt him.
Sorin came to that realization but had no clue on how he would take the steps to get there, but nonetheless he would try.
"I promise, Mom, I will sincerely try, for you and little sis.'
Just like that, Sorin had promised to change and wanted to be better in the future for his sister and mother.
However, the universe had different plans.
The deafening sound of a truck horn rang throughout the air. The driver slouched over the wheel and was knocked out.
Sorin took a step onto the crosswalk, but at that moment, the world froze.
Before Sorin could even register what had happened, he was sent flying. His body was destroyed upon impact by the monstrous vehicle, leaving no room for rescue.
Lying on the sidewalk, darkness started consuming his vision, and his five senses each failed him one by one.
Sorin was so distraught by the situation that he couldn't even form a comprehensible thought.
But one last thought crossed his mind.
'I'm sorry, everyone.'
Sorin Ren was dead.
**
Sorin awoke in an endless and dark void. Nothingness stretched forever in all directions, which made Sorin shiver.
'I guess oblivion is what happens after you die. Am I going to be stuck here for the rest of eternity? Hopefully not because I'd simply lose my mind.'
Sorin frowned and simply turned over on his side.
But suddenly, an incandescent light spawned in the void and filled what seemed to be an endless dark void full of light.
Somewhat stunned, Sorin turned around and saw a menu screen.
Sorin was beyond perplexed, 'What the hell is that?'
[Loading System]
[Do you wish to revive?]
[Yes] [No]
Sorin studied the buttons on the screen for a while and decided to humor them. He knew death was the end, the point at which life was irreversible, but he still wanted to see what would happen.
[Yes]
[Choice Successful]
[Revival Successful]
A frown appeared on Sorin's face. Nothing had happened to his body like he had expected, but it still got his hopes up nonetheless.
"Expected."
[You have received a legendary gift]
Sorin raised an eyebrow. 'A gift for me?'
[Do you wish to open it?]
[Yes] [No]
"Why not?"
[Yes]
[You have received SSS-Rank: Thousandfold Lotus Style]
[Stage's Achieved]: [0/9]
All of a sudden, Sorin felt something coursing through his veins. He felt his body becoming strengthened, more refined, more reformed, and simply better.
Sorin gritted his teeth; his body was changing, but the process was tormenting and hurt like hell.
"What the hell is this, ahh."
Before Sorin could continue convulsing, his world went dark for the second time, and he passed out.
**
Moments later, Sorin awoke in a vast field of grass. He was hurting both emotionally and mentally from all the things that had transpired. He was killed and would never see his family again. And as soon as he was killed, a menu of some sort materialized and brought him back to life. Not only that, but it also gave him a gift in the form of a fighting style.
Sorin shook his head and stood up. He would need some time to process his emotions, but more importantly, he had indeed been revived; the system granted his wish.
'This is too much for my small brain, I want to go home.' Sorin frowned deeply but observed his surroundings.
"This is not Earth."
Three moons shone their incandescent light in the night sky. The grass below him seemed to be glowing faintly, and the sharp mountains around him reached the heavens, dwarfing even giants like Mt. Everest.
Also, in the distance, he could sense the air vibrating as if a battle was going on. Whoever they were, he didn't want to cross paths with them anytime soon if their battle could affect him from kilometers away.
Sorin looked around more and stroked his chin.
Then his eyes widened.
He had been revived but was in an entirely different world.
"I've Transmigrated!"