"Hello, Alexander."
A purple panel materialized in the void before him. The text glowed with soft luminescence against the absolute darkness that surrounded his disembodied existence.
[GREETINGS]
[YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THIS EXPERIMENT IS APPRECIATED]
Experiment. The word echoed through his formless thoughts. Only the panel existed, floating in the nothingness like a window into something beyond comprehension.
"You killed me," Alex thought, and somehow the panel responded to his mental projection.
[AFFIRMATIVE]
[CIRCUMSTANCES CREATED FOR OPTIMAL TESTING]
[YOU CLAIMED CIRCUMSTANCES DETERMINE ALL OUTCOMES]
[NOW WE WILL TEST IS OUT]
Each line appeared methodically, reconstructing his argument from hours—or was it years?—ago. Time had no meaning in the void. Alex felt something twist in his consciousness. Recognition mixed with cold dread.
"So this is revenge for an argument?"
[NEGATIVE]
[THIS IS AN INQUIRY]
[YOU WILL BE REINCARNATED INTO A MEDIEVAL FANTASY WORLD]
[PROVIDED WITH A GOLDEN FINGER
[STARTING CIRCUMSTANCES: WORST POSSIBLE]
[HYPOTHESIS: DETERMINE IF KNOWLEDGE OVERCOMES DISADVANTAGE]
The Entity wasn't asking permission. It was explaining what had already been decided, what was already in motion. Alex processed this with the same cynicism that had defined his entire existence.
"And if I refuse this generous offer?"
[IMPOSSIBLE]
[YOU ARE DECEASED]
[OPTIONS: PARTICIPATE OR CEASE TO EXIST]
[CHOOSE]
There it was. The illusion of choice wrapping around inevitability like gift paper on a bomb. Alex's worldview crystallized into something harder than diamond. He was already dead. This Entity had murdered him over a disagreement. Now it wanted to watch him struggle for its entertainment, it was curious?
Fine.
"I accept," he thought coldly. "But let's be clear—I'm not doing this to validate your theory or mine. I'm doing it because nonexistence sounds significantly worse than whatever hell you're about to throw me into."
[ACCEPTABLE]
[REINCARNATION SEQUENCE INITIATING]
[PREPARE FOR CONSCIOUSNESS TRANSFER]
The void shifted. The portal opened beneath—or above, directions held no meaning here—pulling at his awareness with incomprehensive force. Colors that shouldn't exist swirled into patterns that violated geometry. Light and chaos merged into a tunnel that promised reality on the other side.
[GOOD LUCK, ALEXANDER]
[TRY NOT TO DISAPPOINT ME]
Then he fell into existence.
Reality reconstructed itself in fragments that assaulted his senses like weapons.
Sound arrived first. Muffled and distant, like hearing underwater. Voices shouting somewhere beyond his comprehension. Footsteps echoing through stone. The creak of wood and metal settling. Then sensation returned in an overwhelming cascade that made him want to scream. Something Cold pressed against his back. Pain radiated from everywhere at once, a symphony of agony conducted by bruises and cuts. The weight of a body settled around his consciousness like an ill-fitting coat.
Air rushed into lungs that burned with the effort. His eyes snapped open, then squeezed shut immediately as harsh light stabbed through his vision. Too much. Everything was too much. After the void's perfect nothingness, having a physical form felt like drowning in sensation.
Calm down, he ordered himself. Assess the situation!
He tried again, opening his eyes more carefully. Dim light filtered through the space around him. Stone walls on all sides. A small room, barely larger than a closet. No windows and a single door, wooden and weathered in front of him. The floor beneath him was cold and damp, unforgiving against his back.
He looked down at himself and froze.
His skin had the translucent quality of fine stoneware, pale enough to see blue veins beneath the surface. Bruises bloomed across his flesh in spectacular shades of purple, yellow, and sickly red. His hands were delicate, small, unmarked except for the injuries. He touched his face carefully, feeling sharp cheekbones under the soft skin, a nose that seemed too perfect, lips that belonged on a statue.
The body was beautiful in a way that unsettled him. He couldn't immediately determine gender. Probably male based on the flat chest and narrow hips, phew, but it was disturbingly like a doll carved by an artist who'd never quite decided what they were creating.
Around his neck, heavy metal pressed against his skin. A collar, without visible clasp. A slave collar.
"Worst possible circumstances," he muttered, his voice hoarse in the unfamiliar throat. "You really meant that literally. it could have been more though"
The purple panel materialized in his vision as if responding to his words.
[System Initializing]
[Host Detected]
[ANALYZING...]
Alex stared at the glowing text. It was real. Actually, genuinely real. Not a hallucination or a dream. The panel hung in space before him, translucent and softly luminous.
[SOUL INTEGRITY: 100%]
[BODY COMPATIBILITY: 72%]
[DIVINE AI SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
"System," he thought tentatively, testing the interface. "Are you functional?"
[CORE FUNCTIONS ACTIVE]
[KNOWLEDGE DATABASE: ONLINE]
[OBJECT ANALYSIS: ONLINE]
[BLUEPRINT GENERATION: ONLINE]
[SHOP: ONLINE]
[ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS: LOCKED]
[WELCOME, ALEXANDER]
He almost laughed at the absurdity. Here he was, beaten and broken in a slave's body in a supposedly medieval fantasy world, and a divine AI system was welcoming him like customer service. The dark humor of it cut through his pain and fear like a blade through silk.
"Display function details," he commanded mentally. maybe he had gone mad already.
The panel expanded, reorganizing information into clean categories.
[KNOWLEDGE DATABASE]
Access comprehensive Earth information across all Topics. Query any subject for detailed explanations, procedures, historical context, and practical applications.
[OBJECT ANALYSIS]
Scan physical objects to determine composition, properties, and potential uses. Current limitation: Cannot analyze living beings or complex magical constructs.
[BLUEPRINT GENERATION]
Create detailed plans for constructing technology, tools, or innovations based on available resources and existing knowledge.
[SHOP]
Purchase additional functions, skills, and rare materials using points earned through achievements and quest completion. Prices vary significantly based on value and rarity.
This was more than he'd expected. More than he'd dared hope for when the Entity was explaining. This wasn't just information—it was an active system designed to help him implement that knowledge in practical ways.
"What happened to this body's original owner?"
[ACCESSING FRAGMENTED MEMORIES...]
[SUBJECT: UNNAMED SLAVE, AGE 17 YEARS]
[STATUS: DECEASED - HEAD TRAUMA FROM BEATING]
[The slave had broken a few plates while carrying them to the kitchen]
[PUNISHMENT: SEVERE BEATING BY OVERSEER]
[The household has held him in this storage room for recovery and reflection at its mistakes. ]
So the boy had died from injuries they'd inflicted, but they thought he was merely unconscious. They'd thrown him in here to either recover or die quietly where no one would have to deal with it. Instead, Alex had taken his place in a body that still bore the marks of its previous owner's final moments.
He tried to access deeper memories but found only fragments. Flashes of pain. Endless fear. Casual cruelty delivered without malice. The boy hadn't had a name anyone bothered to use. He'd been "slave" or "you" or "that one." His existence had been suffering without purpose, life without value.
"How long has this body been dead?"
[Approximately 4 hours]
Alex pushed himself upright slowly, ignoring the protest of every muscle. He needed to understand his situation before anyone checked on him. He needed to know where he was, what resources existed, what options remained available.
The room was sparse to the point of cruelty. Stone walls a wooden door, In one corner sat a bucket that probably served as a toilet. No furniture, no bedding, nothing except him and the cold.
He tested the door. It was locked from the outside, naturally.
"Scan surroundings," he thought at the System.
[Scanning...]
[Stone walls: High density Limestone]
[Door: Oak wood, Moderately Sturdy]
[Bucket: Iron Ore]
The System could scan without physical contact. That would prove useful. Alex returned to where he'd woken and sat carefully, conserving his limited strength.
His mind cleared as the initial shock faded. He was a slave in a body that looked like a porcelain doll, covered in bruises and was locked in a storage room. The Entity had promised him the worst circumstances possible, and it had delivered with precision.
But he had knowledge of his previous life. He had a System. He had something the original owner of this body never possessed—a lifetime of understanding how things functioned, how to manipulate circumstances even when starting from nothing.
"Show me Knowledge Database categories." He muttered
The panel shifted, revealing scope that surprised him.
[Knowledge Database Categories]
[SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY]
[Physics]
[Chemistry]
[Engineering]
[Mathematics]
[Tap to see more..]
[MEDICINE & HEALTH]
[Anatomy]
[Biology]
[Disease Treatment]
[Surgery]
[Pharmacology]
[ENTERTAINMENT & MEDIA]
[Literature]
[Music]
[Theater]
[Games]
[Art]
[Tap to see more..]
[HISTORY]
[World History]
[Political Theory]
[Economics]
[Logic]
[LANGUAGES & CULTURE]
[Linguistics]
[Anthropology]
[Sociology]
[Traditions]
[PRACTICAL SKILLS]
[Culinary Arts]
[Crafts]
[Agriculture]
[Construction]
[Tap to see more..]
[QUERY ANY TOPIC FOR DETAILED INFORMATION]
Alex studied the categories with growing understanding. Entertainment and Media caught his eye initially—thousands of stories, songs, games from Earth. Valuable knowledge, certainly.
But also worthless.
"Entertainment can be stolen," he murmured. "Tell one story well, and anyone listening can retell it. Teach one card game, and it spreads like wildfire. The value transfers away from me the moment I share it."
The other branches though... Those couldn't be replicated through observation alone. Someone could watch him create improved soap, but without understanding the chemistry, the pH balance, the process, they couldn't reproduce it. The knowledge itself became the moat protecting his value.
The door rattled. Alex tensed, forcing his expression into something weak and compliant. The lock clicked and the door swung open to reveal an older man wearing the same slave collar as his, carrying a wooden bowl and hard bread.
"You're awake." The man's voice carried no emotion, decades of slavery having stripped away whatever spirit he'd once possessed. He set the food just inside the door. "Eat. You work tomorrow if you can stand."
He was already gone, not even wasting a second more than he needed to
Alex picked up the bowl. It was something Thin, and sluggish, barely edible if all. The bread was stale enough to use as a weapon. He ate slowly despite his stomach's protests, using the System to scan everything.
[Bowl: Carved Pine Wood]
[Bread: Flour mixed with water and salt. inedible and rotten]
The system could not identify the things he was given to eat, which meant that they were of this world.
Information appeared instantly with each scan. He needed to understand everything about this world's materials, its resources, what could be created with his knowledge.
Hours passed in silence. No one else came. Alex used the time to explore the System's capabilities, testing its limits. He scanned walls, floor, even his slave collar—though the System couldn't fully analyze the magical component.
[Slave collar: Iron base with Unknown elements]
[Function : Tracking and Physical restriction]
[Removal requires permission from caster or dispelling on enchantment]
So magic existed here. The System couldn't analyze it yet, but it could detect its presence. Important information for future planning.
As shadows under the door darkened with evening's approach, exhaustion finally caught up with him. His body demanded rest despite his mind's protests. He lay on the cold stone, using his arms as a pillow, and let consciousness slip away.
==============================================
Morning arrived with pain
Every muscle of his screamed as Alex forced himself upright. The bruises had darkened overnight, turning his skin into a dark mess highlighted by spots of white. But he could move, and movement meant possibility.
The door opened revealing the old slave from yesterday, he had returned with a muscular man whose frame did not even fit inside the small room. An overseer. The one who'd beaten the previous owner of this body to death.
"On your feet." The overseer's command carried no anger, just the flat expectation of obedience. He examined Alex with the same interest someone might show a potentially broken tool. "You'll work the gardens today. Don't break anything else. Next time, we won't bother with recovery."
He turned around and left, already dismissing Alex from consideration. The old slave gestured for Alex to follow.
They walked through narrow stone corridors. Alex counted carefully—there were four other slaves besides himself and the old man. Six total in the household. He observed everything with sharp attention. The layout of the building. The routines of the slaves. The way servants moved through the space with visible hurry and even a little joy.
They passed a courtyard where a young woman in servant's clothes practiced basic magic. it was simple light manipulation, making small glowing orbs dance between her fingers. So magic was learnable, even by commoners. That opened interesting possibilities for future consideration.
The garden was large and well-maintained, with herbs and vegetables growing in ordered rows. The old slave handed Alex a basket and pointed without speaking.
"Harvest the ripe ones. Don't damage the plants." He shuffled away quickly.
Alex knelt carefully, his body protesting the movement, and began picking vegetables, but his attention was elsewhere. Every plant he touched, he scanned.
[Tomato: Solanum Lycopersicon plant - Culinary and nutritional uses]
[Tulsi- Culinary and medical uses]
[Mint: Menthol - Digestive Acid, Aromatic properties, Pest deterrent]
[Garlic- Anti bacterial properties, Culinary use]
Each scan added information to his growing database. He moved methodically through the garden, harvesting what was required while cataloging everything. Rocks in the soil received scans. The wooden fence. Metal tools leaning against a shed. Everything became data.
A noise made him glance up. The young master walked through the garden with two companions, all nobles based on their fine clothing. They laughed about something, completely ignoring the slaves working around them.
Alex watched carefully without staring as they moved through the space like he was furniture, stepping around slaves unbothered and uncaring. Not hateful. Just utterly indifferent. The slaves were animate objects that happened to follow orders.
"Did you see the merchant's daughter, the one that Father mentioned?" one companion asked.
"Pretty enough," the young master replied with casual dismissal. "But her family's wealth is only one generation old. Hardly ideal for our standing."
They continued past him, their conversation fading. Alex also returned to his work, his mind churning. House Verlaine was minor nobility concerned with social standing and political marriages. They weren't powerful enough to be secure, which meant they cared deeply about appearances.
That could be exploited.
He continued working through the morning, scanning everything within reach. By midday, he'd analyzed dozens of plants, multiple soil samples, wooden structures, stones, even leather boots that were in the stables.
The System turned the data into points and applications. Knowledge accumulated like compound interest.
At lunch, slaves received more bread and water. Alex ate in silence, listening to the minimal exchanges between others. They didn't speak much—decades of slavery had taught them that conversation drew attention, and attention usually meant punishment.
But he learned things from their brief words. House Verlaine was phasing out slaves. The nobles considered slavery old-fashioned, something lower families practiced. They were replacing slaves with paid servants who had basic rights and could be dismissed rather than owned.
Within months, possibly weeks, the slaves would be sold off or quietly disposed of if unsellable. The household wanted to appear more refined and modern.
Alex felt cold certainty settle in his chest. He had a deadline. Become valuable enough to keep, or die when they cleaned house.
The afternoon brought different work—cleaning stables. More opportunities to scan materials. He analyzed wood types, metal tools, hay, even the manure.
[Horse manure: High Nitrogen Content - Excellent Fertilizer]
The more her scanned, the more addicting it became.
As evening approached and slaves were dismissed to their quarters—Alex finally had time to process everything he'd learned.
The slaves were all being phased out. This world had magic too, and it was common enough that even servants were using it in basic chores. The nobles weren't deliberately cruel as he had though, just completely indifferent to slave suffering. House Verlaine, the one her was under cared deeply about appearances and social standing.
He'd scanned many different objects and materials today. The System had cataloged everything, providing breakdowns and potential applications. Even if he could not find things to scan, everything was in the data base, though it was a bitch to find anything in that vast library.
As he lay on the thin mat in the corner of the slaves' quarters, something new appeared.
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED]
[SURVIVAL - DAY ONE]
[Rewards: 10 Points]
[SHOP ACCESS CONFIRMED]
[CURRENT POINTS: 10]
Points. A reward structure huh? Alex focused on the Shop function with sharp interest.
[SHOP CATEGORIES]
[SKILLS & ABILITIES]
Simulation Mode: 500 points
Enhanced Analysis: 300 points
Language Comprehension: 100 points
[MATERIALS & RESOURCES]
Deep-Sea Minerals: 5,000 points
Purified Chemical Compounds: 2,000+ points
Exotic Elements: 10,000+ points
Rare Earth Metals: 7,500 points
[BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES]
Extinct Plant Species: 3,000 points
Optimized Seeds: 1,000 points
Microorganism Cultures: 1,500 points
Alex studied the prices. He had ten points. Everything useful cost hundreds or thousands. The Shop could provide resources impossible to extract in this world—deep ocean materials, purified compounds requiring modern chemistry and high tech grade, even extinct species no longer existing in this world.
But they were impossibly expensive.
He needed more points, which meant more accomplishments.
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED]
[OBSERVER - COMPLETED 47 SCANS]
[REWARD: 15 POINTS]
[CURRENT POINTS: 25]
Still insufficient for anything significant, but progress.
Then something new appeared.
[NEW FUNCTION UNLOCKED]
[QUEST SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
[GENERATING PRIMARY QUEST...]
Alex sat up straighter, ignoring his body's protests. The panel expanded into a structured format that reminded him of video games.
[QUEST: STATUS ASCENSION]
[OBJECTIVE: TRANSITION FROM SLAVE TO SERVANT]
[TIME LIMIT: 60 DAYS]
[REWARDS: 500 POINTS, ENHANCED ANALYSIS FUNCTION]
[FAILURE PENALTY: DISPOSAL/DEATH]
[ACCEPT? Y/N]
Sixty days. Two months. That aligned with the household's timeline for phasing out slaves.
The System was actively guiding him now, not just providing information. It offered goals, objectives, a structured path forward.
He could refuse on principle. He wasn't a game character. He didn't need a System dictating his actions.
But failure meant death. The rewards—500 points would buy Simulation Mode. Enhanced Analysis could scan magical items and probably living beings.
"Accept."
[QUEST ACCEPTED]
[CURRENT STATUS: SLAVE]
[TARGET STATUS: SERVANT]
[PROGRESS: 0%]
[GENERATING SUB-OBJECTIVES...]
More information appeared, breaking the quest into phases.
[PHASE 1: DEMONSTRATE VALUE]
[Make yourself noticed by household management by Providing service exceeding normal slave capabilities, good luck host~]
[Progress: 0/100]
[PHASE 2: GAIN SPONSORSHIP]
[Earn recommendation from the family members and Secure an agreement for status transition]
Progress: 0/1
[PHASE 3: locked]
Alex studied the breakdown carefully, so the system wanted him to rise in the ranks.
But how? What could a slave do that would make nobles notice without threatening them?
His eyes drifted back to the Knowledge Database categories. Entertainment and Media gleamed with obvious appeal—stories, songs, games from Earth that didn't exist here. Valuable, certainly.
But fundamentally worthless for his purposes.
"Query: Please show me the medieval technology gaps with highest impact potential." he muttered
[ANALYZING...]
[HIGH-IMPACT INNOVATIONS FOR MEDIEVAL SETTING]
[Agriculture: Crop rotation systems, selective breeding, fertilizer optimization, pest management,...]
[MEDICINE: Germ theory application, basic antibiotics, surgical sterilization, disease prevention, cell discovery....]
[METALLURGY: smelting techniques, steel production, alloy development, heat treatment,....]
[CHEMISTRY: Pharmaceutical production, dyes, food preservation, basic compounds,...]
[ENGINEERING: Gears, mechanical advantage, structural improvements, measurement tools, Electricity...]
Each innovation represented centuries of advancement compressed into implementable knowledge. Each required deep understanding to execute properly, creating natural barriers against theft or replication.
"That's the path," Alex thought, his strategy crystallizing. "Technical knowledge that only I can implement. Make myself the only source of innovations they can't replicate without me!"
But he had to be careful. Too much too fast would make him threatening. Introduce gunpowder and he'd be killed as dangerous. Reveal too much medical knowledge and he'd face accusations of witchcraft.
Small steps. Valuable but not threatening. Build trust before showing his real capabilities.
He could start with something simple—improved medicines using basic chemistry anyone with the materials could theoretically create, but without his knowledge of the process, they couldn't. Better fertilizer for crops. Small metallurgical improvements to their tools. Things that clearly worked but seemed like natural ingenuity rather than impossible knowledge.
Once he had status and protection, then he could accelerate.
The purple panel shifted with new information.
[SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 12%]
[SUGGESTED APPROACH: DEMONSTRATE TECHNICAL VALUE]
He lay back down, his mind racing through possibilities despite his body's exhaustion. Tomorrow he would begin, the tales of Alexander.. the wise?? whatever, will be spread far and wide, be ready world!! Hehe Hehe.
The other slaves were already asleep, their breathing even in the darkness. They'd accepted their fate—slavery until death.
But Alex had accepted nothing. He'd been average his entire life on Earth, trapped by something he couldn't escape. He'd built an entire worldview around the idea that starting position determined outcome, that talent and luck mattered more than effort.
Now he had the worst starting position imaginable and a System that was omnipotent. Time to test his theory.
Status. That was what mattered in this world. Noble birth, talent, wealth—all forms of status. He had none of it.
But he had something they didn't. Every principle, every technological innovation, every practical technique from a civilization thousands of years more advanced. And a System that could turn that knowledge into his own.
"They want to see if circumstances determine outcomes?" he thought, staring at the ceiling in the darkness. "Fine. Let's conduct that experiment properly. I'll climb from the absolute bottom using my knowledge. Not because I want to prove anyone right or wrong. But because I refuse to die as a slave twice."
The experiment had begun.