[I am extremely sorry, Host! Due to a fault in my programming, I accidentally initiated the memory transfer without warning you first.]
I stared at the message. "You're telling me you have bugs in your system?"
[Yes, Host. I do have occasional errors.]
"Of course you do," I groaned.
So much for getting a perfect, all-powerful system like the main characters in those webnovels. My luck was still as terrible as ever, even in another world.
Whatever. I had bigger things to worry about right now.
"System," I said, pushing myself up to a sitting position. "Those memories I just got. They're from my new family, right? The SS rank family from that skill?"
The system responded immediately.
[Yes, Host!]
Those memories... they were absolutely insane.
From what I could piece together, I was now the son of Eoin Frostburne. The third richest person in the entire world. And I still had the same name: Michael Frostburne.
But the memories themselves were what really shocked me. This guy's entire life had been completely crazy.
Actually, wait. Something didn't add up here.
"System," I said, still sitting on the floor. "I'm in the same body, right? The one I first woke up in when I got here?"
A screen appeared.
[Yes, Host!]
"Okay, but that doesn't make sense. This body's original owner was an orphan. So how does he suddenly have a rich father?"
Before I could finish my question, the system interrupted.
[You're misunderstanding, Host! The original Michael Frostburne was meant to be an orphan in the novel. But your SS rank skill changed his backstory. Now he has always had a family, even though in the original story he never did.]
I blinked, trying to wrap my head around that. "So you're saying the skill rewrote history? Changed the past?"
[Correct! The Family Tree skill doesn't just give you relatives. It alters the world's timeline to insert them naturally. To everyone else in this world, you've always been Eoin Frostburne's son.]
That was... actually kind of terrifying when I thought about it. The skill had literally rewritten reality.
Anyway, enough of that for now.
Where was I again?
Right… the part about how insane this guy's life actually was.
How insane?
Well, when the real Michael, the original owner of this body, was five years old, his entire life fell apart. It all started with his mother's death.
One day, he and his mother went to visit a park. Normally, they would bring their usual security detail of around ten to fifteen bodyguards, like they always did.
But that day was different. Michael had asked his mother not to bring any bodyguards with them. He wanted it to be just the two of them.
They spent the evening doing what they always did. Watching joggers pass by, couples holding hands, old people sitting on benches enjoying the fresh air and scenery.
Nobody really noticed them. Why would they? They'd been coming to this same park at the same time for months.
But that evening, something went horribly wrong.
Just as the sun started dipping below the horizon, an S rank dungeon ripped open in the sky without any warning.
And out came a monster.
Just one.
But that was more than enough.
The thing was enormous. A giant octopus, easily as tall as a skyscraper, with tentacles that could crush buildings.
And that single creature proceeded to tear through the entire park. It destroyed everything in its path, killing somewhere between one and two hundred people in the span of minutes.
Michael's mother was one of them.
And it all happened because there were no bodyguards there to protect them that day.
After his mother died, everything changed for Michael.
He started blaming himself for what happened. Every single day, he'd remember that if he hadn't asked her to leave the bodyguards behind, she'd still be alive. And honestly, he wasn't wrong to feel that way.
But what really destroyed him wasn't just the guilt. It was what happened with his father afterward.
Eoin Frostburne basically disappeared from his son's life after that day. He threw himself into his work, barely acknowledging that Michael existed anymore. The business grew bigger and more successful than ever, but his relationship with his son died along with his wife.
Michael took this the worst way possible. In his mind, his father's silence meant one thing: he blamed him too. His father couldn't even look at him because he knew Michael was responsible for her death.
So Michael withdrew from the world completely.
He stopped leaving the mansion. Actually, he stopped leaving his room entirely. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and he just sat there on his bed, drowning in guilt and self-hatred.
This went on for eleven straight years.
He stayed locked in his room until he turned sixteen. Then something inside him just snapped. Not in a good way, though. He stopped caring about everything, including the guilt that had been eating him alive.
That was when he finally left the house for the first time in over a decade.
From sixteen to twenty-two, the original Michael transformed completely. He went from being a traumatized kid drowning in self-blame to someone who just didn't give a damn about anything or anyone.
He started hitting up every party, every club, every bar in the city. Alcohol became his best friend, cigarettes his constant companion. He was completely obsessed with both.
According to these memories, on an average day he'd go through six bottles of alcohol and fifteen cigarettes. Sometimes more.
That's what I'd call a complete transformation, just not the good kind.
His life had been one massive rollercoaster. From tragedy to guilt to complete self-destruction.
I always thought these kinds of dramatic life stories only happened in movies. But here I was, living proof that reality could be just as messed up. Maybe even worse.
At least now I understood why this room looked like a garbage dump.
This was the room of someone who'd given up on life at five years old, hidden from the world until sixteen, and then spent the next six years trying to destroy himself with every vice he could find.
And now it was my room. My life. My mess to deal with.
Great.
After sitting on the dirty floor for about five minutes, I finally pushed myself up and made my way back to the bed. I collapsed onto it, not caring about the smell anymore.
"This is going to be exhausting," I sighed to myself.
My new life was definitely going to be complicated. But at least it would be better than what the original Michael had been living through. Even if I'd never see my real parents again.
That thought hurt, but I pushed it aside. There were more pressing things to figure out right now.
"System," I called out. "Did you transfer all of the previous owner's memories to me? Everything?"
A screen popped up immediately.
[Yes, Host! All memories have been completely transferred to you!]
"You're absolutely sure about that?" I asked, feeling like something was off.
[100 percent certain, Host!]
"Then why does it feel incomplete?" I asked. "I can't remember basic stuff about this world. Like its history, geography, any of that. Why?"
The system responded quickly.
[Host, that's because of me!]
"What?" I sat up slightly. "What do you mean, because of you?"
[Host, I was only able to transfer 90 percent of the memories. The remaining 10 percent contains information about this world that my policies prevent me from directly giving you.]
"Are you kidding me right now?" I said, getting frustrated. "You just told me you transferred everything! You said 100 percent!"
[Host, technically I did transfer all the personal memories. Every experience, every emotion, every moment of his life is in your head. But certain world knowledge is restricted by my system protocols. I apologize for the confusion.]
I rubbed my temples. This was giving me a headache.
"So let me get this straight," I said slowly. "I have all of Michael's personal memories, but I'm missing important information about the actual world I'm living in?"
[Correct, Host.]
"And you didn't think to mention this earlier?"
[I should have been clearer. My apologies.]
Damn it!
I'd been here less than an hour and already had a major problem to deal with.
Now what was I supposed to do?
The only solution I could think of was to read a ton of books to fill in the gaps in my knowledge.
I looked over at the bookshelf in the corner. It was completely packed with books from top to bottom. There had to be hundreds of them.
According to these memories, the original Michael used to read constantly before he turned sixteen. It was the only thing he did besides blame himself for his mother's death.
But there was no way I wanted to read all those books. I wasn't like him. Honestly, I didn't want to read any books at all. Reading novels occasionally was one thing, but studying textbooks about world history? No thanks.
I let out a long sigh.
What choice did I have, though? If I didn't learn about this world, I'd be at a huge disadvantage. Not knowing basic information could get me killed.
"Looks like I have to..."
Wait. An idea suddenly hit me.
"System," I said quickly. "You have all the knowledge about this world, right? All the information?"
The system responded immediately.
[Yes, Host. I possess complete information about this world!]
My eyes widened. This could work.
"Perfect," I said. "Now I want you to make a list of everything about this world that I need to know. The important stuff."
[Understood, Host. Please wait a moment while I compile the information.]
"Take your time."
A few seconds later, a system screen appeared.
[Loading...]
[Loading Complete!]
[Host, here are the essential topics you should know about this world:
1) World's Monster History
2) Geography
3) First Dungeon Appearance
4) Monster Cores and Uses
5) Super Monsters History
6) Government and Laws
7) Rebellion Groups
8) World Power Structure
9) More...
Please click on any topic to view details.]
I stared at the list. "System, isn't this a lot to go through?"
[Host, don't worry. I've filtered out all unnecessary information and kept only the most important facts for each topic. Everything is condensed to save time.]
"Really? That's actually perfect."
This was exactly what I needed. The system had basically created a study guide for me, with just the crucial information and none of the fluff.
"You're a lifesaver, System. Seriously."
Without wasting any more time, I clicked on the first option: "World's Monster History."
A new screen immediately popped up with the information laid out clearly.
***
World's Monster History
***
Pandemic Date: March 1st, 2030
Disease Name: CONTAGI-30...