Morning mist had barely crept past the window when Alaric sat on his bed, breath still ragged after the strange experience that just occurred. An unexpected awakening that hurled him back ten years into the past. When his parents were still alive, and everything was untouched.
But before he could fully process any of it, the world around him suddenly fell silent. Time felt as though it had stopped, indifferent to the lives it carried along.
And then... everything went dark. His vision was taken from him, like a blindfold had been drawn across his eyes.
He awoke in a pitch-black space, surrounded by perfect darkness. No sound. No walls. No ceiling. Just the overwhelming sensation of emptiness. As if the universe it self had vanished, leaving him alone in the void.
A dim light slowly emerged in the distance, accompanied by a voice. Crisp. Emotionless.
[Synchronization Tutorial Initiated]
[Testing mental, emotional, and physical alignment of host]
[Please be seated]
A chair appeared before him. Simple, wooden, engraved with strange patterns he didn't recognize, but it looked... oddly inviting. He stepped forward, legs stiff and joints aching, dragging his feet like he'd done a hundred times before.
He sat down slowly. As his back touched the chair's frame, the system spoke again:
[Ideal Reality Simulation Active]
Without warning, the world shattered into fragments of light.
Alaric now stood in the middle of a vast, luxurious garden with cooling grass beneath his feet. Birds fluttered low beneath a serene sky. A soft breeze whispered through his hair. In his hand— a warm cup of coffee.
Laughter echoed from nearby. Alaric turned.
His mother, alive and well. Laughing beside his father, who sat under a gazebo in a relaxed shirt, arranging a chessboard. They looked peaceful. Happy. Whole.
And not far from them, a woman approached him. Someone he once called his lover. She stood beside him now, smiling with a warmth that wasn't forced. Her eyes sparkled without the deceit she once carried.
"Darling, let's have lunch," she said sweetly, wrapping her arm around his.
He froze.
This world it was too perfect. And it was that very perfection that sent a tremble through him. A deep unrest stirred in his heart, one that words couldn't quite reach.
It was too clean. Too ideal. The kind of comfort that clashed against the pain he'd lived through, like a world never meant for someone like him.
"Is this a dream?" he murmured. A strange fear clutched his chest. Fear that it wouldn't last. Fear that her smile was nothing but a mirage.
[This is a reflection of your deepest desires]
The system's voice echoed in his mind.
And then... everything began to change.
The sky dimmed. Laughter morphed into haunting echoes. The gazebo melted like wax. And the faces of the people he loved... cracked like glass.
His mother turned to him. Her eyes no longer warm, but heavy with disappointment.
"You were late," she whispered. "You promised you'd save me... remember?"
His father followed, his voice tired and heavy. "I trusted you, Alaric. But you failed... just like the rest."
The woman who once held his arm now walked away. Then she stopped and laughed coldly. Her expression shifted into a cruel smile.
"I told you, you're nothing but a loser," she said, before her face shattered like porcelain dust.
Alaric tried to scream, but no sound escaped. The world collapsed around him. The ground split open and swallowed everything.
Now, he was back in the chair. But in a different room. Colder. Quieter. As if the air itself were made of ice.
This time... someone sat across from him. Someone eerily familiar.
When he opened his eyes, Alaric found himself in a lavish room with marble walls, crystal chandelier above, and ceiling-high windows revealing a breathtaking cityscape.
A hand tapped his shoulder.
"Hey. You look lost."
The voice was familiar. Deeply so. Not just familiar like a reflection of his soul.
He turned.
And his heart froze.
Seated before him... was himself.
But not his current self. A version older, sharper, dressed in an expensive suit and glistening watch. Hair slicked back. Eyes full of confidence.
Taller. Straighter. Steadier.
This version of Alaric radiated the cold aura of a man who had conquered the world.
The smile on his face wasn't warm, just calculated. Intimidating.
"Who are you?" Alaric asked, voice rough.
["Me? I'm you... the version of you who achieved everything you ever wanted."]
Alaric stared at that face. His own face, yet it felt like a stranger. There were no wounds in those eyes. No fear. No doubt.
The system spoke again:
[This is your ultimate potential. The most perfect version of yourself. Do you think you deserve the power you seek?]
The other Alaric leaned forward, eyes sharp.
[If this is what you want... then why aren't you happy?]
Alaric stayed silent.
[Do you truly want to change, or do you just want to fail again, in a different way?]
The air grew thick. Heavy. His chest tightened. He wanted to respond. To defend himself. But he couldn't—because deep down... he knew those words rang true.
The system's voice softened.
[Full simulation commencing. Emotional sync accelerating.]
The room changed. Light flooded in.
Then the system spoke again.
[Final Question: What is your greatest regret in life?]
Alaric shut his eyes. His teeth clenched.
"I—I don't know," he whispered.
[Lie detected. Replaying memory.]
The world collapsed.
The chair splintered beneath him. The floor cracked open once more.
He was falling—again.
This time, back to the moment of his own death.
But this time brutally real.
He saw himself falling from a balcony. From every angle imaginable. As if the world had turned into a cruel 360-degree lens.
From above. From below. From the eyes of a child watching him plummet. From the eyes of his ex-lover, laughing as he died.
He heard his own neck snap. Blood splatter. Sirens arrive too late. Saw his own body broken, discarded like a rag in the rain.
[Repeat Question: What is your greatest regret?]
Tears streamed down his face. Not out of weakness, but because it felt as if fate itself had mocked his life.
"I..."
"I regret... believing everything would be okay..."
"Until I lost everything."
Silence.
Then, the system's voice returned. This time... gentler.
[Answer accepted. Honesty detected. Synchronization complete.]
Alaric woke from the tutorial, drenched in sweat. His chest heaved. A transparent panel appeared before him.
[System Synchronization: 100% Complete]
[Host Status: Ready for Primary Mission]
[Welcome to your new world, Alaric.]
He sat on his bed, still gasping for breath. But now, his gaze had changed.
There were wounds yet to heal. But those wounds... had hardened into resolve.
He was now one with the System.
And his journey... had truly begun.
__________________________________
"If given the chance to confront those who hurt you... would you choose to save them instead?"
Alaric stood in a world unknown, his soul suspended between past and future. The system demanded he undergo three ethical trials to prove his worth. And here it was. The first test.
Rain fell again.
Alaric stood in a narrow alley filled with shadows and the stench of trash. A flickering streetlamp at the alley's end buzzed faintly, as if unwilling to witness what was about to unfold.
[Simulation Active]
[Ethical Test I Initiated]
[Neutral response unavailable]
The system's voice echoed in his mind, cold and devoid of feeling.
Alaric didn't yet understand until he saw the figure lying on the ground, bleeding. Gasping.
It was Darren. His childhood friend.
The boy who once laughed with him beneath the mango tree in the schoolyard. The one who'd sneaked out of detention with him.
But also... the one who secretly sold his father's company secrets to a rival. A betrayal that sparked the chain reaction destroying his family's fortune and ultimately, his home.
A friend who had stabbed him in the back without warning. A friend he once trusted like a brother.
"This is just a simulation. It's not real," Alaric told himself quickly.
But the blood... Darren's blood staining the pavement. His shallow breath. His bruised face. All of it looked painfully real.
Two thugs stood nearby, one holding a metal pipe, the other laughing.
"Rich brat. Thought he could mess with us, huh?"
Alaric tensed. Eyes narrowing. Every muscle ready to fight. But his mind worked faster calculating every option.
The system hadn't granted him full powers in this simulation. But basic combat skills remained. After all, in middle school, Alaric had won multiple karate tournaments. Some even on an international level.
And yet... he didn't move. Not yet.
He knew this wasn't about winning. It wasn't even about justice. This test was about intent. The world is testing his sincerity.
The system's earlier words echoed in his head:
["Are you saving him because it's right... or because you want to look right?"]
His fists clenched. Rage boiled inside, rising like a storm he could barely contain.