Ryan floated above the concrete like time had stopped at that time, a soft blue light pulsing brightly around him, holding him mid air.
His heart started beating at the speed of a bullet, his breath caught halfway in his throat.
This wasn’t a dream, this wasn’t even death. This was something else entirely.
A cold voice echoed through the air—calm, robotic, yet it felt almost alive.
[Welcome Ryan West. You have been chosen.]
His eyes started to widen in shock, his voice cracked as he muttered the only thing which his half fried brain could process.
"What The Fuck are you? Chosen? Fucking chosen for what?"
[I am Something you will understand in upcoming time. For now, just know this—I am here to help you from this shit hole.]
"Help me?" Ryan blinked, completely overwhelmed by his own feelings. "Is this some kind of hallucination? Am I about to die? Did my head hit the ground and now I’m in limbo?"
The voice continued, unaffected by his confusion. "You have received one more chance in this life. A second life to prove to the world and you that you’re not a complete fat ass loser."
Ryan’s breath stopped for a while, his entire body started to tense.
’loser’
That word hit him harder than it would have, maybe because it was the truth.
He looked down at himself—bloody, bruised, heavy. A mess of human being floating in the process of life and death.
"What... what do you even mean by that?" He whispered to it. "I don’t understand... I’m just... I’m just me. I didn’t ask for any of this thing, I was going to..."
His voice cracked a bit as he continued. "I was going to die."
[You were. But I intervened, your story isn’t over yet. Not yet At least, Ryan West.]
Ryan’s mind swirled with panic. Sweat dropped down his temple. His heartbeat started to skyrocket, he was able to clearly hear his heartbeat.
"Why me?" He said. "Why would something like you pick someone useless like me?"
[Because you still have something inside of you, potential, rage, pain. I can give you the power to do it all, I can help you become the best in the world. I can help you take revenge on those who look down on you.]
Ryan didn’t speak, he went into deep thought. His breathing speed slowed down.
Memories started flashing through his mind like a cruel slideshow.
He remembered Sophia’s disgusted face. The cafeteria laughing hard at him, Josh’s boot slamming into his ribs, lying on the floor in tears.
Years of silence, years of being ignored, mocked. He slowly remembered them all.
He tightly clenched his fists.
His entire body started trembling—not from fear, but something else. The fire lit up inside of his heart.
Ryan raised his head to face the system, jaw tightening, his eyes focused a bit. "I’ll do it." He said quietly. "I don’t care what it takes, but I’ll fucking do it."
He clenched his fists tighter as he said that.
"I’ll definitely become the best, I’ll take my revenge and pay 10 times of it back."
He glared into the glowing air around him.
"Tell me what I have to do to achieve it?"
The system’s voice responded back without any sort of delay.
[Good choice, Ryan West. Step one—complete the quests given to you. They are designed in the way which will help you reshape your body.]
Ryan simply just nodded, sweat still trickling down his face. "Alright I am ready."
[Quest initializing...]
A blue screen flashed in front of him. Text typed itself out as if guided by invisible fingers.
[Main Quest: Reforge the Vessel]
[Objective: Get in perfect physical shape. Burn all excess fat.]
[Time Limit: None]
[Difficulty: ★★★★★]
[Reward: System Upgrade + First Skill Unlock]
[Failure: System progress will halt until completion.]
Ryan blinked at the screen, stared at it for a while. Then again.
"What the actual fuck!? I’m supposed to get in perfect shape? Do you even know what I look like right now?"
He looked down at himself—bloated belly, flabby arms, round body, short height and limbs.
He had a dull breath. ’That’s not a quest, that’s a fucking death sentence!’
["If you want to be the best in the world, this is the bare minimum. To command others, you must master yourself first."]
Ryan groaned. "Isn’t there like a charisma potion or something? Magic gym clothes? Anything of that kind of stuff?"
[No shortcuts. This system will give you knowledge, skills and structure. But the effort must come from you, that’s the only way it can be fruitful.]
Ryan wiped sweat from his brow, still suspended in glowing air.
He looked at the quest screen again, his heart dropped at the five-star difficulty.
"This is going to suck a lot..." he muttered under his breath.
He exhaled hard this time, nodded. "Fine, I’ll just do it."
"This is going to suck," he muttered.
[It will break you. And remake you.]
The system paused. For a short span of time, the silence stretched—almost like it was judging him.
Then—
[Welcome to your new life, Ryan West.]
The blue glow around him shimmered again—and his body slowly began to move downward, as if the gravity had re-enabled.
His feet gently touched the ground. There was no impact, no injury.