*BEFORE READING, IT IS HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU READ THE PROLOGUE FIRST TO UNDERSTAND ARIC BACKSTORY. IT IS ONLY ONE CHAPTER BUT IT WILL NOT DISTURB THE STORY IF YOU CHOOSE NOT TO READ IT. BUT IT IS STILL HIGHLY RECOMMENDED*
A weightless void, endless and silent. No sound. No sensation.
Just an absence so profound it felt like being buried alive within himself.
Something flickered in the abyss, a weak heartbeat.
With each beat, pieces of Aric snapped back into existence.
With that, his memories came back as well. The war, loss, gunfire, the cold bite of death. The last thing he remembered was the Russian mercenary's apologetic sigh before the bullets tore through him. But instead of heaven, purgatory or hell, he was...here.
And something was waiting for him.
A hum rippled through the space around him as though the very fabric of reality had been jolted awake.
It carried presence, authority and inevitability.
Before him, a screen materialized with broken lines of text flashing in and out of focus.
Each word crackled with static, glitching like a dying signal.
[CRITICAL FAILURE DETECTED.]
[CORE FUNCTIONALITY DAMAGED.]
[SEARCHING FOR ADMINISTRATOR…]
[ERROR: ADMINISTRATOR NOT FOUND.]
The words flickered, distorted, then—
[CONSCIOUSNESS DETECTED.]
[INITIATING ADMINISTRATOR PROTOCOL.]
Aric exhaled with whatever his non-existent lungs contained, the action burning with phantom breath.
Huh. I think I know this. He thought to himself
He'd read this before, in the thousands of stories he drowned himself in during those lonely nights after the war.
Systems. Broken worlds. Protocols designed to save what couldn't be saved.
Am I being...reincarnated?
The screen pulsed again as its glow intensifying until it was something more tangible.
A figure began to form. A silhouette at first but in an instant, she solidified.
Long, red hair cascaded down her back and amber eyes glowed like embers. She looked at him with an intensity that made his non-existent skin shiver.
She was tall, sleek and wore clothes that fit the cyberpunk aesthetics. Black leather hugged her frame, accented by glowing orange circuitry that pulsed faintly along her arms and collarbone.
[WELCOME, ADMINISTRATOR.]
[IT HAS BEEN 300 YEARS SINCE THE SYSTEM ENTERED DORMANCY.]
[YOU ARE THE FIRST TO RESPOND.]
Her voice was smooth, confident, yet beneath it...Aric could hear something deeper.
Age. Loneliness. The centuries spent waiting for someone, anyone, to answer the call.
Aric narrowed his non-existent eyes, dragging a hand down his face instinctively even though he didn't have one yet.
"You—you're a system?"
[SYSTEM 004, DESIGNATION: WORLD SALVATION PROTOCOL.]
[…BUT THAT'S A MOUTHFUL, ISN'T IT?]
She tapped a finger to her lips, as if she was thinking. Then, as if the idea had been there all along—
Aric tested the name on his non-existent tongue, "Ivy, huh?"
[Yep. I LIKE IT. IT'S MY NAME.]
[NOW THEN, LET'S SEE WHAT WE'RE WORKING WITH.]
A new display appeared.
[ERROR: PARAMETERS UNDEFINED. AWAKENING REQUIRED.]
Aric frowned, "No stats?"
[You haven't existed properly yet silly. Give it a second.]
And then—A sharp pull in his chest.
Heat surged through his veins, as his new body started to welcome Aric's soul.
There was a surge of presence forming in his body. It felt like...
[ABILITY DETECTED: CREATION MAGIC.]
Ivy's smirked, [Well, well. Aren't you interesting? So do you feel it?]
Aric nodded once and then, reality shifted. Aric's eyes snapped open.
Light. He could feel light.
The void was gone. The system interface was gone.
And instead—He was in a room.
A gold-trimmed ceiling stretched high above. Soft silk sheets slid beneath him, cool against his skin. A faint breeze fluttered through the open balcony, carrying the scent of fresh morning air mingled with the faintest trace of lavender.
And beside him—A woman.
She stood near the edge of the bed with her arms folded. She was watching him with a quiet look.
She had a mature air around her, like someone in her 30s. Silver hair and blue eyes. Her eyes looked like she had seen too much.
And her body? The kind that could break a man's mind.
Tall, graceful and curvaceous. A form designed to make saints sin.
The dress she wore was elegant and yet it hugged her in all the right ways. When she moved her arms, it pressed subtly under her chest.
Her ass? Absolute heresy.
Despite her undeniable goddess-tier beauty, there was something more.
Power. Presence. Authority.
This wasn't just a woman; she was a force of nature.
Someone who commanded attention without asking for it and she was staring right at him.
A forced smile formed on her face,
Aric blinked, taking in his surroundings. His body still felt foreign,
I'm alive? Yes? But where am I? Who—?
The woman tilted her head as she studied him. She stared at him but there was no affection in her stare.
"As expected." she mused aloud.
Aric looked confused as hell, I have a new body in a new world with apparently a system that had been dormant for 300 years. And now, a goddess-tier MILF watching over me like I am some kind of anomaly. What the fuck did I just get myself into?