Chapter Text
Fuck! Did I get run over by a car yesterday?
Ivan groaned as he woke up. It was dark, his whole body hurt like hell, and was he lying on the floor? Why was he lying on the floor? He remembered going to sleep in his bed last night, and was he drooling? Augh.
Ivan wipes off his face in disgust and tries to stand up, which is easier said than done. His legs felt like he had run a marathon, and his body felt like he had gotten into a fight with a bull.
Why is it still so dark? Is it still night?
He starts to look around, but he couldn't really see anything clearly. The room was very dark, but still, he couldn't make out a single thing. He felt weird, like this was not his house, like he somehow got transported somewhere else in his sleep.
Something is wrong.... this is not my room, is it? No, it's not. I don't think my bed was that big, and is that a vase? Fuck, where am I? Was I kidnapped? Nah, who would even kidnap me? Did I get drunk and crash the night at someone's place?
Trying to reason with himself, he looked around for a light switch with no avail.
Where's the fucking switch? You know what, I'm just going to open the curtains, let's hope it's daytime because I can't see shi-
He stood there frozen to the ground as he stared up at the sky, his grip on the curtain that he just pulled tightened. His knees started to feel weak, and he felt sweat going down his forehead. He could feel his hair sticking to his face-
Wait
Scrambling backwards, he frantically grabbed the small mirror on the desk beside the window and froze when he looked at the face he saw.
It wasn’t his face.
He had black hair, not white.
He had brown eyes, not blue.
THIS WASN'T HIS FACE
He fell to the ground again. He couldn't think of anything. This wasn't his face, this wasn't his body, this wasn't his room. Where was he?
This wasn't his face.
This wasn't his face.
This was-
Ding!
Suddenly, it was silent in his head. He felt relaxed even though this situation was far from something to be relaxed in.
Hello!
He stared at the blue text in front of him, being very aware that he still couldn't feel any emotions.
Is it this thing’s doing?
Yes! This system noticed the user was showing signs of ‘losing control’, so the system, as per emergency protocols, decided to dampen all of the user's emotions for the user's own sake! Please don’t be angry, user! This system will release them once the second user has calmed down!
He stared at the messages with no thoughts in his head. He broke out of his daze when he saw the ‘system’ flashing a ‘?’.
“What are you and what am I doing here?” Is all he could manage to get out, now that his adrenaline was going down, his body was starting to hurt again. He sees the system’s ‘screen’ going clear and ‘....’ appearing to show that it was either thinking or typing out the response. After a moment, words appear on the screen again.
This one is known as ‘system’, this one was made with the purpose of helping the user in this new world, and for what the user is doing ‘here’; It is simple! The user has transmigrated into this new world!
His mind goes blank again, and his legs start to feel weak again.
Transmigrate-
User!
He blinked.
Phew! Please don’t panic, user!
Don’t panic. This fucking- How can he not panic? He’s just learning he’s in a whole new world and that the life he knew previously is gone, and he’s supposed to not panic?!
This system understands the user's panic, but it would have to insist on the user calming down, as the user is very close to losing control.
“Losing control?” So it can also communicate by reading his thoughts, yeah, he didn't want to think hard about that.
Ah! This one apologises! It completely escaped this one's notice that the user is not familiar with this world! The world the user is in has a way for humans to gain extraordinary powers through different pathways.
“Pathways?”
Yes! There are 22 pathways available to power! This system is very happy to educate the user on this at any other time. Right now, this system wants the user to relax and come to terms with his reality.
Is this thing serious?
Very serious user! This system will not allow its charge to die on the first day of their transmigration! So, please try to relax and drink some water! There is a glass of water near the bedside.
Wha-
Ivan turns around to look at the small table beside the bed, and yup, there was a glass of water there, but the real question was...
How did you know that?
This system knows many things! It is difficult for this one to explain it, but this system can see everything the user is doing and everything that is located or is happening around the user.
Huh. He didn’t know what to feel about that, about any of this. So, he takes its advice, sits down on the bed, and takes a sip of water from the glass. The warm water cools his hurting throat, making him sigh from the relief it provides, but he doesn’t take another sip; instead, he looks through his window and up at the crimson moon in the sky. There were no thoughts in his head; he just stared at it. He didn't know if the system removed the thing stopping his emotions or not, but he felt an ache in his heart looking up at it.
User?
Way to ruin the moment
This one apologises! This system just wanted to inform the user that they will get the memories of this body after waking up the next morning. He frowned.
Why tomorrow? Why didn’t I get them immediately?
That was this one’s doing! This system didn’t want to overwhelm the user with all the information at the same time, so it took the initiative to take this approach.
That's... very considerate of you. He didn’t know what to feel about that.
Thank you! It is this system’s duty to make this user’s life easier! On that note, this system will recommend that this user go to sleep; after all, this user must be very tired.
True, he was very tired, and it wasn’t like he could do anything right now, so he once again decided to take its advice and fall asleep.
.......
Mikeal Sterling. This guy- his, his name was Mikeal. He was the son of a wealthy merchant's family.
What kind of family doesn’t see each other for months?
He thinks as the guy in front of him keeps talking about the different types of watches they have, what design is more popular these days yada yada whatever, anyways he came here to get ‘his’ watch fixed to get out of the house and explore, get away from the servants which this guy- ahem him have now, he still didn’t know what to think about that.
“Here you go, sir!” finally.
“Thank you.” He takes the watch and stares at it for a second, pretending to care about it, and then moves to put it on, but apparently, the guy wasn’t done as he starts talking more.
“This is a good model, sir! But if you want there is a better version of this it-” oh lord, he starts thinking about other stuff to not listen to whatever this man was saying, like the fact he’s a beyonder already, it was how the previous owner of this body died, he found out about beyonder circles, found someone from one, got them to buy a formula for himself and lost control after drinking it, so he’s a ‘reader’ now apparently. He doesn’t know what to feel about that. On the one hand, if he had to become a beyonder, he would’ve preferred to choose for himself what pathway he wanted to choose, but on the other hand, maybe it’s good that he’s already a beyonder. From what the system told him, it’s very difficult for people to become beyonders in the first place, and the original owner of this body got lucky that the potion he drank was even real in the first place.
“Sir?” ah fuck
......
Everything looked so... old. Mikeal didn’t know what else to say.
Well, the year was 1339. He mused as he stared at a group of children playing nearby. Of course, it looks old!
The kids were chasing each other around, playing what looked like some version of tag. Looking at them, he started to think about his own childhood and the one this body’s original owner experienced.
I never liked to play tag. I was the slowest in my kiddie friend group, so everyone went for me first, and then I was stuck trying to chase everyone, as for the guy in this body....
He never had any friends. This guy spent his entire childhood stuck inside his house because his parents didn’t want him mingling with ‘poor’ people, and even the servants didn’t want to interact with him, fearing that they would get punished. As a result, he grew up very sheltered and read books all day and even had a small library inside the house because his parents welcomed his ‘scholarly’ attitude. It wasn’t that he wasn’t smart, Mikeal had to say this previous owner was clever. He would manipulate the people around him all the time to escape from his parent's scrutiny, whether it be buying books his parents didn’t approve of or sneaking out of the house. This was also how he came upon the topic of beyonders; he overheard some people talking about extraordinary people at sea and started snooping around.
I would say he was a fool, but... he was also a child who didn’t really know any better. Guess he did pay for that with his life.
He was broken out of his thoughts by someone crashing into him.
“Wha-” he began, but the kid was gone, running behind him through the sea of people.
Well, that was-
“YOU!” he was suddenly grabbed by the shoulders by a big man, and oh boy did the guy look mad.
“WHAT DID THAT RAT LOOK LIKE?!” ew, he thought as the guy screamed in his face with that putrid breath, and oh, he was being asked something.
“No? What happened, sir?” Finally, he was released.
“That fucker stole my wallet! Oh, when I get my hands on him, I'm going to gut him!” The man yelled and ran off in the direction the girl ran. Mikeal stared at his retreating figure, then sighed.
“Well... that was something.”
.....
He sighed as he plopped down on the bed of ‘his’ room, the events of the day still fresh in his mind. He grumbled and shook his head, trying to get those thoughts out, so he could relax. Just then, he heard the system pop up. He turned his head and squinted at the words on its blue screen.
Does the user want this system to silence the user’s thoughts so the user can relax?
This thing.... I told you not talk like that, it freaks me out, man. He watched as the screen cleared and got replaced by ‘...’ as it typed out a reply. After a moment, words fill the screen, and he scoffs after reading what was on it.
This system apologizes! But it can’t do that; this system was instructed to talk like this to the user! He raised an eyebrow at this.
But you said that you were programmed to help me.
Yes! Is there anything the user wants this system to do? This system will help to the best of its abilities.
Then change the way that you’re addressing me, I’m not comfortable with it.
User-
No
But-
Nuh-uh, I'm not reading anything unless you stop talking this way.
The screen goes blank and gets replaced with ‘...’ as it thinks about what to do. A minute goes by, another too, and he starts to become self-conscious.
Why am I acting like this? Guess this body’s age is influencing me, I am after all physically 15 now.
He sighed and got up to write some stuff down to take it off his mind and think more clearly. He opened a random book on the desk and started noting down what he did today.
.....
For the next few days, he followed the same routine: wake up and attend classes, and since this guy was homeschooled, it meant he would be inside his house all day... if he was the original. He now sneaks outside every day. It turned out this guy was good at gathering dirt on people and had scared all the servants into silence, so he could go out any time and no one even dared to say anything.
“Here you go, sir!” he thanked the lady and left the store. He had been buying a lot of books these days at the system’s directions. Apparently, he must act out as his sequence to advance. So, reading more books it is, and he’s already bored with all the books in his library.
Good thing I have a big allowance.
While the original wasn’t allowed to leave the house, he could buy anything he wished through the servants. Of course, this meant that his purchases would be tracked and reported to his parents. Good thing he could always bribe the servants.
But I guess I don’t have to do that anymore, considering they got that ‘guy’ to tail me. If I weren’t a beyonder, I wouldn’t have found out.
It was probably after the original guy failed to become a beyonder that he must have made a lot of noise in his room, and someone spoke up. Now he has a dude following him whenever he goes out, but since this guy’s parents haven’t said anything, it means they don’t discourage him from going out. Maybe they feel that he should finally have some experience in the real world.
“STOP!” huh? He turned around to see what the problem was, only to have someone crash into him. He looked at the person and managed to catch a glimpse before she went running in the other direction.
Black hair and eyes... looked younger than me too...
Suddenly, his shoulders were grabbed.
“DID YOU SEE WHAT HE LOOKED LIKE?!” Why me? He smiled politely and shook his head.
“No, sir, may I ask what’s the problem?” He was roughly let go off and without giving a reply, the guy ran off after the girl.
Mikeal stood there watching him disappear into the crowd. After he saw no sign of the man, he sighed and walked back home.
....
Is there a reason you want me to advance quickly?
Mikeal sighed as he looked at the various numbers of books scattered in front of him. Ever since this guy explained the acting method to him, he has been insistent that he should advance quickly, which was puzzling to him since he did not need to advance. While he wanted to go back to his world, he knew that would probably take a long time if it was even possible to do that, and it’s not like he had anything to go back to. He had no friends or family in his previous life; hell, he had nothing to go back to, so he wouldn’t really be opposed to staying here, considering he was rich here.
There are many dangers in this world, and the path that guarantees that the user will have a good life requires the user to reach a higher sequence unless... this system doesn’t want to talk about the possible consequences.
Wait... You can see my future?
In a sense, yes! This system can’t exactly ‘see the future,’ but it can see the different paths that the user can take and the futures that come out of taking these paths. Of course, this all depends on the choices that the user makes.
I see... I don’t suppose you can tell me exactly what to do every time.
There are many reasons why this system can’t do that, but this system is afraid it can’t disclose them for now. What this system can do is help the user make the choices that ensure the user will live a good life.
Good life? What exactly do you mean by that? What if the life that I think is good for me is not what you think is good for me? What then?
Then this system will simply revise its definition of a ‘good life’, for this system, the happiness and well-being of the user comes first!
......Were you programmed from a parenting book?
This system doesn’t quite understand what the user means...
Never mind...
....
It’s already been a month...
He thought as he tuned out the worker talking about the new popular books these days. During this time, he made some progress on his digestion of the potion. At first, he was concerned he was too slow at digesting it, but it turns out it takes a significant amount of time to digest potions.
If it takes that much time anyways then why were you hurrying me up in the first place?
This system wanted the user to start making progress right away.
I see...
Finally, it seemed like the worker was done trying to sell him more stuff, Mikeal smiled at him and walked out of the store after wishing him a good day walked out of the store.
I’m not really into philosophical stuff, but it seems I'll have to go outside my comfort zone.
He had asked the system a few days ago about how to act as a reader, and while he hadn’t gotten a straight answer, he was informed that it’s not just ‘acting’, it's also understanding the principles of the potion. Apparently, this guy is all about letting me ask the questions myself instead of giving all the information straight to me.
User
He stopped in confusion. The system never interrupts him unless he directs a question to it.
What?
Go left
He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion but followed these instructions. The system hasn’t done anything to harm him yet, and it seems to claim to do the opposite. After walking around the shop, he heard a commotion. He frowned, not wanting to be involved in a conflict, but kept walking. After exiting the alley, he saw a huge crowd up ahead and grimaced.
Do I really need to go there?
Yes, user, you can choose not to, but if you do, this system promises this user will not regret it in the future.
He stood there for a moment, considering whether he should even believe it, but...
What's the worst that can happen?
“ID SAY THAT WE SELL THE BRAT TO GET THAT MONEY.” well that doesn’t sound good...
He thought as he squeezed through some people, there he saw a young girl being roughly handled by a man, but she wasn’t just any young girl...
It’s that thief! Guess she finally got caught...
He stared at the young girl's face, even though she was in such a scary situation, she didn’t seem scared in the slightest. Instead, she was glaring up at the guy who was grabbing her wrist hatefully.
If looks could kill...
“We should just hand her over to the police!” another man standing near them yelled, but the guy sneered at him, like the idea had insulted him.
“And how would that help us get our money back! This brat’s been stealing from all of us for weeks!” She looks like she’s eleven. How can a girl that young evade so many people for such a long time? Unless...
“But...” the man stuttered, not having any defence.
He must want his money back, too... how many people did this girl steal from?
Suddenly, the girl turned around and looked right at him, and he froze up.
Fuck... she’s just a kid...
He thought as he stared into the girl’s eyes, even in his previous life, he was the kind of person to mind his own business in any situation. It was necessary to be like that to survive, after all, he couldn’t even hope to defend himself; what help would he be to the victim?
But... she’s just a kid who’s trying to survive.
What choice will you make, user?
He stared into the girl’s eyes, ignoring the men who were still fighting about how to get their money back. By this time, many people started leaving the crowd, either uninterested or having no time to spare. Just as the girl broke eye contact with him, he made up his mind.
“How much?” he asked as he walked up to the group of men, ignoring the girl entirely and keeping his eyes on the guy holding her wrist.
“What? Listen, I don’t have time for thi-”
“How much did she steal from you?” The guy blinked and looked at the other men while he kept his gaze entirely on him.
“I don’t know? Maybe 15 soli worth-” he reached out his wallet and took out two 5-pound notes. The group of men stared at the money, their eyes bugged out at the sight of the notes.
“Take these and give the girl to me, you can split it however you want, I don’t care.” He said, trying to appear as if he couldn’t care about any of this. The guy holding the girl just stared at the notes like he couldn’t believe it was happening.
“What are you going to do with the girl?” He looked past the guy to the man who spoke up, and it was the same one who objected earlier and shrugged.
“She stole something precious from me; I need to know where she sold it.” The man stared at him and then looked away when the guy holding the girl lets go of her and grabs the money. Mikeal spares them a glance as they start fighting over who should get what amount and looks at the little girl, who stared at him with a confused look.
Congratulations user! You now have a subordinate!