A young man stared blankly at the blue sky above. His hands shifted, and his fingers flexed. He realized he was leaning back on a chair, a rattan chair, to be exact. Looking down at his hands, he found them rather unfamiliar.
Sitting up, he took in his surroundings. At first glance, the place he was in appeared small, but surprisingly, it felt quite cozy.
There was a manor, a pond full of koi fish, an outdoor barbecue area, and a small garden.
Next to him, there was a small table. On it sat a bottle of pills and a glass of water. Looking at the pills, a thought struck him.
‘Oh, have I reincarnated into someone's body? So this fellow commits suicide? No wait, commits sudoku, gotta keep it PG-13.’
Stroking his head, he mumbled, “No wonder my mouth tastes so weird.”
He grabbed the glass of water and drank it down in one gulp. Then, leaning back on the rattan chair, he muttered, “Well, after a life of fighting and slaying, maybe I deserve a rest.”
He stretched his body, groaning in satisfaction.
Shifting to a more comfortable position, he murmured, “Maybe this is heaven's gift for me after all the sacrifices I made. Though I'm not really into religion. But thanks anyway.”
He yawned and closed his eyes.
The warm sunlight basking on his body felt comforting. The rustling sounds of leaves sounded melodious to his ears. The faint scent of the earth smelled fresh and clean.
“I'll think of something when I wake up,” he mumbled as he drifted into his dreamland.
However, his soon-to-be sweet dream was interrupted by something.
Despite his closed eyes, he sensed the sudden appearance of something.
The young man sighed, “The last time I dealt with your kind, I kinda destroyed their entire shenanigans. So, why are you popping up in my face?”
“Since you've brought me here, I suppose you have an idea of what I'm capable of, right?” he said, still keeping his eyes closed.
Another chime echoed in his mind, yet the young man remained motionless, his eyes shut.
“Although this body is weak and incapable of much, it has my mind and consciousness,” the young man replied.
“And that's more than enough to screw you up,” he continued, the threat was laid bare.
However, the chime rang out once more.
The young man ignored it, refusing to open his eyes.
Another chime followed, but this one sounded angrier, more infuriated, like a bell struck with violent force.
Still, the young man ignored it.
Moments later, dark clouds began to gather in the sky above him. Thunder rumbled, and lightning cracked. The once-clear blue sky was now shrouded in endless darkness.
If any ordinary person were to witness this, their legs would tremble. They would know this was no ordinary lightning storm. It was Heaven's Wrath, designed to punish those who had sinned gravely.
Yet, faced with the crackling thunderclouds, the young man remained unbothered, as if they didn’t exist.
Suddenly, numerous bolts of lightning crashed down upon him.
Feeling the tingling jolt from the bolts, he simply sighed. Under his breath, he muttered, “Psychokinesis, Space Sword.”
Without warning, the dark clouds split apart, dissipating into nothingness along with the thunder. The clear blue sky returned as if the storm had never been there in the first place.
One could even hear a faint cry echoing through the sky, as though someone were weeping in agony.
“Told you. Now, shoo. Let me have my nap,” the young man said, waving a hand dismissively.
The chime stopped, and the young man finally drifted into slumber.
***
Southern Mystic Sanctum
A middle-aged man, sitting under a green-tiled pavilion, stared in the direction of the thunderous clouds.
Watching the wrath-filled clouds boiling over the horizon, he felt fear creeping around his body. He couldn't imagine being the one facing the thunderclouds.
“What is that child doing?” he muttered, looking worriedly at the clouds as he immediately stood up.
Just as he was about to rush in that direction, the thunderclouds boomed suddenly. He saw countless lightning bolts crash down.
The appearance of such thunderclouds was already a huge shock for him. But his eyes widened even further at the next scene.
Without any warning, the thunderclouds were cleaved in half, vanishing instantly.
“What?!” the man blurted out when he saw this.
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He sat back under his pavilion, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
Looking in the direction where the clouds had once been, he mumbled, “Just what is going on?”
He poured himself a cup of tea and gulped it down in one go, trying to calm his nerves. But evidently, one cup wasn't enough. He poured a second, a third, and eventually emptied the pot.
Despite this, the man couldn't shake his nervousness.
Suddenly, a lady ran over, gasping, “Chancellor! What's going on?! That's Heaven's Wrath, right?!”
The man, the Chancellor, nodded at her words. “That's right.”
“But how…?” the lady mumbled.
Triggering Heaven's Wrath isn't an everyday occurrence. Only those who have done something extraordinary would provoke it.
Even then, it would usually be only a bolt or two of lightning, not a cluster of them.
What was even more surprising was that someone had actually forced Heaven's Wrath away. Though dangerous, Heaven's Wrath was also a blessing.
If one could endure it, their strength would leap by bounds.
“It’s the Continental. I’m sure he knows what he’s doing. So don’t worry, Lyra,” the Chancellor smiled, attempting to reassure the lady. Though he smiled, it was a forced one. Even he himself couldn’t make sense of what was happening.
Hearing this, Lyra hesitated before nodding. “If you say so.”
***
Yawning out loud, the young man stretched his creaking body and groaned.
He sat up, staring blankly into the air, scratched his neck, and smacked his lips. He let out another yawn for good measure.
Glancing at the nearby pond, he approached it and knelt down.
His hands abruptly dipped into the water, scooping out a handful and splashing it onto his face. After freshening up, he took a closer look at his reflection, or rather, his new face, in the pond.
‘Wow, I look attractive. Handsome. Charming even,’ the young man thought to himself.
A perfectly clean and smooth face without a single blemish or trace of acne. Using those fancy poetic terms, one could call it jade-like skin.
Despite his fashionably inert senses, he could tell he looked like one of those ridiculously handsome male leads from xianxia dramas. Maybe even more attractive.
At least he didn’t have one of those fist-attracting faces. That would’ve been horrible.
“Looks like my man dumped all his stat points into Charm,” he chuckled. “But this long hair… I want to cut it. Feels inconvenient.” He stroked his neatly tied black ponytail, which almost reached his waist.
Pleased with a great nap and his new appearance, he finally turned his attention to the chime that had been ringing in his mind earlier.
<>
Welcome, Host. You've been chosen as the exclusive wielder of the Boundless System. Your body, mind, and soul are now linked to this interface.
Name: L4■■@+
Level: >■
Status: [undefined]
<>
Looking at the flurry of notifications and error messages, the young man was in awe.
“Weren’t there just a couple of chimes ringing? What the hell is going on with all these messages?” He shook his head.
“A small firewall, and it already fried its own CPU,” he muttered with a shrug. “What an absolute janky unit.”
Sitting back down on the rattan chair, he said out loud to no one in particular, “So, Mr. Boundless System, what do you want?”
However, no response came.
When there was no reply, he decided to kick back and relax. But just as he was about to lean back again, a chime rang in his head.
<>
Host, you have been selected to achieve great power. Through the Boundless System, you will gain strength beyond your imagination.
<>
Seeing this, the young man closed his eyes, exuding an air of calm serenity.
The system, however, was far from serene.
“So? What do you want?” the young man asked, ignoring the system’s apparent breakdown.
After a brief moment of silence, a new notification appeared.
<>
The Creator wishes to receive your strength to protect this universe. In return, the Creator will grant you rewards through this interface as a medium.
<>
“No,” he rejected outright.
He continued, “You’re in a Cultivator Civilization. Go find someone with a ‘heavenly physique’ or something. Surely there’s a bum child out there with some kind of ‘heaven-defying’ potential.” He emphasized “heavenly” and “heaven-defying” with dramatic air quotes.
<>
The Boundless System is bound to you. This system cannot be released unless the Host dies.
<>
Reading the message, the young man snickered, “For a ‘Boundless’ System, you sure are bound rather easily.”
<>
Please reconsider, Host. Your strength is vital to defending this universe.
<>
“Nope. Just let me nap in peace,” the young man replied, waving his hand as though shooing away a fly.
Suddenly, a voice called out from a distance.
“Luther! My child!”