A jolt of awareness, sharp and sudden, shattered the endless nothingness. Jovi's eyes snapped open, not with a groggy struggle, but with the frantic gasp of a drowning man breaking the surface. He expected to see the sterile white ceilings of a hospital, or perhaps the terrifying visage of an afterlife. He saw neither.
Above him was a sky of soft, swirling lavender, streaked with wisps of gossamer pink that glowed with their own inner light. Two small suns, one a brilliant gold and the other a gentle amber, hung in perfect harmony, casting double, faintly shifting shadows. The air itself felt different—cleaner, sharper, and carrying a faint, sweet fragrance of unknown blossoms. He was lying not on cold asphalt, but on a bed of incredibly soft, luminescent moss that pulsed with a gentle, green rhythm beneath him.
"Where...?" The word was a dry croak on his lips. Memories, jagged and painful, flooded back. The little girl. The screech of tires. The truck's grille filling his vision. The symphony of shattering bones. The warm, sickening spread of his own blood. The profound, final regret of an unfinished story. He had died. He was certain of it. His body had been broken beyond any surgeon's repair. So how was he here, wherever 'here' was, feeling... whole?
He pushed himself up onto his elbows, his muscles protesting with a strange, new-kind-of-soreness. He was in a small, secluded clearing. The trees surrounding him were like nothing on Earth; their bark was silver and smooth, and their leaves were broad, crystalline plates that chimed softly in the breeze. A small stream, its water shimmering with a faint blue light, bubbled nearby. It was breathtakingly beautiful, and utterly, terrifyingly alien.
*Did I get isekai'd?* he wondered, his mind racing through the tropes of his beloved manga. *But where's the goddess? Where's the cheat skill?*
As if on cue, a sound erupted not from the environment, but from the very core of his consciousness. It was a crisp, neutral, and undeniably mechanical chime, like a digital bell ringing inside his skull.
[Initializing... Host Neural Interface Stable.]
Jovi flinched, his head whipping around. "Who's there?" he called out, his voice echoing strangely in the serene clearing. He saw no one. The only movement was the gentle sway of the chiming leaves and the lazy flow of the luminous stream.
[Scanning Host Vital Signs... Complete.]
The voice was unmistakably in his head. A cold dread, mixed with a spark of insane hope, began to bloom in his chest. This was it. This was the moment.
[Congratulations! Host has been successfully bound to the Invincible System.]
"Invincible System?" Jovi whispered aloud, his heart beginning to hammer against his ribs. The concept was both absurd and electrifying.
A translucent, blue-tinted screen materialized before his eyes, hovering in the air without any apparent source. The text was clear and blocky.
[The Invincible System is designed to guide and empower the host to achieve absolute supremacy in this world. Primary functions include: Monthly Power Bestowal, Status Assessment, Quest Assignment, and Comprehensive Analysis.]
Jovi's confusion began to be overshadowed by a wave of sheer, unadulterated excitement. This was a cheat ability straight out of a light novel! All the pain and regret of his previous death seemed to momentarily fade, replaced by the dizzying possibilities. A new world. A system. Power.
"Show me," he commanded, his voice gaining a new strength. "Show me my status."
The screen flickered and reconfigured, displaying a new set of information.
---
- STATUS -
Name : Jovi
Age : 18
Race : Human (Transmigrated)
Skills : Sharingan (Level 1)
Power Rank : Rookie
Monthly Power Draw : Available in 29 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes...
---
Jovi's breath hitched. His eyes widened, and he stared, unblinking, at the word under the 'Skills' section. Sharingan. It couldn't be. It was one of the most iconic, powerful abilities from the ninja world of Naruto, a series he had devoured with almost as much passion as One Piece. A skill that allowed its user to perceive the world in a fundamentally different way.
"System," he said, his voice trembling with anticipation. "Explain the Sharingan. What can it do?"
The system's mechanical voice responded promptly in his mind.
[The Sharingan is a Kekkei Genkai, a bloodline limit. At its foundational Level 1, it grants two primary abilities.]
[Ability 1: Enhanced Perception. The user's visual acuity is magnified exponentially. This allows for the tracking of high-speed movement, perceiving the world in a perceived state of slow motion, and seeing microscopic details at a great distance. Furthermore, the user can perfectly copy any physical movement or technique witnessed, committing it to muscle memory after a single observation.]
Jovi's mind raced. He could copy any physical skill? Just by seeing it? That was an unbelievable training tool. To see in slow motion? That was a combat advantage he could barely comprehend.
[Ability 2: Optical Illusion. The user can, through eye contact, project a basic genjutsu, trapping the target's consciousness in an illusionary world controlled by the user. The strength and complexity of the illusion are dependent on the host's mental fortitude and the Sharingan's level.]
Illusions. Mind control. A shiver of both awe and trepidation ran down Jovi's spine. This was not just a power; it was a responsibility. But the system's next words sealed his excitement.
[The Sharingan is not a static power. It possesses 5 evolutionary levels. Each subsequent level dramatically increases the potency of its perception, the complexity of its illusions, and unlocks new, formidable abilities. Growth is achieved through combat, experience, and significant emotional stimuli.]
Five levels. This was just the beginning. The Level 1 abilities were already incredible, a massive leap from being a normal college student. What could Level 2 or 3 do? What ultimate power lay at the fabled Mangekyo Sharingan?
A wide, uncontrollable grin spread across Jovi's face. The fear of this new world was still there, a cold knot in his stomach, but it was now dwarfed by a blazing inferno of enthusiasm. He was alive. He had a second chance. And he was armed with one of the most versatile and powerful abilities he could have ever imagined. He looked out at the alien landscape with new eyes—eyes that were now a path to strength.
He didn't know the rules of this world, he didn't know its dangers, but for the first time since he'd died, Jovi felt a thrill of pure, undiluted anticipation. His adventure was just beginning.