Chapter 2 – I Give Up
Kai walked up to his mother, trying to keep his expression neutral.
"Ma… I'm going on a walk," he said, his tone almost too casual.
She hummed softly, not looking up from the dishes. "Come back before midnight."
Kai gave a faint smile. "Sure."
But behind that smile, his eyes shimmered with something else—something darker.
A walk of death, he thought.
The front door closed behind him with a soft click. Then, without warning, Kai ran.
His footsteps pounded the earth, wild and desperate, as he dashed toward the highest peak near their home. The mountain stood over 600 meters tall, its sides steep, jagged, and unforgiving. Most would never dare try climbing it without proper gear.
But Kai didn't stop. He didn't think. He *climbed.*
Hand over hand. Foot over rock. His body ached, but he pushed harder, like he was trying to outrun every failure, every moment he'd ever felt invisible.
In under a minute, he stood at the summit.
The wind howled around him, cool and sharp. The stars stretched above like cold witnesses to his decision.
Kai stretched his arms out wide, forming a T-pose against the sky, the breeze tugging at his clothes.
"The air up here… it's always so good," he whispered.
He took one small step forward. And then leaned, letting the wind pull him into its arms.
But just before he tipped forward, something caught his eye.
A glowing light in the sky.
"...A star?" he mumbled. No, it was getting bigger. Closer.
Kai's heart skipped. "That's not a star—it's a… meteor?!"
Panic surged through him. All thoughts of death were shoved aside by something far more primal: survival.
He turned and Ran
His legs moved on instinct, his muscles burning. The irony wasn't lost on him.
As someone who was just about to end it... I sure want to live right now.
The sound of the meteor tearing through the sky roared behind him. The pressure was suffocating, the wind screaming past his ears as he pushed his body to the limit.
Too slow.
With a blinding explosion, the meteor struck. A shockwave shattered half the mountain, the force lifting Kai from the ground and hurling him into the void.
He didn't scream. He didn't breathe.
His eyes caught a glimpse of the ground—
Then nothing.
Darkness swallowed him.
---
Hours later...
His eyes fluttered open.
The sky above was clouded with dust, the stars barely visible. Around him, half the mountain was gone. The rest was torn, jagged, crumbling.
Kai coughed and groaned, struggling to move.
Then, a sound.
A voice—but not human.
[System integration with host will be completed in 5 seconds.]
[Host will be teleported home.]
"What…?" he murmured. Before he could even react, his body felt light, as if gravity no longer mattered.
The world blinked out.
Then suddenly—*slam.*
He hit the ground hard, but not painfully. He realized the floor was... wood?
He groaned again and tried to stand, but his vision blurred, and his body failed him. He dropped to his knees, trembling.
[Host internals are damaged.]
[Healing will occur during the sleep period.]
[Host should remain still.]
"Shut the *hell* up!" Kai snapped, eyes wide, heart pounding.
His voice dropped into a whisper. "What the hell are you? And why are you in my damn head?"
Silence.
Then, before him, something materialized.
A blood red holographic screen hovered in mid-air, glowing faintly.
Its corners were as if flickering or disappearing in and out of reality
Kai squinted, trying to focus.
"Bloodline System?" he read aloud. "...Just what is that?"