"Death is not the way to solve your problems. Maybe something good is waiting for you in life!"
As humans, we often think in everyday life that if we could just die, our problems would be solved. But do we ever consider alternative solutions?
Yan Ming, a 27-year-old, walked on the sidewalk, still reeling from the interview he'd just endured. His pace was uneven, his hand gripping a walking stick. His head spun; he hadn't eaten in days. His old office had fired him because of his disability, and before that, countless other jobs had ended the same way. Due to his crippled leg, he couldn't work as efficiently as others, leading to constant rejections. Today, another interview at a cafe had ended in failure.
He sank to the ground, utterly disturbed. He hadn't always been like this. At 10 years old, he'd been the happiest boy on Earth. His father, a police officer, and his mother, a nurse, always cared for him. They were returning from a picnic, together in their car, when the accident happened. A drunk driver in a truck slammed into them.
His father and mother both died. He fell into a coma, waking nearly six months later, only to find he could no longer walk. His life changed forever. He grew up in his uncle's house, who was good to him, but his uncle also passed away a few years back. Since then, Yan Ming had been alone in this world.
Yan Ming sighed, lost in these painful memories, when he saw a young boy standing in the road, a football in his hand. The boy was playing, oblivious to his surroundings. Yan Ming could see the boy's back, but not his face, as the child was turned away from him.
At that moment, he saw a raging SUV. Perhaps some rich father's son, testing his new car, speeding directly towards the boy. Yan Ming struggled to his feet and shouted, "Hey! Boy! Come back, come back here from the road!"
But the boy was so engrossed in his ball that he heard nothing. Even the onlookers simply stared at Yan Ming, as if to say, why bother? Let him stay in the road?
Yan Ming, despite his pain, managed to close some of the distance between himself and the boy. The car, too, rapidly closed in on the child. Remembering his own agony, Yan Ming threw the boy towards the sidewalk. In that instant, he was hit by something so heavy his whole world shook. His walking stick shattered into countless fragments, his eyes blurred as he fell to the ground with a massive thud.
He looked at the child for the last time. His vision was blurry, so he couldn't clearly discern the meaning in the child's face, who was still standing on the sidewalk, ball in hand. But a smile appeared on Yan Ming's face. "At least before death, I did something good for someone…"
If he could have seen the child's true face, however, he would have been terrified. The child was the same 10-year-old Yan Ming, who had been in that picnic accident. A creepy smile played on his face as he looked at Yan Ming's body.
People had already circled the spot. Someone commented, "Did you see him? He just walked into the road himself!"
Another said, "Maybe it was suicide. He shouted at someone to come back from the road, but then ran towards it himself with his injured leg."
A girl added, "I saw that too. Let's call the police and an ambulance." Everyone nodded and did as decided.
Meanwhile, Yan Ming woke up in a gray, vast space. He saw no one, only himself. At that moment, a notification sounded in his head, and a blue screen appeared before him.
[Ding!
*First qualification met! (Witnessed death during life)
*Second qualification met! (Lived life and saw the true nature of it)
*Third qualification met! (Is in the world between life and death)]
[Ding!
Congratulations, Host!
You've met three conditions to bind to this System of Duality.
You have two choices to follow. Please choose wisely:
Choice 1: Do not bind to the system. You'll be in a coma for 28 years, then die naturally. Your memories will be erased, and you won't have any memory of this system.
Choice 2: Bind to the system. You'll die here and reincarnate somewhere else with the power of this system.]
Yan Ming rubbed his eyes several times. Isn't this weird to see now? Didn't he already get hit by a car and was on the road to death?
Why doesn't reality follow the stories he knows? He'd read many transmigration novels before, but they all died here and transmigrated to another planet, then awakened badass abilities. And this cheap system actually wants him to choose from these crappy options! What the hell…
After thinking for a few minutes, he cautiously asked, "System? I have a question. Will my leg be healed if I choose Option 2?"
[Ding!
Host, you'll be completely new after binding to this system.
No matter a crack in the bone or a crippled leg or something more… ahem ahem, let's bind first…]
Yan Ming looked at the screen sidelong for a few seconds, then scratched his head and said with resolute action, "I choose Option 2, binding to the system."
A buzz ran through his mind, and notifications popped up one after another.
[Ding!
Congratulations, Host, for binding to the System of Duality.
Initializing your death!
Initializing transmigration…1…2…3…]
Before long, Yan Ming felt sleepy, and without knowing it, he drifted into a deep sleep in the gray space. Meanwhile, outside, during the transfer to the hospital, his vitals dropped, and he died.
But in the ambulance, no one saw a 10-year-old boy sitting beside Yan Ming's body. He smiled at him and said, "So you choose to live again!"
And after saying that, he disappeared from the ambulance.
Yan Ming woke up in a dark room. His eyes were blurry, and he felt a massive headache that almost made him wince in pain. He gripped his head with both hands, trying to stabilize his surroundings.
After a few minutes, he felt better and opened his eyes to look around. It was a normal apartment room, furnished with the essentials.
Then the pain hit him again, and unknown memories flooded his mind, one after another. His name was Yan Ming. He was an Celesian first Academy student. He had a father, a mother, and three siblings at home.
This planet is known as Altorin. This world was far from simple. He was only 17 years old, and at this age, everyone awakened a "class" for themselves. These classes virtually decided the future of one's life. Combat classes could achieve immense fortune, while supporting classes such as healers, cooks, or weapon makers also gained decent recognition. However, there were many "worthless" professions, like card player, pathfinder, or food taster. Awakening one of these meant being branded useless, though they could sometimes be helpful when specifically needed.
Just a few days ago, he had been hit by lightning while walking on a street. Due to his physical resilience in this world, he had survived the accident and was now recovering.
But the reality was different. The original soul had already dissipated, while his own soul had transmigrated here.
He sighed. He had only two days to return to the academy for the class awakening ceremony.
Yan Ming got up from his bed. His vision was still hazy, so he stumbled to the bathroom attached to his bedroom. He turned on the tap and splashed some cold water on his face. Then, he looked into the mirror. Staring back was a handsome 17-year-old boy. Light brown eyes, golden-brown hair, and jade-white skin. His athletic build only added to his good looks.
Yan Ming sighed. He'd been handsome in his past life too, but this face? This face could practically kill any girl. He ran a hand through his damp hair. Time to check the panel.
He said in his heart, "System! Show me my status!"
Nothing. No transparent blue screen, no ding, no robotic voice nothing at all. Just the faint sound of dripping water from the tap.
He frowned. Okay, maybe it's voice-activated. He tried again, this time out loud, his voice still a little rough from sleep. "System! Show me status!"
Still nothing. His heart started beating faster. Did I get a dud? Is this a manufacturing fault ?
He tried every pose, every incantation, and at last, he even started to ask in every 'knowing netizen' way he could think of. But every single time, he failed to open the system panel.
"System activate!"
"Open status panel!"
He even tried politely, "Dear System, can you please open the system panel for me?" He cringed at his own voice, so he changed tactics, knocking on his chest, "Hello! Anyone in there? System?"
But after countless methods, the system remained stubbornly silent. Growing increasingly frustrated, he started to get angry. He began cursing, pointing his finger towards the ceiling, "You damn freaking system! You scammed me?! f**k you ! May you never find a girlfriend... ahem," He stopped mid-sentence, remembering a 'system' was technology. "May your internet connection always be messed up! May you glitch whenever you have something important to do!"
At that precise moment, his room's door opened. A cute girl, around ten years old, entered.she is Yan Mei, Yan ming's little sister.She had big, innocent eyes and long hair, wearing a white frock with a red top and embroidered flowers. She took in the sight of Yan Ming yelling at the ceiling and immediately shrieked, her eyes brimming with tears, " Mother! Brother got crazy! He's shouting alone!"
At this moment, a woman around 37 or 38 years old entered the room. It was his mother, the beautiful Su Rong, With her long blonde hair flowing, she launched herself towards Yan Ming, hugging him so tightly that he almost suffocated. He managed to gasp out, "Mom! I can't breathe!"
She immediately released him, her eyes teary as she cupped his face with both hands. "A'Ming, you don't know how tense we were for you. Your father even tried his best to buy some good medicine for you. We felt as if our world was going to break when we heard you got struck by lightning on a broad daylight, without any rainy clouds!"
Yan Ming felt his mother was truly pulling his leg. Just how unlucky was the last owner of this body, to be struck by lightning under a clear sky?
He was about to say something when another set of hurried footsteps entered his house. A boy, looking 70% like him but with fully blonde hair like his mother, burst in. This was Yan Lin, Yan Ming's 15-year-old younger brother. He also rushed towards his brother and hugged him tightly, "Brother! You're up... now please complete my homework!"
But in return, he got a powerful flick to his head. He immediately winced in pain, looking at Yan Ming with a mix of hurt and anger. Yan Ming snapped, "You dimwit! You dared to ask your sick brother to do your homework!"
His mother, Su Rong, just covered her mouth and smiled at her two boys. Yan Mei, still making a face at her annoying brother lin, went to hug Yan Ming .