"Alright, this is it." I grinned like an idiot as I stared at the floating blue board in front of me, the world I was about to reincarnate into. It felt like I was ordering off a menu, but, y’know, with slightly higher stakes than picking dinner.

  I mean, it’s got everything, and let's be real, I’ve always been more of a superhero guy than a fantasy nerd.

  Excitement surged through me. I could practically feel the call to adventure in the air. I could already see myself soaring through the skies, saving people, fighting villains with badass powers. Hell yeah.

  [Nexum: Superpowers, Villains, Advanced Technology]

  Threat Level: Medium

  Plot Armor: Low

  Entrance Fee: 1300 KP

  From what I could gather, this world was straight out of a comic book. Sure, it wasn’t the best universe out there, but it was definitely the one for me.

  I felt my guide’s presence flicker at the back of my mind, a flash of impatience and something else colored her voice, worry maybe? It made me pause. "Have you finished choosing your destination, Oscar Guerra?"

  I shot a glance at the board one more time, just to be sure. "Yep. Pretty sure this is it. Now… How do I get my powers?"

  Her voice was more rushed now, like she was trying to hurry me. "We shall proceed to anchor the system to your soul. Once that’s done, you can purchase any powerset you can afford with your remaining KP."

  "Wait, wait," I interrupted, a thought popping into my head. "Is everything okay? You seem a bit… impatient or something." I wasn’t used to hearing her like this. It was like she was in a rush.

  "Of course, everything is fine," she said quickly, almost too quickly. "Now, please, focus on the system board and finalize your selection..."

  Before she could finish, the blue screens flickered violently. And a jarring flash of red swept across the interface transforming the calm, inviting blue of this space into a deep, foreboding purple that made my stomach twist.

  [ERROR]

  "Uhh... What the hell is going on?" I muttered, feeling the sweat begin to bead on my neck. An icy chill crawled down my spine, and I could've sworn the temperature just dropped a few degrees.

  "Did I screw something up or…?" I trailed off, but there was no reply. No reassuring voice from the guide. Just… silence.

  The red text blinked at me, mocking me.

  [ERROR: SOUL ANCHOR INITIALIZATION UNSUCCESSFUL]

  [ERROR: TARGET SOUL UNAVAILABLE]

  [ERROR: SUBJECT STATUS = ALIVE]

  [ERROR: STATUS CONFLICT]

  [ERROR: ANCHORING ABORTED]

  "Oh shit." My heart skipped a beat. "Wait… What the hell? I’m still alive? Am I reading this right? I didn’t die?" Panic crept in as no answers came. "HELLO!? GUIDE!? You there?"

  Nothing. No answer.

  Just the cold, mechanical blink of the error message.

  [ERROR: CONNECTION ATTEMPT UNSUCCESSFUL. INITIALIZING FALLBACK PROTOCOL]

  I tried to steady my breathing, but the air around me thickened, weighed down by a strange pressure. And then... the screen vanished entirely, as if it had never been there.

  That’s when the pain hit.

  A sharp, excruciating sting shot through my chest like a searing knife was digging into my soul. I couldn’t scream. I could only gasp as agony radiated through me, like something was tearing me apart from the inside out. I didn’t know how long it lasted, but every second felt like an eternity of molten pain.

  I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. All I could do was writhe, my body collapsing to the floor, the universe warping around me, twisting into something unrecognizable.

  Then, the screen flickered back into view.

  [CONNECTION ATTEMPT SUCCESSFUL. INITIALIZING SYSTEM INSTANCE]

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  [WARNING: DUE TO INSTANCE CONSTRAINTS FUNCTIONALITY IS LIMITED]

  [ADVISORY: PLEASE INITIATE FULL INTEGRATION PROTOCOL TO RESTORE CORE FUNCTIONALITY]

  I could barely process the words scrolling across the screen. My mind was spinning. Was this it?

  The guide’s voice returned, softer now, but still that eerie calmness. “Oscar Guerra. We are proceeding with your integration. You may experience… difficulties. But fear not. This process is necessary...”

  As I lay there, crumpled on the floor, every nerve in my body burning with the aftershock of whatever the hell just happened, I could only say one thing, "What the actual fuck just happened!?"

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  "I'm sorry, ma'am, but as I said before... the fact that he's alive at all is nothing short of a miracle." The doctor’s voice wavered under the weight of his words, eyes darting between the clipboard in his hands and the woman across from him, looking like a storm held barely in check. "He's been stable for a few days now. No visible brain damage on the scans, but he's still in a coma. It could be days… Weeks... There's no way to know."

  "We’re doing everything we can," the head nurse added quickly, though her tone betrayed a quiet dread, like she was bracing for a slap she knew she couldn't dodge. "He’s receiving top-tier care. The best we have. But right now, all we can do is wait."

  Dahlia Caine stood utterly still, yet the air around her vibrated with tension. Her arms were crossed, her jaw clenched, her eyes smoldering with fury that wasn’t exactly aimed at them, but close enough to burn. The room felt colder just for being near her.

  No one dared meet her gaze for long.

  "I can assure you, Miss Caine," the hospital director stepped in, his voice thin and overly rehearsed, "Mr. Guerra is doing just fine. He just… Needs time."

  He smiled. It was the kind of smile you gave a predator, one that might spare you if you looked small enough.

  Dahlia didn’t answer.

  She didn’t need to.

  Her scowl deepened. Without a word, she turned on her heel and strode out of the office, the sharp clack of her designer heels echoing like gunshots down the sterile corridor.

  No words. No backward glance. Just the raw gravity of her presence leaving the room, and taking all the oxygen with it.

  The three staff members stood in silence, like survivors of a brush with something far more dangerous than death.

  When the nurse finally let out a breath, it sounded like a prayer.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  [SYSTEM INSTANCE INITIALIZATION COMPLETE. SYSTEM ONLINE.]

  [HELLO, WORLD.]

  That was the first thing I saw when I came to, just a glowing blue board floating in the void, a few lines of text blinking back at me.

  I was floating again. Back to the sterile white dreamspace as before… Only this time, everything felt off. My chest painfully throbbed like hell, and my skull felt like someone had used it in a drum solo.

  "Guide? You there?" I called out.

  Nothing. Just silence, louder and heavier than any voice.

  Shit. Something definitely went wrong. There were error messages… Red screens… The soul anchor failed and then...

  Wait.

  My eyes flew open wide. "I’m alive," I whispered, the memory hitting like a bolt of lightning.

  "But then… why am I still here?"

  I glanced around. Still the same endless white. No guide. No anime style summoning circle. No RPG interface offering broken cheat powers and ridiculously high stats.

  Well, only one thing to try.

  I took a breath and whispered the word my anime loving heart had always secretly dreamed of saying in a moment like this:

  "System."

  [SYSTEM ONLINE.]

  [LIMITED FUNCTIONALITY DETECTED.]

  [ADJUSTING SYSTEM PARAMETERS.]

  [OPTIMIZATION PROCESS INITIATED.]

  "Huh. No menus? No power selection? No class options or cheat skills?" I muttered. "Bummer."

  Then, somewhere deep in the back of my head, I heard it, faint whispers. Distant, muffled. A man’s voice. A woman’s. Like they were calling to me from behind a thick wall.

  "Is this it? Am I being transported now? Maybe I don’t need to die after all, maybe it’s a portal thing. Dimensional shift? Stargate? Magic train?"

  The voices grew louder, more distinct. Around me, the white light dimmed, the world unraveling into floating sparkles, like fireflies. The edges of the dream folded in, collapsing slowly.

  "Okay… Definitely ominous. But still kinda cool, I can work with this" I muttered.

  Then, without warning, everything went black.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  "He’s stirring! Nurse, notify the director. Miss Caine will want to know immediately," said a gravelly voice nearby. Footsteps rushed out into the hall.

  Then the same voice spoke again, softer now. Professional, but careful. "Mr. Guerra, can you hear me? You’re in a hospital. You’ve been unconscious for several days. Please don’t try to move, you’re connected to several machines and tubes."

  My eyes fluttered open, and I instantly regretted it. The overhead fluorescents stabbed at my retinas like daggers of pure light. I tried to speak, a mistake. Something thick and plastic jammed in my throat made me gag and panic instantly.

  "Easy! Don’t try to talk. You’ve got a respirator helping you breathe," the voice said quickly. "Honestly… we’re all kind of amazed you’re even awake."

  My head throbbed, vision blurry, thoughts cloudy like a still rebooting computer. Machines beeped steadily around me. I blinked slowly, trying to make sense of it all.

  "You had a very close call," the doctor continued. "Gunshot wound to the chest. You flatlined multiple times. We weren’t sure you’d make it."

  His voice softened to something almost reverent.

  "But you did."

  I wanted to laugh. All I could manage was a faint wheeze through the tube.

  Yeah. That tracks.

  Typical me. Can’t even die properly.