Leo lay on his hospital bed, tears streaming down his face. In his despair, he choked out, "Why? Why is everyone treating me like this? What did I do wrong? I was good to everyone... I didn't even hesitate to give away my meager savings to help them in their time of need..."
"Well, once you're dead, that money belongs to us anyway!" a venomous voice cut him off.
Leo's uncle wore a sinister smirk, his eyes fixed on his nephew's gaunt, pitiful face—a face that had lost all hope.
"Do you have any idea? You're a burden, Leo! Your falling ill forced us to neglect our work just to come here and look after you, not to mention how much we've spent on hospital fees."
"That... that was my money..." Leo trembled, his voice cracking through the tears.
"Shut up!" the uncle barked, his face twisting with rage.
"Tell you what, let me give you a hand. There's no point in someone like you living anyway; you're just a weight around my family's neck. And it's not like you have a single friend left, right? Oh, I forgot—your 'friends' see you like the plague; they couldn't run away fast enough."
He let out a mocking sneer. Slowly, his hand reached out and ruthlessly ripped the oxygen tube from Leo's nose. Watching the boy's utter desperation, he whispered:
"Goodbye! I'll be sure to inherit the entire fortune your parents left behind in your place. Hahaha!"
Leo wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, to curse this wretched life. Since he fell ill, this man had only visited him twice. His soul cried out: Why is life so unfair to me? Why does kindness only earn betrayal? Why, in my hour of need, did everyone turn their backs?
Leo no longer had the strength to speak. His vitality drained away, his hands fell limp, and his eyes half-closed. A long, steady "beep" echoed from the electronic monitor—his heart rate had hit zero.
This was a private VIP room; the cameras had long since been tampered with to facilitate this perfect murder.
"Doctor! Someone call a doctor!" a frantic shout erupted from the uncle's mouth.
He rushed out into the hallway, wailing pathetically, "My nephew... he's not breathing! Please, doctor, please save him!"
With tears and snot streaming down his face, he looked the picture of devastation. If Leo could have seen this performance, he surely would have praised the man for his masterful acting skills.
In an endless expanse of blinding white, an old man dressed in vibrant red—with hair and a beard of the same strange, fiery hue—sat silently observing a rift in space about 70 inches wide. Stroking a beard so long it brushed the ground, he nodded slightly and muttered, "A pitiful boy, yet lucky enough to catch my eye. A soul index of 500 upon death... barely meets the requirement."
At that moment, Leo's soul had just drifted from his body, his eyes vacant and as transparent as crystal. Suddenly, from the other side of the void, the old man reached a long arm through the rift and snatched the hovering soul.
Leo's soul shuddered as a spark of consciousness flickered to life. He felt an invisible force dragging him at terminal velocity, while the doctors and nurses nearby remained completely oblivious. The old man pulled him through the rift, letting him drift in the nothingness.
Leo felt as though he were floating in a vast, bottomless ocean.
Snap!
"Wake up, kid!" The thunderous snap of fingers and a weathered voice echoed through the void.
The grogginess and fragmented memories in Leo's mind instantly vanished. His awareness returned, and he stared at the old man before him with intense suspicion.
"I am the God of Shattered Space. Looking at you... it truly moves me to pity," the old man said, a subtle, enigmatic smile playing on his lips.
Leo's eyes widened, his voice thick with rage: "What? Are you mocking me? Why does everyone treat me like this? Even in death, someone has to make a joke out of me? Dammit! Where is this? Take me back right now!"
"Back where, boy?" The old man narrowed his eyes with a grin. "Do you truly have anywhere left to go?"
Leo froze, a surge of hatred and bitterness welling up inside him.
"In the name of the God of Shattered Space, I shall grant you power and a new life in a world full of harshness. I have searched for a suitable subject for this experiment for a long time, and now, I have found you."
Leo was stunned. "Is this like the anime and manga I used to read? Is this actually happening?"
He glanced through the spatial rift and saw his uncle clutching his corpse, wailing hysterically. Leo felt a wave of pure revulsion. It turned out his parents had left him a fortune he never even knew existed; his uncle must have hidden the documents to seize it all. His parents' years of hard work were being snatched away by a murderer.
A murderous glint ignited in Leo's eyes. "Ugh... bastard!"
The old man's eyes flicked to the numbers above Leo's head—they had just jumped by another 200 points. He waved his hand. "Don't be in such a rush. Here it comes!"
A colossal roulette wheel materialized.
"Are you willing to bet everything you possess in exchange for ultimate power?"
"I'll bet! I bet everything I have!" Leo roared with primal fury.
Though he technically had nothing left but his soul, in his rage, he was willing to trade it all. As the words left his lips, a thread of emerald light shot out from the numbers above his head and plugged directly into the wheel. The roulette began to spin at a terrifying speed, emitting a brilliant green glow that completely enveloped Leo.
[Congratulations! You have successfully pulled the following legendary traits and skills:]
[Half-Dragon Physique]
Description: Born from the union of the Dragon race and Awakened humans with superpowers. You possess a human form but are clad in dragon-scale armor from head to toe. While not considered a pure-blooded dragon, your strength and defense far surpass humans and most other races.
Note: This physique has the potential to evolve its power rank in the future.
[Skill: Berserk Dragon – Rank SSSS]
Description: Enter a state of primal rage that causes your blood to boil, boosting your overall combat power by 4 timesyour total stats.
Potential: Can evolve to unlock sub-skills with devastatingly high damage output.
[Skill: Dragon Transformation – Rank SSSS]
Description: A specialized armor covers your entire body with dragon-scale patterns. As the skill evolves, it allows your body to grow in size.
Ultimate Form: At high levels, you can transform into a colossus, drastically increasing both your offensive and defensive capabilities.
[Skill: Destruction Ray – Rank SSSS]
Description: Fires a high-temperature beam of light that obliterates everything in its path.
Release Points: The beam can be discharged from three points on the body: Eyes, Mouth, and Chest.
Range: The length and reach of the ray depend entirely on your current evolution level.
"Incredible!"
Witnessing this spectacle for the first time, Leo couldn't suppress his excitement and let out a roar, his hands trembling uncontrollably.
"The moment to change my fate has finally come. I will live this new life to the absolute fullest!"
Streams of emerald light surged forward, merging directly into his soul. Leo had never felt such a sensation; a tidal wave of power swelled within him, making his soul feel as though it might burst. Seeing this, the old man flicked his wrist, and a fiery red shield instantly enveloped Leo, soothing the searing pain. The moment the shield vanished, a pillar of orange light descended from the heavens, sweeping his soul away.
Before disappearing completely, Leo cast one last look toward the spatial rift leading to his old world, his eyes flashing with lingering resentment. Suddenly, a small fragment of his soul tore away, streaking through the rift at a terrifying speed. The old man knit his brows slightly but made no move to stop it.
That soul fragment plunged straight into a speeding car, possessing the steering wheel and forcing it to swerve violently, slamming into a fat man walking along the road.
When Leo's uncle finally opened his eyes, he saw his wife and son hovering over his hospital bed, their faces masked in utter despair. Seeing their expressions, a primal fear gripped him; he knew something was horribly wrong. The true nightmare began when he received the news: he was paralyzed from the neck down and would remain bedridden for the rest of his life.
"No... it can't be! Why? Why is this happening to me?!"
Meanwhile, in the new world, the pillar of orange light shot down from the clear blue sky, piercing through the roof of a high school. The light surged into the body of a male student who was currently being brutally bullied and beaten by a gang of peers. Leo's soul officially merged with his new vessel.
[System: Skill fusion in progress...]
[Warning: Host humiliation and degradation detected. The Hatred System is officially linked!]