The screen hung in the air, its glow soft but unyielding. Hin Yu—no, Hin Yu again—stared at it in silence, heart thundering.
[Soul Synchronization: 100% Complete]Race: Human (Lesser Realm Variant)Age: 16Primary Skill: Perseverance of AlturusSecondary Skill: LockedDivine Memory Fragments: 3% Retrieved
"A system…" he muttered. "Just like in those novels…"
His mind reeled—not just from what he saw, but what it implied. In his past life on Earth, he had read countless webnovels about transmigration and cultivation systems. They all started like this: an overpowered skill, a world of martial strength, a path to rise again. But those were fiction.
This?
This was real.
"Was the one who wrote those stories... a transmigrator too?" he whispered to himself.
And yet, for all the strangeness, one detail stuck in his mind like a splinter: he never had a system when he was Alturus. Back then, all he had was will. Perseverance. The kind that tore mountains and broke fate with nothing but stubborn hands and bleeding feet.
So why now?
Wherever he was, this wasn't the Lower World he once ruled. The air was thinner, laced with unfamiliar energies. He stood barefoot on a sun-warmed rock beside a slow-moving river. Wind rustled through trees with leaves shaped like blades. Clouds above drifted like drifting bones.
Then, pain—sudden and sharp—stabbed through his head.
Memories. Not his own.
The life of the boy whose body he now inhabited.
Hin Yu. Sixteen. An orphan born with no name, no clan, no blessing. Mocked by villagers, blamed for misfortune, and ignored by the heavens. His days were simple, repetitive, cruel—wake at dawn, scavenge for food, fish if lucky, starve if not.
No family. No future. Only hunger.
"No wonder the world left him behind," Hin Yu thought. But there was no disdain in the thought—only understanding. He too had once been broken and unwanted.
Then the memory sharpened.
Today, the boy had gone fishing before sunrise. After hours of nothing, the pole had bent—violently. He pulled, struggled, gritted his teeth. His heart had pounded in joy, not from the fight, but from hope.
A fish. A massive one. The biggest he had ever seen.
"For once," the boy had thought, "maybe today won't be so cruel."
But the world, it seemed, hated his smile.
Just as he laughed, foot slipping slightly in the mud, a stone shifted under his weight. A sharp edge. He fell—backward. Head first.
He didn't even feel the cold of the water.
He died with a smile still on his lips.
Hin Yu opened his eyes slowly, the ghost of that smile still etched into his new face.
A bitter laugh escaped his throat.
"Even his death… was unfair," he muttered. "Not murder. Not plague. Just… joy."
He sat up fully, feeling the unfamiliar weight of youth in his limbs. His fingers clenched the dirt beside him. There was something raw in this new life—more fragile, more chaotic.
But also… freer.
"No name, no roots, no enemies," he whispered. "Just a forgotten boy beside a river."
His eyes rose to the horizon. The forest beyond was silent, but alive. There was danger in the air, and something more—opportunity.
He stood, dusted off his clothes, and turned toward the system interface, still waiting for him.
Would you like to open your skill menu?
"Yes," he said aloud.
And it opened. The moment Hin Yu spoke, the interface shimmered like ripples across still water.
[Opening Skill Menu…]
Lines of glowing text unfurled in the air before him, not typed, but etched — as if the universe itself had written them in fire.
Primary Skill:🔹 Perseverance of Alturus (Unique | Passive/Active)"When the body breaks, the will remains."Grants absolute resistance to death by fatigue, suppression, or injury up to 90% threshold. Each time user pushes past natural limits, stats and growth rate increase permanently.— Current Buffs: +25% Physical Endurance, +15% Recovery, +10% Pain Resistance— Special Trait: Cannot be knocked unconscious by external force while fighting
Secondary Skill:🔒 Locked – Requires 10% Divine Memory Recovery
Legacy Trait:🔸 Fragmented Divinity (Dormant)A sliver of godhood lingers within your soul. Will awaken upon reaching a pivotal event or emotional threshold.
Hin Yu's brows furrowed. He reached out instinctively, and the text responded, rotating as if alive.
"This… isn't just some cheat," he murmured. "This is me."
He could feel it — the Perseverance of Alturus wasn't a gift granted by the system. It was the echo of his former self, encoded into his very soul. A part of him had survived the betrayal, the destruction, the long drift through oblivion. The trait wasn't implanted — it was inherited.
"This body is weak," he thought, flexing his fingers. "But this will... is mine."
He turned toward the river again, where the sun now hung low in the sky. Time had passed. His stomach growled, reminding him that, regardless of gods or systems, the flesh had needs.
Then, his eyes fell on the fish — the same one the original Hin Yu had caught before death. It still lay near the bank, its scales gleaming with fading life. A gift… or a reminder.
Hin Yu stared for a long moment.
Then, softly, he smiled. Not out of joy. Out of irony.
"To think this boy died with hope in his heart… for this."
He picked up the fish gently. Heavy. Worth silver, maybe more.
And for a split second, he felt it — a flicker, a tug at his core.
A notification blinked:
[+1 Emotional Resonance][Divine Memory: 3% → 4%]"You begin to understand what was lost."
The words hit harder than they should have. He stared at them, eyes narrowing.
"Emotions fuel the system," he muttered. "Not just battle or blood. Meaning. That's what it's waiting for."
He looked down at the river once more, then at the path leading to the village.
"Well then," he whispered, straightening. "Let's see what kind of world this is now."
Without hesitation, Hin Yu — reborn and remembering — turned toward the woods, the fish slung over his shoulder, the system glowing faintly at his side.
Not as a boy begging the heavens for mercy.
But as a god re-learning how to walk among mortals.