[2] Useless

The gentle breeze brought a slight chill as the night grew deeper.

Feeling a stronger coldness emanating from below, Aiden couldn't help but shiver. His fair cheeks flushed red, his breathing quickened, and his heartbeat intensified.

Isekai... an extremely familiar term to contemporary youth, a phenomenon widely enjoyed when confined to screens or pages.

The concept of isekai not only enhances the audience's immersion but also allows the protagonist, with their background as a contemporary person from Earth, to utilize their knowledge and experience as assets in the new world... a kind of cheat code.

Whether it's conflicts from past or present, clashes between Earth and otherworlds, or altering history, engaging in sword and magic battles, or strategizing in the face of various mystical challenges... all these plot developments emerge from the protagonist's distinct experiences, knowledge, and values compared to the inhabitants of the new world.

However, all of this is experienced solely from the perspective of the audience, reader, or player.

If isekai were to happen to oneself, whether to the past or to another world, it would be unbearable for contemporary youth accustomed to the information society.

Moreover, if it were another world, the threats wouldn't only come from monsters but also from feudal oppression.

Accustomed to a peaceful life, lacking physical exercise, and faring extremely poorly in reality with a combat power equivalent to 0.5 geese, a male otaku could suddenly adapt to the brutal realities of another world upon isekai, exuding boundless confidence, facing challenges with determination, and demonstrating extraordinary intellect, becoming a terrifyingly formidable presence.

If isekai were real, without luck or cheats, an average otaku with average intelligence and physical abilities would find it difficult to survive, let alone thrive in another world. They would either end up as monster food or die namelessly in some remote burial ground.

Thus, when an event like isekai, typically found only in novels, animes, and mangas, actually happened to Aiden himself, an average man born and raised under the society, despite losing both parents and facing anxiety and fear, he could only feel unsettled and frightened.

Aiden found it hard to remain calm. He hugged himself tightly, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.

"Calm analysis, rational thinking, keep calm."

"Penniless, possession-less, fluent in Japanese but physically weak, dressed like this, I'm probably going to be taken as..."

"Oh damn, I'm freezing!"

At that moment, a voice resembling an artificial intelligence assistant suddenly echoed in his mind.

[Detected host strong mental fluctuations. System activated.]

"Damn, a system! So, there really are cheat codes?! Looks like I'm getting the isekai victim treatment after all."

[System malfunction. System activation failed.]

Aiden was about to utter a curse, but the next moment...

[System reboot. System reboot successful. Accept information?]

"Accept."

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[The information transfer is complete.]

"Surface destruction... Soul binding... System... Isekai... Body reshaping... Lowering existence perception..."

"Is this a joke? How could this be possible? What kind of entity could instantly destroy the surface, wiping out all life, including humanity? Why was there no warning? Alien invasion? Interdimensional beings? Ragnarok? Or perhaps a divine feud, dragging innocents into its wake?"

It took Aiden half a day to recover from the influx of information from the system, yet his eyes remained dimmer than before.

He clenched his right fist tightly, pounding the ground fiercely.

He finally broke down.

Although some memories have become blurry, from childhood friends to high school dorm mates for three years, from dutiful teachers who truly embody the phrase 'role models' to college buddies gaming together, dining together, strolling together, to roommates who have been single since birth and have become even more caring after the passing of his parents, to uncles, aunts, cousins, and neighbors who have always taken care of him after his parents' death...

There is also a group of men of cultures who chat and joke together before bedtime, and there are countless memories of people around him... joyful, sad, touching, flashing through his mind like a revolving lantern. Just one night has passed, yet it feels like an abyss.

Not to mention seven billion humans and the rest of the flora and fauna, countless lives, all silently disappearing in that one night.

Despite his hand dripping with blood, Aiden sat there in a daze, involuntarily drowning in endless memories.

Clutching his temples tightly, veins bulging on his forehead, he stood there like a statue, then suddenly burst into laughter:

"Get isekai'd, endowed with a system, and make a great big harem fully with beast-eared girls, and ascend to the peak of life... aren't these the dreams of many?!"

He bent over, leaning against the wall, laughing uncontrollably.

But amidst his laughter, tears streamed down like a waterfall. Choking back his sobs, he whispered softly:

"But... I'll never see them again."

"My world..."

"I can never go back."

...

With the rising sun and the setting moon, he finally regained some semblance of calm and rationality. He lifted his hand to wipe his eyes, pinched his nose, and forced a slight smile.

"But at least I'm still alive, right?"

"I'm already so lucky."

Regaining his senses, Aiden felt deeply grateful for the simple fortune of being alive. The fact that his once-deceased self could have such luck, to have a second chance at life, was a stroke of fortune among 7.4 billion possibilities.

Trembling slightly, he used his left hand to steady himself against the wall and slowly stood up.

Faced with the sudden destruction of the planet, blaming the gods was futile. The system was unaware, and Aiden could only choose to face reality, consoling himself with the inevitability of decay.

But there were pressing issues that needed immediate attention. Stranded naked in a Japanese-style alternate world, unable to communicate, and physically frail, how could he survive?

If he couldn't, would the system allow him to revive after death? And if revived, would it let him get isekai'd again?

Even though Aiden, like the protagonists in some novels, had bound the system and get isekai'd, he harbored no grand ambitions at the moment.

He didn't seek the grandeur of those heroic protagonists, nor did he desire the power to rule the world. He didn't aim to defeat tyrants or slay monsters and demons, nor did he yearn for eternal life.

All he wanted now was to survive in this foreign world. If this resurrected life could be exciting enough, it would be more than enough, not to waste this second chance at life.

Now, only the system could help him. Although he didn't know what it was or its purpose, he had no choice but to rely on it.

Suppressing his emotions, Aiden addressed the system in his mind: "System, what are you exactly? And what is your purpose?"

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[Information transmission complete.]

It turned out that the system was created at the dawn of antiquity by a great being of omniscience and omnipotence, an entity beyond comprehension. Its renown once echoed through countless multiverses, capable of traversing dimensional spaces, transforming decay into wonder, reversing time, turning fantasy into reality, and traversing spacetime... almost omnipotent.

Having experienced the hands of countless gods and beings across multiverses, witnessing the birth and destruction of countless universes, the prosperity and decline of countless myths.

After countless epochs, it was damaged during the final battle between the last master and archenemy, both perishing, and the original artifact of the system was shattered into fragments. Only a trace of its spirit wandered through the multiverse.

While following the previous host, it had already been partially repaired. However, the host was defeated in battle due to underestimation, and when the dying host was about to use the fragments to reshape the body, they were struck by a powerful blow from the enemy, leading to the host's demise and further severe damage to the fragments. They were forced to descend to the planet where Aiden resided.

Because the first intelligent life they encountered, and one with decent qualifications, was the deceased spirit of Aiden, they bound their soul, recognized them as the host, and, based on various residual surface information and the deep desires within Aiden's soul, became the system, modeled after various games.

Of course, as a system formed from the remnants of an extraordinary artifact, it had no other name than 'system'. Compared to its complete form, its functions were far from the same. But even so, it gave Aiden, who had not yet emerged from grief, a glimmer of encouragement and hope.

At this moment, regardless of the system's purpose, Aiden could only rely on it.

"So, what other functions do you have, system? What can you bring me?"

[The functions of the system are as follows: ]

[Can create the universe.]

[Can control the rules and laws of the world.]

[Can help the host to transcend space and become the only one in all records.]

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[Can help the host to transcend time and change the past and control the future.]

[Can help the host to achieve eternity.]

[The system also can help the host to transcend all things and become omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent.]

Finally...

[But... the above functions are not possessed by this system now.]