1 You Have Died

The hazy clouds of Renard's consciousness were fading from existence, slowly dissipating into the vast Universe around him. His previous life had ended. Yet he hadn't even noticed; he did not even have the smallest amount of awareness that he was dead.

The reason why Renard's consciousness had started to dissipate was because it had lost its container. When a person dies, two stages are needed for them to completely be dead. First, the body dies and second, the consciousness dies. However, the second stage does not happen instantly as the mind must enter space to die. As Renard had nothing protecting his mind, it had started to dissipate.

During that time, most people would be either screaming from the agony of death, weeping about the separation from their loved ones or losing their mind upon the realisation that they are dead.

However, luckily for Renard, he would not die today. Just as he had almost vanished from existence, a thick golden light encompassed the vestiges of his mind. It acted like both a magnet and glue, and brought Renard's mind back together, breathing a new life into him. Renard had none of these emotions, he was completely unaware.

The golden light then began to distort around his consciousness. It transformed into the shape of a body, with human features. The light formed bones, veins and muscles. Skin then covered the frame, the shape was that of Renard's former body.

Finally, Renard's eyes gained their depth, and hair started to grow from his skin. Once his physical structure was finished, the clothes that he had died in appeared on him: bright blue pyjamas with tiny giraffes all over them.

Once this was over, a voice said, "Let's get started."

~~~

As Renard opened his eyes, a piercing white light blinded him. 'What is going on?' Renard thought. 'Wasn't I just in bed?'

A voice, unknown to Renard, spoke from the light as if in response, "You have died."

Renard panicked. 'Please, don't be God; if he looks at my life to judge me, I am doomed. It's not like I have killed anyone, but I've definitely sinned a lot.' Renard didn't care that he had died, especially since there seemed to be an afterlife. He just hoped he wouldn't be judged based on his deeds.

As he looked back at the events in his life, he realised how bad this could be for him. 'How low must my points be! I never thought that this existed, so I haven't cared that much. Those teen years were especially dodgy, morality-wise, anyway.'

He begged. 'Please don't let me be judged.'

He heard the voice again, "Congratulations, you are the first dead being processed by the new reincarnation department. Due to this, you will receive a random prize from the grand treasure vault. This is our way to thank you and aid you in your new life."

As Renard's eyes adjusted to the light, he noticed that he wasn't sitting before God, or at least what Renard thought God would look like. He was actually sitting in a solid marble chair covered in extravagant carvings. Renard knew only the incredibly rich could afford to own something that extravagant. Following the same design, there was also a four-legged table in front of him.

However, more importantly, someone was at the opposite side of the table.

Opposite from him, looking directly into his eyes was a beautiful girl. The way she stared at Renard was similar to the way a child looked at a new pet - ecstatic.

The girl leaned forward with a small leather sack in her hand. There was a red silk ribbon threaded around the top; it had clearly been loosened as to allow someone to put their hand inside.

She then took a deep breath to steady herself and said, "Just put your hand inside and grab whatever you want. That'll be what you will take to your new life. It'll be up to luck to see what you get!"

Renard wanted to refute the girl before doing anything. He wanted to ask some questions before things got even more out of hand. But before he could even open his mouth, his hand already started moving towards the bag. The realisation dawned on him that he had no control over his body, and in the next moment his hand plunged straight into the bag.

Reluctantly, Renard gave up on fighting his arm and decided to look around the room instead. He was actually seated in the centre of the room that looked like a square box. The walls, floor and ceiling were all interconnected and were made in the same way that the chair and table were, with carvings all over them. He noticed it was actually all the marble objects that were releasing the light that had blinded him when he'd opened his eyes. However, what confused Renard the most was that there was no door in the room. He couldn't help but think, 'How did I get in here?'

Renard tried to ask some of the questions on his mind again, yet he still couldn't; it felt like his mouth was out of his control. 'Why can't I even talk? What's going on?!' His thoughts were interrupted by his hand grabbing onto what felt like a piece of slate. The moment he firmly gripped the cold surface, his hand was repelled out of the bag.

Once Renard's hand left the bag, a stone tablet with glistening shapes that he couldn't understand came into his vision. As he took a closer look at them, a high-pitched wail came from the girl and startled him. "Oooo! Congratulations, you have gotten a one-of-a-kind reward. That tablet is what we call a 'system'; this will help you immensely in your new life. It also has the bonus of you keeping all the memories from your old life, which includes me." She got progressively more excited as she spoke, which led to her voice to getting increasingly piercing for Renard.

"All systems are unique; no two are the same. Give me a moment, and I can check which one you got." She waved her hands and text appeared out of thin air. Renard realised that he could get a break from her piercing voice as she read that writing but his peace was quickly disturbed when her wailing returned with an even greater strength than before. "AAAAH, I can't believe this! Do you know how lucky you are!? This system is called 'The Almighty System'! This is what 'The Boss' used to get most of his power! Its potential is literally unlimited! It's only in the bag because he could never get it to recognise him as its master; he was only ever able to manipulate it slightly. 'The Boss' only threw it in there in a rage after trying for so long!" She was at a loss for words—no—a loss of breath was more accurate.

After she finished her attack on his ears, Renard was stunned as he realised who 'The Boss' could be.

'Wait, 'The Boss', don't tell me it's the actual God. I can't have him coming after me, what if I get judged based on my life!' At this moment, neither the girl nor Renard could stop what was about to happen.

*CRACK*

Before the girl's explanation about the system, for some mystical reason, "The Almighty System" decided to accept Renard as its Owner. Renard had not even noticed that the tablet had started to merge into his body. However, the moment when a system has accepted its master but hasn't yet merged with them is the only time it is ever vulnerable. As the system was merging with Renard, he found out about 'The Boss', a cold sweat ran down his back and he involuntarily clenched his fists. The cracking sound actually came from the tablet, Renard had become the only person to ever damage a system.

When the tablet fully merged into his arm, a sound rang out as a robotic voice sounded in his head.

*Ding*

[Congratulations! You have been chosen as the new owner of the system.]

[Due to damage, the system will be permanently bound to you and will instantly be destroyed when you die!]

[You have been bound to "The ##Broken## System".]

[Welcome! Due to this system being the most powerful existence in creation, your new life will be sure to have great benefits. Good Luck!]

['Almighty Power' has been activated! The restraints on your voice are removed.]

[You can now speak.]

Before he could even test his ability to talk, the young woman spoke first.

"Activate transmigration of subject #1."

Then the young woman then looked over at Renard, "I am sorry we couldn't spend more time together, but I am afraid that you will cause some damage here after becoming the master of that system. Also, it would be a shame if 'The Boss' came here and killed you before you could even try it out. Hehe." She smiled mischievously, which caused a shiver to run through Renard.

'Although what she said makes sense, I bet she just doesn't want to get into trouble,' Renard thought.

Renard was enveloped by a pillar of golden light, and his senses went numb. As the light grew more intense, the girl quickly said, "My name is Lucy, by the way. We might meet again sometime in the future. Goodbye." Then she waved at Renard for the last time.

As Renard lost more of his senses, his mind was racing. He wanted to know more about what was going on and who this Lucy was. He had one idea, but it would be a leap of faith. 'This system must be able to scan! Yes, I have to try!'

Just before the light took Renard away, the first and only word that he said the entire time he was there came out of his mouth.

"SCAN!" A moment later, Renard was gone.

"What a clever boy, hehe!" Lucy flicked her long white gown, and the entire room turned to dust. She stood on the deep-blackness of the void and stared into the distance. The vast cosmos revolved around her as she chuckled to herself. "I am such a great actress."

She let out a breath.

That breath caused all the stars to dim, the revolution of the Universe to slow, and time freeze under the pressure. A grand radiance emanated from her body and a mortal would think she was a god. However, a cultivator would know they were seeing an existence above even a god.

A peak-level cultivator.

"What an interesting turn of events." After those words, she disappeared.