1 Same Name, Different Body

"Clyde, In all my 30 years of teaching at this University, I can say without a doubt you are the worst to walk through these doors."

An old lecturer whose face was akin to a weasel spat venomous words directed at one spot of the auditorium. A plain-looking boy with his head lowered received these sharp words without flinching.

"In fact, you couldn't even run a lemonade stand, let alone a company and ye-

Riinnggg

Cut off by a bell signalling the end of the lecture, a mob of students rushed to the door as if hounds were chasing them.

'I'm not surprised they move like that. The atmosphere in here is suffocating.'

Clyde, the boy previously being berated, thought as he moved with the herd, dodging the chilling glare aimed at him by the lecturer. 

Clyde Woods was a business student at an insignificant American college located a walkable distance from his childhood home. Losing his parents at a young age and needing to provide for his younger sister, moving was never an option.

Unlike what the lecturer had previously said, Clyde was an average student instead of 'the worst in 30 years.' Such treatment started due to a blunder on his part.

Joking with his 'friends' about the weasel-like lecturer, Robert Oliver, he had commented slightly too loudly, causing it to be overheard. He had simply questioned how an arrogant lecturer like Robert Oliver was stuck teaching in an insignificant college if he was good at business. 

'I might have said it slightly too loud, but that doesn't change the fact that it's true.'

Despite constantly boasting about his prowess in the business world instead of being an investor or owner of a company, Robert Oliver was teaching at a 2nd rate college.

'Let's just hope his blood pressure kills him soon. I really can't sit silently through another one of those 'lectures.'

Praying for the weasel's demise, recalling how much his life had gone downhill since then, Clyde couldn't help but grind his teeth. Hearing his comment, Robert had gone red with anger and stormed out of the auditorium without saying a word.

Flinging his weight around the college, Robert had made his life hell; his grades had plummeted, and he spent 50% of his lectures getting insulted instead of learning business.

His 'friends' who were previously joking alongside him quickly cut ties in order to avoid collateral damage. Clyde found himself alienated from the class, who despised him for wasting their lectures daily.

'I'm still here, though. You're going to have to do a lot better if you want to get rid of me.'

Despite the alienation and insults, Clyde had resolved to last half a year until his graduation because his livelihood wasn't the only one resting on his shoulders.

His little sister, Amelia, whose smile remained a guiding light during the poverty that followed their parent's death, was also counting on him.

Clyde would endure and provide no matter what to prevent himself from being regarded as unfit and losing her to some orphanage or worse.

Walking towards his job, Clyde clenched his fists to the point of sprouting blood, remembering the situation he was currently facing.

'Those vultures will have to get through me first if they want to reach Amelia.'

Due to her unprecedented level of beauty that seemed to defy the family genetics, Amelia had been hounded by modelling agencies since she was young.

These companies provided predatory terms seeking to control the inexperienced girl, bleeding her dry. These offers had transformed into coercion after their parent's death and only seemed to be getting worse as time went by.

The problem clouded his focus as he crossed a seemingly empty road, not noticing any oddities until he reached the centre.

Honkkkkkk Honkk

The blaring noise of a vehicle's horn wiped away the fog covering his brain. Clyde's head jerked up to meet a large oncoming truck slowly filling his vision.

'No. No way this is happening right now.'

His thoughts turned erratic, and his muscles seized up as if he were a deer caught in headlights. Unable to move an inch, the world slowed around Clyde as he anticipated his demise.

'Move, damn it! I still have so much to do.'

Yet no matter how much he raged inside, Clyde's body remained like a statue as he recalled how he ended up like this.

'My sister's fate is sealed due to me thinking of ways to fix it. What irony.'

If he had the time, Clyde would have burst into tears at the futility of it all. However, trucks waited for no man as he felt 6 tons of steel slamming into his side.

CRASHH

Flung meters by the impact, he metamorphosised into a bloody mess with limbs bent at extreme angles as Clyde landed on the cold tarmac.

Finally able to bring his truck to a halt, a round-bellied man who felt his world collapsing around him rushed towards Clyde's remains.

 "Sir- Sir, are you huhh--"

Unable to stop throwing up at the sight, the truck driver's sentence was cut short. Yet, in a situation that seemed impossible to him, the truck driver heard something.

"P-Please lo-ook aft-."

His body had already collapsed, yet Clyde fended off the encroaching darkness as he attempted to convey his final will. However, bound by the limitations of humanity, Clyde was engulfed by darkness first.

---

The sun was already low in the sky as a girl who seemed perfect in every way walked through the streets. Possessing long black hair that seemed lovingly crafted by the goddess of the night herself, paired with greyish-blue eyes, which held the world's storms within. Amelia Wood's seemed like a deity walking amongst humans as she returned home.

'Brother should be home by now.'

Each step she took away from school and towards their apartment added another spark of joy to her steps.

Bursting into a worn yet tidy apartment symbolic of their poverty, a dazzling smile could be seen on Amelia's face.

"Clyde, I'm home; it's finally holiday time!"

Now 16 and having just finished middle school, Amelia was brimming with excitement at the upcoming time she could spend off with her brother. 

Knock Knock

The sound she was expecting didn't come from within the apartment but instead a knocking from the door. Curious about who could be visiting and guessing Clyde was absent, Amelia partially opened the door.

As opposed to the recruitment agency, she was expecting two sombre police officers to stand in the hallway.

"Ummm, what can I do for you two?"

Nervous at the unexpected development, Amelia tried to probe the officer's intentions. Sighing at the hardship of his job once more, one of the officers began to speak.

Each word that came from the mouth of the officer was worse than any pain Amelia had ever experienced. Her entire body filled with a nauseous feeling as her hands shook from the news.

"No, that can't be true. Brother wouldn't leave like this. You're joking with me, right?"

Tears flowed down Amelia's face as waves of denial slammed into her. A smile that didn't reach her eyes was plastered on Amelia's face.

'This is nothing but a sick joke. The punchline will be coming soon.'

Yet, Amelia's immeasurable denial couldn't change reality as it transformed into anguish. The withdrawal of the officers left her in a frozen state.

-

A week later, the hunched figure of a girl could be made out over a lonesome gravestone. Despite her pleading and begging, Amelia could do nothing but hug the gravestone and howl at the miserable hand fate had dealt her.

Replacing her warm brother, who constantly strived through pain with a smile on his face to protect her, was a single stone erected in a graveyard no one would visit but her.

'Here lies Clyde Woods, A loving son and a brother who will live on forever within my heart.'

---

10,000km away, Seoul

Clyde's eyes gradually flickered open. Morning light flooded in, causing him to wince as his retinas stung from the sudden influx.

Clyde couldn't help but feel as if he had been plucked out of darkness as he slowly came to his senses.

'Wait a minute, where am I? Did I not get brutalised by a truck? How am I alive?'

His head spinning as if on a screw, Clyde observed his foreign surroundings. He was lying on a luxurious bed that seemed to cling to his body. Everything down to the lamps in the room screamed modern luxury.

"Even the cushions look expensive! What hospital am I in? Even if that truck didn't kill me, my debts will!"

With a face reminiscent of Buddha, Clyde accepted his fate. As someone lacking insurance, he could already feel his organs being harvested to pay for this treatment.

'This is America, I guess.'

Yet Clyde couldn't help but feel increasingly doubtful about his survival. Standing up from the bed, his body didn't feel sore at all, as if the crash had never happened.

"How is such a complete recovery possible? How long has it be-."

Walking towards a mirror in the corner of the room, Clyde's monologue was cut off by the unfamiliar face he saw staring back. His reason slipping for a second, Clyde murmured.

"Who's this handsome chap?"

'WAIT, WHAT??'

Yelling whilst pointing at the unfamiliar visage, if not for the excellent soundproofing the penthouse provided, Clyde would likely have gotten a sound complaint.

"This isn't my body. Where am I? What's going on?"

Now that Clyde was fully awoken by shock, the changes became glaringly obvious. His voice was subtly different, carrying an arrogant undertone, and his once spindly body, now seemed toned.

Unlike the plain brown features he possessed, before he awoke, the face staring back at him was sharp with messy knots of caramel-coloured hair and glacial blue eyes. The man, who he was beginning to suspect was now him, was almost as handsome as a model.

'A luxury penthouse and a handsome face to match, what's next? A beautiful girlfriend?'

Clyde's deluded fantasies were quickly interrupted when a robotic voice was heard in his head; although it held no sentience, it shook Clyde to his core.

[System Instillation Commencing: 32%... 45%... 70%... 83%... 99%.... 99%... 99%]

Quickly recovering from shock due to the other impossible things he'd experienced today, Clyde couldn't help but lampoon.

'What is it installing, and why is it stuck on 99%? Is it a video game? That would make sense.'

[Investment System Installed: Beginning Assimilation]

"Investment System? Is this like a nove- AAAHHH!"

Clyde was quickly cut off by a searing that flooded his body. He felt as if he had been dunked into hot oil as he writhed in pain.

Alien memories drifted into Clyde at a ridiculous pace, accumulating in his brain and forming a more and more detailed picture as time passed. 

As the pain receded, Clyde swayed on his feet as he dove into the memories he had just received. Scenes and faces he had never seen flooded forward.

"Clyde Nevis?? Why do I have his memories, and why am I in his body?"

A blue screen appeared in front of Clyde with an impactful futuristic font printed on the intangible hologram.

[The Investment System: Become the richest or die trying.]

'I am so very much dead.'

-Author's Note-

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