1 Memories Regained
One of the 12 Zodiac Kingdoms, the Aries Kingdom's Capital, Zoria
In a random alley way, a boy was laying down in the trash that inhabited said alley, seemingly asleep. Opening his eyes, two dark-as-night irises flashing with a hint of intelligence greeted the world. They were like an abyss, in which you would lose yourself in if you gazed into them for too long.
Looking around, the boy saw two huge walls of brick along with the plain grey sky. The first sensations he felt were the freezing cold hitting his skin, the immense pain from hunger, along with the rough and ragged feeling of his clothes.
The boy closed his eyes because of the abrupt light that hit them and the pain that assailed his mind due to that. After a while, he opened his eyes again, letting them adapt to the light.
The boy, seemingly 16 years old, was incredibly skinny with hallowed out cheeks, toothpick-like limbs, and a torso that revealed his ribs; a testament to the fact that he was poor and had no food.
Looking around after sitting up, the boy realized he was in an alley, surrounded by trash and other filth.
It was snowing, so he was covered in snow. In fact, the whole alley was covered in a thin layer of snow. However, he ignored both the trash and the cold.
He suddenly had a headache, resulting in the boy grasping his head with both hands and groaning in pain. The sudden pain jolted his blank mind awake.
After a while, tears streamed down his face. But it wasn't because of the headache, as one would expect.
"I remember….." the boy mumbled quietly trying to stifle his sobs. In this boy's mind was only the two questions of "why?" and "how?"
This weak and frail boy was none other than Xiao Ying.
"Why did she do that to me? How am I still alive?" Xiao Ying asked himself aloud, yet there was no answer to either of his questions.
"Crack~~~!" something akin to glass shattering rang out; alas, no one heard it due to it being only something the soul could hear.
'Did I reincarnate like in those novels I read as a child? Or maybe I transmigrated?' he immediately thought to himself after organizing his mind, throwing the events of his past life to the back of it and focusing his attention elsewhere. Surprisingly, he took the betrayal with disturbing calmness, as if it no longer concerned him. It seemed like something inside of him had either snapped or broken; like he had lost something important to his humanity.
After his headache subsided, he realized that he had an alternative set of memories belonging to the owner of the body his soul now resides in.
After analyzing those memories, he learned of his current situation and what happened to the previous body's owner, which also happened to be named Xiao Ying.
The previous Xiao Ying was but an orphan living on the streets. His mother tragically died while giving birth to him. His father, which was an ordinary soldier in the army of the Aries Kingdom, died on the battlefield when the Kingdom went to war with the neighboring kingdom, the Leo Kingdom. As a result of the loss of his only provider, Xiao Ying had no money to use or home to live in. He also had no siblings, which lessened the burden of having to provide for or rely on anyone else besides himself.
The previous Xiao Ying died in his sleep from hunger, from dehydration, and from the cold before the current Xiao Ying took refuge in his body.
The world in which Xiao Ying reincarnated in was one of cultivation; a dog-eat-dog world. It was one in which the strong bullied the weak. In this world, those with strength were always in the right with their actions and those under them were always wrong.
Strength meant status, whereas status meant wealth and authority. It was something everyone desired and pursued. However, gaining strength in this world was strenuous and hard.
On the path to the pinnacle, everyone fought for resources. If one happened to obtain a valuable resource, word of it being spread was tantamount to death.
There was one saying that universally described cultivation, and that saying was that cultivation was difficult. Cultivation was difficult for everyone.
Xiao Ying dreaded to think about what the future held. He could either die a premature death or attain unrivaled strength, the latter of which seemed improbable and impossible to him.
Suddenly, a cold, mechanical ding sounded in Xiao Ying's mind, bringing him from his thoughts.
Looking up, he suddenly saw a panel floating in front of his face. It was grey and consisted of what he could only describe as fog or smoke.
____________________________________
____________________________________
Do you want to activate the "Master
Assassin Inheritance" System?
Y/N
____________________________________
____________________________________
"….!" Xiao Ying could not believe what he was reading.
"Master Assassin Inheritance System? That sounds kind of badass, not going to lie," he thought out loud.
Subconsciously, he nodded yes. However, against his expectations, the screen was still there and nothing happened.
"How do I work this thing? Do I press it or something?" Xiao Ying questioned himself.
His whole arm went through the screen; however, the screen didn't disappear.
"So it's not physical interaction. Maybe I have to think..."
'Y,' he facepalmed himself.
"Of course."
As if it never existed, the panel immediately disappeared, like smoke or fog in the wind.
After a brief moment, Xiao Ying shook his head, and bitterly laughed.
'Like that's real. Fate must be playing a prank on me,' he thought resigning himself to this wicked being called Fate.
Suddenly, another panel appeared before his eyes. It soon read:
____________________________________
____________________________________
Initiating the "Master Assassin
Inheritance" System.....
...1%
...…36%
...…57%
...…74%
...…95%
...…100%
Initialization of the "Master Assassin
Inheritance" System completed
Inducing Host into unconsciousness in...
...1
...2
...3
____________________________________
____________________________________
After reading the panel, Xiao Ying's vision grew blurry, starting to darken.
"Wait wha-," he didn't get the chance to finish his statement before falling unconscious. Xiao Ying couldn't even celebrate the fact that he had another chance at life nor that he could finally live the life of those main characters in the novels that he used to read.
