A gasp of pain escaped William’s lips before he gritted his teeth. The moment she touched his head, it felt like someone had taken a chisel and started to hammer it into his skull.

If he was going to die to this bitch, it wouldn’t be screaming. That surely counted for something, right? That’ll show his fucked up brain for creating this nightmare. In fact, the first thing William would do when he woke up was take the day off work and go to a therapist. He must have some serious issues if he could imagine all this in such vivid detail.

William had brave intentions, but those intentions flew out the window the moment the pain increased by another magnitude.

The screech of pain he let out was a sound he didn’t even know he was capable of making. Tears were running down his face as he tried to glare the woman to death, still unable to believe what he was feeling.

“HA! You have courage, boy!” The woman cackled, “I would have chopped you up and fed you to the pigs if you weren’t my nourishment.”

At this point, William thought he would prefer that to whatever the hell she was doing. He couldn’t explain it, but it felt like he was losing something more important than life itself. It was like he was being ripped apart from something that had always been with him, and he didn’t mean just in this lifetime.

“Hm? Who would dare disturb me?”

William collapsed to his knees when the woman stopped what she was doing, her attention going to the door. He really should be doing something, anything, to escape. He tried his best to will his body to move, but nothing responded. He could barely find the energy to keep breathing.

“Just a Foundation Establishment brat, and already so vicious.”

William shuddered at hearing the new voice. It was a man that obviously had some authority since the demonic woman hadn’t made a sound in response. The pressure that came along with the man’s voice did no good for his damaged state.

“W-Who are you? Please, spare me! My master is the one that asked me to do this. I was forced to, I swear!”

“A master that teaches soul-absorption? Such techniques should be eradicated from this plane.”

“N-No!”

William heard a soft thud, similar to a ball hitting the floor. He supposed that this was where the dream would come to an end. The only thing he wished was that the man had come earlier to save everyone else. There was no doubt that the screams would haunt his sleep for the foreseeable future. Even with all the horror he had gone through, William smiled without humor at the thought of being the first to get PTSD from a damned dream.

He wearily opened his eyes when he felt a hand touch his head gently.

William looked up at the figure before him and felt a shiver run down his spine. The old man was ancient, his face lined with wrinkles and his hair as white as snow. He wore a shimmering purple robe that had intricate golden embroidery. But despite his age, he exuded a palpable sense of power and authority that made it clear he was no ordinary person. He was a cultivator, and a powerful one at that.

If William was in a better state of mind, he would immediately file the man into the ‘old monster’ category.

However, all that escaped his lips was a croaked, “Thank you.”

“Ho? You can still speak in your state,” The old man stroked his beard, “Your soul is damaged to an extent that it should leave you a fool.”

William assumed that was what he felt being removed from him by the woman. As helpful as it was to get more information about what on Earth this dream was about, he wanted to wake up.

“E-End.”

“No,” The old man denied him, “You cannot enter the cycle of reincarnation in this state. There is a way for your soul to be healed, but it will depend on your capabilities.”

William saw the old man take out a small rectangular object made of smooth, green jade. The old man fondly stroked the jade’s surface before looking at him with a complicated expression.

“My master left her cultivation manual in this jade. In the thousands of years I’ve searched for a successor, none have been accepted by the jade. It is fate for us to meet, so I will let you have a chance.”

William watched the old man flick his hand and felt himself rise from the ground. The old man tapped the card-sized green jade on his forehead without wasting time.

[Initializing… Initializing… User detected]

William stared blankly at the blue text that hovered before him, wondering what was happening now.

[Checking host requirements… General knowledge of RPG mechanics found]

At this point, William questioned whether he had been drugged before falling asleep on the elevator. This dream was too strange to consider anything else.

[Checking aptitude… ERROR: SOUL DAMAGE]

[Attempting restoration… ERROR: USER LEVEL INADEQUATE]

[Booting into SAFE MODE]

William blinked when the floating blue text disappeared.

The old man sighed in disappointment. “It seems that the jade has rejected you. I have a pill that can stabilize your soul for you to live a mortal life, but nothing more. We have some karma between us, so this could be considered as me severing it.”

William wasn’t sure what that meant exactly. Still, from the novels he had read, some high-level cultivators ensured they weren’t burdened by obligations. Perhaps this was what the old man meant.

“Here is the pill, little friend,” The old man paused, “All this, and I don’t know your name. What is it?”

“W-William.”

“Wei Liang,” The old man nodded, “A good name.”

William wondered if he had slurred his name that bad. No matter, that wasn’t important since he wouldn’t be here for much longer anyway.

The old man was about to speak again when he heard a soft crack. He looked at his hand incredulously as the jade shattered before his eyes.

William didn’t notice the old man’s shock since his focus was pulled back to the blue text that reappeared.

Name: Wei Liang (William Davis)

Age: 13

Level: 1

Experience: 0/100

Cultivation: N/A

Health: 1/10

Strength: 1

Stamina: 1

Agility: 1

Luck: 1

Points: 0

Traits:

Soul Damage (Major) - Chance of all base attributes to reset to 1 with every point added

Main Quests:

Restore your Soul! (Reach Level 10 to enable the system to restore your soul to a more complete state)

Side Quests:

N/A

“W-What’s going on?”

The old man roared with laughter. “That, little Wei Liang, is you becoming the true successor of my master’s cultivation method! For thousands of years, I’ve been searching, delaying my ascension, and I find the successor when I decide to kill a vicious brat on a whim!”

William didn’t particularly like that his name was suddenly changed without his permission and that this system had popped up out of nowhere and seemingly agreed with the name change.

“You don’t need this pill anymore. It will do more harm than good since you gained my master’s cultivation manual.”

The blue text moved to the corner of his vision and stopped blocking his sight. That was when William saw more text hovering above the old man.

[Name: ? | Level: ?]

It was immediately apparent that whoever the old man was, William was too weak to know anything about him.

“This should be weak enough,” The old man tossed a pill into William’s mouth, “It’s the lowest grade Vitality Restoration Pill I possess. If the grade was higher, your body wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

William groaned in relief as he felt a rush of soothing energy circulate through his body and erase any signs of exhaustion while also healing the wounds caused by the woman. His curiosity to see if he was fully healed pulled the health stat back in front of his vision.

Health: 10/10

The screen disappeared when William was done with it. He was in perfect health, if not for the concerning trait that said he had soul damage. However, there was something he was even more worried about.

William was finally starting to accept he wasn’t dreaming.