The sound of something being slammed against the wall echoed from a dark alley, but there was no one around to hear it. A man with indistinct features sat slumped against one side of the concrete wall. His entire attire was stained red from blood seeping through the many holes in his body. Despite sustaining severe injuries, he was still breathing, and his gaze remained unwavering. 

The blood-covered man looked up at the black-haired individual before him—the one who had riddled his body with bullets. 

The gun remained in his hands as he stared at the bloodied man before him. He wasn't alone; two of his friends had arrived as well. Even though using the gun to kill the man before them seemed foolproof, lingering fears from the past kept him hesitant. He wasn't willing to take any risks. 

"Hehe, you played a good game this time, Arnold. Congratulations, you won!" 

The black-haired man, Arnold, scoffed upon hearing the husky voice. "Heh, you're already on your deathbed and still have this attitude of yours." Seeing that the bullets had taken effect and the man before him couldn't move, Arnold's confidence surged as he walked toward him.

One of his friends tried to stop him, but Arnold shrugged off his hand. He crouched down in front of the dying man and said, "You know what, Raj, this attitude of yours—this arrogance—has brought you to your death. Don't you feel anything?" 

The bloodied man, Raj, smiled and, with a speed that Arnold couldn't react to, grabbed Arnold's neck in a tight clutch and brought his face closer to his own. tartled and terrified, Arnold fired two more bullets at Raj. They struck his belly, causing Raj to cough up even more blood. 

Even in that state, Raj still looked directly into Arnold's eyes. His vision was blurring, and he knew he had only moments left in this world. "Look into my eyes and tell me, do you think I even care about all this?" Raj smiled. "You asked how I'm feeling; well, aside from disappointment, nothing. I feel nothing!" 

Raj’s grip on Arnold's neck loosened as his hand dropped to the ground. Arnold immediately scrambled away, his eyes revealing nothing but pure, primal terror. One of his friends quickly approached him and shook him. "Hey Arnold, we should leave now. He won't survive, so let's go." 

Arnold nodded and picked up his gun with a trembling hand. He stood up and fired one more bullet directly at Raj's heart. "We can't take any risks with this man," he said. "I'm sure he won't survive with this many bullets in his body." 

He wasn't telling anyone but was merely consoling himself. Turning to his friends, he said, "Let's go before anyone arrives here." His friends nodded, and they all retreated from the spot where they had just murdered one of their own. 

Raj's body twitched slightly as he coughed up blood again. As his vision began to fade, he thought, 'I really messed up this time.' 

As he awaited his death, he cursed, 'Damn it! Who the hell said that in our final moments, we get to see our life flash by? I at least wanted to relive my amazing life one more time.' 

As he distracted himself from the terrible pain with countless thoughts, he heard the sound of a ping echoing in the alleyway.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

'Aghh! Can't you let me die in peace? Who's sending messages now?' Raj grumbled and slowly took out his ringing phone with his still functional hand. Many messages were unreadable due to his blurred and fading vision. He could barely make out the last two. 

[The beta testing for Auto Cultivation System is over.] 

[As a reward for being the sole beta tester, we are offering you the chance to become the first host of the Auto Cultivation System.] 

[Do you wish to assimilate with the Auto Cultivation System?] 

[Yes] [No] 

'Oh! Looks like at least the rumors about hallucinating at death were true,' Raj thought as his consciousness slipped away. 

'Well, goodbye to the world then. Don't cry about losing someone as awesome as me,' he thought as he unconsciously clicked 'Yes' on his phone. 

The next moment, his phone exploded, engulfing Raj and his surroundings in a small blast. 

Just like that, the world lost a genius like Raj. 

…

[???'s POV] 

Aghhh! What's going on? Did I survive again? I tried opening my eyes and moving my body, but even the slightest movement brought intense pain. Guess I have no other choice but to do nothing. 

[Ding! Host's new body is damaged.]

[Ding! Healing the body to its perfect state.] 

What's this feeling? Am I in the hospital? Is this some new kind of treatment? I felt like I was drowning in a vast sea, but instead of suffocating, I felt liberated. I was free. 

However, this intense pain was still bothering me. Guess those bullets really did break my body. mn! That bastard. Since when is it fair to bring a gun into hand-to-hand combat? Well, why am I cursing him? It's my fault for actually trusting him. 

Well, who cares now that I'm dead? Or am I not? 

Honestly, I don't even know what state I'm in, but to distract myself from the pain, I'm ranting to no one. People call me crazy because I talk to myself anyway. Should I tell my life story then? Well, it wasn't particularly good or awful. 

I was born into a middle-class family where my parents frequently fought. I lived with them for a few years until I was diagnosed with a heart disease.  I was bound to die, and keeping me alive would be expensive, so they simply abandoned me without a second thought. 

Clichéd, right? Well, everyone's life already follows familiar patterns, so you can't really complain. From childhood to old age, everyone just follows the same predictable path. Anyway, why am I speaking like those influencers who talk about escaping the Matrix and all? 

So yeah, after I was abandoned, I had to survive on my own, which I did. Fighting others for food and sleeping places became the norm for me. 

It was then that I discovered my love for combat; the thrill and adrenaline rush I experienced was unmatched by anything else. That's why, after surviving all those harsh years of combat and spending time with various women, it became a habit for me.

That's when I met Arnold for the first time. He was like a cockroach that refused to die. Heh, sometimes I even called him the protagonist of a shonen anime. He was just like that; I beat him, and he kept coming back to fight me.

Then something happened, and he disappeared for two whole years. I honestly began to miss that punching bag of mine. So, when he called me to a fight after two years, I was thrilled and went to his designated location.

I thought we'd engage in another hand-to-hand fight like we used to, but the first thing he did was shoot my leg. Really? I could see he was aiming at my little brother.

What did he have against my little elephant? Anyway, he didn't stop at one bullet; he riddled my body with several.

All those people saying that you can defeat someone with a gun just because you're good at martial arts are nothing but motherduckers.

Well, at least someone trained with a gun and positioned at a distance would surely kill you no matter how skilled you are at martial arts.

This was something I didn't like; if we're going to fight, let's fight. I found it unfair but never really complained.

Why, you ask? Oh! So you don't! Ahem, I'll tell you anyway since I'm alone.

I never complained because defeating someone with an obvious advantage is always thrilling.

Well, that cost me my life, though. I still don't understand why he even bothered to kill me. I was going to die anyway.

And if these doctors…

[Ding! Host's new body is in optimal state now.]

[Ding! Checking everything.]

[Ding! Everything is working correctly.]

[Ding! Host, would you like to assimilate with the Auto Cultivation System?]