"Hiss..."

It felt like countless needles were stabbing into Liam's brain, an excruciating pain so intense it made him think he might die.

But he held on, barely clinging to consciousness.

"Ugh!"

After what felt like an eternity, the searing pain began to fade.

Liam slowly regained his senses and opened his eyes. But before he could push himself off the cold, hard floor, the sight of the unfamiliar ceiling above him froze him in place.

He was stunned.

The room was dimly lit, cramped, and devoid of anything except a few pieces of sparse furniture.

Although Liam had sold everything he owned to pay for his medical expenses and lived in a rundown place, it was nowhere near this bad.

Moreover, who would kidnap a lone, old man like him, someone on his deathbed?

Could it be... some pervert with a taste for torturing old men?

A shiver ran down Liam's spine as the thought crossed his mind. He scrambled to his feet and quickly scanned the room.

But when his gaze landed on the mirror on the small table, he faced something even more shocking: an entirely unfamiliar face was staring back at him.

The reflection wasn't of his old, frail, and wrinkle-lined visage. Instead, it was the face of a young man—thin, somewhat delicate, with messy, slender hair. The dark eyes were narrow, almost cunning, and though they appeared slightly dull, they carried a hint of a sinister temperament.

Liam moved his hands, watching the stranger in the mirror mimic his every action. There was no denying it—he was the person in the reflection.

Instantly, a thousand thoughts and theories raced through Liam's mind as he tried to make sense of his situation.

As a veteran reader who had read countless online novels, Liam quickly arrived at a tentative conclusion—transmigration.

Reluctantly accepting the bizarre reality, Liam understood that the most important thing now was not to dwell on the cause but to gather information about this new body and the world he was in.

Let's see what's in the room first.

With that thought, Liam reached out to open the closet beside him. But as soon as the door creaked open, a dark shadow fell out, hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

The sound echoed in the room, and a dark red liquid splattered across the floor, with a few drops landing on Liam's face.

His heart nearly stopped, but he forced himself to remain composed and took a closer look at the figure before him.

It wasn't an object—it was the corpse of a young, beautiful girl lying lifeless on the floor.

Coarse hemp ropes tightly bound her hands and feet. The white dress she wore was stained deep red with blood, and a thin, precise cut on her neck told the gruesome story of her demise.

As soon as Liam saw this, a horrifying realization hit him—he had transmigrated into the body of a murderer.

Yet Liam didn't utter a word. He roughly shoved the girl's corpse back into the closet, slammed the door shut, cleaned the blood, and sprayed some room freshener he found in a hurry. Only then did he take a deep breath, trying to calm the turmoil within him.

Could I be this unlucky? Am I really going to be on the run right after transmigrating?

Despite the grim situation, Liam didn't panic. He had witnessed enough ups and downs in his 53-year-old life. The shock of unexpectedly transmigrating had also worn off, and his usual composure returned as he began to think about his next move.

Liam was unaware of the laws in this world, but one thing was certain: if someone discovered the body, his fate would not be good.

He had been given a new life, a chance to start over in a young, vibrant body, and the last thing he wanted was to waste it by ending up in prison.

I can only take this one step at a time. Let's see if I can find something like a diary. Otherwise, I'll be completely lost.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Liam started his search, carefully rummaging through the drawer, under the bed, and any other potential hiding places.

As he searched, Liam felt the weight of a smartphone in his pocket.

Unfortunately, the phone wasn't set to be unlocked with a fingerprint, it required a password, and Liam had no idea what it could be.

Eventually, even after thoroughly searching the room, he found nothing of value.

Frustrated, Liam was on the verge of giving up and taking a break when a mechanical voice suddenly echoed in his mind, and a translucent notification panel-like screen, similar to an AR game interface, appeared in his vision, hovering mid-air.

[Body and Soul Synchronization Complete]

"This is…"

Liam instinctively knew what this strange screen signified, and his heart began to race. But before he could fully grasp what was happening…

[Transferring Memories…]

The screen flickered, and a new notification panel appeared before him. Suddenly, countless fragments of memory surged into his mind, overwhelming him to the point where it felt like his brain might explode.

After what felt like an eternity, Liam's body was drenched in sweat. His face had gone deathly pale, yet his eyes sparkled with a newfound clarity.

"So that's how it is..."

The original owner of this body was also named Liam, a young man who had just come of age and was a student at Roxila Academy. He had a deep crush on a classmate named Daphne Bright, and he was a pathetic, simping dog for her.

For three long years, this situation continued, but Daphne not only did not treat him like a human being at all, but more recently, Daphne's new boyfriend even blocked him in the alley and severely humiliated him.

In a fit of rage, the original owner spiked Daphne's breakfast with drugs every day.

Knowing Daphne's habits inside and out, he eventually kidnapped her, venting all the pent-up anger and frustration he had accumulated over the years.

However, to humiliate Daphne for a longer period of time, he himself also consumed a large amount of drugs, which proved too much for him to handle. In the end, he suffered a fatal heart attack, inexplicably dying, which allowed the current Liam to take over his body.

Finally, the system that had accompanied Liam through his transmigration devoured the remnants of the original owner's soul that hadn't dissipated, allowing Liam to inherit all of his memories.

This was how the current situation came to be.

After browsing through the memories, Liam had a general understanding of his situation as well as of this world—a world where people possessed extraordinary powers and supernatural abilities.

Such people were classified into three types: warriors, mystics, and mystic warriors.

While warriors concentrated on cultivating their essence and blood, primarily focusing on physical strength, mystics were individuals who cultivated their spirit and successfully awakened their supernatural ability through a special ritual that utilized an awakening stone after reaching adulthood.

However, the chances of a warrior's supernatural ability being successfully awakened were slim, with only about a 2% probability.

Even though high-level warriors could move mountains, fill the seas, or even level entire cities on their own, warriors were typically no match for a mystic of the same level.

Coming at last were the mystic warriors, who, as their name implied, cultivated both spirit and blood, simultaneously enhancing their mystical energy and physical strength.

This path was the most perfect and powerful, offering unparalleled potential. However, the original owner of Liam's body lacked aptitude and struggled to even reach the first level of warriors.

Not to mention, though he had come of age, he lacked the money to purchase a Supernatural Awakening Stone and was waiting for the academy's free awakening ceremony.

As Liam fully absorbed these memories, he glanced at the system panel in his vision and let out a heavy sigh.

"So be it. From now on, I'll live as Liam. Luckily, my name remains the same in this world, which should make adapting to this new identity a bit easier."

Adapting wasn't a choice—it was a necessity.

From the original owner's memories, Liam discovered that all the regions and factions in this world were hunting down outsiders—people who had arrived in this world through various means.

But why?

Liam wasn't entirely sure.

It seemed that people here had been conditioned from childhood to view outsiders as cancer that shouldn't exist in this world.

This thought was so deeply ingrained in the original owner's body that even Liam felt a subtle urge to commit suicide for the world. The emotion alerted him, instantly making him realize something was wrong.

If he had to choose between this world and his survival, he would choose himself without hesitation.

Liam cherished his life above all else, how could he have even a fleeting desire to end it?

Feeling the malice of this world towards him, Liam's eyes grew cold. He took a deep breath and called out in his mind.

Status window.

Instantly, a black light, ominous and all-consuming, enveloped Liam before gradually fading away.

On the white screen before him, lines of dark text began to appear.

—[Satus Window]—

➤ [Owner: Liam]

➤ [Warrior: Not yet entered]

➤ [Martial arts: Body Forging Technique (beginner), Sunlight Fist (beginner)]

➤ [Mystic: Not yet entered]

➤ [Supernatural ability: Not awakened]

➤ [Skills: None]

➤ [Soul points: 80]

—————————

Liam was already familiar with the functions of his system.

The Soul Devouring System allowed him to absorb the souls of those he killed, converting them into soul points that were stored within him. He could use these soul points to enhance his skills and levels, modify the attributes of existing skills and items, and even create new abilities.

As for the origin of the Soul Devouring System?

Liam had no idea, but from the information he received from the system, he speculated that perhaps this mysterious system had been with him for a far longer time than he could even imagine and was only activated recently due to unknown reasons.

This raised many doubts and questions in Liam's mind.

But before he could delve deeper into this mystery...

Click!

A sudden noise came from the front door, as if someone was struggling with the lock.

Liam's nerves tensed. In a flash, he retrieved the blood-stained dagger hidden under his bed, his eyes locked on the door.