Liu Feiyang groaned as he stirred, his back aching from what felt like wooden planks. He opened his eyes slowly, blinking at the unfamiliar wooden ceiling above him. The scent of aged timber mixed with a faint herbal aroma filled his nose.
'This isn't my room... Where the hell am I?'
He sat up cautiously, his muscles reacting strangely—like they weren't quite his. His arms felt leaner, lighter. His balance felt off, like he was slightly shorter or his limbs moved a bit differently than he was used to.
He looked down at himself and froze.
Loose blue-black robes clung to his body, the fabric too unfamiliar, too… traditional. Like something out of a xianxia drama or cultivation manhua.
"What the…" he muttered, pressing his palm to his chest. 'This doesn't feel like my body… Did I—? No. No way. That's just...'
He pushed off the bed and wobbled slightly as he stood. His footsteps echoed lightly as he approached a nearby mirror hanging crookedly on the wall. He leaned forward—and froze.
The face staring back was not the same one he remembered from his lonely home and factory break rooms.
This one was younger. Sharper. A fair-skinned teen with long black hair, a strong jawline, and clear, deep-set of black eyes that somehow looked… innocent and cold at the same time.
Liu Feiyang reached up and touched his cheek, watching the reflection do the same.
"…No fucking way."
He staggered back, heart pounding. He rushed to the wooden door and flung it open.
Outside, the view hit him like a hammer.
He was greeted by the sight of dozens of people dressed like him, training— some practicing sword forms, some circulating their energy and others doing basic strength training. Wooden ancient pavilions, reminiscent of those he had seen in manhuas, stretched out before him, creating a scene that felt both alien and oddly familiar.
'This isn't the world I know. This isn't a dream. This... this is real.'
Liu Feiyang stood frozen at the doorstep, the wind brushing past him like it didn't care that his entire world had just changed.
'She… wasn't lying.'
That girl—no, the one who called herself the administrator—from that endless white void.
"Ahhh.." Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his head and his mind was filled the memories of this body from his childhood until now— from how he grew up at the sect's orphanage to later being selected for cultivation. His early life surprisingly had scenes of the sect's treasurer and it seemed like he was the one who actually rescued and got him into the orphanage but he couldn't focus on that for now since the headache was getting worse and he rushed back to his bed before falling unconscious.
It all came crashing back.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scene Shift: The White Plane After Death
He remembered waking up in that plane of nothingness—no walls, no sky, no floor. Just white stretching in all directions.
The world was silent.
No sound. No warmth. No weight. Just a boundless white void that stretched in all directions—blank, sterile, and eerily peaceful.
Liu Feiyang floated there, or perhaps stood—it was impossible to tell. There was no ground beneath him, no air brushing past him. His body, if it existed, felt numb and distant.
"Where the hell is this place? and where am I?" he murmured, his voice echoing.
'Am I dead...?'
The question barely echoed in his own mind before something stirred in the distance.
A soft light, warmer than the void itself, began to coalesce. It shimmered like moonlight on water, folding into shape slowly. Wings unfurled—massive, luminous, and feathered with strands of silver-gold. From the center stepped a woman, or something that wore the shape of one.
She was radiant.
Her long hair cascaded behind her in waves of pure white, laced with threads of shimmering blue. Her eyes were a deep violet—unearthly and calm, as if they held the weight of countless worlds. Her gown fluttered, though there was no wind, made of threads of starlight and glass. A soft glow surrounded her, gentle yet commanding.
To Liu Feiyang, she looked like every depiction of an angel he'd ever seen in fantasy novels or religious art—except more surreal. More divine. Less… human.
"Welcome, Liu Feiyang," she said, her voice calm, almost melodic. It didn't echo—it simply _was_, filling the space around them like light.
His eyes widened. "Who… are you?"
"I am the administrator of this world," she replied. " And many other. Some have also called me a guide."
He stared blankly for a few seconds before scoffing quietly. "So this is what comes after death... huh."
She tilted her head. "Do you remember how you got here?"
Liu Feiyang lowered his eyes, and the memories struck like a hammer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A car.
A scream.
A blinding light.
Then—nothing.
But before that… so much more.
His family's car had veered off the mountain road after a truck suddenly swerved into their lane. The impact sent them hurtling down a trench. His father died on the spot. His mother was alive for barely a minute longer, whispering something through bloodied lips he never heard.
Only he and his sister had survived. Barely.
Yan'er had slipped into a coma from the trauma. He'd needed surgery too, but nothing life-threatening. The real pain came after.
In a year, the insurance and savings were gone—swallowed whole by hospital bills, medicine, surgeries. At fourteen, Liu Feiyang had to grow up all at once. Mornings were school. Nights were spent stocking shelves, washing dishes, or cleaning floors. He worked without rest, dragging himself from shift to classroom and back again, day after day, week after week.
And yet, somehow, he didn't crumble.
He stayed near the top of his class. He read textbooks while wiping tables. He learned to cook with whatever cheap ingredients were left. He changed Yan'er's dressings himself when nurses didn't bother. And eventually, through sheer grit and a mountain of exhaustion, he made it.
Life was lonely.. and depressing. He had almost given up many times but.. he couldn't. There was nothing after if he gave up, and he would be leaving his sister to die alone. He would have never been able to forgive himself even in death, so he lived with just his will and love for his sister carrying him forward.
He got into a top university—with a full scholarship.
And the very same morning, the doctor called him.
"She's awake, Liu. Your sister… she opened her eyes."
He had run like a madman, smiling and crying at the same time.
But fate wasn't finished with him.
While crossing the road to the hospital, a car—driven by a drunk, ignoring the signal—hit him at full speed.
He didn't even see it coming.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Liu Feiyang clenched his fists, breathing heavily. "So that's it, huh? Worked my ass off for years, and the day I finally make it—bam, gone. Just like that."
The angelic administrator looked at him quietly, her expression unreadable.
"You were not supposed to die," she said softly. "The error was not yours. But the world's. It happens sometimes in a millennia or more. The threads of fate became tangled, and in that moment of conflict… you were lost."
"…What does that even mean?" he snapped. "Some cosmic glitch, and I die for it? Do you even understand what I went through?"
"I do." Her voice remained calm. "I saw every step. I watched as you sacrificed your youth, your sleep, your health, your joy—just to keep your sister alive. I watched you swallow regret with cold rice. Smile at her unconscious body when you wanted to scream."
He stared at her in disbelief.
"I saw it all," she continued, "and because of that—I am here to offer correction. A chance to begin again. In another world."
Liu Feiyang's expression hardened. "Another world?"