Pain.
It devoured everything.
Not the dull, constant ache he had grown accustomed to over the years of suppression—this was sharp, immediate, tearing through every joint and sinew as if invisible hooks were dragging him back into the world.
Shen Yuan groaned. The sound was alien, raw, scraping his throat as though his vocal cords had rusted shut. He had forgotten the sound of his own voice.
The floor was jagged stone, cold enough to bite into his ribs. He blinked, his eyelids peeling apart with a dry crackle, and the world swam into view.
Gray.
Not the comforting gray of dawn or rainclouds, but a suffocating haze that clung to everything—the walls, the air, his skin. Even the corpses.
He forced himself upright, every muscle screaming.
The cavern was silent except for his ragged breathing. Dozens of husks slumped against the walls, their bodies long desiccated, lips parted in soundless screams. He recognized their faces, some from fleeting glimpses when he was first thrown into the star system, others strangers entirely.
All dead.
He swallowed hard, tasting the iron of blood on his tongue.
Why am I alive?
The answer came as a pulse through his chest, cold and mechanical, a presence threading through every inch of his spirit.
Me.
The voice rippled through his mind, metallic and merciless.
Shen Yuan flinched, fear igniting long-buried reflexes. "W-Who—?"
Your System, it said.
"System?" The word felt strange in his mouth, unfamiliar and sharp.
Yes. And if you value the life you're clinging to, you will do exactly as I tell you.
The weight behind the voice crushed any thought of resistance.
"What do you want from me?" he rasped.
Survival, the voice replied, flat and cold. Yours, so mine is possible. But do not mistake this for charity. Fail, and I will consume you, just like the last one.
The last one? Shen Yuan's stomach twisted. He didn't dare ask.
The presence pressed harder.
Your body is broken. Your meridians corroded. Your dantian unstable. If we do not stabilize your foundation now, you will collapse again before the day is out.
Shen Yuan closed his eyes, despair flooding in. He had tried this before—so many times. Years spent clawing at a dantian that refused to respond, watching his strength wither away while the suppression field smothered him.
"In this suppression field?" he whispered.
Yes.
He almost laughed. Impossible.
But the System's voice sharpened.
Do you think you have a choice, Shen Yuan? Circulate your qi, repair what you can, or become my next meal.
The pulse of energy through his chest hardened, a cold finality.
He knelt, palms pressed to the stone floor, forcing his body to still. His limbs trembled, every muscle taut with pain.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
A thread of qi crept into his meridians. Thin. Reluctant. Poisoned. It felt wrong, like swallowing shards of glass.
He grit his teeth as the first channel seized, tearing open along old scars. The pain was enough to white out his vision.
He bit his tongue until blood filled his mouth rather than scream.
The System was silent, but its presence weighed on him like a blade at his neck.
Minutes stretched into hours. He lost all sense of time. The only rhythm was his breathing and the faint, trembling threads of qi crawling through his meridians.
At one point, his strength gave out. He pitched forward onto his hands, forehead hitting stone.
"I… I can't…"
Stand.
The command cracked like a whip.
Shen Yuan dragged himself upright, every nerve on fire.
Another hour. Another thread of qi. Each one stitched tiny fractures closed, rebuilt what had been corroded for years.
Something shifted.
He felt it before he saw it: a fragile warmth blooming in his dantian, small and fragile but real.
He opened his eyes.
The cavern looked the same—gray, lifeless, the corpses unmoved—but his body felt… different.
Alive.
For the first time in years, truly alive.
You've taken the first step, the System said, its tone unreadable.
Shen Yuan slumped back against the wall, chest heaving, sweat dripping into his eyes. He couldn't summon the strength to answer.
Remember this feeling, the System continued, letting the words carve into his thoughts. Because the next steps will be harder. Much harder.
He closed his eyes, letting exhaustion pull at him.
Harder? He couldn't even imagine it.
But one thing was clear: the System wasn't lying.
This was only the beginning.