Soul of Negary

Standing in the wilderness, not even the gusts of frigid autumn wind could dampen Wang Yuan’s good mood. After all, having received the Different Worlds System, he would be able to travel through infinite worlds, if he wasn’t the main character, who was? Just thinking about the wonderful life from now on made him ecstatic.

“Is this a different world?” Wang Yuan glanced around his surroundings and took a deep breath, felt that the air in a different world was just as fresh as the one he was used to, and asked the Different Worlds System: “Can you tell me what kind of world this is? And can I really communicate with the natives of this world? You’re not going to tell me that English is the common language for the entire universe, are you?”

[There is no need for the host to consider the problem of communication. The System is equipped with True Word. This is a language with the Exclusivity property that can be understood by any sentient lifeforms, one of the main languages of the multiverse] an icy cold voice responded, listening to it would give you the impression of a computer-like artificial intelligence.

[This world is classified as a low-magic world with relatively primitive witch doctors and life training crafts as the mainstream. The world consists of mostly white people, equivalent to the European Middle Age of the host’s world]

[Of course, the host does not need to know this. This knowledge is now meaningless to the host] for some reason, when it said this, the System’s cold voice held a slightly mocking tone.

“Huh? Why?” Wang Yuan was still focused on observing this new world, so he didn’t notice the approaching danger and curiously asked.

[Because this world has the misfortune characteristic] the System’s icy cold voice slowly spoke: [In the majority of other worlds, an intangible but very real concept known by the name of ‘luck’ is always present as they operate, the main product of which is something called the Protagonist Aura]

[And this world has the unique characteristic of being able to suppress that ‘luck’, rendering it useless here. Even with a Protagonist Aura, a tiny chance is still a tiny chance, and coincidences are truly nothing but coincidences, it would not be forcefully turned into an inevitability] the Different Worlds System continued to speak with its aloof, distant voice, but the insuppressible maliciousness and discord within its words were beginning to leak.

“So Protagonist Auras actually exists? Haha, then this world’s protagonist is quite the hapless guy” Wang Yuan laughed, then suddenly felt a bit disorientated while something seemed to be dripping from his nose.

When Wang Yuan unconsciously wiped his nose, he found that his hand was completely red and hurriedly looked up. But the nosebleed couldn’t be stopped at all, so he angrily questioned the System: “System, didn’t you say that there were no dangers when travelling to another world?”

[The System’s transference technology is extremely stable, it would definitely not harm humans in the slightest]

“Then why is my nose bleeding?” Wang Yuan asked in confusion as he pinched his nose, then noticed that red spots were beginning to appear on the back of his hand while visually becoming bigger and spreading all over his skin.

[In the shallow words of you humans, that is travel sickness] the Different Worlds System scoffed: [People in the host’s world can get all sorts of sickness just by travelling a bit too far away from their town due to a change in environment, let alone travelling to another world]

[Normally, travel sickness is just a stomach ache or vomiting at worst, but this is a different world. The host’s body has adapted to surviving in the Asia region of Earth, so in this new world, against foreign bacteria, the host’s body doesn’t have the necessary antibodies to fight these diseases. The host’s immune system is practically useless in this world]

[Not to mention, the various bacteria and viruses that came with the host from the host’s world can easily mutate and change in this new environment. If this was spring, or if the temperature was suitable and there were enough people travelling around, the host would have brought quite a decently-sized plague to this world]

“Bleh…” Wang Yuan crouched down and began to vomit everything in his stomach. As soon as he was done, Wang Yuan began to cough uncontrollably as his body temperature began to increase at an unnatural rate.

“I want to go home, bring me home, I need to see a doctor!” Wang Yuan shouted.

[As you wish!] the Different Worlds System calmly spoke.

A force began to act on Wang Yuan’s body, shifting his gradually powerless body to one side to see a rock next to him. The word ‘Home’ was carved on one side and ‘Doctor’ on the other side.

[Does the host have any other requests?] the Different Worlds System’s cold and malicious voice continued to ring in Wang Yuan’s ear.

“Bastard, I said I wanted to go home!” Wang Yuan painfully shouted.

[My apologies, because the host does not use True Word and the host’s language has too many homophones, I could only execute the host’s command according to my understanding] while it was apologizing, the Different Worlds System’s voice had no hint of remorse: [Just like the following sentence: ‘Wear as much as you can’ can have different meanings in different seasons]

“Save me, cure my disease!!” Wang Yuan tried clutching at the last straws he could.

[As you wish] the Different Worlds System said, then Wang Yuan suddenly felt a pinch before it spoke again: [I have examined your disease]

“Don’t play words games with me¹! Why do you want to push me to my death!? I’m just a normal person, there are over 7 billion people on the planet, why me!” Wang Yuan wasn’t stupid, he now fully understood that the System was purposefully pushing him to his death.

[The scales of equivalent exchange has yet to be balanced, then I shall explain it to the host] the Different Worlds System briefly checked something before continuing: [The host only assumed himself to be a normal person, while in fact, the host carries something of extreme value on himself]

[That is the host’s Protagonist Aura. If this System had not appeared, the host would have begun his hero’s journey not too long later]

[And to rob a Protagonist Aura, the following three steps must be achieved. Firstly, the Protagonist Aura must be in a suppressed stage, which this world perfectly accomplished. Secondly, the scales of equivalent exchange must be balanced; the System’s actions of aiding the host’s inter-world travel, fulfilling the host’s wishes and answering the host’s questions are all for the sake of balancing this scale. Naturally, because of the System’s prior knowledge of these rules, the scales are yet to be balanced. Thirdly, the host must die, at the same time the cause of death must not be directly related to the System]

[Once these three steps are accomplished, the host’s Protagonist Aura will belong to this System]

“So that’s why you want to kill me…” Wang Yuan muttered in despair and coughed uncontrollably again. Even when he wanted to sit back up, his limbs were numb and powerless so he just fell down again.

[That is not the case, the System did not kill the host, because that would not allow the System to collect the host’s Protagonist Aura. The host was killed by the environment of this world, and the System has already attempted to help the host through the host’s requests] the Different Worlds System corrected him.

[According to System examination, the host has one minute left to live. If the host has any last words, please go ahead and say it. Naturally, the System will not pass it on, as the scales of equivalent exchange have already been balanced] the Different Worlds System was still using an icy cold voice to speak the mocking words that pierced the soul.

“…” the Different Worlds System’s icy cold sarcastic remarks caused Wang Yuan to be completely speechless. Of course, he had a lot he wanted to say, but he would rather continue to live than to leave any last words; unfortunately, he was already powerless to change anything, he didn’t even have the strength to sit up.

In hindsight, he didn’t even know how many mistakes he had made since the beginning. Starting with naively placing complete trust in this System with unknown origins, and letting it take him to some unknown world without thinking of any consequences, his death right here and now was nothing but his own fault.

As his vision slowly became blurred, Wang Yuan seemed to see images flashing in front of his eyes, in which he successfully awakened a supernatural ability; slapped the faces of clueless young masters and showed off his strength, becoming the urban ruler; then the school Madonna, a pair of twin sisters, a shy librarian, a sexy female teacher, a young lady of a rich family, all of them came flocking to his side… but then everything slowly faded, and all that was waiting for him was the cold grasp of death.

[Confirmed deceased] a glowing polygonal crystal came out of Wang Yuan’s body and began to record the System log: [The host has died, his soul shackles confirmed broken, initiating the collection of the Protagonist Aura through equivalent exchange]

[Protagonist Aura collection complete, Aura collector YD2335 begin registry. Classification: Urban Supernatural Ability. Quality: Medium. Completion rate: 100%]

[Discovered the host to have begun to form a remnant soul, initiating world transference to avoid the contamination of the Protagonist Aura]

After it finished registering the Protagonist Aura, the polygonal crystal immediately broke through the void of space and disappeared from this world, leaving the corpse of a traveller from another world as well as the remnant soul slowly forming from it.