The sunrise rose to the sky with a luminescent orange glow giving warmth to the world.
The trees of the surrounding city swayed with a gentle breeze as a deer drank from a lake with rippling water.
The birds sang, and the animals welcomed the morning with open beaks.
The ebb and flow of the crowd overflow the city with harmony like porcelain art from a museum.
Among the moving cars of the tranquil city was the highest condo within Elk City.
The echoing sounds of an alarm clock glowed from the window of a lavish condominium.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"Ugh..."
I felt a slight headache waking up from a hangover.
I outstretched my right arm to face the ceiling while holding my head with an exhausted complexion.
My eyesight was slightly blurry after waking up. I had a baffled expression.
I suddenly recalled the previous major accident that had transpired.
"That's right... the plane crashed."
'But why am I still alive?'
'Did I get rescued from the burning airplane?'
'No...'
I shook my head in denial.
It wasn't possible because the plane had exploded mid-air.
I was as good as dead.
'So, what is this situation?'
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The sounds of the alarm kept on disturbing me, so I turned my head to the side.
'Damn, so annoying.'
I reached out to the alarm clock and turned it off.
But I froze with a stupefied expression.
The tall silver mirror was visible, and I saw my appearance.
I had blonde hair with emerald eye color and pale white skin.
"What... the hell?"
I didn't know how to react except to be shaken.
The appearance I was staring at wasn't the past me before the plane crash accident.
I was only above average in terms of facial attraction in the past.
But the past me looked like a squid to this handsome appearance.
Most importantly, this appearance was oddly familiar.
It was similar to Vince Schneider, the reputable mid-boss of the game Revelation Evil.
"Ahhhh!!! No way! Revelation Evil?! That crazy game?!"
I quickly ran to the mirror and grasped my face with a panicked expression.
"Is this reincarnation, or am I going nuts? But if it is true, then."
'Wait... if I am Vince Schneider, won't I be turned into an ugly mutated grotesque monster during the Elk City epidemic outbreak?!'
My face turned even paler after thinking of such a terrifying situation.
"I have to calm down first. Stressing out things won't solve anything."
I slapped my face with both hands and then walked back to the bed and sat with a gloomy expression.
I contemplated the truth of this situation.
The sensations of smell, taste, touch, hearing, and vision were facts as I went to the kitchen, bathroom, and different places in this condominium.
I tested all sorts of things in this luxurious place.
And the main factor of this proof was that Vince was wealthy.
Expensive jewels.
High-tech gadgets.
Stylish rich catalogs of clothing.
"It must be real..."
The reason why I was fretting over my identity as Vince Schneider wasn't because I was overreacting.
It was because Vince Schneider was infected with the originator virus when he was born.
It was a project done by the Trinity Organization.
He was genetically modified when he was still in his mother's womb.
The Originator Virus was the first virus artificially created by humans through the Qlipthoth virus.
It was a virus that had the potential to attain immortality when three scientists found the virus proliferating through evolution by consuming other viruses to gain specific abilities.
But this held a high risk to the infected because the virus would override the nervous system causing the body to mutate into an aberrant life form.
So, he was more likely to mutate due to this virus while retaining barely any human consciousness.
But in the end, Vince turned into a walking aberrated meat flesh during the emergence of the outbreak.
Even if Vince wanted to escape far away, the Schneider family wouldn't have allowed that.
"F*ck. I don't even know if this is real or not. But one thing is for certain."
This situation felt realistic, which full-dive VR technology can't yet replicate.
It was ludicrous to be in a situation where you get reincarnated into a soon-to-be-dead person.
"Hahahaha!"
I started laughing frantically. I couldn't believe what was happening to me.
But before I could say something else, a buzzing sound resounded in my mind.
Bzzzzt!
[ Ding! Registering host in the Messiah System. ]
"Huh? What is this?"
I moved my hand to the strange blue panel of text.
"What the… f*ck?"
My hand passed through the screen while I was making a perplexed expression.
The screen displayed a loading screen.
[ The Messiah System is synchronizing to the host's consciousness. ]
[ 11%... ]
[ 12%... ]
[ ... ]
[ While the host is synchronizing to the Messiah System. The host can ask three questions. ]
[ Remaining Question-To-System (3) ]
[ The question-to-system option doesn't include system features or quests. ]
"..."
'Great. There is another strange thing that would probably make me a deranged patient from a psychiatric hospital.'
[ The host can ask questions about the situation as a reincarnated individual. ]
"Wait… did it just say that? Or is my mind trying to make tomfoolery out of me?"
I contemplated what I should ask since the questions were limited.
"Is this world authentic, and I am not dreaming?"
[ Yes. I affirm that this world exists in another universe. It is known as Earth Z1. The host is not dreaming or experiencing mental problems. ]
"..."
To think that a game I beat so many times was a real thing. Plus, it also answered my doubts. Is this thing a sentient being?
Revelation Evil was a horror survival, sci-fi, action-adventure, third-person shooter game.
It won numerous game of the year awards with every new series released.
Although I still felt doubtful. I didn't have much choice but to believe in this strange phenomenon.
But that wasn't important right now. I needed to ask one question that was important to my survival.
"Is it possible to survive as Vince Schneider?"
[ ... ]
I stared at the system panel with a nervous yet stern expression.
[ Yes. With the host reincarnating into Vince Schneider, his survival rate has increased by 50%. ]
[ The reason for this is because the Messiah System embedded itself within the host's soul before reincarnating into the empty vessel named Vince Schneider. ]
[ The purpose of the Messiah System is to increase the chances of overcoming any viruses. ]
"Whew. Thank god."
I felt the weight of death slowly loosen up.
"I should keep the last question in case of an emergency."
I swiped the system panel and stared at the second system panel.
[ 98%... 99%... 100%. ]
[ Ding! ]
[ The Messiah System has successfully synchronized with the host. ]
[ System Status ]
[ System Shop ]
[ Locked ]
[ Locked ]
I observed the menu options and tapped the system status.
[ Messiah System Status ]
-Basic Information-
Name: Vince Schneider
Age: 19
Height: 6'0 feet
Weight: 72.5 kilograms
-Battle Information-
Strength - 1.0
Agility - 1.0
Endurance - 1.0
Stamina - 1.0
Cognition - 1.0
-DNA Information-
Aberrated Genes: Originator Virus (3%)
* Mutation Condition: Normal
-Ability Information-
Occupation:
Student
Characteristics:
=Student= - {Comprehension}
'Mutation Condition? Characteristics?'
[ Mutation Condition - displays the condition of the user of both negative and positive changes to the DNA sequence. ]
[ Characteristics - displays all skills developed through repetitive tasks or condition achievements. ]
"I see."
It was nice having a system that answers your questions.
Well, I knew it was this game-like system's responsibility to do that.
For now, I had no choice but to trust the system.
I swiped the system panel and tapped the system shop.
[ System Shop ]
Current Points: 0
Items: (Limited to attained viruses)
Originator Virus Activation Recipe - raises the progress of the mutation virus. (100 points)
* Sample Vials (2) - (100 points)
Originator Virus Stabilizer Recipe - temporarily stabilizes the mutation of the virus. (100 points)
* Sample Vials (2) - (100 points)
Originator Virus Molecular Configuration Recipe - permanently removes harmful mutations and retains beneficial mutations. (1000 points)
Originator Virus Cure Recipe - permanently removes 1~99% of the originator virus. (1000 points)
[ Note: Higher percentages of the originator virus will cause deviated mutation condition. ]
"So this is where I find hope in survival."
I felt a bit relieved after seeing the system shop.
"System, how do I gain points?"
[ Through accomplishing the main story quests and side story quests. ]
"Hm..."
I glanced at the calendar with narrowed eyes.
'Zenith Calendar year 2443.'
The pandemic started in the year 2444.
I still had one year left to prepare.
"Oh... wasn't Vince Schneider attending the University of Science?"
'Should I ask the system?'
I didn't know if it would consume the 'question-to-system.'
But my worries were unfounded.
[ Vince Schneider's story is a side quest. ]
[ Attend the University of Science ]
Description: Attend the first day of class and the welcoming new student ceremony without being late.
Rewards: 10 points
"Oh, right! It did mention that system features and quests don't consume the question-to-system option."
I thought more about the side story quest. My information about Vince Schneider was limited, so I had to prepare.