"I hate my life," a young man muttered under his breath, the words heavy with resignation.
He stood alone, watching the bustling school grounds, where students moved about with an ease he could never muster.
They seemed so carefree, their laughter and smiles a stark contrast to the bitterness brewing inside him. His gaze lingered on the couples strolling hand in hand, their affection on display for all to see.
It was a sight that filled him with both longing and despair. Love, companionship—these were things he had dreamed of, but they remained painfully out of reach.
At 18, he was still a virgin, not because he hadn't tried to change that.
He had confessed his feelings to several girls, each time hoping that maybe this one would see past his ordinary appearance and the poverty that clung to him like a shadow.
But every time, the answer was the same: rejection. He knew he wasn't much to look at, just another face in the crowd, and his financial situation didn't help.
Coming from a long line of impoverished ancestors, he had inherited nothing but a legacy of struggle. There was no money, no family connections, nothing that could give him a leg up in the world.
It wasn't just his looks or his financial status that held him back. He had no remarkable talents, nothing that could make him stand out.
He wasn't particularly intelligent, his grades hovering just above average, and in sports, he was mediocre at best.
There was no aspect of his life where he excelled, nothing that could give him hope for a brighter future.
As he watched the other students, so full of life and promise, he could already foresee the bleak existence that awaited him.
A life filled with unfulfilled dreams and endless struggle, until the day he finally faded into obscurity.
With another deep sigh, he turned away from the lively scene, his heart heavy with self-pity.
He knew it wasn't healthy to dwell on these thoughts, but it was hard to see any light in the darkness that surrounded him.
The future felt like a vast, empty void, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake the feeling that his life would never amount to anything.
"DING!"
"Congratulations, host! You have been granted the cultivation base of a True Immortal. Please enjoy your life from now on," a serene, almost ethereal voice echoed in his ears.
The moment the words registered, an overwhelming surge of power coursed through his body, far beyond anything he had ever imagined.
It was as if the very fabric of the universe had been woven into his being.
His veins thrummed with energy, his senses sharpened to a razor's edge, and his consciousness expanded to encompass realms far beyond his previous understanding.
As the power settled within him, he felt an entire library of immortal techniques and secret arts inscribed into his mind, as if they had always been a part of him.
He could recall them with perfect clarity, as though he had spent lifetimes mastering each one.
The world around him seemed to shift and realign; colors were more vivid, sounds more distinct, and even the air felt charged with a vitality he had never noticed before.
He marveled at the ease with which he adapted to this incredible transformation.
It felt less like an acquisition and more like a return to something he had once known intimately, perhaps in another life or another time.
The power, the knowledge—it all fit him perfectly, like a second skin.
"Wow," he breathed, a grin spreading across his face as the reality of his situation sank in. He had become something beyond human, a being of unimaginable strength and potential.
The thought alone was intoxicating, a thrill that made his heart race with excitement.
"System, are you there?" he called out, eager to connect with the mysterious woman who had granted him this gift.
"…" Silence. The voice that had so abruptly changed his life was now nowhere to be found. He called out again, and again, but there was no response.
It was as if she had vanished, leaving him alone with his newfound power.
Undeterred, he decided to explore his capabilities. He closed his eyes and extended his divine sense, pushing it outward, beyond the confines of Earth.
Instantly, his awareness spread across the cosmos, revealing a universe teeming with life in distant galaxies and dimensions.
He could see planets flourishing with civilizations, some primitive, others advanced, and among them, numerous xianxia worlds where immortals, fairies, and goddesses roamed in numbers too great to count.
But that was not all. As he probed deeper, he felt the edges of reality itself, a veil that separated this universe from others.
With little effort, he peeled back that veil, revealing a multiverse of infinite worlds, each unique and full of possibilities.
The scope of it all was staggering, a vast playground for someone with his newfound abilities.
A chuckle escaped him as he thought about what he could do now. "I should get myself a goddess or two as wives," he mused, imagining the beautiful immortal beings he had glimpsed in his exploration.
The idea was tempting, the thought of eternal companionship with such divine beings an appealing prospect.
But then, he paused, reconsidering. He was still on Earth, in a mortal origin.
Despite the overwhelming power he now possessed, there was something grounding about his current life, something that made him want to experience the world from this perspective a little longer.
"No rush," he said to himself, shaking his head with a smile. "I've got all the time in the world."
With that decision made, he turned his attention back to his mortal life. Now that he had this incredible power, he could finally achieve the things he had always dreamed of.
The possibilities were endless—wealth, influence, and perhaps even love were within his grasp.
He no longer had to live in obscurity or struggle to make ends meet. He could reshape his life, bending reality to his will.
But first, he would start small, enjoying the simple pleasures of life as a mortal, now enhanced by the strength of a True Immortal.
He could indulge in the things he had always wanted but never could afford, savoring each experience with the knowledge that this was just the beginning of a journey that could take him to the farthest reaches of the multiverse.
With newfound purpose, he set out to make his mortal life as extraordinary as the power now coursing through his veins. It was time to live, to truly live, and he intended to enjoy every moment of it.