"Did I do it?! Yes! Yes! I did it!" the voice of a happy and excited boy echoed. This boy was barely ever happy or excited, there was little in his life that justified him being so. But today, today he had something to be happy about.

He was finally leaving this world.

He wasn't dying, not in the direct meaning of it. His time on earth was just over, and Dài Huang could have never been happier.

His voice echoed through the small, fully lit room he found himself in. He pumped his fists into the air, he stretched a grin on his usually melancholic face. "I transmigrated successfully! That old man's book worked!"

For months, Dài had been teetering on the edge of despair. His former life was a spiraling mess of unpaid bills, unfulfilled dreams, and loneliness.

The life he was living was not the life college promised him, and no matter whatever he did all that came in return was disappointment and undeserved punishment.

The final straw came when he was laid off from his soul-crushing office job. It wasn't a job he necessarily enjoyed, but it was one that at least gave him something to eat.

That day, drowned in despondence and sadness, he walked home under a drizzling sky, and that was where he met the old man who seemed no different from any other street beggar.

But the old man said something to him, and it didn't just sound like the ramblings of a mad man. It sounded like what Dài had been looking for his whole life.

It sounded like hope.

"You wish to start over?" the old man had asked, holding out a dusty, leather-bound book.

Dài had hesitated but eventually took the book, giving the man the last of paper money he had with him.

He studied the book at home. Inside were descriptions of various lives he could transmigrate to — each filled with opportunities for success or adventure. Dài spent sleepless nights poring over it, bypassing fantasy worlds filled with dragons, magic, and inevitable peril.

No, Dài didn't want danger. He wasn't in search of excitement or the thrill of fear or near death experiences. He wanted success. A new life, free of struggles and disappointments.

That's when he turned to the next page, and his eyes found it: the life of Aaron Carter, a young, rising volleyball star in another world. Aaron was talented, adored, and destined for greatness. Perfect.

So Dài chose Aaron Carter's life and he performed the small ritual before going to bed that night. Although a part of him believed this was all a phony, he simply had faith.

And it actually worked! He had transmigrated. This couldn't be a dream, could it? He could feel his own mind and soul escaping his body and calibrating with another much different than his. There was no denying that it worked.

Dài celebrated, his heart pounding with excitement. However, something explosive happened and his surroundings suddenly changed.

"You have been expelled, Mr. Aaron Carter!" A voice boomed from nowhere.

"What?" Dài froze, his grin vanishing instantly.

He blinked, and the room around him began to twist and morph. The first things that materialized were wooden benches, followed by a tall judge's podium.

Dài saw teachers and officials all seated solemnly in a formal courtroom. There were bright lights on the ceiling, so intense that he had to squeeze his eyes. But the air itself was even more tense, and there were murmurs rippling through the assembled crowd.

Dài glanced down at himself, his hands. He saw that he was no longer in his own body, but in Aaron Carter's. And he was standing. His feet were placed on a wooden structure, a dock, the box in a courtroom where the suspect stood.

He heard the judge's gavel strike and his body jerked at the same time. "Aaron Carter, you have been found guilty of doping to enhance your performance in the sport of volleyball."

'What?! No! That's not true!' Dài's — no, Aaron's — voice rang out. Dài didn't know what to believe. Did this Aaron Carter guy cheat? The voice in his mind said no. It screamed no! Aaron denied it all. He was framed, and he knew who did it!

He instinctively glanced at the crowd, and his gaze locked onto a smug-looking figure; Jacob Simmons, a teammate who gut instinct told him had always harbored jealousy for Aaron Carter. Was it him? Was he the bastard framed Aaron?

"Despite your denial, the evidence is irrefutable. Your career in this institution is over," the judge declared.

No. No. No. What the hell was happening? This wasn't what Dài wanted. This wasn't what... Wait. Wait. Wait. Stop! Please!

But it was too late. The decision was made.

Aaron's coach; a man who had once praised him for his brilliance on the court, shook his head in disappointment as he gave Aaron one last look and left.

'Coach! Coach! You gotta believe me! You gotta trust me, Coach! I didn't do this!'

The crowd began to disperse, teammates who had shared the court with him for years averted their gazes. Everyone turned their backs without a word.

Aaron's world crumbled.

Slowly, like the curtain falling at the end of a tragic play, the court dissolved into darkness and the nightmarish scene ended.

* * *

Dài woke with a start, gasping for air.

He basically sprung up from the bed, twisting his neck in all directions as he realized he was no longer in a courtroom.

There was a rusty fan whirring lazily above him, the air thick with the smell of grease and stale beer. The room was small, cluttered with fast-food wrappers, half-empty wine bottles, and a crate of cheap beer. A tiny fridge buzzed in the corner, barely holding onto life.

'What the hell was that?' he asked in his terrified mind. 'A dream? A memory?... A dream of a memory?!'

He sat up, his heart still racing. "No… no, no, no!" he whispered, scanning the room which he understood to be Aaron Carter's. "This isn't what I wanted!" His eyes darted to a pile of Burger Lord bags and his stomach turned. "Aaron Carter was supposed to be a rising star! Not… this!"

He sprang to his feet, pacing back and forth across the dingy room. "I could've dealt with my crappy job! I could've stayed in my old world! At least I wasn't… wasn't... washed up!" He kicked an empty bottle, sending it clattering across the floor. "How am I supposed to live like this?"

Suddenly, a glowing window appeared before him, hovering in midair. Dài froze.

[Transmigration was successful.]

[Welcome to the Success Ladder System, host]

For a second, everything turned still and silent.

Dài blinked. "The Success Ladder System?" His voice wavered between relief and disbelief. "Oh, I see. I almost forgot, transmigration always comes with a system! Or, at least, it does in most of the novels I've read. Was I overreacting earlier? Could there be something..." He squinted at the text.

"Success Ladder Syst… What does this system do?"

The window stretched once again and showed a new interface.

[Host Name: Dài Huang]

[Does the host wish to acquire the memories of the former host?]

Dài hesitated. "Do I really want to know? It might help me understand how Aaron ended up like this. But… what if it's too much?" He thought about it for a moment, weighing the pros and cons. Pro: He'd know exactly what went wrong, who to blame and what to avoid. Con: He'd have to experience Aaron's pain and frustration firsthand.

Finally, he took a deep breath. "Do it."

[Affirmative]

[Host will now retain former host's memories]

The pain wasn't as bad as he expected, it was more of a sharp jolt that quickly faded. And then, it all came rushing in: the games, the fun, the victories and then the betrayal, the frustration, and the rejection.

Aaron's memories painted a picture of a talented player whose bright future had been snatched away by lies. He saw Aaron's countless attempts to rebuild his career, only to be shut down at every turn.

'Damn, he has had it tough,' Dài scratched the back of his head. 'This wasn't the life I wanted. I feel like I've been scammed.'

When the memories settled, Dài sat on the edge of the bed, his fists clenched. "So that bastard Jacob Simmons really did it. Aaron didn't dope… he was framed." He stared at the floor, feeling some anger and some despair washing over him. "However, how am I going to cope in this body? What am I supposed to do now? It's tough getting a job in this city cause they all know Aaron as a doper. This is awful!"

He facepalmed.

Ding! Dài lifted his head to the interface.

[New Notification:]

[You have a job offer! Glorylake Girls' College has shown interest in hiring you as their volleyball coach.]

[Do you wish to accept or refuse? Note: This may be your one and only job offer and a chance to rebuild your career. Choose wisely.]

Dài stared at the glowing words, his mind racing. "A… coach? For girls' volleyball?" He glanced around the room, looking at the Burger Lord bags and beer bottles like they were the most disgusting things he'd ever seen.

"Do I really have a choice here?"