Gu Junyi blinked once. Twice. His head throbbed as if someone had bashed it with a hammer. For someone who had been working on the cutting-edge SSS Grade Mecha Program, the last thing he remembered was... dying? The sharp sting of wires sparking, his console exploding, and his body collapsing lifelessly in the lab flashed across his mind.

Yet, instead of the familiar hum of technology, Gu Junyi heard... wind?

His body jolted upright as he gasped, breathing in strange, crisp air. He was no longer surrounded by cold, metallic walls but instead sprawled in the middle of a grassy plain. The azure sky stretched endlessly above him. Birds chirped in the distance, and a faint scent of wildflowers wafted through the air. This was not the lab.

"What… in the world…?"

A sudden rustle caught his attention. Two bulky men in strange, ragged robes stomped toward him with cruel smirks.

"Little brat, you actually dared to run here?" one of them spat, holding a gleaming blade. "Didn't your useless family tell you that defying us is suicide?"

Gu Junyi barely processed their words, his mind still foggy. What was happening? He didn't recognize them, and he certainly didn't appreciate the hostility. His heart pounded instinctively—a feeling of danger gripped him.

The other man sneered, "Doesn't matter. We'll finish this quickly."

The pair lunged toward him, but something strange clicked in Gu Junyi's mind—SSS-grade mental power engaged.

--

Gu Junyi blinked again.

...I just killed them?

His breathing hitched. That was not normal. That was not human. But before he could piece together the bizarre scene unfolding before him, loud footsteps echoed around him.

Suddenly, a mob of people appeared—half of them in ominous black robes that screamed assassins, while the other half were clad in extravagant blue garments that practically shouted noble spies. Each side shot glares at each other as if they were mortal enemies.

"—Halt! You killed our leader!" a man in black barked, his voice edged with authority.

"Ridiculous!" a woman in blue shouted back. "It was our leader he killed first! Clearly, he must take our leader's place!"

Gu Junyi pinched the bridge of his nose. What the hell were they talking about?

The two groups descended into chaos almost immediately. A man in black jabbed his finger accusingly at a woman in blue. "Our Assassin Guild's leader died first! Therefore, this young man is our leader now. It's simple logic!"

The woman scoffed, tossing her long braid over her shoulder. "Excuse me? He killed the leader of the Intelligence Guild as well! Clearly, the Intelligence Guild deserves him far more than your gaggle of knife-wielding murderers!"

"Knife-wielding murderers? You stuck-up quills-for-brains!" a black-robed man retorted.

"Quills-for-brains?" The blue-garbed woman's eyes twitched dangerously. "We gather information with precision! Unlike your sneaky guild of overgrown cockroaches who solve everything with stabbing!"

"Better to stab than gossip for a living!"

"At least we don't spend our lives hiding under floorboards like rats!"

"You—!"

The bickering escalated further—insults flew back and forth with such fervor that Gu Junyi's headache grew worse. He barely followed the nonsensical squabble, yet the words "leader" and "you" kept popping up, directed squarely at him.

Finally, Gu Junyi had enough. He stood, glaring at both parties.

"Shut up." His voice was cold, filled with the authority of someone who had led the most dangerous SSS-grade projects back in his world.

Both groups froze instantly, as if struck by lightning.

Gu Junyi crossed his arms and added flatly, "I'll lead both your guilds. End of story."

A beat of silence passed.

The assassins and the spies exchanged horrified glances before both sides erupted in simultaneous protests.

"What?! You can't—!" "That's absurd!" "Our guild doesn't associate with them!" "Blasphemy!"

Gu Junyi raised a single eyebrow. The two sides immediately fell silent again.

"Good. Now shut up and follow me, or I'll kill you all too."

The threat was casual, but the deadly look in Gu Junyi's eyes made everyone gulp nervously. In unison, both guilds lowered their heads and muttered:

"Yes, Leader."

With the ridiculous guild nonsense settled (for now), Gu Junyi found himself sitting under a tree, trying to piece together his current reality.

Okay. Let's summarize.

He was no longer in the lab. He'd somehow been reborn into the body of a young man who clearly had issues. Not only that, but two guilds now called him their leader—one full of assassins, the other full of spies—because he'd accidentally killed their bosses.

As if the situation wasn't bizarre enough, the memory fragments of his "new life" rushed in like a tidal wave. He was the youngest son of the Demon Lord, born to a fallen Demon Clan that had been eradicated nine months ago by the Immortal Lord Li Mingyuan. His father had sealed the souls of the clan elders in an artifact and sent him away with a mission:

Revive the Demon Clan.

"Revive? The entire clan? Alone?" Gu Junyi muttered to himself. He felt like crying. His plate was already full—and now this?

Before he could process further, two voices echoed in his mind—

[Host! Congratulations on activating the Ultimate Card Game System! Let's collect cards and conquer the world!]

[Host. You are now bound to the Abyss System. Your destiny: To descend the world into eternal chaos and fulfill the will of the Lord of Hell.]

Gu Junyi's jaw dropped.

"Wait—wait! Two systems?! I'm the host of two?"

[Correct!]

[Correct.]

The cheery, high-pitched voice of the Card System clashed horribly with the mature, husky tone of the Abyss System. Gu Junyi rubbed his temples. "This… this is illegal."

And just when he thought the madness was over, a group of ragged villagers approached him cautiously. Leading them was a middle-aged man who wore a kind, albeit worried, expression.

"Child… thank the heavens you're safe! Come home…"

It hit Gu Junyi then—he'd been adopted into a poor family living on the outskirts of some isolated village. Worse yet, they were ostracized for being of mixed beast and human lineage.

Gu Junyi sighed deeply, the weight of three identities crashing onto his shoulders:

Youngest son of the Demon Lord, tasked with reviving a destroyed clan.

Dual-system host, carrying both the power of cards and the abyss.

Adopted son of a kind but ostracized family.

Looking up at the sky, Gu Junyi groaned.

"SSS-grade Mecha... can I even build you in this lifetime?"