The wind blew hard...
Against an old, broken hut by the road.
Even though the wind was strong, the hut didn't shake. Instead, it stayed strangely quiet and dark.
In a corner of the room, a young man lay on a simple bed. He opened his eyes, which glowed bright blue for a moment before fading to a normal blue color. His face had many scars, the biggest one stretching from his left ear to his chin.
The young man—about 175 cm tall, with black hair and a fit body—stood up slowly and walked to the window. Outside, he saw the same poor neighborhood he'd always known.
He started remembering the dream he'd just had.
Shin Zo grew up in an average family with no relatives. His life seemed normal—he'd marry at 30, have kids, and live quietly. But at age 9, his father died in an accident, leaving the family with no money. By 11, his mother got a rare sickness.
Shin Zo didn't know if fate caused this, but everything happened fast. What surprised him was that he felt nothing—no sadness when his father died, no pain when his mother got sick.
But he never forgot his sick mother. As a kid, he couldn't get a real job, so he did illegal work to earn money for her.
When he turned 12, he dreamed of a *different world*—a place filled with **spiritual energy**. There, people could fly, smash mountains with punches, and strange creatures could kill you with a thought. This world was billions of light-years away from his own, separated by a pure energy called **spatial energy**. Only the strongest beings could cross it.
Strangely, Shin Zo didn't find this world weird. It felt normal to him.
In that world, he was reborn into a rich family in a big city. He lived to 110 years old. But in a world where people lived for thousands of years, 110 was like a short blink.
The problem? Shin Zo couldn't *cultivate* (learn to use spiritual energy). He couldn't feel energy or learn any special skills. His parents tried buying rare treasures to help him, but nothing worked. The treasures only made him live 20 years longer.
When he woke up, it was just a dream.
The next night, he dreamed of another strange world. Night after night, his mind traveled to new worlds. The only thing that stayed the same? He couldn't cultivate in any of them.
He lived as humans, animals, dragons, and even bugs.
Once, he became a dragon so powerful it ruled a world for 100,000 years. In some worlds, he lived for thousands of years. In others, he died in seconds.
Through these journeys, he realized his real world wasn't the **Original World**—a giant, ancient place where all life began. But he never visited it.
His memories of these worlds faded as he returned to reality.
His mother, sick for four years, was now hours from death. The hospital would soon turn off her machines, calling her condition hopeless.
Beside him, a blue screen appeared—like a video game menu. It was the **System**, his companion in every world. It showed details about his lives, his strength, and skills he couldn't use. Now, it displayed a new message:
***Knowledge is power.
You've learned enough. Return to the Original World.
Cost: ?????
Time left: 6 hours
[Accept] [Decline]***
Shin Zo was confused. The System had never appeared in his real world before.
"Maybe it's using energy from other worlds." he thought. "Doesn't matter."
He had to choose: leave this world that took everything from him, including his mother, or stay. For the first time, he felt something change inside him.
He put on his old clothes and walked to the hospital. The streets were full of crumbling buildings and dim candlelight.
At his mother's bedside, she looked like a skeleton. He felt a quick pang of guilt but said only, "I'm sorry."
After leaving, he went to a small lake outside the city. He stared at the water, then opened the System again.
"Just another life… then it ends."
He pressed
**[Accept]**.