Chapter Text
System Speaking Mentally
Thoughts
"Speaking"
'Korean'
"English"
Welcome, Starlight User Choi Han. As per the agreement for newly transmigrated individuals, autopilot has been activated upon retaining awareness!
Choi Han?
Correct! Transmigration is the process of taking the soul of a newly deceased individual and transferring it to a new body. Also known as metempsychosis! As a Starlight User, your new name is Choi Han. Welcome to your new life!
…No.
No?
No, because if what you're saying is true, then that means I died. I can't have died. I hadn't even lived a quarter of my life yet!
I… apologize, but there was no mistake. Due to your untimely demise, your soul was left without an immediate place to go. Seeing the risk of your soul being consumed by Nothing, the Administrators decided to take the opportunity presented by your new world and allow you to take over as Choi Han. Once the original Choi Han’s soul moved on, yours slotted neatly into place, a perfect match! Soul bonds like yours and the original Choi Han’s are rare, last seen nearly a millennia ago!
Can you just wait a goddamn minute, please? This is all too much. What the hell is this Nothing and why would it consume my soul? Souls are real? Like actual physical manifestations of souls? Wait, I guess that’s not really important right now. Choi Han, you’re saying that’s the name of the body I stole? That’s… fuck, okay. So this is a new world then? Not my original world? Jesus Christ all those stories I read actually had some truth to them. I guess they could have prepared me for this type of situation, but how the hell am I supposed to know what to do now that it’s my reality? Fuck. Okay, I should probably focus on gathering intel… Hey, uh, voice in my head, what’s a soul bond?
I am System. A soul bond is the connection between two souls, a ‘bond’ that runs deeper than any relationship shared by friends, family, or lovers. This connection was formed at birth, an emotional and spiritual connection that traverses the space-time continuum.
But why me? Why did this so-called soul bond form between Choi Han and me?
Your souls shared the same desire, a yearning strong enough that not even the Gods could erase it.
What the hell does that mean? Why would the Gods- Holy shit they’re real?! Wait, does that count as blasphemy? Shit, uh, sorry Gods, if you’re listening?
The Gods cannot hear us. I exist only for you, the Gods and people of this world cannot hear me nor interfere in our communication.
Then are you a God?
I am System.
Right. You already said that… uh, okay, then what are you? Who are the Administrators?
I am a System, I exist to aid you in your new life. Once you complete the main objectives, you are free to live out your days in this world however you see fit. The Administrators are my bosses, they assigned me to you.
This is starting to sound very corporal. Not sure how I feel about the whole existing just to help me or whatever, but thanks? What do you mean by Main objectives though? What are those?
Main Objectives are unavoidable events/scenarios that Starlight User Choi Han must complete otherwise your existence in this world as Choi Han shall be exterminated.
WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN EXTERMINATED?!
If Starlight User Choi Han cannot meet the requirements to fully adapt to this world then Starlight User Choi Han’s soul shall be rejected.
Rejected? Then I can just go back to my old life?
Negative. You have already died and enough time has passed that your previous body has begun the process of decomposing.
What the fuck? I- Then what happens to my soul? Do I get sent to a new body then?
Negative.
What? What happens to me then?
I do not know what comes next but failure to complete the Main objectives shall result in Starlight User Choi Han’s permanent death.
What?! Why?!
That is what is written in the Terms and Conditions of Starlight User Choi Han’s transmigration. You agreed to them at the moment of your awakening.
I don’t remember reading or agreeing to anything.
Noted. I shall send a formal complaint to the administration.
What good does that do me? Does that mean I don’t have to do the Main objectives?
Negative. Starlight User Choi Han is still required to complete the Main objectives. Completion shall result in receiving rewards and gallons, this world's currency, which can be used in the shop! For example, 10 million gallons is equal to 10 million Korean won!
…This is starting to sound like some sort of game. Uh, the whole currency thing sounds cool and all but I don’t know how to use Korean won, I’m not Korean, and I’m from the US.
…?
Hello? System?
Apologies. 10 million Korean won is worth 7,463.00 dollars, there is a 0.22% decline.
Shit, so I’m going to have to do math anytime I visit the, uh, shop?
Negative. Neither won nor dollars will have any meaning in this world. This world’s currency, specifically the currency of Roan Kingdom, is based on gallons, silver coins, and golden plaques. The neighboring Caro Kingdom uses the currency of counds, worth the same as Roan Kingdom’s gallons simply using another name.
Why does all of this sound familiar?
Starlight User Choi Han was quite dedicated to the storyline of this world! It is why the Administration chose this world for your new life!
Choi Han. Roan Kingdom… that's— you said I was dedicated to the storyline of this world? Is this, holy shit, am I Choi Han from Trash of the Count's Family?!
That's correct!
What the fuck?! Why?!
Is something wrong?
Why the hell would your bosses send me to a world on the brink of war?! Why one of the main characters?! I don't want to fight in a war! I don't even know how to fight let alone use a sword!
Not to worry! As a part of the tutorial, the beginner pack for Starlight User Choi Han has been downloading this entire time. Once the tutorial is finished all base abilities, including knowledge and strengths, shall be automatically merged into your body and soul. Of course, it will be up to you to level up and continue to grow stronger, but I am here to help guide you. The original Choi Han family’s swordsmanship knowledge is already ingrained in both your body and mind. Instinct shall help you in any battles that come your way.
As nice as that is, I still don't want to fight in a war!
…Fighting is unavoidable.
Damnit. GOD DAMN IT! I really can’t avoid any of it? How the hell did the original Choi Han die anyway? From what I remember that kid is-er was strong as hell, I don’t recall reading anything about him dying in the manhwa or the light novel.
In this world, the original Choi Han was injured by a monster in the Forest of Darkness, caught in rainfall, and his weakened immune system was not able to fight off infection. He passed away after three days spent unconscious in a cave. The infection got the best of him. The Administrators decided to send your soul to his corpse before any creatures could find and feast on it!
Nothing about this is okay but it's not like he has any say in anything that's happening right now.
He can't recall much besides the full body ache that wanted to take over his senses as he woke up. He was greeted by the sight of darkness, the cold seeping in through his clothes. That was probably the cave the System mentioned. The cave where the original Choi Han died.
He died alone, and in pain… for three days he suffered. In the light novel, it said that one of his motivations to keep fighting every damn day he was trapped in that forest was to survive. Did he— is it because of me that he died when in the original storyline he survived?
Negative. The original storyline where the original Choi Han survived still exists simply as another timeline in another world. With or without your existence, the original Choi Han of this world would have still died.
I'm not sure if that makes it better. How old was this original Choi Han the day he passed?
Choi Hans' lifespan is longer than the average humans, it's even longer than that of a Dragon. He knows that Choi Han was stuck in the force of Darkness for tens of years, and was roughly seventeen years old when he was brought to this world.
The original Choi Han was 149 years old at the time of his passing.
O-Oh. That's older than I thought… At what age would the original Choi Han have found Harris Village?
At 150 years old.
If he had any control over his body at the moment, it's more than likely he would have screamed all the while trying to punch the cave walls. 150 years old, that means the original Choi Han was at most months away from finally finding his freedom. He would have finally made it out of the Forest of Darkness just like he's been wishing for for years. It— fuck. Fate really is cruel, isn't it? Why did the transmigration have to happen now? Why not after the original Choi Han got the opportunity to experience freedom? Why keep that from him? Was this all just some sort of joke to the Gods? Why would… how could they put the original Choi Han through that?
The story of Trash of the Count's Family is one that he honestly became ill from reading. The light novel was long, not even completed yet, but when he found it by accident he was hooked.
He became so absorbed in the story that he put off eating and drinking too much, not wanting to have to stop reading to get up and use the restroom. He went days without sleep, continuing to read even as his eyes stung, vision blurred, and a constant headache caused a pounding in his temple. The only rest he found was when he passed out and woke up seventeen hours later. He read all of the manhwa and 776 chapters of the light novel within a week.
He ended up getting sick afterwards, and it took a few days of trying to remember to drink water to get his headaches to leave him alone.
He doesn't regret any of it. That week was the happiest he was in what felt like years.
Now he was in that very story, as one of the main characters… that didn't make him happy. He knows what a shitty person he is, he's selfish, ignorant at times, and can never seem to do anything right. Why the hell would his soul be bound to the original Choi Hans'? Why does he get this second shot at life while the original Choi Han doesn't?
It's not fair.
What is not fair, Starlight User Choi Han?
Life. Life isn't fair, like I knew that already but for fucks sake. The original Choi Han didn't deserve to die. It wasn't a quick death either, he was alone, in pain, and probably scared.
...In his last moments, due to the high temperature of his fever, the original Choi Han hallucinated that he was back home in Korea. While he has long since forgotten the faces of his family, before dying he genuinely believed they were there by his side.
The tutorial ends with him leaving the Forest of Darkness, and meeting the Chief of Harris Village. The villagers believe that his tears are from a sense of relief not having made it out of the forest. Choi Han knows that's not true, he knows that his tears come from mourning a boy that no one in this world will get the chance to know. Even as the villagers assure him that everything's alright, that they'll find some place for him to stay, Choi Han can't stop the sobs tearing their way out of him.
He doesn't want to. With there being no one else able to do so, he will remember and mourn for the original Choi Han.