The System

May 31, 2006, early morning.

Inside a park in Halifax City, Nova Scotia, Canada.

"Coo~ coo~"

Several plump wild pigeons cooed as they searched for food on the grass.

"Rustle~ rustle~"

The leaves on the maple trees in the park made a comforting sound as they were blown by the gentle breeze.

"Ugh..." But a human groan interrupted the beautiful scene.

A man slowly woke up on a park bench, his brow furrowed, as if suffering from a severe headache.

The man was over 1.8 meters tall, wearing expensive jeans and a white shirt. His shoes and socks were long gone, and he was barefoot.

He had short blonde hair, a sharply defined face, and distinct features.

But he was thin.

He opened his blue eyes, sat up in a daze, and observed his surroundings.

The bench was in the center of the rectangular park, with a single lane on both the front and back. Morning runners occasionally passed by nearby.

"Sniff, cough..."

Immediately, he smelled a strong scent of alcohol on himself.

It was a bit nauseating.

Then, a flood of memories surged into his mind.

The name of this body was William Russell.

He had just celebrated his nineteenth birthday and had gone clubbing, hiding it from his family and classmates.

Due to his drunkenness, the memories became fragmented, eventually fading to black until he woke up now.

"It seems..."

William analyzed himself, "The previous occupant of this body seems to have died suddenly from excessive drinking."

After learning the cause of death, William didn't stop accessing the memories; he remained silent.

His ancestors were nobles who immigrated to Canada from England in the 19th century. Until the mid-20th century, the family's savings were still substantial.

But starting with his father, the family's situation took a sharp downturn.

The Russell family, which originally owned dozens of factories and companies, was reduced to a single lumber processing plant due to his father's mismanagement.

They also owed two years of property taxes.

This remarkable father had passed away two years ago from lung cancer, leaving behind hundreds of thousands in savings and their only remaining seaside house.

As for the previous William?

Like his father, he spent money lavishly and enjoyed life.

But what made him better than his father was...

William, without relying on connections or money, was successfully admitted to St. Mary's University, a local business school.

However, he was a typical playboy and never paid attention to his physical health.

Although the law in this province stated that one was considered an adult at nineteen, William had already tried everything he could think of since he was fourteen.

Finally reaching nineteen, he could legally drink. Naturally, he went out to party with his degenerate friends.

And then he died.

A perfect illustration of "if you don't court death, you won't die."

Regarding his mother, he only knew she died during childbirth and had no further impressions.

"Screech--!"

Suddenly, a sharp braking sound came from the street opposite the bench.

"Huh?" The commotion drew William's attention.

He saw a black Mercedes sedan parked haphazardly on the side of the single-lane road.

The driver's door opened, and a burly man nearly two meters tall stepped out.

The man wore a short-sleeved shirt, shorts, and slippers, as if he had rushed out of his house in a hurry.

Due to his age, his short hair and beard were streaked with white. He had a slight belly.

His slightly wrinkled face showed a mixture of anger and worry.

Andrei Kapushkin Ostrovsky.

The moment William saw him, the name automatically surfaced in his mind, along with the emotions associated with him.

Andrei was his only remaining 'family.'

No blood relation, but still family.

This old man from a war-loving nation with a ridiculously long name was once a member of the KGB training team. After being discharged due to injury, he ran afoul of the mafia.

Cornered and with no other options, he was saved by William's grandfather, thus avoiding certain death.

From then on, Andrei became a loyal bodyguard for the Russell Family.

William only remembered his grandfather passing away when he was six or seven.

His father, on the other hand, was always up to no good and certainly wouldn't look after children.

In the end, it was Andrei who took care of William's every need, from eating and sleeping to taking him to and from school.

Perhaps pitying the child who had no mother and an irresponsible father, Andrei doted on William, who wasn't his own son, exceptionally.

This was also why William had become the way he was before.

To correct William, all Andrei could do was admonish and teach him.

Unfortunately, it was all for naught.

However, as the Russell family's decline worsened to its current state, Andrei was the only one who remained by William's side.

Andrei strode quickly in front of the stunned William, grabbed his collar with his left hand, and raised his right, intending to slap the young man.

But he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Sigh..."

Andrei finally sighed, released William, and lectured him in accented English:

"I don't care if you go to nightclubs with your friends, but you don't come home all night. Do you know how worried I was?

Huh! William!"

After speaking, as if he already knew William wouldn't change his ways, Andrei shook his head helplessly, turned, and walked towards the car, saying:

"Alright, come home with me now."

"Huh? Yes."

William, snapping back to reality, quickly followed behind him and said, "I'm sorry, I won't do this again."

?

Andrei turned his head in surprise, then broke into a relieved smile. "You're all talk, kid. Get in the car."

"Yes." William replied, then opened the passenger door and got in.

Before the police could notice them, Andrei drove away, heading towards the seaside.

In the car, William watched the scenery outside the window.

He thought it wasn't bad, transmigrating to this world.

He had a decent amount of savings, a seaside villa, and even a strong 'bodyguard.'

Moreover, glancing at the rearview mirror, he realized he was quite handsome and could probably live a pretty good life.

But...

[Auxiliary System Loading...

1%...

10%...]

A disembodied voice suddenly sounded in his ear, startling William, who had just relaxed.

He confirmed it wasn't a hallucination, as the progress bar hadn't stopped.

System? What is this? William couldn't help but ask himself internally.

Before William could ponder further, the system's voice spoke again:

[100%, Loading Complete.

Host, hello. This system will assist the host in dealing with future threats.

Please listen carefully.]

?

Although William was still completely clueless, he didn't interrupt the so-called system.

[Detected that this world possesses supernatural phenomena and entities, and they will continuously grow.

Without human intervention, they will reach their peak in seventeen years, leading to the destruction of all life and even the Earth.]

Heh.