In a city called Luria, a handsome boy with black hair slept peacefully in his bed. If you saw it, a bed that you'd think was straight out of a painting or video game. It was so elegant it could be considered surreal at first glance. The bed had silk of the highest quality with golden trimmings, a canopy that screamed elegance in the highest splendor, even a magic lamp that could soothe its user and give them the most pleasant sleep they had ever experienced. Those were some of the few things that this room as big as an average house had to offer. This was a luxury that only the most influential families of the kingdom of Asvan could have.
The boy who slept peacefully with a somewhat proud look on his face was Nathaniel Edevane, the firstborn of one of the three most prominent families in the kingdom. You could tell Nathaniel would be beautiful when he grew up just by looking at his features, but unfortunately, those attractive features were suddenly marred by a face contorted in pain.
Nathaniel convulsed in his bed as slight grunts of anguish escaped his mouth. Usually, a shadow servant would be immediately at his disposal upon seeing his young master's abnormal state, but currently, no one would answer his call; an interference above any god of that world blocked his room from the outside.
After a while, the boy's convulsions stopped, and he opened his beautiful red eyes. Unlike the proud and childish look they had just a few minutes ago, now those eyes possessed intelligence and maturity not befitting a child's age. Breathing heavily, Nathaniel put his hand on his chest and thumped himself hard. Immediately after that, he turned on his side, hoping to expel whatever was obstructing his airway, but nothing came out. A single hoarse cough came from his parched throat.
When his breathing finally returned to normal, he tried to get out of bed, but his legs failed, and he fell face-first on the floor.
'Was I out of breath for some time?' He thought that would explain the sudden loss of his motor functions.
However, just as he was about to scream for help before it was too late, he noticed that his hands were smaller than they should be. Not only his hands, his feet, and his whole body, in general, had shrunk. Nathaniel, a man of science who did not believe in paranormal things, was confused to unimaginable levels. As he was about to check if it was a dream, a sudden voice rang in his head.
[Ding!...]
[Looking for hosts...]
[Scanning the world...]
[Welcome to the shared system, host 1]
"Who?" asked the boy to nothingness, still on the ground.
[I am your system, host 1]
'System? As in those games, my little sister liked?' thought the boy as he admired the ceiling of 'his' room. It was an elegant ceiling but unfamiliar to him.
And that's when he remembered. 'Sister?' his hazy memory began to clear.
'Lucille!!!?' He shouted, trying to get up only to fall again, then tried and failed again until his trembling arms burned from overexertion.
[Calm down, Host 1, your sister is fine].
'We were playing her favorite video game, then something happened, what exactly happened, is she okay' He tried to get up from the floor, but fell back down, at this point, his breathing was a bit labored, and for the first time in a long time, he was panicking.
[Take a deep breath, host 1]
The system's voice sounded louder than usual, inducing a little discomfort in Nathaniel, who quickly reasoned that panicking would get him nowhere. He took a couple of deep breaths as instructed by the system and calmed down.
"Why can't I get up?" he asked grumpily.
[The host's body is atrophied because of the death of the previous soul].
"Great, I'm inhabiting a corpse" Nathaniel replied sarcastically.
[Not exactly, the God who sent host 1 here has revived the body and adapted it to the soul of the host].
"God sent me here, why?"
[The entertainment gods were not satisfied with the protagonist of the story].
"HAHAHA, just for that? It's a bad joke, you know that?"
[I'm not joking. Host 1 is one of the two lucky ones chosen to come to this world and steal everything from the protagonist].
"One of the two? Who is the other?" Asked the 'boy' with a distrustful tone.
[Your sister]
Nathaniel's eyes widened and he tried to get up, only to get frustrated again and curse loudly.
"How do I get up, where is she?"
[Do you want to speed up the synchronization process with your container? It will be painful].
"Yes! Do it fast!"
The next moment, Nathaniel experienced the most significant pain he could imagine. It felt as if every fiber of his body was being burned and ripped out piece by piece.
[Synchronization 30%... 50%... 75%... 99%... Done!]
When the pain finally passed, he had complete control of his body and jumped to his feet. He was surprised when he saw the luxurious room, but he had no time.
"Where is my little sister?"
[She is in the next room].
Nathaniel ran to the door, and when he tried to open it, a transparent layer stopped his hand that was inches away from the doorknob. It was like bulletproof glass. With just the light touch of his hand, he understood that it was something that could not be explained by science. As he was pondering how to open the barrier, the system spoke.
[Do you want to deactivate the barrier?]
"Yes... wait. Is it safe where we are?"
[Yes]
"Do it."
With that, the cloak vanished in flowing golden specks and then disappeared. He marveled a bit at the magical spectacle but quickly snapped out of his stupor and opened the door.