"What the hell...?" Alden whispered, his voice barely audible and tinged with shock.
...A shock he tried to hide, but failed to keep hidden.
-[Congratulations, Host. You've met the condition by passing the Heart Trial]
-[Talent calculation triggered]
-[Calculation begins]
....Failed]
....Talent not successful]
%%Retrying%%]
Initializing]
Several texts he couldn't understand appeared out of thin air before him.
A system?
It was real... this was damn real.
He stood speechless, his mouth slightly open, no words coming out.
This was totally unexpected, almost impossible to believe. Yet, it was here, right in front of him.
It was something he had read about in countless novels—a golden finger granted to fictional protagonists. And now, somehow, it had happened to him too, albeit in a different way.
"Heart trial? So the heart demon part was a trial?" he thought, his brow furrowing as he reread the notification.
"Too bad that Sammy couldn't pass this stage and allowed his heart to be consumed by it instead," he shook his head, feeling sorry for the poor boy.
He was beginning to understand the story, even though it was complicated.
"Anyway, I'm now in possession of your body, so I'll make things right." A smirk appeared on his face.
-[Perfect talent found. GOOD LUCK!]
-[Talent awakening in process 100%...↓]
[....90%]
[....88%]
This time around, the system began its countdown.
"If the system can give me an A-rank talent, I can dominate with it. With the knowledge I've gained from countless novels, I can use that to my advantage."
Alden voiced these words happily, feeling his heart beat fast with excitement as he impatiently awaited the end of the countdown to see which rank he would be given.
"Quickly finish your counting," he said. In his eyes, the countdown felt like an eternity, even though it was swiftly moving down with speed.
Within a minute, the countdown was already at its final stage.
[5%... 4%... 3%...]
[2%... 1%... Process Completed]
Seeing the final notification, a strange warmth surged through his chest. Whether it was the joy of receiving a system or something else, he couldn't tell.
-[You've successfully awakened the talent 'Character Merge System']
Alden's expression shifted to one of confusion. "Character Merge System?" he whispered.
The name sparked a strange familiarity within him.
"This... this was our game! My team and I were set to beta test it! How is it here?!"
The realization hit him like a truck. Character Merge—a game project he and his team had been developing for over a year and six months.
They had poured countless sleepless nights into coding and testing, even spending millions to bring in other developers, all in preparation for its final release.
He took a deep breath to calm his heart, as many conflicting thoughts ran through his mind at the same time.
"Wait... what if it's exactly like the game we built? Merging skills, talents... could that actually work here?"
He clenched his fists, a faint smile forming.
"Alright, RealityKing. If this is your way of toying with me.
I'LL HAPPILY PLAY ALONG!"
[Character Merge System binding with host...]
[System bound successfully!]
[Congrats to host for awakening the SSS-grade rank talent]
When the screen popped up, his jaw nearly dropped.
"SSS talent?! No way…"
He leaned in, reading again just to make sure.
"WHAT!"
Alden froze, his eyes widening in disbelief. That was the highest grade—the most powerful of them all, and in just a few minutes, he had awakened it straightaway.
Just today, he had received a hell of surprises and he was beginning to feel unsettled about the whole thing.
Is RealityKing the god of this world?
He wondered. Even the main character in RealityKing's novel hadn't received such generous blessings to aid his journey.
So why was he receiving them?
Or was he simply being controlled by a deity?
His anger slowly rose, but he kept it under control. He had blindly accepted the challenge from the start, so he had to prove to whosoever was behind this that he was capable.
If he couldn't prove himself, would that not make him appear as weak as the main character?
Before he could digest everything, an annoying voice drifted into his ear.
"Even with external help, do you think you can survive? No, you can't, because you're nothing but a weakling and forever will be." The demon chuckled darkly, its deadly eyes fixed on its prey.
An oppressive aura slowly emanated from the demon's body. "Foolish. You think you can get rid of me? You are me and I am you. Your doubts, your fears, your failures—everything you hate about yourself. You cannot defeat me because you cannot escape who you truly are!" it snarled.
"You're wrong," Alden replied in a strong tone. "I'm not like your victim. I am a different person!"
He locked eyes with the being.
"Hehe," a devilish laugh escaped the demon's lips. "You were nothing to your family even in your original body. And here you are again, and you're still worthless... such a big loser..."
Alden's fists clenched tightly at the demon's words, his nails digging into his palms. He forced himself to stay calm, though the words brought back memories he had tried so hard to bury.
In his original body, his family, who once loved and cared for him deeply, suddenly changed when he turned thirteen. They stopped paying attention to him and began treating him as though he no longer mattered.
The reason? He wasn't meeting their expectations in school and for other unknown reasons. Meanwhile, his younger brother, who was smarter and excelled academically, became their favorite.
No matter how much effort he put into anything, his family never appreciated him. He tried his best to make them proud, but nothing he did was ever good enough.
This pushed him into depression at a very young age. It hurt even more because they would only notice his mistakes, and when that happened, his father would scold him harshly while often comparing him to his brother or his friends.
Even his birthdays were ignored like any ordinary day. While his brother's birthdays were celebrated with big parties and lavish gifts, his were completely forgotten.
He felt so invisible, like a ghost that was no longer part of the family.
At the age of seventeen, after a heated argument with his father, he was chased out of the house. Since then, he had learned to live without his family. Even making friends became a major challenge for him, except for one longtime friend he had.
Living alone, he worked hard to improve himself. After months of effort, he finally managed to succeed.
Now, he found himself in another body, facing almost the same problems because he had no talent.
> > > >
The heart demon had a sinister grin as it watched Alden struggle to stay calm, relishing every bit of pain on its prey's face.
Using Alden's painful memories against him was a smart move—the demon knew it was the only way to hurt him.
As the memories kept coming back, it was as if an old wound in his heart reopen. One he never wanted to feel again.
"No, no, no, no..." Alden screamed, tears nearly spilling from his eyes. "I won't fall for your tricks!"
He dropped to one knee in pain.