Raiden entered the bluish black portal and wondered how such doorways came into existence. Maybe he would be able to create one himself when he becomes stronger, but that’s easier said than done. 'I should try to find other ways to return before that,' he thought.

He didn’t doubt whether Aldrich would accept his request because from what he had seen, he was strict outside but a softie inside. Anyway, he should maintain a positive outlook to stay focused on cultivation, so he could reunite with  his family sooner.

Some time later, a blinding light could be seen at the end of the passage and Raiden couldn’t help but close his eyes. When he could see again, he realised that he was in a forest. ‘Ah! It’s a cliché setting again,’ he thought. That’s when he realised that the timer had almost run out and he remembered that he should find a secluded area. The forest didn’t seem to have any wild beasts, at least none were roaming near his position. Unable to find a cave or something, he arrived in an area surrounded with many bushes and settled for this place.

Some time later, the screen showed [00:00:03], [00:00:02], [00:00:01], [00:00:00. Transformation begins].

Raiden clenched his teeth and waited anxiously for the pain which should follow soon. That’s how it was in all those novels online. 

30 seconds. 

1 minute.

2 minutes passed but there was nothing, no pain at all.

‘Huh! Is that it? Damn it! All those authors are liars. In order to satisfy their readers, they made such things up and gave me such anxiety. Well, this is great. Let’s check my …ugh’

‘Sure enough, the pain came. It was just lagging due to poor internet connection. F*ck!!’ 

An intense pain assaulted Raiden all over his body. He felt like he was being run over by a bulldozer all over his body, but at the same time, his innards were being stretched, as if making space for something that wasn’t there before. He began bleeding all over and soon passed out.

An unknown amount of time later, Raiden woke up in a pool of his own blood, and his oversized clothes were drenched. There was no expulsion of impurities or whatever. It was similar to having your organs transplanted while awake. While he was wondering where to find new clothes, an androgynous mechanical voice chimed in.

[Ding! User detected]

[Verifying system requirements]

[User is a pathetic virgin: check]

[User is a pervert: check]

[User has killed before: check]

[User has less than 5 friends: check]

[User is a nerd: check]

…

After about a minute, it said [All requirements met, initialising system installation]

[Installation complete. Welcome to Hacking Interface. Let’s have a good time together, Host.]

This time the voice seemed to be that of a female. Raiden wasn’t flustered by the sudden voice. He had somewhat expected it, but he was very angry now.

“Oi! Oi! Why were there a bunch of curses in the middle?”

[I don’t know what you are talking about, Host.]

“You must have a chat log, right? Show it to me, I would lodge a complaint.”

[Previous log deleted][What were you saying, Host?]

“Aaarghhh…. Calm down, Raiden. No use getting angry with a little girl. Alright, tell me what you can do.”

[Who are you calling a little girl? You are a little girl. Your whole family is a little girl. Humph]

“Look at you, aren’t you acting like a brat? Whatever, I am not interested in your story and I am pretty sure you wouldn’t tell me anyway, would you?”

[Ugh! You are cheating, this isn’t how you play the game. You are supposed to be flustered and grovel to me for answers. Meanie.]

“Get to the point already. After all those requirements, I had to get such a useless system”

[There is no useless system, only useless Host. Humph. I am the Hacking Interface. I shall help the Host in phishing data, malware detection, encryption, advertisement, using bots , implementing firewalls, etc. The data includes but is not limited to talents, attributes, body parts, skills and uh….Oi! Are you with me till here?]

“Are you deliberately messing with me? What are you, a 5-year old?”

[Who is a 5-year old? I am *&*(&&^(@^#%#. Oops, I just gave some classified info by mistake. Teehee]

Raiden was silent for a long time. He was worried about his mental health if he had to put up with this kid for his whole life. He sighed and said, “So you can basically help me steal other people's talents and give me some other useful skills. Hmm, that’s pretty sick but cliche, I guess. Fine, just show me my status.”

 

[Status]

[Host: Raiden Smith]

[Age: 12]

[Bloodline: Human]

[Title: Transmigrator]

[Heavenly Treasure: Chaos ring (sealed)]

[Cultivation level: Mortal]

[Spiritual root: Not awakened]

[Skills: <Hand-to-hand fighting (locked)>, <Knife mastery (locked)>, <Gun mastery (locked)>, <Unethical Hacking (Mastery)>, <Scheming (Advanced)>]

[Innate talent: Not opened]

[Beginner’s package: Not opened]

[System points: 50]

[Shop: Currently not available]

[Active quests: None]

 

Raiden felt a headache coming. “My dear system, instead of arguing with me, shouldn’t you have reminded me to open my packages?”

[Umm, right. Well, I am new to this, so I kinda forgot. But it won’t happen again. Teehee]

“Forget it. Show my Innate talent and open the Beginner’s package.”

[Ding! Opening random innate talent package from the blessing of ^@%&*&^%#]

[Obtained Innate talent: <Second male-lead aura (Passive)>]

[Ding! Opening Beginner’s package]

[Obtained skill: <Language and comprehension (Basic)>]

[Obtained skill: <Appraisal (Basic)>]

[Obtained Beginner’s clothes and 50 spirit stones]

[The items obtained are stored in the System Inventory. Host just needs to think about an item to retrieve it. Inventory for other items is currently unavailable. Only items from gift packages or from the System shop can be stored in the Inventory]

 

Raiden felt a jolt in his brain and realised that the information of his new skills and the way to use them had been somehow ‘pasted’ on his brain.

“Hmm, the skills obtained are pretty useful from what I read in the novels. I guess some of my previous skills are locked because I am not used to my new body yet. What do you mean by Scheming (Advanced). Don’t you have a better word for that, like planning or something? Ah, forget it. I don’t know the market value of spirit stones but I am guessing they should be enough to last a few days. But what’s up with this ridiculous innate talent? I can foresee that I would have a lot of troubles later due to this. Hmmm…..on second thought, isn’t it perfect?

I can just make a good relationship with the protagonist and ride on his coattails? I would enjoy all the benefits but at the same time, both my mistakes and achievements will be overlooked. Therefore, people wouldn’t pay too much attention to me and I can hide my actual strength. Yup, perfect. But why do I feel like I am forgetting something?”

While Raiden was lost in his thoughts, he heard the sounds of running and two people suddenly leapt into the bush behind him. They were a boy and a girl around his age but what was eye-catching was that both of them had godly appearances. But despite their beauty, their current appearances were pathetic. They had several wounds on their body and seemed to be utterly exhausted. 

‘Well, well…what do we have here? This has to be the same-old scene of the protagonist saving a beautiful lady, fleeing together and falling in love later, right?’ 

Sighh…At this point, Raiden wanted to curse himself. Who knew that his inner ramblings would raise a flag so soon?