Zhuge Lian opened his eyes to pure white. He looked around his surroundings and saw nothing but blankness. Usually, when one sees white, it is still a part of the material universe around you. But this white was different. It was wrong.

◢Am I dead? Where is this?◢

He realized that he still had his thoughts. Memories, check. Functions, check. He recalled jumping from his Guangzhou apartment and regretted it already. In many of the religions of his world, there was eternal punishment for suicide. Was this it?

◢Is this my punishment? F*ck. F*ck!◢

Ten seconds passed, then twenty. He began to think about the possibility of eternal suffering in this white space and recoiled in fear. It was just then that he realized that he couldn't move. His bodily systems were locked up, and nothing seemed to work. Wrong, wrong, wrong, a voice whispered. Death, death, death, whispered another voice.

Zhuge Lian felt a chill on his spine, and it was the first time in his life that he couldn't turn to check behind himself. His mind began to race, thinking of ghosts and demons and gods and kings and- "Fear is the mind-killer." Zhuge Lian had read Dune at eleven years old, and it had struck a nerve with him. But even with that, there was so much to be afraid of, eternity, death, suffering, and- "Fear is the mind-killer."

◢Am I going crazy already?◢

He resigned himself to his fate.

◢This was what I signed up for when I committed suicide... a bet on an unknown or non-existent afterlife.◢

Zhuge Lian regretted jumping mid-fall, but now he truly regretted it. In this wrong blank space, nothing felt real. Perhaps it had been but a second outside in the real world. There were no takebacks here, and there were no second chances. He resigned himself to his fate but couldn't stop his mind from racing.

◢Is any of this real? Am I in a coma?

I'm going to die here. Or, more accurately, I'm going to suffer here eterna-◢

-----------

*Ding*

System loading... 1%.

Modern Strength System assimilating into user. Please wait patiently.

System loading... 28%.

User has survived without mental destabilisation in _____ space, mental strength judged to be surpassing the bottom line.

System loading... 56%.

User showed to have a common bloodline, eliminating.

Inferior bloodlines [Elite Human 24%], [Orange 13%], [Human 40%], and [Caffeinated Being 23%] have been removed.

System loading... 78%.

Body refining module downloaded.

Success chance module downloaded.

Battle module downloaded.

...

492 total modules downloaded.

System loading... 95%.

Mental and biological impurities removed, noting to user that excessive amounts of orange juice and caffeinated beverages are not to be consumed, regardless of amount of work.

System loading... 99%.

Bloodline [Superior Human 100%] added.

System loading... Fully loaded.

All modules booting up.

Failure - Universal Authority too low.

Host's Universal Authority - 0

Modules Self-Assessment, Cultivation and Skills unlocked.

489 other modules and sub-modules locked.

-----------

Zhuge Lian awoke from a long dream inside the white space. He felt different, but he couldn't understand how. He ran through his memories again and realized that he had utterly forgotten the taste of coffee and orange juice, his two favorite study beverages.

He got up out of his sheets, preparing to make his morning coffee just like every other day in his life when he realized that he "died" yesterday.

◢How am I alive?

What's going on?◢

He suddenly understood that a particular event must have occurred. He recalled the blank space and shuddered, hoping it was just a dream. In the back of his mind, he wondered whether he was a novel MC.

However, while he was thinking, he was silently hoping...

◢Please, oh heavenly God, Buddha, Zhang Xuan, and Wang Lin above, don't let me be the Main Character of an English web original written by a 13-year-old... Because no one reads that sh*t!◢

Zhuge Lian hoped he was a part of the Ergenverse, but there was no way to tell. Finally, he yelled out "System!" as he had every day since he turned 14, to see if he genuinely had one after all.

*Ding*

Good morning, Host.

You are the new host of the Modern Strength System.

◢Huh?◢

Zhuge Lian had always dreamed of this moment, receiving a system from the universe. But wasn't strength in this modern world too bloody useless? What did the System want him to be, an M1 Sherman tank?

Even if he became a hundred, no, a thousand times stronger, a nuclear missile would still be able to screw him over any way it wanted to.

"System, what can I do with this Modern Strength System?"

*Ding*

The current tabs available for use are:

1. Cultivation: Used to increase your strength, defensive capability, and even mental strength.

2. Skills: Used to see your skills and to improve them as fast as you can.

3. Self-assessment: This tab will allow you to combine the above two and form an understanding of you, your combat ability and your skills.

◢Mental strength... so it wasn't just about physical strength, after all.◢

Zhuge Lian thought to himself for a little bit. Once he got over the initial rush of power, he clearly understood that a low profile and a humble demeanor would be necessary until he was powerful enough to take on the more substantial influences in this world. Otherwise, he would end up experimented on, or worse.

For the first time in months, he felt a change in his ambition. Once, he wanted to reach the top of the world, caress the clouds and touch the sky. Ever since he was rejected by his dream colleges and by his entire family, his ambition faded away like sand in the wind. However, now that he had this Modern Strength System, he finally had the qualifications to climb to the top again.

Inch by inch, he would regain his spot and make his family understand.

He checked the Self-Assessment tab to see his current status according to the Modern Strength System's standards.

User: Zhuge Lian

Age: 19

Stats:

(1.0 is the average human skill)

Cultivation: None (0.0)

Mental Strength: 1.45

Physical Talent: 0.5

___ Talent: ___

___ Talent: ___

Bloodline:

[Superior Human 100%] (2.0)

Skills:

Procrastination CCVII

Academics II

Tennis II

Badminton II

Gaming I

Drinking I

----------

He was okay with the other stats, but... Procrastination 207? F*ck!

"System, I do not believe that in a universe so broad, there will be no one to tolerate my idiocy.

I do not believe that under a heavens so large, there will be no place for me to call home.

I do not believe that on a cracked earth so great, there will be no ground of my own.

I am a procrastinator. I'll speak for myself!"

*Ding*

You're an idiot.

Zhuge Lian: "...."