118 years ago
2025, the Ferris wheel turned lazy circles over the country fair.
Elias Harper rode in one of the swaying cars, metal bar across his lap, the smell of fried food, dust, and engine grease drifting on the breeze.
Ironically he had the same first name as he did in his current life. Weird rebirth shit, Elias thought, but whatever.
He was a tall, lanky kid, already six foot two, with a strong core and runner's legs. If he'd thrown himself into basketball with a decent mentor, he probably would've been dangerous on the court.
He'd grown up in a single-parent home. His father died of cancer when he was young. His mother worked two jobs and barely had time for him and his sister.
His lack of a male role model turned into a lack of confidence at all the wrong moments.
It was a Friday night and Elias was seventeen on his first date.
He was a geek who, when he actually applied himself at school, pulled A's. When he didn't, he read online novels or gamed. Cross-country gave him something real: strong lungs, long legs, and one place where effort turned directly into results. Most days he watched other people pair off from the edges of rooms.
He finally gathered enough courage to ask out a girl who lived in the same quiet zone of the social map as he did.
She sat beside him on the bench, hands folded over a small shoulder bag. Plain features, a soft roundness at her middle, clothes leaning toward comfort instead of style. Elias felt embarrassed for even thinking the word pudgy, and then more embarrassed for feeling that embarrassment.
He stretched his legs as far as the car allowed. Skinny build, long-distance runner's frame, dark hair that needed a trim, and one of the best cross-country times in the state. A scholarship waited for him, along with a spot at a decent college. His grades sat high, teachers liked him, and on paper the future looked very tidy.
Except the four-year route already felt like a trap. Four years of debt, vague promises, and a degree that might lead somewhere.
Community college and a nursing program made far more sense.
He wanted to be a travel nurse.
Contracts would send him from city to city. Good travel nurses chased assignments where hospitals felt desperate, picked up hazard pay, overtime, and housing stipends. Solid money, constant demand, and paychecks that stacked up fast while the hospital or agency covered a place to live.
He planned to stay single and live cheap for a decade, scraping every spare dollar into investments to escape the cycle he grew up in.
His mother did her best, but they were poor, and he wanted better.
Travel nurse. Make a pile of cash, buy rental properties, let management companies handle the day-to-day, retire around thirty-five with passive income rolling in.
That was the plan.
His date shifted beside him, shoes bumping lightly against his. Her knees pressed together, toes turned inward, fingers tightening on the bag strap.
Elias had no serious intentions with her. In the back of his mind floated the vague idea of maybe reaching third base someday.
At the moment, he struggled just to hold her hand.
He glanced sideways. Fair lights painted her profile—strings of bulbs, neon signs, the slow pulse from a nearby ride. Her cheeks already carried a blush, either from the evening air or nerves. Maybe both.
He thought about taking her hand.
She was a bit of a loner herself. Smart—actually scary smart—more of a brainiac and a nerd than most people realized. She dove deep into the anime scene; he dabbled enough that they could talk about it and meet in that shared slice of weird.
His fingers twitched on the safety bar. Heat climbed his neck. His heart picked up, faster than his usual warm-up jog.
The Ferris wheel car rocked gently as it climbed.
"So…" he said, instant classic of an opener. "You like the fair?"
She let out a tiny laugh, like she tried to swallow half of it. "I mean… yeah. The food, mostly. Corn dogs and funnel cakes kinda carry the night."
"Funnel cakes are elite," he said quickly. "Top-tier cuisine."
That pulled a real smile from her, small but clear. She turned her head, and their eyes met for a heartbeat before both of them looked back out over the fairgrounds.
She was tall and rail-thin, just under six foot, with brown hair and brown eyes. The kind of girl who might have grown from awkward teenager into the sort of beauty that made people double-take—if she'd survived.
It was a sweet, innocent moment before the System fucked humanity a new asshole.
Below them, crowds moved between game booths and food stands. Lights blinked over dart games, ring toss, and shooting galleries. Music drifted from the main stage in bursts, cutting out whenever the wheel turned their car away.
Wind slid across his face, cool against skin still warm from the day's run and the nervous energy coiled in his chest.
He slid his hand along the bar another inch, until his pinky brushed her knuckles.
She jolted a fraction, then relaxed. Her hand shifted a little closer, just enough that their fingers touched with the rise and fall of the car.
Elias swallowed.
"So, um," she said, voice soft, "your coach said you got a scholarship, right?"
"Yeah," he said. Running always felt easier to talk about. "My times dropped this season. Got an offer from Ridgeway. Decent program, decent school."
"That's huge."
He shrugged, shoulders tight. "Maybe. I might do community college instead, though. Nursing program. They need nurses everywhere. Travel contracts, good pay, housing covered. Feels like… a way to get out, see places, actually build something."
"That sounds smart," she said. "Helping people while getting paid. Efficient life choice."
He huffed a laugh. "Efficient. I like that."
The car reached the top of the wheel and paused, swaying gently in the open air. From up here, the fair spread out in a pool of color and motion, a cluster of lights floating in the dark countryside.
Silence settled between them, lighter this time. Her shoulder brushed his when the car rocked. She didn't move away. Her fingers curled slightly, and his hand inched closer until their hands lay side by side on the cool metal bar, skin just touching.
He felt the tiny tremor in her fingers. His hand shook just enough to match it.
It was sweet till it wasn't.
The moment hung there—warm hands, shared nerves, the world a blur of light beneath them—then something new burned into the center of Elias's vision.
Uploading…
The word floated in front of everything. Fairground lights dulled behind it. Allison's profile blurred behind it. The Ferris wheel car, the sky, the crowd below, all turned into background.
Uploading…
Pressure knifed through his skull, a harsh grinding sensation that dragged along the inside of his mind. His jaw clenched on instinct. Fingers spasmed against the metal safety bar. Every muscle in his shoulders drew tight as if someone hooked wires into his spine and pulled.
All around the fair, people hunched in their seats or dropped into crouches beside game booths. Palms flew to temples. A man down by the corn dog stand lurched against the counter. The ride operator grabbed the rail with white knuckles, head bowed.
Sound thinned out, like someone turned the volume dial halfway down. Shouts blurred into raw sounds. The lights kept flashing, music kept leaking from the main stage, yet everything fun about it drained away under that scraping pressure in his skull.
The word held steady.
Uploading…
Seconds stretched. His breathing came in short, sharp pulls. His heart beat so fast it thudded in his throat. Sweat prickled at his hairline, along his neck, into the collar of his shirt.
Then, as suddenly as it hit, the pressure lifted.
Upload complete.
Welcome to the Cultivation Assist System!
Your world will be shifted…
The words hung in the air, perfectly clear, crisp white against the night.
Elias remembered turning his head, vision still pulsing at the edges, and seeing Allison. Tears clung to her lashes, one line already cutting down her cheek. Her hands gripped the safety bar the same way his had, knuckles pale.
They sat at the top of the Ferris wheel, car swaying lightly in the open air, while reality updated itself in front of their eyes.
What was going on.
Two faces flashed across his thoughts with brutal clarity: his younger sisters. Twelve and ten. Then his mother, worn out from double shifts, still smiling when she could.
He dragged his attention back to the floating screen.
Your world will now be shifted in
10…
9…
8…
Allison's voice broke through the ringing in his ears.
"W-what is happening?" she whispered, tears still streaking down her face.
Allison. That was her name. Or maybe Alice. His memory fuzzed around the detail. Meh. Close enough.
Elias remembered a lot about his life. Most of it felt tilted against him.
Hand-me-down clothes from thrift stores. A father gone too early. A mother grinding through two jobs just to keep the lights on. Life rarely lined up in anyone's favor.
You played poker with the hand in front of you, or you folded. Somewhere along the line he figured out he carried a stubborn little spark, the same one that would shove him through the apocalypse later.
Crying never fixed anything. It drained time and focus.
He needed a plan.
3…
2…
1…