Inside the small apartment's living room lay a young man with a haggard appearance. The place was in complete disarray, with the bed unmade and clothes scattered everywhere.
Empty bottles and the stench of alcohol filled the room, making it look like a total dump which is completely unfit for living.
Even a beggar would think twice before staying here. Suddenly, the young man lying on the floor, who seemed to have stopped breathing, began to breathe softly.
And with a faint click, his eyes flew open.
Looking at how disarranged the place was, with beer bottles blocking his view, he slowly sat up and let his gaze wander around the room.
"What the… where am I?" he muttered, completely confused about his surroundings.
"Did I drink too much?" he wondered as a wave of dizziness washed over his head.
As he stood up and was about to look around, a powerful wave of dizziness struck him, as if his head were being pierced by thousands of needles.
Unable to keep his balance he collapsed onto the worn-out bed, which was soaked in sweat and reeked of filth.
He had no time to care about it as he focusses on handling the pain.
After some time the agony finally subsided, making him sigh in relief. Lying on the bed with his arms spread out, he fully opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, his mind filled with shock.
"Don't tell me I died… and this kid became my new body?" John spoke, his voice filled with shock and confusion.
He clearly remembered drinking with a group of friends after one of them successfully proposed to the love of his life.
Then his heart had suddenly ached, and he remembered passing out. This kind of thing was nothing new to him because sometimes he would wake up in his own home, and other times in a hospital.
But this time, none of that happened. John Carter was a twenty-seven-year-old, struggling and unemployed.
He had no girlfriend, no house, no car, and despite applying to fifty or even a hundred jobs, he had never once been accepted due to his low qualifications.
His life was truly the worst of the worst. He did his best, yet it always felt as if fate itself was determined to drag him down.
But what made him angry about is this kid that he was currently possessing, according to the memory he died due to overdrinking, smoking, and even using some drugs like marijuana.
What puzzled him was that the original owner's life had been great. No, it was amazing.
He had a powerful family background, immense wealth, and everything one could want. If he had been raised properly, he could have become a good person with endless riches.
However, as the only direct male heir of the family, he had been excessively spoiled.
That indulgence turned him into a complete scumbag.
"Hm. His family really couldn't handle him anymore," John said coldly.
"Well, it serves him right I supposed"
He wasn't really disappointed about being kicked out of the family and losing the chance to live in luxury.
To be honest, he did want to be rich because who in the world wouldn't want that?
But that life was never truly his. Being disowned even made him feel relieved.
As an orphan who had struggled just to survive, he had never truly understood family affection. So having a family will just make him uncomfortable, especially blood related.
However, remembering the many wrongs committed by the original owner of this body, he couldn't simply turn a blind eye.
If he wanted to live a peaceful life, he knew he had to set things right.
"Starting from now on, I will repay every wrong the original owner of this body committed," he said with a relieved smile, as if guilt that was never truly his had finally eased.
Then…
DIng~
[Detected that the host issued a task. Creating a reward that corresponds with the quest's difficulty]
[Mission: Path of Atonement
Description: The previous owner of this body committed actions that damaged lives, dignity, and fate. The System has detected the host's intent to atone.
Objective: Repay the harm caused by the original owner through equivalent or greater positive actions.
Rewards: Based on Atonement Outcome]
...
"What?!"
He almost screamed at the top of his lungs as the panel hovered only inches from his face.
He instinctively swung his hand, slapping the panel away. It passed straight through the wall and vanished.
After a moment of silence, the panel floated back like a ghost, passing through the wall as if it were nothing but air.
[Host, please don't slap] - The system spoke, freezing him in place.
"Is this the effect of marijuana? Oh my gosh… I'm so high," John panicked, thinking some lingering effect was still at work.
[Host, please do not panic. Simply treat me as your assistant I'm here to help you in your new life. Not make you some kind of retarded] - The system explained.
"Okay," he replied after a second, wanting nothing more than for everything to just end.
Staring at the panel, he no longer cared whether it was real or merely a hallucination. As long as he could keep living, that was enough for him.
Once he earned some money, he knew he would need to get himself checked otherwise, who knew what kind of bizarre things he might experience next.
As he was thinking about this, a knock sounded on the door. He looked toward it, walked over, and opened it, only to find a beautiful girl standing outside.
She glared at him as she scrutinized his appearance, and he could clearly feel the disgust in her eyes.
"Why is she staring at me like that?" Before he could come up with an answer, it came to him on its own.
Memories of her flooded his mind. It was Claire, that was the girl's name. She was the daughter of the owner of this small apartment.
Her mother was a kind woman who had helped him when he was struggling on the streets, waiting for death.
He had accepted the woman's kindness, yet what angered him the most was that he hadn't even thanked her when she showed him and let him stay in the room he now occupied.
He had even had the gall to say, "You want me to live in this room? What a garbage apartment. Go away, old lady. Just you being near me makes my nose itch."
If the current John had been there at the time, he would have slapped himself. A kind woman had offered him help and this was how he repaid her?
What shocked him was that the woman had only smiled and left. Yet in her eyes, the deep hurt was clearly visible.
During the three months he had lived there, the woman had been caring and warm, sometimes offering him food and often even giving him spare money.
He couldn't understand why she would go so far for someone like him.
"What a blessing this kid had," he couldn't help but mutter with a wry smile.
"Hey, you piece of garbage with no future! You'd better pay the rent now, or I'll throw you out!" Claire screamed, jabbing her finger into his chest.