What it Means to be Human

Prologue

[You are already dead.]

That was the first thing Wang Fai heard when he regained consciousness.

He tried to open his eyes, making his long, delicate silver eyelashes tremble. Yet no matter what amount of force he tried to exert, he failed to lift his eyelids. He felt as if his lids were being stepped on by an elephant. Wang Fai felt himself lying down on nothing, giving himself the idea of falling. He tried to grasp something, but he found that he couldn't move his body.

'This is...', Wang Fai speculated about his current situation. It was just too confusing, suddenly finding himself somehow falling, yet unable to feel the wind pressure nor move his body. Almost instantaneously, an idea popped up in his mind, 'Am I dead?'

Just as he was falling even deeper in a conundrum, a voice similar to the one he just heard once again resounded, [Ah, you really are dead. Didn't I already say so earlier?]

Wang Fai was surprised, the voice seemed to reply to his thoughts. But how was such a thing possible? Reading one's mind so accurately isn't even a thing. Not to mention, he was sure that he wasn't showing any expressions on his face, especially because he can't move any of his muscles at all.

It's impossible but... 'can the origin of this voice really read my mind?'

[Yes, I can. After all, I am bound to your brain waves, so you can speak to me telepathically.]

There was silence for a moment but it was broken by the mysterious voice. It spoke as if it forgot something very trivial.

[Ah, you can't move, right? Just wait a few moments, your spiritual body is still adjusting to this space. After all, this place is rich in spiritual energy, totally unlike your old world where it is so scarce.]

True to its words, Wang Fai really did regain his senses. His eyelashes trembled as it lifted to reveal beautiful, silver eyes. His cute, red pouty lips were curled into a frown. Short, silver hair gently framed the cutely round face that contained a few baby fats here and there. The first thing those notable, silver eyes saw was a silver ahoge jumping up and down right in front of his face. Wang Fai was dazed for a moment, thinking about how that moe thing was able to move.

The next thing he knew, his waist was being hugged.

[Host, you can finally see me! o(≧▽≦)o]

'...???'

'Where is the mysterious, casual voice from earlier? Why did it turn so... cutesy?'

Wang Fai was overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events. Earlier, when he couldn't see nor feel, a mysterious voice talked to him using a casual tone. Now, however, that very mysterious voice turned into something cutesy that seems to be vying for favor...

He lowered his line of sight, seeking to see for himself the appearance of the origin of the voice, only to be met with sparkling blue eyes. The man—no, boy—that was tightly clinging to his waist had short hair with the same hue as his. The boy's cute little face had a rosy tint due to what seems like excitement. His pink mouth was curled into a happy smile as his eyes stared unwaveringly at Wang Fai.

Wang Fai blinked, recalling the words the 13-year-old boy called him.

Reading his mind, the little boy opened his mouth to explain, [I am System 01, but you can call me Caihong. I'm a system designed for helping hosts traverse one world after another.]

"Hosts...?"

[That's right, hosts! We systems are bound to deceased or comatose people-who are then called hosts after binding (≧◡≦). Hosts are able to travel to different worlds in exchange for completing different tasks. Completion of tasks reward them with work points which could be used in exchange for different props (＾▽＾). But host, I am special! I can give you anything you want from the system store free of charge!]