"Fuck!" Sunny gasped. His breath came in ragged, desperate wheezes.
"What the hell?"
A sharp sting assaulted his temples. Memories that didn't belong to him flooded his mind.
A world named Azaroth. Massive beasts soaring through the sky. People controlling fire, ice, and lightning. Wars fought not with guns, but with monsters.
"I... died?" Sunny's eyes widened as the realization hit him.
The memory was vivid. The champagne glass shattering.
Sarah. His fiancé. The woman he had pulled out of the gutter. The woman he had given everything to. She had smiled as she twisted the blade.
"Sorry, Sunny. But the Organization offered me a price I couldn't refuse. You understand business, right?"
"That bitch!" Sunny roared, punching the wooden floorboards beneath him. "That absolute fucking ungrateful whore!"
The rotten wood splintered under his fist. Pain shot up his arm, grounding him.
He looked around. He was in a shed. A literal shed.
He was Sunny, the orphan stable boy of the Ironblood Clan. A sixteen-year-old trash with zero mana affinity and a physique weaker than a wet noodle.
The original owner of this body had died last night. Why? Because he forgot to polish the boots of the Third Young Master, Cain. Cain had kicked him in the ribs until something snapped, then left him here to rot.
"Pathetic," Sunny spat, wiping a line of dried blood from his lip. "Killed over boots? This world is even more messed up than Earth."
He tried to stand, but his legs wobbled. His ribs screamed in protest. He lifted his shirt.
A massive purple bruise covered his entire right side.
"Great. Just great. I reincarnate, and I'm already halfway to hell again."
Sunny gritted his teeth, his eyes cold. He had survived the cutthroat corporate wars of Earth.
"In this world, strength is everything," he whispered, analyzing the memories. "You tame a beast, you become a Tamer. You get status. You get power. You get to kill people like Cain."
But this body was trash. The "Mana Awakening" ceremony was three years ago. Sunny had failed. His mana channels were clogged. He couldn't form a contract with even a Slime.
"There has to be a way," Sunny growled, his knuckles white. "I didn't get a second life just to be a stepping stone for some arrogant young master."
Suddenly, a mechanical sound echoed inside his skull.
[Ding!]
Sunny froze. "What?"
[System initiating...]
[Soul Binding detected. Host: Sunny.]
[Error fix... 99%... 100%.]
[System Loaded.]
A translucent blue screen materialized right in front of his face.
Sunny blinked. He waved his hand through it.
"A System?" A feral grin slowly stretched across his face.
"Hah... Hahaha! I knew it! I fucking knew it!"
He had read enough web novels in his downtime to know what this was. This was his golden finger.
[Welcome, Host. The Ultimate Fusion System is at your service!]
"Fusion System?" Sunny squinted at the floating text.
"Explain."
[The Fusion System allows the Host to merge any two entities—living or non-living—to create a superior entity. The success rate and quality depend on the Host's level and the compatibility of the materials.]
Sunny's heart pounded against his bruised ribs.
Fuse anything?
"Show me my status," he commanded.
[Ding!]
[Status Window]
Name: Sunny
Race: Human
Level: 1 (0/100 EXP)
Mana: 5/5 (F- Rank)
Strength: 3 (Average Adult: 10)
Agility: 4
Endurance: 2
Active Skills: [Fusion (Level 1)]
Tamed Beasts: None.
"Stats of a cripple," Sunny scoffed. "Strength 3? A toddler could beat me up. But this skill..."
He focused on [Fusion].
[Fusion (Level 1): Can fuse two items or living beings of Tier 1 or lower. Cooldown: None. Mana Cost: 1 per fusion.]
"No cooldown?" Sunny's eyes gleamed.
"That's broken. That is absolutely broken."
He needed to test this immediately. He looked around the shed.
Straw. Broken shovel. Horse shit.
"I need something alive. Or a weapon."
His eyes darted to the corner of the room. There was a cracked wooden bowl with some moldy bread. Crawling on the bread were two large, black cockroaches.
Iron-Shell Roaches.
They were pests in this world, known for their hard shells but absolutely useless for combat.
Sunny crawled over, ignoring the pain in his ribs. He snatched one roach in his left hand and the other in his right.
"Disgusting," Sunny muttered. "But you're my ticket out of here."
"System, activate Fusion on these two."
[Target Selected: Iron-Shell Roach (Common) + Iron-Shell Roach (Common).]
[Compatibility: 95%.]
[Fusion Initiated...]
A bright white light erupted from his palms. Sunny felt a slight drain on his energy, like a pinch.
The light swirled, pulling the two insects together. There was a crunching sound, like bones breaking and reforming.
[Ding!]
[Fusion Successful!]
[Congratulations! You have obtained: Armored Black Beetle (Uncommon)!]
The light faded.
In Sunny's hand sat a beetle the size of a fist. Its mandibles looked sharp enough to snap a finger.
[Monster Info]
Name: Armored Black Beetle
Grade: Uncommon (Tier 1)
Ability: [Hardened Shell] - Can resist standard iron weapons.
Loyalty: 100 (Created by Host)
"Holy shit," Sunny breathed out.
He had just turned two pests into a monster that could probably bite through a boot.
In this world, an Uncommon beast was something only a proper novice Tamer could handle. And he made it in five seconds!
"I can do this," Sunny whispered, his grin widening into something manic.
"I can really do this."
He looked around frantically.
He saw a rusty iron dagger on the floor, likely discarded by a guard. The tip was broken. He grabbed it.
Then he looked at the wooden leg of a broken stool.
"Fusion."
[Target: Rusty Dagger + Oak Wood.]
[Compatibility: 60%.]
[Fusion Successful!]
The items warped and melded. The wood wrapped around the metal handle, becoming a perfectly ergonomic grip.
[Item Created: Balanced Iron Shiv (Common+)]
Attack: 15
Durability: 20/20
Sunny weighed the shiv in his hand. It felt light.
"This is insane."
Suddenly, the door to the shed banged open.
Sunny quickly hid the beetle under the straw and tucked the shiv behind his back.
A fat man with a greasy mustache stood in the doorway. It was the Stable Master, Bolton. The man who let Cain beat the original Sunny to death.
"You little rat!" Bolton shouted, spitting on the floor. "Still sleeping? The Third Young Master's horse needs feeding! Get your ass up or I'll break your other leg!"
Bolton stomped into the room, holding a leather whip. He raised it high, his face twisted in a cruel sneer.
He didn't see Sunny as a human. He saw him as a punching bag.
Sunny looked up.
In his past life, he would have calculated the risks. He would have planned a way to destroy Bolton financially. But the dopamine from the System was coursing through his veins. The power of the [Fusion] skill buzzed in his mind. The anger of the original owner merged with his own rage at Sarah.
He wanted blood.
"Get up!" Bolton swung the whip.
The leather struck Sunny's shoulder, tearing the fabric.
"Does it hurt?" Bolton laughed.
"Maybe if you cry, I'll—"
"Hey, fatso," Sunny said, his voice dropping an octave.
Bolton paused, confused. The trembling boy from yesterday was gone. The eyes looking back at him were dead, cold, and mocking.
"What did you call me?" Bolton growled, stepping closer.
"I said," Sunny stood up, ignoring the screaming pain in his ribs, "you're fat. And ugly. And you're going to die."
"You courting death!" Bolton roared, raising the whip again.
"Now!" Sunny yelled in his mind.
From the pile of straw, a black blur shot out.
The Armored Black Beetle launched itself like a bullet. It latched onto Bolton's face.
"ARGHHH!" Bolton screamed, dropping the whip. He clawed at his face, but the beetle's legs were like steel hooks.
The beetle bit down.
"My nose!" Bolton shrieked, falling backward, thrashing on the floor.
Sunny stepped forward. He pulled the Balanced Iron Shiv from behind his back.
He drove the shiv into Bolton's neck.
Blood sprayed onto Sunny's face.
[Ding!]
[You have killed a Level 3 Human.]
[EXP +50.]
[Ding!]
[Level Up!]
[You are now Level 2.]
[All Stats +1.]
[Received 2 Free Attribute Points.]
A warm current flowed through Sunny's body.
The pain in his ribs vanished instantly. His muscles tightened.
He looked down at the corpse. He felt no guilt. Only a rush of pure adrenaline.
"Level up," Sunny whispered, licking the blood off his lip. "So that's how it is."
He looked at the beetle, which was cleaning its mandibles, then at the dead body, then at the open door leading to the vast, dangerous world outside.
"Sarah," he said to the empty air. "I hope you're living a good life back on Earth. Because I'm going to conquer this one. And if I ever find a way back..."
He plucked the beetle off Bolton's face and placed it on his shoulder.
"System," Sunny commanded, stepping over the body. "Show me the loot."