Dying is stupid.
But dying from a cerebral aneurysm while trying to fix a coding error at three in the morning is, objectively, the most pathetic way to end a life in this world.
It was the biological equivalent of a bird dying for trying to fly too high without being able to breathe.
Ryan was focused on the screen. A VRMMORPG game company had sought him out for a specific task: eliminate a balancing bug in their Integrated Reality layer.
High-level players had discovered a flaw in the fire mage class.
By cutting the attack animation in the first frame, the heat stayed stuck to the character model. It was a blue flame that emitted no heat, functioning as armor that absorbed damage.
"It's just a logic error. If the code wasn't a mess, these kinds of tricks wouldn't exist."
He felt ridiculous dedicating his intellect to chasing a digital flame that refused to obey the laws of physics. He spent his final hours of life trying to correct a flame that didn't burn.
Ryan felt a sting behind his eyes before the monitor disappeared.
"Welcome, Ryan Adams. Although you died, I will reincarnate your soul into a new world, with systems and fantasy..."
It was a dry, echoing voice, as if several voices were speaking at once from different directions.
'And that repulsive voice?' Ryan tried to move, searching for the source of the voice. But he couldn't feel his limbs; though his eyes were open, he couldn't see anything.
'Did it say I died?'
The voice resonated again.
"Repulsive? Your thoughts are like subtitles to me."
"...Who is speaking?"
"I have changed my mind. You will be recycled, Ryan."
"Recycle? Who are you? Hey, where are we?!" Ryan was confused, but he had already realized he wasn't in a dream.
Although he couldn't understand why he was there.
"You will be transmigrated into a demon body that has just become empty, but its soul refuses to leave."
"Shut up already and listen... What body are you talking about, what are you going to do with me?"
"How noisy. Oh, I forgot to tell you. Unfortunately, since you are human entering that world, your soul will have a system, but since you will be in the body of a demon, you won't be able to use it."
"What? And what do you mean a demon? Stop bothering me. Don't you think that's too unfair?"
"You will have a new life, why don't you stop complaining?"
"Stop mocking me, damn it, I don't want to be a demo—"
His words were interrupted.
Ryan felt a violent tug, as if he were being sucked through a hose. His consciousness went out all at once.
...
...
...
...
...
"Where am I? My body feels strange. No, I don't even have a body. In this form I feel like a ghost..."
Ryan looked around. The ground was erratic. It vibrated as if it were composed of defective pixels.
The sky did the same. The space wasn't large, approximately the size of the center of a baseball stadium.
Everything was covered by two dominant colors.
Blue.
And purple.
The blue seemed to emanate from him. The purple, on the other hand, occupied the rest of the space. However, the more conscious Ryan became, the more the purple color receded.
Then a window appeared in front of him with a sharp sound.
[Activating system.]
[Initiating integration sequence...]
[Error.]
[Error critical.]
Ryan understood the origin of the error; the deity had already mentioned it. The system was anchored to Ryan's soul. Therefore, upon entering a demon's body, it could not integrate.
For Ryan, a system wouldn't be something important. It's not like he had one in his world. The problem came with the next system notification.
[Alternative protocol not available.]
Another line appeared.
[If integration is not completed: automatic purge will initiate.]
[Purge result: total elimination of the system and the linked soul.]
'A purge? That piece of shit deity had no intention of letting me live.'
The blue around him vibrated. The purple expanded suddenly.
"Who are you?"
The voice came from behind.
Ryan turned. In front of him, the purple concentration took a humanoid form.
"Are you that piece of shit deity who brought me here?"
The figure hesitated.
"What are you talking about? This place is... I... I don't know."
Ryan analyzed the voice.
'He sounds young.'
Then he understood.
'This is the original soul of this body.'
The window changed again.
[Additional subject detected.]
[Scanning in progress...]
[Result: Demonic soul compatible with the body.]
Ryan observed the lines carefully.
[Alternative solution found.]
[Proposal: Anchor demonic soul to the system.]
[Expected result: Functional hybrid system.]
The space vibrated. Ryan had now understood the situation. They were inside the demon's consciousness. The colors represented dominance. Purple was the original owner. Blue was him, invading.
The window changed.
[Integration Options]
[Couple demonic soul to the System]
[YES] [NO]
'If the demonic soul were anchored...'
Ryan mentally selected "YES".
The window responded immediately.
[Consent required.]
[Forced integration of autonomous soul is not possible.]
"Where are we?" asked the entity. He sounded confused.
Another line appeared.
[Warning: Increasing instability]
[Automatic purge in 120 seconds]
'Shit, it seems the system wants us dead.'
"I know where we are. This is, well... we are inside your consciousness, or what's left of it. It's probably because of the system that we are here."
"System? I am not human. Don't say stupid things. Get out already, you bastard!"
"You are not human. But I am."
"What?" The voice sharpened. "Why would a miserable human be here? Was I captured? What is happening?"
Ryan kept his tone steady.
"It's not that. You died. And your soul refuses to leave. But if we don't do anything, the system will execute a purge. And it will erase us both."
[90 seconds before purge]
The space trembled with more force.
'Not much time left.'
The purple began to distort.
"Damn it... shut up..." the entity murmured, noticing how his presence was fading little by little. "I already know that... Now I remember... I am dead..."
Ryan watched him with more seriousness.
"Precisely for that reason, I propose something to you. I don't want you to disappear. I want you to be my accomplice."
The presence hesitated.
"Accomplice? What are you talking about?"
"That deity granted me a system. I don't know if it will work. But if we manage to integrate you as a core, I can back up your soul within the system. At least until I find a new body for you."
"Back up? Stop saying strange words." There was a pause. "A new body? Are you trying to trick me?"
Ryan replied without hesitation.
"What would I gain by lying to you? Your soul is compatible with this system. Mine is not. If you integrate as a core, the system will be able to anchor itself without destroying us."
Silence.
"We are going to disappear anyway." Ryan breathed with control. "It wouldn't make sense to lie to you. I don't even know if this will work."
"...It makes no sense. Something like that is not possible."
Ryan let out a low laugh.
"Of course it is. The fact that we are here is proof of that. If I can integrate your core, I will also be able to free you. After all, I am a programmer."
[30 seconds before purge]
The entity let out a harsh laugh.
"Hah... stop saying weird words. I know of humans summoned as heroes, but I never heard of one who could enter a demon's body..."
He hesitated.
"I am not convinced. But I accept. I will be your accomplice, human."
Ryan extended his arm, closed his fist tightly, and raised it toward the entity, as if sealing an invisible pact.
"Then stop calling me 'human'. My name is Ryan."
A brief silence.
"I will trust that audacity, Ryan. I am Aiden."
Their fists met in a firm clash. The contact was a silent gesture that marked the beginning of their complicity, an implicit bond between human and demon.
Ryan reactivated the option.
[Integration Options]
[Couple demonic soul to the System]
[YES]
This time, the window responded differently.
[Consent confirmed.]
[Initiating core coupling...]
[Synchronizing soul–system parameters...]
[Integration in progress...]
The blue and the purple began to intertwine. They did not mix completely; they organized themselves.
[Stability reached: 12%... 37%... 64%...]
[Automatic purge canceled.]
[Hybridization completed.]
The space stopped cracking.
[Integration successful.]
[Demonic core registered.]
[Initial data extracted from residual memory.]
Ryan opened his eyes.
The first thing he noticed was the ceiling of the place. The room felt cold. Ryan tried to sit up, but a violent cramp ran down his spine.
His muscles were stiff, cold, with the heaviness of someone who has remained motionless for too long.
His stomach growled.
'So hungry. It feels as if I haven't eaten for days.'
Ryan sat up. He felt the weight of silky hair falling over his cheeks. Through those strands, he noticed the saturation of the colors; everything was too sharp.
A window floated in front of his sight.
[Welcome]
Registered name: Ryan
Linked core: Aiden
Coupling status: Stable
Current system status: Active.
The system worked. And somehow Aiden was still there.
A cynical smile formed on his new face. It wasn't the smile of a dying demon, but that of a programmer who had just found an exploit in the operating system of reality.
"I've been a demon many times in games, but... reincarnating as one is crazy."
Ryan walked with an erratic step toward a marble medicine cabinet built into the wall and took out a regeneration potion of a translucent red color.
"It looks like a potion from a video game... And this body feels like a Virtual Reality avatar."
[Item Evaluation: Regeneration Potion]
'How does this really work...'
"Stats." Ryan pronounced with his gaze fixed on the system screen.
Nothing happened.
'I should have figured...'
He sighed.
"But then how is a demon's body supposed to work? Do I have any power?"
Ryan began to look at his new face with hostility in the mirror of the drawer built into the wall.
"So this is Aiden..."
The system window updated.
[Stats confirmed]
[Demonic Rank: Legion]
[Elemental Affinity: Fire Manifestation]
'That thing responds when it wants to...'
"Those are supposed to be my attributes, right?"
'Fire manifestation, huh? I wonder if I really have it.' Ryan thought while he extended his hand, observing it carefully, imagining what that fire would be like.
"Ah! Ah, ah, it burns, it burns, it burns!" he shouted while he began to run from one side to the other, breathing erratically with panic clouding his mind.
His hand was on flames.
Ryan spotted the Regeneration Potion and, almost tripping, took it to pour it over his hand. Almost immediately he felt how the fire extinguished and the skin began to regenerate, leaving only a slight sting.
"What was that...? The pain is going away..." he murmured, observing his hand with incredulity as he opened and closed it several times.
At that moment, memories, like sequences of lines of code executing all at once, flooded his mind.
As the memories reached Ryan, he understood that the fire manifestation of demons was extremely powerful. Normally, any demon could control it without problems.
But his case was different. Being the son of a Demon King and a common demon meant that his body was not prepared to contain such power.
The energy did not obey completely; it adhered to his body and overloaded it.
Only someone of the Empress's lineage or, put another way, a Demon Queen, could bear a child capable of handling that power. That was why he, unlike his five siblings, was incompatible.
Ryan had understood; he wasn't a normal demon, but the son of the Demon King, although no one knew who his mother was.
And although Aiden was part of a family of demons specialized in fire, he was incapable of using it without harming himself.
That had been Aiden's cruel fate. Consumed by his own fire.
According to the memories of Aiden's body, Ryan was in the recovery Atrium of the demons, a place where Aiden had been many times healing his wounds with potions.
"So, the power of demons consists in manifesting mana in an elemental way."
'But shouldn't a demon be immune to fire?'
"Heh, heh. Well, if he could do that, Aiden wouldn't have died, I suppose."
'But I understand the problem well. Before dying I tried to fix a bug, but that bug could help me. How ironic.'
Ryan sighed.
"I will try to manifest fire without heat."
Ryan extended his fist again. He wrapped his hand in an orange fire; it burned him, but this time he didn't let the reaction get out of control.
He concentrated on the frequency of the energy, reducing the heat that the flames emitted. The fire gradually changed its hue.
It turned blue.
It looked like an electric and static aura covering his hand, moving without the violent roar of normal combustion. It no longer burned.
"Heh, heh, heh. I knew it would work. And now what I'll do is..."
The door of the atrium opened with a crash. The shock dissolved Ryan's fire manifestation.
A young demon entered with an arrogant step, escorted by two women with cold gazes. Seeing him, Ryan's heart gave a violent leap. It wasn't his decision; it was a spasm engraved in Aiden's nerves.
The demon looked him up and down.
"You hornless bastard. I don't understand how you're still alive, but..."
[Alert]
[Hostility confirmed]
[Threat Level: Principality]
[Elemental Affinity: Fire Manifestation]
The demon raised a hand and the air around began to distort from the heat. A sphere of fire took shape floating over his palm, burning in the air, ready to be released.