My Atomic System

“Kill him! Kill him!!! Kill him!!”

It sounded like the chorus of a song. It was too much noise. Wasn't it?. Does it even matter? I'm going to die anyways. The people in front of me, I wondered what I did to them.

Wasn't it that small crime?. That bastard! He caused this whole thing.

My head hurt badly, my ears were so hot. Yeah….a few rods landed on it while they dragged me here. I looked around slowly….and sighed. Wasn't the sky beautiful? Resting on a wall and staring at the starry sky, wasn't it?.

I licked my blood off my bleeding lips. First time tasting blood. What did it taste like again? Sweet? No, metallic. Yeah metallic. My lips curled upward a little…. almost unnoticeably.

My whole being vibrated, and…..I could already sense it. Death. It was on it's way. Who would've thought that I would be it's victim today?.

‘I regret it…’

I gritted my teeth and a heavy pain seemed to find solace in my soul.

‘...I regret it!!!’

I groaned a little, a pain that came from shutting my eyes tightly.

‘A pity,’ I had a partial smile etched on my lips, pain seared through my whole being and the surrounding air, as if bent on becoming my blood's soulmate, reeked of it.

‘Truly a pity,’

The mob's voice seemed to die down a little as I dug into my thoughts.

‘Life has not even seen the best of me.’ I smiled wider.

‘I have a lot of things to do; I have a height to attain, and it's all gonna end like this? I'm just 17’

‘I haven't lived life to its fullest; why does it have to end so?’ I stared at my bruised skin which was caused by the impact of rods, brooms, and stones while they dragged me here.

3 Hours Ago.

I stared at a young girl in front of me, inside the hut we managed.

Pink hair, hazel eyes. Though very small, she was sharper than a two-edged sword. A reason I was a little confident in leaving her alone at home at times.

She was frail; she was hanging on the thread of life. Just like me, she was also a wandering orphan when I found her, so I took her in as my sister, and had taken care of her ever since.

“Big Sal, I'm hungry,” the girl pouted as she rubbed her belly in pain…

She had learned to call me Big Sal since I had always provided for her.

…Immediately Sha said so, an ample amount of pain struck my heart, though I didn't show it. Most of our leverage came from stolen food; the end of the month was too far away to wait for before we ate. But now, we had not eaten anything for three days consecutively.

Though I could bear, Lily—a name I gave her when she was little—was too young for this. I dipped my hands into my pocket amidst the rustling sound of our hut and withdrew a cigarette. I lit it with one of the lighters I stole from the government officials.

Here, without power and authority, you were just a pig ready for slaughter and would be picked at any point in time.

‘Life is cruel,’ I thought blankly as I held the cigarette with two of my fingers. I took one quick draw. I felt the smoke make their way into my lungs, a sense of ease washing through my nonchalant being.

“Those bastards.” I remembered how those government officials merry every day without stopping, always having something to eat; they didn't care about us. The discrimination was always there, it was like a cycle. The strong survived, the weak died. I'm sick and tired of it. Maybe the weak can trample on the strong too. I made up my mind, I was going to rob one of them today.

PRESENT TIME

‘Crap, I shouldn't have done that.’ I cursed and clenched my teeth to the point of bleeding. I remembered how I had tried to rob one of them, and he knocked me out with the bottom of his gun. I had totally neglected the fact that these soldiers had been in service for decades. Not that I actually forgot, my luck was just rotten, I met one who had seemingly served with the government for nine good years. There was no way I could have done anything without him noticing with mere reflexes.

That was how it was in this world. Only the strong survive.

My eyes caught a familiar figure; Lily was there among them, among the crowd. She just stared at me; she said nothing. She didn't cry. She was static. She was clearly drowning in emotions — at least that was what I thought.

“You'll be fine,” I whispered as hot tears fell from my cheeks.

“What are you waiting for? Kill him already; he's a thief!!” A man suddenly geared the crowd up — It worked.

I suddenly screamed.

A large stone had hit my belly.

“Too sudden,” the pain lingered.

‘That was too sudden.’

It was very painful.

Tears welled in my eyes almost immediately. I took a quick look at the angry mob. It didn't calm them; they weren't going to stop. At least they didn't seem like they were going to stop. They just wanted me dead.

“Kill him!” Another man flung another stone.

I screamed aloud until my throat itched, the wail in my voice, making me pity myself. My voice gave off a feeling of intense pain. This one hit my forehead. It felt like my skull was broken.

They continued.

Each connection the stones made with my body chipped away a bit of my consciousness. My body screamed in agony, but I screamed louder.

Though I had given up to the pain, my body hadn't, and it was wailing as crazy as ever. I let out painful groans. Each connection crushed a part of my skin.

‘Why wouldn't they just stab me?’

I continuously cried in pain as the rain of bricks showered on me. It all seemed like I was not going to die until forever. It was endless. It was then I saw her. Lily, she was leaving. She left the place without thinking twice. The mob was frenzied, and they flung their stones with passion and hate. It made me wonder if the man I stole from was related to every one of them. Tears flowed endlessly, accompanied by a barricade of emotions.

I screamed in what seemed to be an endless torment. My voice had cracked like I went to sing with orchestras for the first time.

Suddenly, an agonizing scream escaped my lips. Not that it didn't already, only this time, it was…different, and …louder?:

“My eyes!!!! My eyes!”

But the mob seemed to be deaf; they still continued their assault. They didn't care…nobody did.

My body screamed desperately for all of it to stop. And then finally, though it did not stop, I had reached a dead end.

The mob's wails died out slowly. “Please, let it stop,” I could shout no more. My voice was frail and solemn. I had no more strength in me, and all I could do was groan as more ferocious stones hit me. The starry sky, I stared at it as if to find comfort, or at least to get something to say “sorry”. But all it did was stare at me as my soul left my body, the sky was empty, there were no stars in it. And it perfectly complemented the moderately cold weather. All of a sudden, I cared about the surroundings, something I didn't even notice while I was alive. I suddenly neglected the pain and continued to look at the sky.

I smiled.

It's beautiful, isn't it?

Hell yeah it is.

Blood painted my whole body, and most parts of my body were squashed. I couldn't scream anymore; though a bit of my consciousness still resided, the fragment wasn't enough for me to hang on the thread of life.

My vision blurred out slowly, and the angry voices died down.

MY VISION DARKENED.

Silence, eerie silence.

‘So this is death?’ I thought as I stared at the darkness —- Not that there was anything to even stare at in the first place—; at least that was what my brain told me.

Something flickered.

‘Huh?’ I stared at it after it materialized. It was a blue panel. It just hovered and seemed to be the spotlight in the darkness I was currently in.

‘What is this?’ I instinctively thought in my head.

[Initiating Atomic System]

Do you wish to accept? If you do so, you will be transmigrated into a distinct world.

[You have ten seconds.]

A countdown panel appeared.

“What is this?” I asked, confused as I stared at the countdown on the panel.

“A distinct world? Meaning I get to live another life?” I contemplated.

What if a demon's taking control of my soul?

The darkness lingered.

Screw it! This is another chance

I'll just fight my way into control of my body

I don't care.

“I accept,” I murmured.

[Host complies]

[Atomic System activated]

[Searching for a suitable world…]

[Suitable World found]

[Creating transmigration channel…]

[Transmigration channel created]

[Initiating all settings…]

[Initialization complete]

[Searching for suitable body…]

[Suitable body found…]

[You will now be sent to your world.]

‘What?’ My vision darkened.

****