Free Web NovelChapter 1: Terrible Situation
"My body is going to explode..."
A voice filled with heart-wrenching pain echoed through a grand hall filled with large wooden bookshelves. Glass tubes filled with multicolored liquids glistened under the faint glow of magic crystals embedded in the ceiling, acting like light bulbs. All in all, the hall looked like the laboratory of some mad wizard.
Amidst all this chaos, a young man sat on a wooden chair with his head resting on the wooden surface of the grand table, his face pale as paper, eyes tightly closed. A single trail of blood slowly leaked downward, forming a small pool right beside his face.
Cole Saint’s eyes were filled with horror and confusion as he scanned his limbs. Both his arms and legs looked like overstretched, inflated balloons — skin that appeared as if it was about to pop open in a shower of blood and madness. From head to toe, golden lines that looked like giant worms in motion twisted and turned as they tried to penetrate deeper into his body, attempting to merge with Cole at the very cellular level.
The scene caused Cole’s face to twist in agony and confusion.
"Where is this place... what is happening to my body... could it be that I’m hallucinating?"
Cole muttered, his voice filled with desperate hope. The last thing he remembered before he fainted due to lack of oxygen was trying to explore one of the deepest and tightest caves known to man. That’s right — Cole was a cave diver. Just some time ago, he had been exploring one of the deepest caves on Earth when he suddenly found himself in a pocket devoid of oxygen. Before he could realize what was happening, his vision grew blurry and he fainted.
"..."
He was only awakened when he felt his body experiencing soul-crushing pain, as if his entire body had been set ablaze.
Argh!
Painful roars filled with madness continued to echo in the hall. Cole threw his body onto the ground and started rubbing it against the solid floor, as if this animalistic act would rid him of the pain. He twisted and turned, shattering the few glass bottles and exotic herbs scattered on the ground.
However, no matter what he did, the pain showed no sign of fading. If anything, it only grew more intense.
Even though his mind was not capable of forming coherent thoughts, perhaps because of survival instinct or something else, Cole realized that if things continued like this, he would meet his end.
Suddenly, as if struck by lightning, he remembered something he had almost forgotten.
Right... Saint AI...!!
Saint was the name of the artificial intelligence that had accompanied him since he was just one month old. It had been there to support him in his darkest hours when his parents passed away, and in his most glorious days when he led one of the world’s biggest companies to a record-breaking market capitalization.
Cole hurriedly shook his head to rid himself of the old memories. Now was not the time to reminisce about the past.
"Saint, act fast — cut off the signals from all the pain receptors."
Cole urged, trying to suppress the pain that threatened to devour the last bits of his sanity. He even bit his tongue. The taste of raw iron and the feeling of wetness in his mouth helped him remain conscious.
"..."
Moments passed, but the familiar, monotone voice did not echo in his head.
Realizing something was amiss, Cole’s expression stiffened. The worst possible outcome automatically surfaced in his mind. Unwilling to give up, he tried again.
"Saint AI, if you can hear me, respond."
"Respond, dammit."
By the end of his words, he was practically screaming. Saint was his only way out of this situation — only the AI could help him. If it didn’t respond, he was simply going to die. After all, ever since he was a child, no matter how big the problem he faced, the AI had always been there to help him. It was almost like family.
By now, Cole’s skin had ruptured at multiple points. Fresh blood flowed freely, dyeing the stone floor crimson. The smell of iron mixed with the alchemical scent in the room created a nauseating environment that made his head throb.
Just as Cole’s consciousness was about to fade —
The space in front of his retina rippled, and a familiar blue window filled with familiar text flooded his vision.
[Synchronization completed. Saint AI online...]
[Command accepted. Cutting off signals from all pain receptors.]
Immediately, the pain Cole had been experiencing vanished like a cloud of smoke on a windy day. Once the pain disappeared, clarity returned to his mind.
[New energy source detected. Calibrating processing power.]
[The new energy source is cleaner and more energy-rich. Calculation capability increased by one hundred times.]
[Warning...! Foreign object detected. Body is being modified at the cellular level.]
[Analyzing host status...]
[Current state — Highly critical. Multiple abnormalities detected throughout the organs. Seek immediate medical attention!!]
[Analyzing the source of abnormality...]
[Scanning host memories. Gathering possible clues...]
[Abnormality found — An impossible gamble: a forceful fusion of Human and Thunder Worm Bloodline, initiated to overcome the host’s current unfavorable standing.]
[Preparing status window for better understanding.]
[Name — Cole Saint]
[Bloodline — Thunder Worm | Fusion Progress — 10%]
[Authority — VIP]
[Strength — 1.2]
[Spirit — 1.1]
[Mana — 2.1]
[Agility — 1.1]
[Health — 1.6]
Cole’s expression darkened. Although Saint AI’s voice was calm and indifferent, he could sense a level of urgency he had never felt from it before. He didn’t fully understand what a forceful bloodline fusion entailed, but he had a feeling it was nothing but trouble.
Then his focus shifted to something else.
Mana.
That single five-letter word sent waves of shock running down his spine. Such a thing did not exist in reality — it was something found only in fantasy novels and movies. He himself had grown up reading fantasy novels, and his current situation reminded him of exactly that.
"No... this shouldn’t be possible."
"Is this a mistake?" Cole couldn’t stop himself from questioning out loud. However, as soon as that thought surfaced, he shook his head to deny it. No — Saint would never make such a rookie mistake.
Just as he was thinking, he suddenly felt a jolt in his head, as if struck by lightning.
Cole’s hands instinctively moved toward his head. Before he could process what had happened, fragments of memories — both familiar and unfamiliar — flooded his mind.
The information contained within those memories was far too much for his mind to handle all at once. However, from even the briefest glimpse, one thing became unmistakably clear.
"I have actually reincarnated into another world..."
Cole gasped, a look of disbelief frozen on his face. However, before he could do anything else, his vision began to grow slightly blurry — likely because he was losing too much blood.
Thinking of wounds, Cole’s gaze moved toward his hand, which had been split open, blood flowing freely in alarming quantities.
Looking at this scene, Cole’s heartbeat accelerated automatically. His face was pale as paper.
"No... no, I can’t panic. First, I need to go through the new memories and find out what actually happened that put me in this situation. Only then can I save myself."
When his thoughts reached this point, Cole hurriedly prompted the Saint AI.
"Saint AI, quickly go through these new memories of mine and find out what actually happened. If possible, give me a scouting report of my current predicament."
[Request accepted. Putting every other task at secondary priority.]
[Starting scan... New memories detected.]
[Processing all incoming information... Please wait.]
Cole patiently waited as he watched a small progress bar appear in his vision. In just the blink of an eye, it was already half full.
"Hm..."
Saint AI’s calculating abilities seemed to have taken a qualitative leap. If it were before, it would have taken at least five minutes to finish sorting through all the memories.
Even though he was in a terrible situation, Cole couldn’t stop himself from inwardly exclaiming in awe. This single fact further cemented the truth — he was not hallucinating. He had actually reincarnated into a new world.
While he was thinking, another prompt appeared before him.
[Scan completed.]
[A summarized module of all new memories has been created. Would you like to take a look?]
[A solution to the host’s current predicament has also been found within the memories.]
Cole didn’t even blink and hurriedly accepted the transfer.
[Choice confirmed. Transferring summarized information.]
Once Cole closed his eyes, a short video — barely a minute long — played out in his head, explaining all the ins and outs of his current situation. Saint AI’s logical analysis was attached alongside it to help him better understand everything.
He was no longer on Earth, but in the magical world of Grand Blue — a place filled with miraculous energy known as mana.
The body he had taken over belonged to someone with the same appearance and name as him. Just like him, the original owner was also the heir of one of the biggest families in the city — the Saint Family, a clan renowned for producing generations of great warriors.
However, for some reason, the original owner had been unable to cultivate either of the two conventional paths. Because of this, he was looked down upon by everyone around him.
Yet the original owner did not give up.
When he realized he could not walk either of the existing paths, he looked toward the sky with a calm gaze and swore:
"Then I will create a new path for myself."
From that day onward, he began working toward that vow.
After years of research and study, he finally created a path entirely his own — the Path of Bloodline Fusion.
However, the path was not yet completely refined. It still needed testing.
But during these past few days, the original owner had sensed someone paying close attention to him. His father, Lukas Saint, also seemed worried about something and had been frequently moving in and out of the city.
Not only that — the original owner had even been attacked within the confines of his own family estate by a masked figure. Although he survived, he suffered major injuries.
The fact that he had been attacked within his own family’s territory put him on high alert.
The Bloodline Fusion experiment, which was supposed to take place a year later, was pushed forward to today.
By the end of the vision, Cole’s jaw almost hit the ground. But through sheer willpower alone, he suppressed the shock in his heart and focused on the solution.
"Blood-Calming Potion..."
"I need a Blood-Calming Potion to calm the foreign bloodline that the original owner injected into this body."
With that thought in mind, Cole’s eyes darted around the room, scanning every corner.
"The potion should be somewhere here..."
"Although the fusion was pushed ahead by several months, the original owner should still have prepared for contingencies. There must be a Blood-Calming Potion somewhere in this room."
"Saint AI, scan the surroundings for a Blood-Calming Potion."
[Searching for Blood-Calming Potion...]
Following those words an invisible pulse emerged with him as the centre, rapidly analysing everything present in the surroundings, Saint Ai rapidly constructed and deconstructed a 3D model of everything.
However just at this time Cole heart suddenly skipped a beat, the golden lines covering his body suddenly doubled, the ruptured wounds rapidly started to heal, golden fibres rapidly multiplied to create news tissues, in no time time Lukas was completely healed.
Instead of feeling happy, Cole thought turned chilling, he had a feeling he was going to lose himself, whatever that so called Lightning Worm was it was going to take over him.
He could not let that happen.
As soon as this thought occurred to him, he dashed madly toward the potion location.
