The name David was common to the point of cliché in Western societies. Even with the last name Haller added, it wasn't rare enough to raise eyebrows—there were probably plenty of people with the same name.
But someone named David, suffering from dissociative identity disorder, receiving treatment at Clockworks Psychiatric Hospital?
There could only be one.
Legion. Full name: David Charles Haller, son of Professor Charles Xavier!
Sure, Professor X didn't yet know he had a son, and David himself probably had no idea his biological father was the leader of the moderate mutant faction. But what made David truly terrifying had nothing to do with his heritage…
It was the sheer uncontrollable power within him.
His codename, "Legion," came from a well-known passage in the Gospel of Mark:
According to the story, Jesus encountered a man possessed by an evil spirit. When asked his name, the man replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many." That's when Jesus realized he wasn't possessed by just one demon, but by a multitude.
David earned his nickname for a similar reason. He wasn't possessed by spirits—but his mind was home to over a thousand distinct personalities.
Most of them were unstable, dangerous, or outright deranged. And the worst part? Each personality had its own mutant ability. Some of them were massively destructive.
That's why David was among the rare mutants classified as Level 5.
Just to put things in perspective: even Magneto and Professor X themselves, the two most influential mutant leaders on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum, were only Level 4. That alone said a lot about how terrifying David's potential was.
Of course, that was in his peak unstable state.
Right now, he wasn't nearly that far gone. He likely had only a handful of active personalities—maybe not even ten. He was still a long way off from true Level 5 status.
Still, he was already a walking time bomb.
Because the more his mental health deteriorated, the stronger—and more dangerous—his powers became. And no one could predict what might trigger the next descent into madness.
For ordinary people, even facing a Level 3 mutant like Wolverine—a tank more than a glass cannon—was suicide.
Against a Level 5? You might as well write your will.
So when Ray realized that the David Haller in front of him was almost certainly that David Haller—Legion himself—he froze where he stood. A chill ran through him, and every hair on his body stood up.
So that's why "Clockworks Psychiatric Hospital" sounded so damn familiar… This has got to be a joke!
It was bad enough waking up in the body of a mental patient. But now he was stuck in the same facility as one of the most unstable and dangerous mutants in existence?!
How the hell was he supposed to survive this?
David might have looked calm and rational right now—but if he switched into crisis mode and one of his dangerous personalities took over, it could all go sideways in an instant.
And once the killing started, it would be like chopping vegetables. Slice. Slice. Slice.
Ray had absolutely no intention of becoming collateral damage.
Just minutes earlier, after walking out of Dr. Beth's office, he was seriously considering laying low for a while. The hospital had food, water, a bed. Not the worst place to regroup.
Boring? Sure. But survivable.
Now? He regretted ever opening his damn mouth. He'd dug himself into a hole, and now he was stuck living next to a live warhead.
What the hell do I do now?
His mind was racing.
He'd dealt with high-stakes situations before—had a gun to his head more than once, faced killers, been in life-or-death standoffs. But this? This was different.
And then, right in the middle of his panic, golden lines of text suddenly appeared in his mind:
Ding—
You have encountered S-rank "Anti-Hero" David Haller. Exploration Value +100.
You have earned your first Exploration Points. The Myriad Personality System has been successfully activated!
You can now convert Exploration Points into general system points to unlock various functions. To proceed, think "Beginner Guide" to open the tutorial.
…
Rather than panic, Ray was ecstatic.
Did it even need explaining? This was his cheat system!
Just like in all those stories—fall into a ravine and find a martial arts manual, save a beggar and discover he's a hidden master, inherit a family heirloom and find an ancient spirit living inside.
No transmigrator worth his salt went without a system.
He just hadn't expected it to require a special trigger.
But now it was finally online...
"Myriad Personality System"… what the hell kind of name is that? Ray was stunned.
He'd read plenty of system-based webnovels. Most of them were straightforward—grind, level up, unlock skills, buy items.
But something called Myriad Personality System?
That sounded ominous.
This was the first time he'd encountered a system that felt... off. He had no clue what to expect.
"Ray...? Ray?"
A voice at his side pulled him back to reality.