19 years later;
Year 2015, Continent of Siberia, Drakamir Republic;
A private jet was flying above the skies of Siberia with its destination as Krasinostok, the capital city of Drakmir Republic, one of the most prosperous nations in the northern continent, the one with the strongest military force, and a safe haven to mafia gangs.
Inside, Alexander Han leaned back in his leather seat, his eyes closed. He was a tall man with a lean physique, barely looking like his early twenties, although already 29 years old. While his face was charming enough to seduce a lady, the patch on his left eye and the bionic eye beneath it were like craters on the moon.
However, none in his circle cares, or atleast didn't possess the courage to say it aloud, because…
*Buzz* Buzz*
"Sir…" A man tapped his shoulder. "You have a video call from Mr. Prime Minister."
Alexander snapped his eyes open, and a low groan escaped his lips as he rubbed his forehead. "Ugh… I wonder what's wrong with me lately… Not enough rest or caffeine, I wonder…"
"Sir… are you alright?" The man asked.
Alexander gave a calm nod. "Yeah, connect the phone to the screen."
After a while, he was listening to the person on the other side, his fingers tapping against the armrest.
He was in deep conversation with the Prime Minister, and judging by his tone, it looked quite serious.
"Look, Mr. Mikhail, I understand your position on the Wagner Group, but they intruded into our extended territory of influence for the second time during the past three weeks and bombed a civilian's house. If this happens one more time, I'm afraid we will consider it as a hostile force, and Pavel will be forced to act."
On the other side, the Prime Minister of Drakamir was almost sweating bullets with stress, "We don't have any intentions to offend Pavel, but our Supreme Commander-in-Chief was taking anti-Drakamir forces very seriously. We ask your coopera…"
"Hmm?" Alexander's expression changed suddenly, halting the conversation for a moment as his bionic eye flickered, processing data faster than humanly possible.
A red alert flashed on a holographic screen inside his head.
[WARNING: SYSTEM FAILURE]
"Wha…"
Before he reacted, the jet lurched. The cabin lights flickered. The pilot's panicked voice crackled through the intercom.
"Boss! The front wheels aren't opening up— we need…"
Then, silence.
He barely had time to react before the plane crashed onto the runway.
The last thing he saw before the impact was the reflection of his own cold, unblinking gaze on the shattered screen.
Then, everything went blank.
A voice then echoed through the void. Feminine, mechanical. And quite familiar.
His body twitched as countless notifications flooded his mind, lines of data overlaying the imaging in his brain.
[WARNING: IDENTICAL SOUL DETECTED— TRANSMIGRATION IN PROGRESS]
[RESISTANCE: FAILED]
[WARNING: BREACH INTO MINDSCAPE—WILLPOWER OVERRIDEN]
[FIRST CONTACT WITH HOST'S SOUL]
[RESISTANCE TO POSSESSION: SUCCESSFUL]
[WARNING: SOUL FUSION ATTEMPT]
[RESISTANCE: FAILED]
[SOUL FUSION COMPLETE]
[REAWAKENING: FAILED]
[WARNING: FOREIGN SENTIENT PROGRAM DETECTED]
[PROCEEDING WITH THE ELIMINATION]
[WARNING: SYSTEM CONTROLS ARE BEING OVERRIDDEN]
[INITIATING HIBERNATION in 3, 2, 1]
Followed by that, a voice, an unfamiliar masculine voice, spoke in his head. "Transmigration is successful. Welcome, Monarch."
The man clutched his head as he groggily opened his eyes, waking up in pajamas on a familiar yet unfamiliar bed and in familiar yet unfamiliar surroundings, which looked quite modest compared to his usual lifestyle.
He sat up and looked around. "What in the hell is going on?"
He couldn't help but look at his hands and legs, which looked much thicker and fitter than he remembered. There was little to no fat on his arms to the point he could spot veins with his naked eye.
At the same time, there was a holographic screen floating before his eyes, where the words were written.
[Transmigration is successful.]
[Mimic Ability has been upgraded to Overlord's Authority]
[Congratulations. You are now a Registered Codex Overlord.]
[Overlord System—Activated]
"What are you?" He muttered aloud, but there was no reply. No voice. No answer to his question. "Eva?" He called out. But then a moment later, he murmured. "Wait a second. Who is Eva? And what's with my voice…" He clutched his head in confusion, "What's happening?"
As he looked at the screen once again, he found that the only option that was accessible was a simple button: Close.
As soon as he instinctively reached out to it and pressed on that cross mark, it disappeared, and another holographic screen opened, quite identical to the previous one. And that masculine robotic voice returned as the words appeared on the screen.
"Memory integration will begin shortly."
"What's happening?" He furrowed his brows, thinking deeply. "The last thing I remembered is on the plane and Sssss" He hissed, clutching his head. "What the… I remember the Werewolf Lord trapped us and killed us… The plane crashed? What's going on…" Just as he gave another look at his muscles before glancing at the holographic screen, the loading is finished, and his brain is flooded with memories, different sets of memories of two lives at once.
"Am I Han Sungjun, who occupied Alexander Han's body, or am I Alexander Han, who received Han Sungjun's memories?"
The man tensed as images began to flood his senses. A rush of memories that didn't belong to him: flashes of a different life. However, which one was real and which one wasn't his, he had no idea.
As he was struggling with his identity, the system's chime echoed in his head, and a new notification screen materialized before his eyes.
*Ding!
[The host is going through an identification crisis]
[Due to soul fusion, the host contains both the memories of Han Sungjun and Alexander Han. Please pick an identity and register it with the system.]
The man's eyes widened, reading the notification. Taking a deep breath, he shut his eyes and concentrated. He revisited both of his lives.
Han Sungjun was born to a divine beast, who left him on his father's doorstep. Not long after, his stepmother was allegedly killed by his stepbrother, Han Seok-jin, who was sent to a juvenile detention center. His father, who couldn't raise him, sent him to his grandparents, who lived in the Zuania Continent's Ospana. Not long after, his grandparents died in a fire accident.
Terming him a curse, his father never came back to collect him and instead left him to his own devices. Sungjun grew up in an orphanage, without the love of any parents or relatives, but still managed to graduate at the top scores from the Hunter Academy at the age of 17. He was then scouted by Black Commando Unit, the most secretive yet prestigious unit of the Alsacian Federation. He worked hard, often nearly died, to earn the codename: White Wolf. And at the age of 19, Sungjun died as a virgin, without an ounce of romance in his life.
On the other hand…
Alexander Han was born with a diamond spoon, as the heir of Pavel. From a young age, he was groomed to become the next Pakhan, but unfortunately, he had a rather mediocre talent of Mimic, which could barely copy one's ability for a while.
However, his musical talent was considered once in a century talent, often compared to the legendary musicians of the medieval era. Unfortunately, his dream wasn't supported by his father, as the latter felt that becoming a musician was below their social status. His mother, a struggling actress, passed away when he was young. The cause of death was noted to be suicide due to sheer mental pressure and a complicated marital life.
At the age of 16, Alexander was selected for the International Tchaikovsky Competition, the youngest ever from Drakamir Republic to attend. At the competition, he fell in love with a fellow competitor.
However, tragedy struck him on the night after the semifinals, when they went on a drive and had an accident. As a result, Alexander lost his left eye, and went missing for a year.
During this year, he was in the household of the girl's father, who was also in the same field. Not knowing about his true identity, the girl's father, who coincidentally got the assignment of transporting a prototype quantum AI chip, would hide it in a bionic eye before transplanting it into him, for unknown reasons.
In the end, Alexander married the girl and stayed at her place for a year.
However, the tragedy struck him again as they were attacked by Shen Triad, a rival of Pavel, after finding his whereabouts. His in-laws, his pregnant wife, and their entire gang were destroyed in the drone attack, with him ending up the lone survivor.
In pursuit of his revenge against Shen Triad, Alexander returned to his gang and took up the mantle. With the help of the Quantum AI, Eva, he rose to the position of Pakhan, earned respect from his subordinates, and eventually became the leader of the underworld. And yet to date, his face remained a mystery for the police and the rest of the world. Only a few trusted leaders know how Alexander looks. For the public, he is a lawyer at Royal Gold Group, which he himself founded.
Weighing both of these lives against each other, the man with dual memories took deep breaths to clear his mind and mumbled. "Apart from the fact that he couldn't save his wife in the past, and now he still can't eliminate Shen Triad. Alexander's life is filled with bliss, but Sungjun has regrets. He had a brother who was falsely accused of the crime, all because he had a contract with an evil spirit king. By the time he got in contact with him, his life was already gone…"
At first, he addressed both of them as if they were someone else, but without knowing, he went on mumbling, filled with thoughts. "When I was going to the Temple of Horus, Hyung was married and Sis-in-law was pregnant with twins. 19 years have already passed. By now, they would be adults. As Alexander, I have a net worth of over 700 billion credits, which will put me in the top 20, maybe 30, if there are more people like me with secret wealth… Anyway, I'm clearly in a position to help them. And I should first fulfill my duties as Han Sungjun and then continue to live as Alexander…"
Taking a breath again, he spoke in his head. "System, register my name as Han Sungjun."
*Ding!
[Your name is registered as Han Sungjun]
Followed by that, a new window opened, showcasing the details.\
Name: Han Sungjun
Age: 29
Ethnicity: Goryeo
Arcane Path: Mage
Ability: Overlord's Authority, Mystic Eyes (Locked)
Ability Rank: SSS
Mana reserves: 34,556
Mana Tier: 7 (Max: Tier-1)
Skills:
Mana Condensation: An ancient technique that lets the user absorb natural energy from the surroundings and refine it into mana.
Mana Armor: Use one's mana to form a defensive layer and nullify the attacks.
OVERLORD'S AUTHORITY:
1) Chain of Command: Can recruit underlings (up to 10). For every underling recruited, strength is increased by 5%.
2) Eyes of Dominion: Can copy abilities from anyone the user sees [Limit: Only one-time use. Need to be within a 20-meter radius. Only 3 extracted abilities can be used per 24 hours. Mana consumption depends on the strength of the ability.]
3) Sovereign's Resistance: The user gains high resistance to the abilities the user stored under the Overlord's Authority. All damages from such skills are reduced by 50%. Elemental resistance also rose by 20%
4) Dungeon's Reins: Can temporarily control monsters in a dungeon (up to 10) [Need Tier-6 Mana to unlock.]
5) Inheritor's right: The user can copy one ability from an underling and permanently add it to Overlord's authority (Only 1 permanent ability can be stored) [Need Tier-5 Mana to unlock]
6) Trophies of the Fallen: The user can extract one ability from a dead monster the user killed and use it without limitations (Only 1 permanent ability can be stored) [Need Tier-4 Mana to unlock]
7) Sigil of the Chosen: Can Brand underlings with a Soul Sigil, giving them a permanent boost of 10% in strength and mana reserves (Limit: The user cannot enjoy any benefits from these special underlings, such as buffs or ability copy. Only underlings with tier-2 or lower can enjoy the boost.) [Need Tier-3 Mana to unlock]
8) Iron Loyalty: Passively enforce loyalty into an underling (Limit: The target has to be an existing underling) [Need Tier-2 Mana to unlock]
9) Throne of Mana: Can use underling's mana as one's own [Need Tier-1 Mana to unlock]