The first thing he felt was pain.
A brutal, throbbing ache pulsed in the back of his skull, sharp enough to jolt him awake. Heat pressed down on him like a smothering blanket. Dust coated his lips. The world smelled of sweat, earth, and suffering.
He opened his eyes—and froze.
Men hauled giant stones beneath a scorching yellow sun. Overseers shouted, whips cracking like thunder. The ground trembled under the weight of endless labor. The air shimmered with heat and hopelessness.
He lifted his head, dizzy, and saw it rising ahead of him:
A colossal wall of packed earth, stretching endlessly across harsh mountains.
The Great Wall of Qin.
His heart dropped.
"Where… am I…?"
Before he could think, a whip lashed the ground beside him.
"Get up!" an overseer barked. "Another moment of rest and I'll beat you dead!"
He scrambled upright, ribs aching, head spinning. His clothes were ragged, his arms bruised, his palms blistered. This body was not his. His memories clashed—his modern life, the accident, the blinding flash—
Then waking here.
He swallowed hard.
He had transmigrated.
And worse—
He heard metal clink. Looked down. His breath caught.
An iron shackle encircled his ankle.
A slave.
A convict.
One of the countless lives crushed beneath Qin's ambition.
Panic surged up his throat.
How was he supposed to survive the cruelest dynasty's labor camps? The death rate here was terrifying. Collapse once, and the overseers didn't help—they buried you.
He stared around him, fear digging into his spine.
"I'll die here…"
But before despair could drown him—
Ding.
A crisp, impossible sound echoed through his mind.
A glowing blue panel appeared before his eyes, faint and translucent.
[MILITARY COMMAND SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
His eyes widened.
A system.
A real system.
Another line flickered into view:
[Host Detected: Transmigrated Soul]
[World: Qin Dynasty — Reign of Qin Shi Huang]
[Initializing Core Functions…]
His blood roared in his ears.
A military system…
In the most war-driven dynasty in Chinese history…
This was a lifeline.
[Welcome, Host.]
[Survive. Command. Conquer.]
The glowing screen shifted again.
[Starter Reward Granted: Low-Tier Soldier Summon ×1]
[Unlock Condition: Survive Until Nightfall]
Nightfall.
All he had to do…
was survive.
The sun burned overhead. Overseers shouted. Slaves collapsed. Dust stung his eyes. Death felt close.
But he clenched his fists around the rough stone he was ordered to carry.
"I'll live," he whispered. "No matter what it takes."
He lifted the stone.
Took his first step.
And the path from slave to warlord quietly began.