Beast Authority System

[Ding~ Ding~ Ding~ Congratulations, Host! You've awakened the Beast Authority System. From now onwards, you'll be able to tame any beast you encounter—for a price, of course.]

Luke stared blankly at the holographic screen before him, unable to come up with a response to this surreal situation. He had no other explanations other than that he was suffering from a mental disorder of some kind.

Not to mention the fact that he couldn't possibly be seeing whatever it was before him. Even if it was true and this was a change to his otherwise monotonous life, where the hell would he exert his authority in a seemingly normal world with no beasts to speak of?

"Haha, I must be hallucinating," Luke muttered before closing his eyes, willing whatever he was seeing away from his view. When he opened his eyes, the holographic screen was gone.

With a sigh of relief, he went back to his keyboard and was about to finish playing his video game when he paused. "Maybe I've been playing too many games, so much so that I've started to hallucinate."

He rose from his gaming chair, exited his room, and went to the kitchen. He opened the fridge, took out a bottle of water, uncapped it, and drank. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his stepmother coming toward him, dressed in a rather suggestive wet bikini.

"Hi, honey. You finally left your room, I see. Can I have some?"

She speedily talked while taking the bottle of water from his hand and drinking from it. Any young man his age, seeing his stepmother dressed like this, would have rather hardening thoughts—but not him. He was used to it. At least, he told himself that.

He swallowed a lump of saliva and looked away from her.

Would this woman stop tempting me already? Argh...

[Ding~ In about 15 minutes, the host is about to be transported to another world—a Beast Realm. Who would the host want to transmigrate to that realm with? You can only pick a single person as a special privilege. If you decide not to choose, know that that person will die in a nuclear war that's about to begin.]

Luke frowned. I went from seeing things to hearing them. What the hell is happening to me?

"Luke, is something the matter?"

Luke forced a smile and replied, "No, Sarah. It's nothing. I have something to do. Bye."

Luke left, running to his room, as he watched a holographic timer counting down appear right in front of him. Sarah watched her stepson's figure disappear and sighed with a hint of disappointment.

"It's time for his father to take his medicine," she said before heading toward the living room.

Inside his room, Luke's mind was a mess. He felt sick to his stomach, thinking he would end up just like his father—with Alzheimer's—seeing and forgetting things.

"The doctors did vaguely mention it was hereditary when I had asked them after I had the same concerns."

Luke looked at the timer and started having thoughts that perhaps this might be real. But he rejected the thought the moment it entered his mind. Then his gaze fell on his phone.

He picked it up and went straight to the internet to search for any nuclear headlines in the news but found nothing. He wasn't surprised. But being as desperate as he was, he would rather believe there was something mystical at play than deal with the fact that he would end up as helpless as his father.

He went to his contacts, dialed his uncle's emergency number, and pressed call. The phone rang for what felt like an eternity, and as if to mock him, the timer kept counting down like a marathon.

Just when his frustration was about to reach its boiling point, the call connected. "Luke, what's wrong? Has something happened to your father?"

"No, Uncle. Dad's fine. It's just... I want to ask you a weird question."

"What's wrong? Tell me." The concern in his uncle's voice touched him, and he calmed down considerably.

"Can you tell me if there are any nuclear weapons being mobilized?"

There was a long silence on the other end of the line. "That's classified information. How did you know? Is there a leak in the news or something?

"Is it true, then?"

His uncle sighed. "It's nothing to worry about. It's something to scare our enemies. We wouldn't really mobilize nuclear weapons. That would destroy the world."

"I see. Thanks. Bye." He ended the call and threw his phone away.

Leaning back in his gaming chair, he started to really consider what he should do. But all answers led to him choosing and seeing what would happen.

I love my dad, but as he is, he won't be of use and will actually be a liability. Of course, there's a chance that if this is real and mythical things are at play, then he could be healed. But should I risk it?

My uncle, on the other hand, is a soldier, and with him in another world, my chances of surviving are higher because I don't know what I will encounter. But I don't have that deep of an emotional connection with him. Then there's the fact he's a commander. That means I won't have much freedom to do whatever I please in that world.

My crush is out of the question. My best friend is also out. He's in a wheelchair, and we kind of had a falling out. But that's no reason to leave him to die. But what other choice do I have?

Then there's my stepmom. At first, I thought she was after my dad's money. But that's not true because she takes care of him and me. And I kind of like her. But there's this suspicion that she's not what she seems. Maybe she's waiting for Dad to die to show her true colors.

Luke looked at the timer, and it said three minutes left.

"Hey, system, will my father or best friend be healed if they were to transmigrate with me?"

[Yes, but I wouldn't recommend choosing them or your uncle or any male person, for that matter.]

"Why?"

[...]

There wasn't a response, leading Luke to let out a heavy exhale.

I could choose to ignore what it said, but something tells me I would regret that choice. Considering I don't know much about this system or the world I'm going to end up in. But am I that heartless enough to leave the people I most care about in this world to die?

[10 seconds left. Host, it's time to choose.]

"I choose..."

[Host will transmigrate in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...]