My SSS-Rank Innate skill: Infinite Adaptation core

”You fucking piece of shit! Didn’t I tell you to clean my room?!”

A boy, around Fifteen or sixteen , with a slightly chubby build and average looks, stood over another boy lying on the floor. His foot slammed down again.

The boy on the ground clutched his stomach, his body curling instinctively from the pain. He was skinny, His t-shirt was worn out, stitched and re-stitched in multiple places as if it had been repaired countless times. Yet despite that his face was strikingly handsome.

A sharp contrast to the one kicking him.

”You loser,” the chubby boy spat, glaring down at him. ”We feed you, let you live in our house, and you can’t even do a small thing for me?”

The boy on the floor didn’t respond, but inside ’Small work yeah right’.

His fingers tightened slightly againt his stomach as his thoughts burned silently.

’You fat pig you make me do every fucking thing. My life is a living hell ’. A bitter laugh echoed in his mind.

’If someone ever wrote a story about me readers would probably cry reading how miserable it is’.

His eyes dimmed slightly.

’I was an orphan , didn’t even know what a family was. I starved more times than I can remember in that place they called an orphanage. It wasn’t a home just a place to survive’.

’Ten years I somehow made it through ten years. Then I got adopted. For a brief moment, something flickered in my eyes’.

Hope.

’I thought things would change. A kind-looking man. A gentle woman. Two children around my age. I thought maybe this was it.

The flicker died instantly. But it was just another hell’.

’Work, Endless work, Cleaning, Washing, Carrying. Sometimes not even food.’

His jaw clenched weakly ’And this fat pig and his bitch sister they made sure I never forgot my place.’

A sharp pain pulsed through his stomach again. ’ And now he calls it a small job, I’ve had a fever since last night. I can barely stand. That’s why I couldn’t clean his room’.

”You won’t even answer me?” the chubby boy clicked his tongue in irritation. ”Tch. You should just die, you fucking moron.”

With that, he turned and slammed the door behind him.

Silence. The skinny boy remained on the cold wooden floor, clutching his stomach as low groans escaped his lips. For a few seconds he didn’t move.

Then slowly he forced himself up.

His body trembled. His face burned from fever, and the pain in his stomach hadn’t faded at all. Still, he staggered forward, step by step, each movement heavier than the last.

He made his way downstairs and into the living area, where a middle-aged woman lay sprawled across the sofa, casually scrolling through her phone. She didn’t even look surprised.

Her eyes briefly glanced at him.

”Rishub ” she said flatly, ”go to the market and get some groceries.” As if nothing had happened. As if she hadn’t heard her son beating him just moments ago.

Rishub opened his mouth, his voice weak.

”B... but I have a high fever...”

She glanced at him once more then returned her attention to her phone.

”You’ll be fine, It’s just a little fever,” she said dismissively. ”And if you don’t go... your dad will hear about it.”

Silence. Rishub’s hands slowly clenched into fists. His teeth gritted.

”...Fine.”

The word came out low. He picked up the shopping basket and turned toward the door. Without another word

he stepped outside.

Rishub struggled to walk along the side of the road. It was as busy as always cars rushing past, people moving without pause, life continuing as if nothing ever stopped.

He hadn’t even changed his clothes before coming out.

The same ragged t-shirt clung to his thin frame, paired with black sports trousers and worn-out shoes with small holes. His black hair was messy, his eyes dull and lifeless yet his mind was anything but quiet.

’ I’ve wondered many times can people really be this heartless? ’ He walked slowly, dragging his feet as his thoughts drifted.

’ I like reading novels, watching anime whatever little time I get on that broken phone of mine.’

A faint, bitter smile formed. ’Reading those stories and living them are two completely different things.’

He exhaled weakly.

’ Man...if I ever got a second life like those protagonists... I wouldn’t even need a system.’

’I’d just work hard and become powerful on my own.’ His gaze lowered slightly.

’But human desires... can never beat reality when it’s forced upon you.’

People passed by him, some glancing his way with curiosity, others with faint disgust as if he were nothing more than a stray on the street.

Rishub didn’t react. He was used to it. ’I wonder would dying end this misery? The thought came quietly.’

Cold.

His eyes shifted toward the speeding vehicles on the road. ’ It probably would. No beatings no bullying no humiliation at school no endless chores...’

His steps slowed.

’ If a man is too weak to protect his own dignity...then maybe he should just die, instead of living like a slave.’

And then his thoughts broke. A small figure rushed past his vision , a little girl.

Around seven years old. Running straight toward the road. Everything happened too fast. His mind froze but his body moved he ran .

For a brief moment, it felt like his fever disappeared, as if his body had borrowed strength just to fulfill this one action.

”Hey kid! Wait!” His voice cracked, but it was enough.

A woman nearby turned, her face draining of color as she realized what was happening. Her phone slipped slightly from her hand as she froze in place.

Rishub reached the girl just in time. He grabbed her hand and threw her back toward the woman. But his body was already at its limit. His balance broke, and then.

BAAM!

A van slammed into him at full speed.

His body flew through the air, thrown nearly ten meters before crashing onto the ground. It bounced once twice before finally coming to a stop.

Like a broken toy. Crimson blood spread across the road beneath him, staining everything around him. His vision blurred. But even then his eyes moved. They found the little girl, now crying in her mother’s arms.

Safe.

A faint, almost invisible smile formed on his lips.

’Haa , At least my death... wasn’t worthless.’

As the final light faded from his eyes, the world turned darker. And then nothing.

Rishub was dead.

...

”Wh... u... id...”

A faint, distorted sound echoed somewhere far away, as if it struggled to reach him through layers of silence.

Rishub slowly opened his eyes.

Darkness stretched endlessly in every direction, swallowing everything around him. There was no ground beneath him, no sky above just an infinite void.

Nothing existed. His thoughts lagged for a moment, ’ I remember that van’ His body instinctively braced for pain, expecting the same crushing force to return.

But there was none. Not even a trace. A flicker of confusion crossed his mind as he tried to process it.

’ I don’t feel anything ’ His gaze shifted aimlessly into the darkness,’ This must be hell.’ The thought came naturally.

’ I died so this has to be it, a faint sigh escaped him. But I don’t feel pain

Isn’t hell supposed to be worse than life?’

His thoughts paused, drifting into something strangely trivial.’ I remember reading somewhere living with evil adds sin to your life.’

His brows furrowed slightly, ’ But I never really did anything bad...a brief silence followed, Except... well...’

He hesitated. ’ But that doesn’t count as a sin... right?’

”Yes. It doesn’t.”

The voice appeared without warning, Warm, Calm.

Yet carrying a presence that pressed against the emptiness itself, Rishub froze. His eyes widened slightly as his head turned, though there was no direction in this void.

”Wha... what?”

His voice came out unsteady.

”Who was that?!”

His heartbeat quickened.

He remembered now the faint sounds he heard when he first woke up. So it wasn’t his imagination.

”It’s me.” The voice came again. And this time something changed.

A soft white light appeared within the endless darkness. Small at first, then steady, illuminating a fragment of the void.

Rishub hesitated for a moment before turning toward it, his eyes narrowing slightly.

”Wh..who are you?”His voice carried caution. ”And... where am I?”

Silence lingered briefly.

Then..”You may refer to me as God in terms you can understand, child.” The words echoed across the void. Rishub’s eyes widened.

But strangely he didn’t panic. ’ I died So meeting something like this... isn’t that strange... right?’

”You are not in hell.”

The voice continued, calm and unwavering.

”You are in a place where time and space do not exist.” A slight pause followed.

”A boundary... between life and death.”

Rishub’s swallowed unconsciously, his gaze fixed on the light. Everything felt unreal.

Yet somehow , it made more sense than anything else ever had.

The voice spoke again, softer now, yet far more imposing. ”Now tell me, little soul...”

A brief silence filled the void.

”What is it... that you desire?”

Rishub was still having a hard time processing what he was hearing. The words echoed in his mind, heavy and unreal, as if they didn’t belong to him.

But then something clicked. All those NovelFires he had read... all those scenes where the protagonist stood at the edge of death, only to be granted another life.

His eyes widened. ’ Wait..Is this... that moment?’

”Quiet your thoughts, child.”

The voice came again, calm yet firm, cutting through his rising emotions.

”Tell me... what is it that you desire?”

Rishub froze slightly. ’What do I desire...?’

He repeated the question in his mind, the weight of it sinking deeper than anything he had ever been asked before. For a moment he didn’t know.

Then slowly... the answer came to him .

”The only thing I’ve ever wanted ” his voice came out low, yet steady, ”is a better fulfilling life.”

A brief pause.

”A life where I never lose my dignity.” His fists tightened unconsciously.

”Even if I have to work hard for it... I don’t want anything handed to me.”

Silence followed.

Then...”That is a beautiful desire, child.”

The voice carried warmth this time, gentle yet vast. ”Your life has been filled with misery and solitude yet your actions have not been tainted.”

Rishub listened, his heart trembling slightly.

”You sacrificed yourself for that little girl.”

A pause. ”And even in death you held no resentment toward her.” The words sank deep.

”That is why...you have been granted this chance.”

Rishub’s breath grew unsteady.

”To fulfill your desire.”

The light in the distance began to expand.

Slowly at first , then rapidly.

It stretched across the endless darkness, swallowing everything in its path as it moved toward him. Rishub felt it. The pull ,

The weight, The unknown.

”Sweet little soul...I hope we can meet again.”

The final words echoed, softer than before.

Yet they carried something absolute. Before he could react the light engulfed him completely. Everything turned white.

His vision blurred. His thoughts shattered.

And then nothing. His consciousness drifted away.

....

As his consciousness slowly resurfaced, the first thing he felt was pain, Not mild

Not dull, But overwhelming.

From head to toe, every part of his body screamed in agony, as if it had been torn apart and forcefully stitched back together.

A faint groan escaped his lips as he struggled to move. Slowly painfully he pushed himself up from the ground, his arms trembling under my own weight.

His vision blurred for a moment before stabilizing. What he saw was unfamiliar.

Dense woods surrounded him , tall green trees stretching endlessly in every direction. The air felt cold, heavy different from anything he had known before.

”Where am I?”

His hand instinctively moved to his face.

”Ugh—!”

Pain shot through him instantly, sharp and raw. His breathing turned uneven as realization slowly settled in.

’My body had been beaten. Not just injured. Beaten badly.’ Bruises, cuts, and deep soreness spread across his entire frame, as if someone had used him as nothing more than a punching bag.

He looked down at myself. A rough brown pant, a grey shirt, torn in several places.

Dirty, Worn, Pathetic. One thought surfaced immediately.’ Did I... transmigrate into a beggar’s body?’

But before he could process it further something hit him . Memories Not his.

They surged into his mind all at once, chaotic and overwhelming, crashing against his own like a storm he couldn’t control.

His breath caught. His vision blurred again.

And then everything went blank.

Thanks for reading.....