There was no warning.
No messenger. No thunder. No signs in the sky.
The village of Ji was a small place, quiet and forgotten by the wider world. A scattering of homes surrounded by hills, where farmers lived simple lives and children laughed as they chased chickens through the dust. It was not a place of warriors or kings.
It was the place where Lü Bu was born.
He was only eight years old that night.
And that was the night his world burned.
The attack came just after nightfall.
The silence of evening was shattered by the sound of hooves — dozens of them — pounding like war drums. Then came the shouts. The screams. The clash of metal and the crackle of fire.
Lü Bu had been asleep beside his younger sister when the chaos began. His mother had thrown herself over them, dragging them beneath the wooden bed as firelight poured in through the cracks in the walls.
"Don't move," she whispered, trembling.
The door burst open.
Soldiers — bandits, really, but dressed in armor — stormed in. His mother begged them to spare the children. Her voice, broken with fear, still haunted him even now.
He didn't remember how she died. He only remembered her being there — and then she wasn't.
His sister was taken. He never saw her again.
And Lü Bu, a boy too small to fight and too scared to run, crawled out of the wreckage as the village burned behind him.
He wandered.
For hours, maybe days. Time didn't make sense anymore.
The forests beyond the village were cold and quiet. His feet bled. His stomach ached. But he didn't stop. He couldn't.
That was when it happened.
His legs gave out beside a riverbank, and he collapsed face-first into the dirt. Rain began to fall, a cold drizzle soaking his skin. His body shook. His lips trembled.
But he didn't cry.
He clenched his fists and whispered something to himself. Again and again.
"I don't want to die."
Not like this.
Not forgotten.
Not weak.
And then — something strange happened.
The rain around him seemed to freeze. The world went still. And deep within his chest, he felt something stir. A warmth. A pulse. A voice.
SYSTEM ACTIVATED
— Initializing…
— Name: Lü Bu
— Status: Orphaned
— Primary Trait Unlocked: Boundless Potential
— Quest Generated: Survive. Grow Strong. Rewrite Fate.
— Reward: Power.
Lü Bu gasped. Symbols flickered across his vision. His wounds still hurt. He was still alone. But something had changed.
He wasn't just a helpless boy anymore.
Something deep and ancient had awakened inside him — not just the System, but a fire.
He pushed himself up on shaking legs, mud clinging to his skin like a second layer. Above him, thunder rolled.
He looked toward the burning sky and whispered, "I will live."
And someday… they would be the ones to run from him.