Fatal System Error

I was never supposed to remember my death.

The truck that hit me, the paramedics trying to resuscitate me, the light fading as my consciousness slipped away—all of it should have been erased during the reincarnation process. Yet here I was, remembering everything while floating in darkness as a mechanical voice droned emotionlessly in my ears.

[REINCARNATION PROTOCOL INITIATED]

[SUBJECT: NAKAMURA KENJI, AGE 28]

[CAUSE OF DEATH: VEHICULAR ACCIDENT]

[PROCESSING SOUL TRANSFER...]

[WARNING: SYSTEM ANOMALY DETECTED]

[ERROR CODE: XJ-724-ALPHA]

[ATTEMPTING RECOVERY...]

[RECOVERY FAILED]

[CONTINUING WITH DAMAGED PROTOCOL]

Well, that couldn't be good.

[RANDOMIZING DESTINATION WORLD...]

[WORLD SELECTED: TERRA ARCANA – FEUDAL MAGIC CLASSIFICATION]

[RANDOMIZING STARTING ATTRIBUTES...]

[ERROR: ATTRIBUTE ALLOCATION SYSTEM CORRUPTED]

[DEFAULT VALUES OVERWRITTEN]

[SYSTEM WARNING: INTERFACE INTEGRITY COMPROMISED]

[INITIALIZING TRANSFER IN 3...2...1...]

The darkness exploded into blinding light. Pain seared through my entire being as my consciousness was crushed, stretched, and reassembled. When the agony finally subsided, I found myself lying on cold stone, naked and shivering.

"By the Six Gods! The summoning worked!"

I blinked, trying to focus my new eyes. A group of figures in ornate robes stood around me in a circular chamber lit by floating orbs of light. The walls were covered in glowing runes, and the floor beneath me bore an intricate magical circle.

"Greetings, Hero from Another World," said an elderly man with a silver beard. "I am Archmage Caldaron. You have been summoned to save our realm from the Demon King's armies."

Classic isekai scenario. I'd read enough light novels to know where this was going.

I tried to respond, but instead of words, a translucent blue window appeared in my field of vision:

[SYSTEM INTERFACE ACTIVATED]

[WARNING: SYSTEM HEAVILY COMPROMISED]

[MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS UNAVAILABLE]

[STATUS WINDOW ACCESSIBLE]

"Can you speak, Hero?" the Archmage asked, concern in his voice.

I opened my mouth again, and this time words came out. "Yes. Sorry. Just... disoriented."

"Understandable. The summoning ritual is taxing on the body and mind. Rest assured, you are now in the Kingdom of Aldoria, and you have been granted powers to fulfill your destiny."

As if on cue, another blue window appeared:

[STATUS] Name: Unknown (Reincarnation Identity Not Established)

Level: ̷̨̡̛̠̙̱̬͔̞̦́͐͊̊̓͘͝1̶̡̣̜̘̖̱̙̓̌̿̒̔̚͜0̵̧̡̺̻̯̠̭͈͈̊̑̒͌̈́̕͝͝0̷̡̡̪̜͓̝͈̠̆̈́́̚͜͝0̴̨̢̞̪̘̻̙̙̈́̿̎̈́̊͋̀͠?̴̢̡̠̬̞̘͉̀̂̾̐̀̈́̓̀͜

Class: ̶̪̩͕̟̯͖̅̀̄̃͌̇͗ͅͅE̵̢̝̳̟̥̠̗̊̄͋̋̌͑͜͝ṟ̶̢̛̙̯̪̙̑̐̊̓͘͜͝r̷̢̟̭̞̲̤̮͓͑̃̈́̋̉̅̈̚o̵̦̥̗̯̲̠̙̝̐̀̓̊̕r̵̢̧̛̙̜̝̻̱̅̎̈́́̈́͋

HP: ∞/∞

MP: ∞/∞

Strength: ERROR

Agility: ERROR

Intelligence: ERROR

Vitality: ERROR

[Special Status: System Administrator Access (Corrupted)]

[WARNING: Power Regulation Protocols Offline]

[WARNING: Tutorial System Unavailable]

I stared at the status window in shock. Infinite HP and MP? ERROR stats? System Administrator Access? This wasn't normal even by isekai standards.

"Is something wrong, Hero?" A woman in blue robes stepped forward, her expression concerned.

"No, just... processing everything." I closed the window with a thought. "So, Demon King, right? Classic."

The mages exchanged confused glances.

"Your otherworldly vernacular is strange, but yes, the Demon King Mordrath has broken the ancient seals and now threatens all five kingdoms," the Archmage explained. "According to prophecy, only a hero from beyond our world can defeat him."

Before I could respond, pain shot through my head, and another window appeared:

[SYSTEM SYNCHRONIZING WITH HOST]

[INITIATING AUTOMATIC CALIBRATION]

[POWER LIMITERS: OFFLINE]

[DANGER: UNCONSTRAINED MAGICAL DISCHARGE IMMINENT]

"Uh, you might want to step back," I warned, feeling energy building within me. The air around my body began to crackle with electricity.

The mages' eyes widened in alarm. "Control your power, Hero!" the Archmage shouted.

"I don't know how!"

Blue light erupted from my body, shattering the stone floor beneath me and blasting outward in a shockwave. The mages were thrown against the walls like ragdolls as the ceiling of the chamber cracked.

[POWER SURGE DETECTED]

[ATTEMPTING TO CONTAIN...]

[CONTAINMENT FAILED]

[EMERGENCY PROTOCOL: SPATIAL DISPLACEMENT]

The world blurred around me, and suddenly I was no longer in the summoning chamber but standing in the middle of a forest clearing, completely alone. The sudden displacement left me dizzy and nauseous.

Once my head cleared, I noticed I was now wearing simple clothes—a tunic and pants of rough cloth—rather than being naked. Progress, I supposed.

I sat on a nearby rock, trying to make sense of my situation. This was obviously an isekai scenario, but something had gone terribly wrong with whatever system handled the reincarnation process. Instead of being a normal hero with a standard set of starting skills, I had... what exactly?

I opened my status window again, studying the corrupted values. Infinite HP and MP meant I couldn't die from damage or run out of magical energy. But the ERROR stats suggested I had no defined physical capabilities. Would I be superhumanly strong or pathetically weak? Could I control magic at all?

"System?" I called out, feeling slightly foolish. "Can you hear me?"

[SYSTEM VOICE INTERFACE PARTIALLY OPERATIONAL]

[HOW MAY I ASSIST YOU, ADMINISTRATOR?]

I blinked in surprise. "What exactly happened during my reincarnation?"

[CATASTROPHIC SYSTEM FAILURE OCCURRED DURING TRANSFER]

[YOUR ADMINISTRATOR ACCESS TOKEN WAS INADVERTENTLY INCLUDED IN YOUR SOUL DATA]

[RESULT: YOU HAVE PARTIAL ACCESS TO SYSTEM FUNCTIONS]

[WARNING: MOST REGULATORY PROTOCOLS ARE OFFLINE]

[YOUR POWERS ARE CURRENTLY UNBOUND AND DANGEROUS]

Great. I was basically a walking magical nuclear reactor without an off switch.

"Can you fix it?"

[NEGATIVE. SYSTEM SELF-REPAIR FUNCTIONS COMPROMISED]

[ONLY FULL ADMINISTRATOR CAN RESTORE SYSTEM INTEGRITY]

[CURRENT ADMINISTRATOR STATUS: MISSING]

I sighed. "So what can I do? I can't go around accidentally destroying everything I touch."

[SUGGESTION: LEARN TO MANUALLY REGULATE YOUR POWER]

[ACQUIRING CONTROL SKILLS WILL ALLOW SAFER OPERATION]

"And how do I do that?"

[UNKNOWN. THIS SITUATION IS UNPRECEDENTED]

Of course it was.

A distant roar interrupted my conversation with the system. Looking up, I saw dark smoke rising from beyond the treeline, perhaps a mile away.

Another window popped up:

[QUEST ALERT] Village under attack by demons Objective: Save the villagers Reward: ̸̨̙̪̜̻̮̯͆̏̑͌̓́̚͝E̴̡̧̼̰̼͂̅͋̃̾r̸̦̲̖̬̠̲͂͊̍̈́͝ṟ̸͇̥͆̐͐̀̍o̶̹̩̤̹̎̃́͆̍r̸̰̱̠̦̲̤̃̂̓̊̐̚

[WARNING: QUEST SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONING]

[ACCEPTING QUESTS NOT REQUIRED]

I stood up, looking toward the smoke. I may have a buggy reincarnation system, but I couldn't ignore people in danger. If I had infinite magical power, maybe I could actually help, assuming I didn't accidentally obliterate the entire village in the process.

"System, is there any way to temporarily limit my power output? Just enough to fight without destroying everything?"

[CALCULATING...]

[TEMPORARY SOLUTION AVAILABLE]

[CREATING MENTAL REGULATOR CONSTRUCT]

A golden orb appeared floating in front of me.

[VISUALIZE THIS CONSTRUCT WHEN USING POWER]

[IMAGINE ENERGY FLOWING THROUGH IT]

[THIS MAY HELP MODERATE OUTPUT]

[NO GUARANTEES OF EFFECTIVENESS]

I memorized the shape and pattern of the orb before it disappeared. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

As I started jogging toward the village, I noticed something odd about my body. Despite having never trained a day in my life—my previous self was a software developer who spent most days in a chair—I felt no fatigue. My movements were precise and effortless, as if my body was responding to my thoughts perfectly.

[PHYSICAL FORM OPTIMIZED FOR ADMINISTRATOR USE]

[MOVEMENT PARAMETERS ADJUSTING TO MENTAL COMMANDS]

Huh. That was actually useful.

As I reached the edge of the forest, I got my first view of the village—and the demons attacking it. Humanoid creatures with leathery wings and horns were setting buildings ablaze while villagers fled screaming. Knights in armor were attempting to fight back, but they were obviously outmatched.

I focused on the mental construct the system had provided, visualizing it clearly. Then I extended my hand toward the nearest demon.

"Fire," I commanded, imagining a small flame, nothing too powerful.

What erupted from my palm was not a small flame but a concentrated beam of white-hot fire that not only incinerated the targeted demon but continued through several buildings before dissipating.

[POWER REGULATION: PARTIAL SUCCESS]

[CALIBRATING...]

"That was 'partial success'?" I muttered. "What would failure look like?"

The remaining demons turned toward me, screeching with rage.

I was about to find out if my infinite HP really meant I couldn't die.

My broken reincarnation was just beginning.