Oh... No...
~ First Person Pov ~
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I woke up with a sharp inhale, my breath catching in my throat. My fingers clenched against something unfamiliar—soft, cool fabric, definitely not my sheets.
My vision was blurry, my head felt foggy, and for a second, I thought I was dreaming, a panful dream. But as I blinked rapidly, the shapes around me started to sharpen and become clearer...
This… This wasn't my room.
My heart pounded so hard it hurt. I shot up into a sitting position, looking around frantically. The room was dimly lit, no windows, just stone walls with ornate sconces casting flickering light. It felt old, medieval almost.
The last thing I remembered was hanging out with my friends after work, laughing, feeling the drowsiness creep in. And now—now I was here.
I rubbed my temples, trying to force my thoughts into some kind of order. Maybe I had been kidnapped? Drugged? Was this some kind of weird prank? My breathing was quick, shallow. This was too real. The smell of the air, the cold floor beneath me—it wasn't like a dream.
Then, before I could even attempt to calm myself down, something even weirder happened...
A screen—an actual glowing, floating screen—popped up right in front of my face...
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Name: Ayano Keiji
Class: The Little Chosen One
Height: 165 cm | 5'5"
Age: 17
Health: 1000 / 1000 [50000 / 50000]
Energy: 100 / 100 [10000 / 10000]
Strength: 1 / 1000
Defense: 1 / 1000
Agility: 1 / 1000
Spirit: 1 / 1000
Passive Skills: -
Skills: -
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I stared at it, my mind struggling to catch up. Something that looked like a name was there, but the rest? A class? Stats? Strength, agility, spirit—it looked exactly like something out of some kind of RPG game.
I swallowed hard. I vaguely understood what it all meant, vaguely, but that didn't make it any less insane...
'No way. No freaking way.'
I squeezed my eyes shut, counted to three, then opened them. But, the screen was still there.
I could feel cold sweat breaking out along the back of my back. I reached out hesitantly, expecting my hand to pass through it, but the moment my fingers brushed the display, a ripple spread across it, like touching the surface of a pond. I jerked my hand back.
"Wha-What the!?" My voice sounded too loud in the silence. Not only that...
"Why do heck I sound Japanese!? H-how... How can I even understand myself right now?"
Okay. Okay... C'mon man, think. There had to be a logical explanation here, right? Maybe I was hallucinating? A super realistic Hallucination... In fact, maybe this was some kind of elaborate VR simulation? Or maybe… maybe I'd finally snapped and gone crazy.
I forced myself to breathe deeply, pressing my palms against my temples. No, panicking wouldn't help. If this was real, I needed to figure out what was going on. If it wasn't real—well, I'd deal with that later.
I tried to remember everything I knew about these kinds of situations. One of those isekai stories I've read years ago, fantasy games—what did the characters usually do or say again?
"Uh… m-menu?" I muttered hesitantly.
Nothing happened...
"Uhm... S-Status?"
The screen flickered for a brief moment before displaying the exact same stats. My stomach literally twisted. It actually reacted? That was proof enough that this was… something.
"Oh, come on…" I groaned, raking a shaky hand through my hair. "This... This can't be real. It just... can't be."
But if I accepted that it was—if I really had somehow ended up in another world with a literal status screen—then that meant a few things:
I... I wasn't even home anymore...
I was in a world that looked like it worked like some kind of, game.
My stats were abysmally low, even though the max potential looked ridiculously high.
I had no weapons, no skills, and no clue of where I even was...
...
"Hah..." I let out a shaky breath, my legs feeling weaker than before while I pushed myself to my feet. I wobbled a little, but managed to steady myself...
First things first—I needed to get out of this room and figure out where the hell I eve am.
Because if this was a game world, then I was starting at level one. And that? That was terrifying to me...
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I hesitated before moving off to anywhere, my fingers were twitching from nervousness. I needed to look around, maybe find a clue about where I was. The room itself was pretty small, mostly barren except for the simple bed I had woken up on and a wooden wardrobe shoved against the far wall. There was a door to my right, slightly ajar...
Swallowing down my nerves, I stepped forward. The old wooden floor creaked beneath me as I cautiously pushed the door open... A hallway stretched ahead, dimly lit by more sconces. The walls were made of the same aged stone, making the place feel cold and unwelcoming.
I passed by a few doors, opening each one hesitantly. Most were empty—plain wooden furniture, dust-coated shelves, and nothing that gave me any answers. Then, after a few more steps, I found a bathroom.
I let out a small breath of relief. At least I wouldn't have to wonder about that.
Stepping inside, I was immediately drawn to the mirror above the sink. Something felt… off. Like an itch in the back of my mind that I hadn't noticed until now.
I leaned forward, my reflection staring back at me.
And my stomach dropped.
That—If I didn't know it before, I definitely knew it now... That-This, wasn't me.
I stumbled back on reflex, gripping the sink to steady myself. My hair was no longer the familiar messy brown... Instead, it was essentially silky black, slightly longer than I remembered. My eyes, once a dark brown, were now an unnervingly deep shade of blue... And my face—
I looked years younger younger, and much shorter. My features were also softer, almost delicate, like some mix of Japanese and something else. But other than that… I was plain. Extremely plain. No sharp angles, no strong jawline—just an unremarkable, forgettable Japanese kid...
"Eu-ck!"
A sharp chill ran down my spine... I reached up, touching my? Cheeks; watching the reflection mimic my movements exactly...
This wasn't a dream. My body had actually changed.
I gripped the sink harder, my breathing uneven. My mind was scrambling for answers, but all I could do was stare at the stranger in the mirror...
Who the hell was I now?
PING!
"Eh, huh?"
I heard a sound ringing in my ears, and then-
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{FIRST QUEST: Get dressed, head to school and reach on time.
REWARD: ~nil~}
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"What, the... The heck is this thing?" I could see a blue bar pop up right in my face...
"A school?" That didn't make any sense, none of this was making any sense. I wasn't even sure where I was, let alone why I would need to attend school here." My mind raced through any of the options I had. Was this some kind of tutorial phase? Was I supposed to just follow along?
I glanced down at my current outfit—simple, loose-fitting clothes that looked more like pajamas than anything appropriate for school... "I guess I really do have to get dressed first…?" I muttered.
With a sigh, I turned back toward the wardrobe, pulling it open to see if I even had anything to wear. When I looked, I could see a neatly hung uniform. Black buttoned top, Grey pants and a red tie, right below were a pair of shoes too.
"Wait... Why am I seriously considering this? I could be seeing things, with this thing being in my head." I shrugged it off, but it didn't leave my peripheral.
"Haah?... Am I stuck with this thing now? Guess I'-"
PING!!
I heard the same exact sound again, this time, the screen in front of me changed.
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{WARNING!!!: Failure to complete this quest will allow an ā̴̱͑̈́̐̓͝n̵͔̻̜͈͇͉͇̺̼̥̓͑͑͋̇́̔̿͐̒̐̃͜ǫ̴͓̻̤̌́̔̿̚͝͝ͅm̵̛̥̲̩̔̋̔̐̍̏a̵̤͓͔͉̔̀͋̀̈́̔̿͑̄͆͝l̵͉̟̗̓̀̒͑͊y̵̢͉̫̔͂́̚ to be shown your location and track you... When this entity finds the host; the user's fate will be far worse than even death itself, and they will also doom the entirety of humanity because of it...}
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"..."
I don't know why, but I had an eerie ass feeling that I should heed this... The fact that whatever this system like thing was, is glitching and bugging out at the mentioning of whoever or whatever would find me gives me the absolute creeps... Plus, a fate far worse than death isn't my cup of tea, much less when I literally woke up not even 10 minutes ago.
And I didn't want to test my fate in a scenario like this... This meant I ultimately had no choice but to do this so-called quest, and go to school.
I'm confused... Horribly so. I'm in a weird place, stuck in a weird body, with a weird thing that pops up in front of my face that I just found out, makes threats and a time period I'm not even familiar with yet.
Can a grown mans day get any worse than this?
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END