It was nighttime. The moon was shining in the sky, a little obscured by the tall buildings of the city. Lamps were illuminating the sidewalks as a gentle but cold breeze made you shiver a little. Nights like these were basically normal to you.
Y/N: Yawns. (I hate this... why do I of all people have to do overtime? I wasn't even the one who made all that mess in the first place!)
Y/N L/N. A normal guy at the age of 19. You worked at a fast food chain, which wasn't your preferred job by any means, but you needed the money. After your parents died in a car accident you had to drop out of college due to the lack of it. Your aunt was tasked with taking care of you after that, but her care was basically comprised of money she had sent you monthly and an apartment for you to live in. After you turned 18 that stopped too. You kept the apartment since it was fairly cheap, and you could still kind of afford your lifestyle with it.
After walking a little you came to a stop in front of a red traffic light. No cars were driving around currently as far as you could see, but better safe than sorry.
And it wasn't like you didn't enjoy some parts of your life. While you couldn't buy many mangas or afford an overpriced Crunchyroll subscription, there were still ways to watch anime or read manga online. Watching an anime was therapeutic for you, a way to forget your stress after working overtime once again. Fantasy was your favorite genre, you really enjoyed what amazing stories people can come up with. You even watched some fantasy stuff even if it wasn't an anime and you quite enjoyed it. It also got you a little into mythology, but that was a work in progress. Other than that you liked to play fantasy games too, in order to vent out your frustration.
You were tired and you closed your eyes, rubbing them with your one free hand since the other one was occupied holding the groceries you bought in the store that was on the way back home.
But work today was especially bad. Your asshole of a coworker made a huge mess while operating the ice cream machine. Without permission, that is! And since it was closing time, and he had "an important appointment" to go to, which is most definitely a lie, you needed to clean everything up on your own.
With your eyes half closed, you basically went to sleep while standing, you heard the sound the traffic lights make for blind people when it was safe to cross. You took tired steps onto the street to cross it, but as soon as you opened your eyes...
You saw that the traffic light was still red.
Y/N: (Wait, what?)
The next thing you noticed were lights coming from the right and an ear-numbing honk. Instead of running you looked at the direction it was coming from and were met face to face with a truck. It collided with your body, and you swear you could hear some of your bones shatter. Then your body was flying through the air like a rag doll, and you collided with the floor like one too. Since you had so much momentum you rolled on the rough asphalt, scraping open even more wounds in addition to the ones you got from the initial hit and the rough landing.
Now you were lying on the street. Your body was still numb from shock.
Y/N: (What... just happened?)
The truck had stopped moving, having done its best to stop before hitting you, but to no avail, as you could feel. You heard the door of the truck open, and a voice screaming something to you, but it all faded into the background. The only real thing you heard was a tinnitus getting louder and louder.
The man who had screamed quickly came running up to you, trying his best to get you into a stable position.
"Oh god, oh god! What am I gonna do?!"
He was obviously shaken up too. Taking out his phone quickly, he called someone. Probably an ambulance. You weakly moved your eyes to look at the ground, seeing a puddle of blood forming below you. As soon as you saw that, your body realized it was hurt and pain started to settle in.
Y/N: "A-AAGH! IT HURTS-" (This is too much! Please make this pain stop!!!)
Request confirmed. Acquisition of the skill [Pain Resistance] successful. Continuing. Evolving skill [Pain Resistance] into skill [Pain Nullification]. Successful.
Y/N: Coughs up blood. "I don't... want to die...!" (My life can't end this early... Just... another try... please...)
Request confirmed. Acquisition of unique skill [Retry] successful. Additionally, creating a body similar to the individual.
"You won't! Oh jeez... please stay with me! They'll pick up- yes, hello?! Somebody is hurt! Please come quick!"
It seemed like whoever he called picked up. But the more pain you felt the more uncertain you were that an ambulance could reach you quick enough. Even then, did you even have enough money to pay to be fixed up?
Y/N: (Why couldn't this be easy.. like... in a game... I always understood their mechanics...)
Mechanics created for fictional games faile- ... Will of the creator confirmed. Trying to acquire ultimate skill [The System]. Failure. Trying again. Successful. Additionally, the presence of ultimate skill [The System] results in further acquisition of system skill [Stat-Driven Body] and system skill [Stat-Driven Mind].
The man on the call has managed to give the ones on the other end their location. Your eyesight also started to dwindle and became more blurry. As you got closer to death your mind raced with all the things you could've done with your life. All your regrets and thoughts on what you could've done better started to surface too. But there was one regret you could take care of right now. You tried your best to speak despite your lungs probably being filled with blood.
Y/N: "Not... your fault..."
"W-what? What are you saying?! Nononono! C'mon, you'll get through this! Just focus on my voice! PLEASE!"
It was true. He wasn't at fault. If you'd have looked at the traffic light before going across instead of relying on the sound you'd be okay right now. Even if the traffic light was also at fault, obviously being broken. You also tried to focus on what he was saying after that, but the ever-growing tinnitus made that very hard.
Y/N: (...I guess I should've learned more when I had the chance... Maybe I'd have been... smarter... faster... and most importantly... not in this situation...)
Confirmed. Acquisition of extra skill [Perfect Memory] successful. Continuing. Acquisition of extra skill [Thought Acceleration] successful. Acquisition of extra skill [Perfect Memory] and extra skill [Thought Acceleration] results in the acquisition of unique skill [Learner]. Successful.
Y/N: (What the hell is this voice... "Learner"? "Acquisition"?)
Even when your ears were starting to give up on you there was still this one very weird voice you heard clearly. Your mind's focus started to drift away from possibilities and regrets, instead focusing on whatever this voice was. And there was one possible solution to its existence you really wished was true.
Y/N: (...Am I getting reincarnated? If so... just give me something to make me... overpowered... please... I don't want to worry about anything anymore...)
Request confirmed. Trying to acquire unique skill [Overpower]. Successful.
With that, a weird numbness started to take over your body. Your limbs became heavier, as did your eyelids. Even if the man who was trying to help you was still talking to you, you wouldn't know since your ears seemed to no longer pick up on any sound. With your energy leaving you, you took your last breath.
Everything went dark, and you died.
...
At first, you didn't feel anything. You didn't feel cold or warm. You couldn't feel any clothes on you, and it even felt like your sense of touch had vanished completely. As did all your other senses. All you were was a mind, a conscience, in some weird void of nothingness. But that didn't last for long.
Before you knew why, the feeling of warmth surrounded you and you could feel your body again. Or at least... a body. You didn't remember your body being this... chubby? But you still couldn't open your eyes for some reason, nor could you really breathe.
Then, suddenly, a white light surrounded you. Accompanied by a woman screaming.
Y/N: (What the fuck is happening?)
"Congratulations, Mrs. Mythrize! It's a boy!"
Opening your eyes for the first time you saw a fairly nice room with white walls. The person holding you right now had a white coat on and overall seemed like a nurse. There were two other people in the room. One man and one woman. The woman with H/C hair was lying on a bed, seemingly exhausted, and her legs spread for some reason, while the man was sitting beside her on a chair while holding her hand.
While the presumed nurse was cleaning you up you took notice of all the fascinating things in the room. Questions upon questions raced through your mind. Until you realized you had trouble breathing, that is. As soon as you realized that, your tiny body started to cry despite your protest. The nurse finished cleaning you up before carrying you to the woman in the bed. All while carrying you over her shoulder and patting you on the back to help clear your lungs a bit.
Nurse?: "Here you go."
The woman took you into her arms and started to tear up too. From what the nurse said at first you presume that that woman is called "Mrs. Mythrize". And by extension, the man must be Mr. Mythrize, then. The woman held out a finger to you and chuckled through the tears.
Mrs. Mythrize: "Hello there... oh my gosh you're so adorable!"
Y/N: (Hoooo boy...)
You were starting to get what was going on. You were just reborn, and the two people, excluding the nurse, were your new parents. As your lungs seemed to have been cleared up your boy started to calm down too. With a mental push, you managed to regain a little bit of control thanks to that. Using one of your hands you grab onto the woman's finger, causing her to squeal.
Mrs. Mythrize: "Oh honey, look at him! Isn't he cute?!"
Excited, the woman turned to the man sitting beside her. He gave her a nod while smiling at you. Based on his expression you could see he was holding back tears.
Mr. Mythrize: "The absolute cutest, hun."
He also held out a finger, which you grabbed with your other hand, getting a laugh out of both of them.
Nurse?: "Well then, I'll leave you alone for now. You can call anytime."
She left the room, leaving you and your parents alone.
Mr. Mythrize: "But he needs a good name. What do you think, Alice?"
Alice: "I have the perfect name in mind, Luke..."
Luke: "You do? Oh, who am I kidding, of course you do. What is it?"
Alice smiled at you, and you prepared yourself to receive your new name. Just what was it gonna be? Was it gonna be cool? Lame? Or maybe even cliché!
Alice: "From now on you'll be... Y/N."
Y/N: (Wait... WHAT?!)
What were the chances of that?! Getting the same name as in your previous life?! This, for some reason, shocked you to no end. There MUST be a good explanation for this.
Luke: "Y/N Mythrize... What an exotic name. Not bad! Welcome to the world, little guy!"
Y/N: (I don't think this body will let me speak... it kind of just functions on its own. But it doesn't hurt to try, I guess? "Hello, father.") "Bebo babba!"
You were too stunned to do anything, but your body did your job for you and started to laugh involuntarily. This caused your mother to press you against her even more to snuggle.
Y/N: (Okay, that was just pathetic... But I kind of expected that. Jeez, there is so much I need answers to!)
After thinking a bit it became clear. You needed answers. But you also had all the time in the world and a head start thanks to your 19-year-old mind. Things could only get better.
...One month later...
Ever since you got taken home you had time to figure out some stuff. First, you and your family were living in a city called Londo, which is apparently the capital of a kind of medieval country named Bulmund. Your parents had fairly high positions, with your father being a guard in the castle of the city, meaning he protected the king and queen of this country, and your mother was a secretary for some kind of guild. So you were well off! Unlike in your past life. In that time you didn't manage to find out about those weird skills, however.
You were currently in a dark room, lying in your baby crib. It was nighttime, and normally your body would've started crying by now, but as you gained more and more control over it you managed to stop it before you woke up your parents. They had enough on their plate already, and you could go back to sleep on your own without a problem. But this also was a great opportunity.
Y/N: (Just remember Y/N... what exactly did that weird voice say to you? What skills did it talk about? There was... that weird "Learner" one... uh... something against pain? And uhm... oh yeah! One was called "The System", right? I believe it was called an ultimate skill, kind of exciting! Now how do I do this... what would a skill called "The System" even do? There are many types of systems. Political... management and business...)
After thinking for a hot minute you got an idea.
Y/N: (Wait! The voice talked about it after I thought about game mechanics! Is it similar to a game system, like with levels and such? But how would I even go about using that? After all, I can't just think something like "status" and-)
A status window appeared in front of you, releasing a weak blue light.
Y/N: (...Well I'll be damned. This is sick!)
You took a look at the page that was displayed.
[X Status] [Skills] [Magic] [Battlewills] [Quests]
Name: Y/N Mythrize
Title: [...]
Level: 001
0/10XP
HP: 1000/1000
SHP: 1000/1000
MAG: 500/500
AUR: 500/500
Stats:
VIT - 1
MIN - 1
MAG - 1
AUR - 1
STR - 1
AGI - 1
INT - 1
Stat Points: 0
Your interest was piqued. It was a status screen as you'd expect one to be. There were also multiple other tabs listed on the top of the status window.
Y/N: (Damn, these stats are abysmal. But I'm still a child, so what did I even expect. I wonder what the other tabs do?)
The [Skills] tab interested you the most, so you decided to check the other tabs first.
[Status] [Skills] [X Magic] [Battlewills] [Quests]
You currently have no magic available to you.
[Status] [Skills] [Magic] [X Battlewills] [Quests]
You currently have no battlewills available to you.
The next one was more interesting, though. The tab labeled "Quests".
Y/N: (Whatever could that be? Do I actually get quests and rewards from them? Huh...)
[Status] [Skills] [Magic] [Battlewills] [X Quests]
Main Quests:
- None.
Side Quests:
- None.
Evolution Quests
- Enlightenment
You instinctively thought about the one quest available. As soon as you did another window popped up in front of the other one.
Evolution Quest - Enlightenment
Reach the next Human evolution
- Reach level 100 (001/100)
Y/N: (Evolution? What the hell is that? I still have so much to learn, jeez...)
You thought about closing the second window, and it did just that.
Y/N: (Now to what I've been waiting for!)
[Status] [X Skills] [Magic] [Battlewills] [Quests]
Ultimate Skills:
- The System
Unique Skills:
- Learner
- Overpower
- Retry
Extra Skills:
None.
Intrinsic Skills:
None.
Common Skills:
None.
Resistance Skills:
None.
Nullification Skills:
- Pain Nullification
Y/N: (Interesting! So there are multiple types of skills. Just what are they? I'll figure that out later, let's see what these skills do! Uhm... Pain Nullification is kind of self-explanatory, so let's just go from the bottom up. What does "Retry" do?)
Again, with your command, another window opens with the information on the skill.
Unique Skill - Retry
"A second chance."
Abilities:
-> Return by Death - Grants the user a retry that sends the user's mind 1-10 minutes back in time if they die by unnatural causes. Costs 100 Magicules(MAG) per reset minute. 10-minute cooldown, the user dies if they die again in these 10 minutes.
Y/N: (That's... kind of overpowered. Even with the restrictions, just being able to go back in time when you die is crazy, especially with Pain Nullification. And considering I have a skill called Overpower that's kind of worrying. ...Speaking of Overpower!)
Unique Skill - Overpower
"Thee shall be punished for standing in my way."
Abilities:
-> Stat Overload - Temporarily boosts one or more of the user's stats based on the chosen individual to take stats from. The boost is capped at 99% due to the Punishment Phase. Uses 1MAG/sec for each percent.
-> Punishment Phase - The user's stat is debuffed based on the percent of Stat Overload used after the buff runs out.
-> Aura of Domination - Opponents with stats 30% or lower than the user will fear the user and have their stats debuffed by 30%. If an opponent is afraid of the user but doesn't meet the stat requirement the debuff will be 10%.
-> Area of Power - When active all allies in the near vicinity will gain a 10% stat buff. All opponents will gain a 10% stat debuff.
Your eyes widen as you see that.
Y/N: (I buff myself AND debuff my enemies? This is crazy good, what the hell. Okay... next up is Learner. I wonder what that one does if the other two were already this good.)
Unique Skill - Learner
"The thirst for knowledge incarnate."
Abilities:
-> Temporary Replication - Allows the user to replicate any skill after observing it, making these skills [Temporary Skills]. There are five "Temporary Skill Slots". These skills will vanish if MAG, HP, or SHP hits 0, if they break, or if they're overwritten by another Temporary Skill. Temporary Skills may be deleted anytime. Temporary Skills have a 1% chance to become permanent after acquisition, and a 0.5% chance after every use. Temporary Skills have 100 uses.
-> Rapid Learning - Time needed to master skills/magic/battlewills/other is reduced. An opponent's moveset, as well as other skills and information, can be analyzed and learned quickly.
-> Parallel Analysis - The user can analyze, process, and understand complex concepts, systems, skills, etc., and operate in the background parallel, significantly speeding up their thinking capabilities.
-> Knowledge Absorption - The user can acquire knowledge by touching people or objects for a certain amount of time.
-> Memory Archive - The user possesses a mental archive where all learned knowledge is stored. This can be accessed by the user closing their eyes and activating the skill, leaving the user's body in a state of unconsciousness while their conscience may explore the archive.
Temporary Skill Slots:
->...
->...
->...
->...
->...
Y/N: (WHAT THE FUUUUCK?! THIS IS THE MOST BROKEN OUT OF THEM ALL! And to think it gets such a simple name like "Learner". Laughable! That doesn't even begin to describe its power!)
What intrigued you the most at the moment was that memory archive. The temporary skills too, of course, but that'll have to wait until you face an opponent with suitable skills. But since you still had one skill left to read about you decide to wait with the memory archive until later.
Y/N: (Okay, last skill on the menu...)
Ultimate Skill - The System
"Thou art my vessel, I art your power.
Together we art growth.
We have established an unbreakable bond."
Abilities:
-> Level Up - The user can level up by converting a defeated opponent's EP into XP and gaining enough of it. The user gains 10 Stat Points per level. The System manages and protects the user, each and every possible change to them will be checked and, if rejected, blocked.
-> Stats - Stats determine the power of the user's different aspects. By using Stat Points, Stats can be increased. All Stats increase by 1 every 10 levels. Different permanent effects will be applied using titles.
-> Interface - An interactable interface can be summoned by the user. This can show the Status, Skills, Magic, Battlewills, and quests. The System can notify the user using this interface. Quests can be provided by the system based on the users' goals, giving rewards suitable for the quest.
-> Conversion - One or more skills can be evolved into a [System Skill] if certain requirements are met. System Skills are implemented into and managed by The System. System Skills cannot be evolved further or obtain a System Buff. System Skills are boosted by stats.
-> Implementation - Each and every non-system skill the user possesses positively affects and can be positively affected by The System. A System Buff can be awarded to skills above the extra rank if certain requirements are met.
Y/N: (...This is literally cheating. But wait, system skills?)
As if the skill could read your mind yet another window popped up.
System Skills:
Stat-Driven Body
-> Systemized Body - Provides HP(Health Points) and AUR(Aura) that are affected by stats. Damage and effects to the body will be negated and will instead affect HP, or will be treated as a corresponding status effect. If HP reaches 0, your heart will stop and you die.
Stat-Driven Mind
-> Systemized Mind - Provides SHP(Spiritual Health Points) and MAG(Magicules) that are affected by stats. Damage and effects to the mind will be negated and will instead affect SHP, or will be treated as a corresponding status effect. If SHP reaches 0, your mind will shut down and you die.
You didn't know how to take that. You read the descriptions again and again just to see if you missed something.
Y/N: (Completely negated? Holy shit. So my real body won't be affected at all? I'm LITERALLY a game character! Wow! I'm definitely gonna put these skills to good use. ...Once I figure out what to use it against. I still don't know enough about this world.)
You close all the screens that you had open in front of you. And then you remember the memory archive ability.
Y/N: (Right. I wanted to try that. So I just, uhm...) Closes his eyes. (Do I just think "Memory Archive"-)
Your body went limb as you activated the ability.
...
And as you opened your eyes again you were sitting on some kind of elevated seat. The room you were in could be best described by the word "white", as there wasn't much of any other color present. The seat you were in was right in the middle, a dome several meters above it. The room had four giant hallways that basically replaced what would've been the four walls, and in those hallways were rows upon rows of empty bookshelves with one way to go through each of them. There were some books in the first few bookshelves, but it really wasn't much.
However, there was also another problem. Even here, you were still a baby!
Y/N: (What?! Bullshit! I thought my conscience was gonna travel here, not this frail body! ... But this place is pretty cool. Maybe I could...)
You tried to carefully get down from the seat, but you slipped.
Y/N: (Oh shi-)
Your little body falls down from the seat and onto some stairs. Then you also roll down those stairs until you reach the end. As soon as that happened your conscience was pulled out of the memory archive and back into your real body.
...
Your real body didn't like that experience one bit and started to cry.
Y/N: (Uuuugh... you've gotta be kidding me! Why was this weak body in there and not my 19-year-old mind? Probably because this is technically my body now... I just need to have patience. No need to rush. I'll be able to use all of my skills with time.)
You heard one of your parents getting up to check on you.
Y/N: (And now I annoyed them too... great... I wish I could say sorry to them...)
...Five months later...
You were now 6 months old. And since you know how to, you managed to start crawling pretty early! And you know what that means, exploring, exploring, and more exploring. You already have a map of the house in your mind, the Rapid Learning and Parallel Analysis ability from Learner having helped out a ton. It was a very big house, which was to be expected with the positions your parents have. It even has a library! This exact library is your current goal.
Crawling down the hallway you came to the door of the library. It was closed.
Y/N: (Okay... what do I do now?)
You look around to find anything useful. Nothing.
Y/N: (There has to be a way to open this door. I can feel it.)
You crawl up to it and use the door to push yourself onto your legs, trying your hardest to reach for the door handle. However, what you didn't account for, is that the door opened by itself making you fall onto all fours again. Standing behind it was your mother.
Alice: "Oh, sweetie! What are you doing there?"
She picks you up and chuckles.
Alice: "Wanted to come see mommy?"
Y/N: (This is my only chance right now!) "Bwah!"
You reached out to the books in the room and used your hands to make grab signs. Your mother picked up on it and walked you over.
Alice: "Interested in books?" Takes out a book from one of the bookshelves. "I know they're very interesting but you sadly can't read them yet."
You reached out again and almost managed to touch the book.
Y/N: (C'mon, just a little bit more! Just let me use Knowledge Absorption!)
She puts the book back again.
Y/N: (NO! God damn it!)
Alice: "But with how eager you are I'm sure you'll read a lot in the future."
Y/N: (Oh hell nah, with Knowledge Absorption I won't need to read another book in my entire second life! I really just need one touch. Gimme a book!)
As soon as you could command your body to protest more your father could be heard from downstairs.
Luke: "HONEY! SOMEONE IS HERE TO SPEAK TO YOU!"
Alice: "Right, completely forgot about that!" Shouts back "COMING!" Turns her attention back to you and puts you back onto the ground. "I have to take care of something, sweetie. You stay here and don't make a mess, okay?"
Y/N: "Ga!" (Sure.)
Alice: "Perfect!"
She rushed out of the room and towards the stairs. You immediately started to crawl to the nearest bookshelf.
Y/N: (Finally! This was way too weird for my liking.)
You touched a book on the lowest row and used Knowledge Absorption. As soon as you did that a yellow light started to move through the pages of the book, starting from the front, and the information in the book manifested in your mind.
Y/N: (A book on herbs? Something, I guess. But I want more useful stuff.)
You continued to do the same with other books on the two lowest rows of the bookshelves. And while it took some time you got a lot of useful information out of it.
For starters, the Kingdom of Bulmund, where you live, is one of the smaller countries. It's part of the council of the west, and the free guild, which is where you believe your mother is working. Or at least in one of the sub-departments of the free guild. Another one of those sub-departments apparently was the typical adventurers guild you often saw in fantasy animes, which you instantly locked in as a later goal.
Also, monsters were real here. Especially in the Great Jura Forest and the southeast is apparently filled with majin. Typical slimes, goblins, everything you'd expect. You wondered if these monsters had a conscience, but you decided you were just gonna figure that out once you travel there to gain XP.
Then there was the information that intrigued you the most. Demon Lords and Chosen Heroes! Those are special evolutions one can achieve, and the ones that have undergone such evolution are some of the strongest individuals in the world. It makes sense to strive to become one, so you looked for information on how to do that, and sure enough, you found it. To become a demon lord you need to become a demon lord seed and undergo a harvest festival in order to evolve. The harvest festival requires 10.000 human souls, so sure enough you weren't gonna do that.
But a Chosen Hero is a different story. To become one you need to get the blessing of either a light or darkness elemental spirit, becoming a hero egg. And once that spirit deems you worthy, either by something you did or something else, you evolve into a True Hero.
Y/N: (That's what I wanna do. I always wanted to be a hero like in the fairytales. I'll even get magic out of it! But how does one get an elemental?)
You looked through some more books. And one had information about the "Dwelling of Spirits". It was located somewhere in Ulg Nature Park, which again is located in the Republic of Ulgracia. There it was possible to contract a spirit. Ulgracia lies to the far south of the Sorcerous Dynasty of Sarion. If you go south from Bulmund, follow the side of the Great Jura Forest, and follow the coast after that, you should arrive in Ulgracia.
Y/N: (That settles it! Once I'm old enough I'll travel there and contract a spirit! Maybe I won't get lucky enough for light or darkness, but who cares? Magic is magic!)
Then you suddenly got a notification from The System.
[New Quest!]
Main Quest - Crusade of the Blessed
Travel to the Republic of Ulgracia and find the Dwelling of the Spirits.
- Enter Ramiris's Small World (0/1)
Reward:
1000XP
Y/N: (...What the hell is a "Ramiris's Small World"?)
Before you could think more about that you heard footsteps approaching. And not long after your mother came into the library again. She quickly looked around and found you looking at her.
Alice: "There you are! You didn't make any mess, right?"
She looked around to maybe find any book scattered around. But she smiled as she found out that everything was in order.
Alice: "Of course, you wouldn't do that, you're my little angel after all!" Picks you up and boops your nose. "Oh yes, you are! Now let's get you something to eat, you must be starving."
Without really anything to do against it, you were carried to the dining table.
Y/N: (Oh, whatever. I'll figure it out later.)
...
Next Chapter: Growing up in this magical new world.
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