Raine Sano Quill was a questionably pleasant guy. He was the type to talk with you about that recent trip he'd taken to Japan where he'd gone to a mystical snowy village in the mountains, or about his new and improvised beef stew recipe. On occasion, he'd even talk about the latest manga and anime that was popular at the time.

Another thing that people also found out soon, was that he was also sort of obnoxious. He'd ramble on sarcastically, dumping misery onto those most vulnerable, making fun of people, and so on. Despite this, most people still viewed Raine as a nice person.

High school days flashed by, and not even Raine himself could have predicted what was next. Whirling wind, pouring rain, crackling lightning, on that fateful night, the sheer force of nature had struck out, causing him to promptly slip and fall down a ledge.

It wouldn't have been too bad if it was a small drop, but no, this was much worse. The rainwater had blinded him, and the wind had overpowered him in its deranged drunken stupor. Raine Sano Quill, a relatively normal high school student, had fallen headfirst on the concrete, rendering him dead within a second of impact.

The end.

At least, that was it for Raine's first life. What he hadn't expected was for something of the supernatural to occur. Something that he could only have dreamed of happening in the likes of the stories he read to wash away boredom.

"Huh," In experiencing that thing that he could supposedly only dream of, frankly out of shock, Raine could only manage a small grunt as the young teen looked about.

For the first moment in his life, Raine felt…. Senseless. It was a strange disorienting feeling, ten-fold of what one would experience in a pitch-black room. His eyes stared into vantablack, and his ears seemingly muted, not a sound to be heard. His limbs flail about uselessly, as numb and unresponsive as a shocked prairie dog suddenly transported atop Mount Everest.

This strange limbo carried on for a time, as Raine tried to collect his thoughts. While he did feel very disoriented, there wasn't even a nick on his body. That fall should have broken a good part of the bones in his body! It should have probably killed him!

Was this the afterlife? Was this what awaited all those after death? An infinite spiraling void of detachment and silence?

It was too early to tell. As depressing as the situation was, a small foolish optimism within Raine held strong as he waited impatiently for something to happen. Something that would possibly tell him of his current situation…

Lo and behold, Raine was correct. Something did happen.

It was a sound! After a few minutes of nothingness, Raine already felt as if he was going insane, but this sound really woke him up. It was the crisp metallic ding of a wind chime on a bright Spring morning.

<1…17…..50%>

<....100%>

A chorus of satisfying noises followed as before his eyes, something lit up. It was a holographic virtual panel. As the words flashed across the screen, Raine was quick to connect the dots. In a futile quest to cure his boredom, he'd stumbled into a rather frustrating hole.

The hole? Fanfictions and web novels.

Within these somewhat haphazardly slapped together pages, was a simple plot device usually used for wish-fulfillment, or as a Deus Ex Machina of sorts.

The System Trope.

Hate it or love it, about two-thirds of all light novels usually consisted of them, or some other convenient entity.

Raine was rather neutral on the topic. Some were good when executed correctly, and somewhere just lame. Now how would this one turn out….?

And with a dramatic flourish of glowing blue sparks and a flash of white light, he was gone. Raine felt his body pull and tingle as the feeling of the void departed, soon replaced by a feeling he was much more familiar with.

The slightly itchy yet soft feeling of long grass against the skin. The cool wind rustled his hair. A leaf landed on his nose.

----->

Little Whinging, Surrey

Raine stared out blankly at his surroundings, both somewhat amused and excited. It was an eerily normal neighborhood, Rows upon rows of stately two-story buildings made from beige brick, with lace-framed windows and white picket fences. The sky above was a dull grey, devoid of much vibrancy, turning the whole town a darker shade.

This was Little Whinging. A supposedly fictional town where the first few pages of the hit magical-fantasy series Harry Potter took place. How did he know this? Raine looked at the sign next to him.

It was a little faded and rusted, but those bolded words were enough information. Privet Drive. His hand reached out and tapped on the sign in wonder. This truly seemed to be the place that Raine had seen in the movies and read about in the books.

His expression was completely listless for a while more as he took in the view. To think some words on paper could become such vivid beauty. It all seemed so ordinary and neat, that to Raine, it became surreal.

Turning to the side, just across the paved street, was that fateful house. No. 4 Privet Drive. He could see a few lights on through the curtains. Seemed like a few people, or someone was home. Raine mused. What year had he landed himself in?

Then suddenly. out of nowhere, he was snapped from his thoughts as that crisp ring from before echoed through his mind.

Raine blinked. He simply had to press yes or no? He'd truly expected for there to be some twist. Any condition that he had to fulfill or a certain part of the location he would have to be in. Wasn't this a little too easy? Forget it, as long as things worked, they worked.

Despite the suspiciousness of everything, he had no choice at the moment, but to go along with this "System". It was in a way, part of what had brought him back from the grave after all.

Raine smiled, reaching out into the air.