The first thing I heard was the sound of heavy rain falling on a wooden roof. I slowly opened my eyes to see that I was lying on a bed inside a dimly lit room that I did not recognize. Wait… wasn't I dead? Was I saved by someone? Was it a dream? No that is impossible, that was too vivid to be a dream and I still remember the horrible pain of being shot multiple times. It was impossible that I would be alive after that.
However, something was very different. I looked down and the body I saw was not my own. It was a lanky figure of a young man I did not recognize. I felt my face and it seemed very different too.
Completely at loss with the situation, I look around the room. It had only one bed on which I was lying on and almost no other furniture except a chair near the bedside. The walls were made of wood and the floor board was in need of serious repair. My eyes discovered the source of the dim light permeating through the room. A small sphere, the size of a lemon, was hovering near one of the walls. It didn't seem to be connected to any wires and was floating freely while pulsing softly with a warm glow of light. Before I could comprehend what I was seeing, an obtrusive text entered my field of vision.
[Please spell your name: ]
What the f**k! Do people have crazy and elaborate hallucinations after death? Might as well go along with it. "Alex Craig." I said in a low voice which sounded alien to my ears.
[Welcome to the planet Nemea! You may use the command "System" to bring up your menu.]
I have encountered countless texts like this in the several RPG games I used to play. Don't tell me I have died and been reincarnated in some other planet! Although I am familiar with this concept as I had been an avid reader of the Isekai genre, it is hard to imagine something so cliché occurring in real life. Yet here I am. "System" I said softly and immediately a bunch of text came up in my vision.
[Strength: 3] [Agility: 3] [Intelligence: 3] [Constitution: 3]
[HP: 50/50] [Mana: 10/10]
[Rank ??: Defy Fate, Lv. 1] [Rank SS: Devour, Lv. 1]
[To know more about a skill, use the command "Inspect". To close the menu use command "Close".]
I took some time to process the situation. It seemed beyond reasonable doubt that I had been reincarnated to a world which possessed some sort of magical system. I don't know if there is some entity that did that and if I have a specific purpose to fulfil. I will worry about that later, for now I felt grateful to have another chance. I could still remember the resolve in the eyes of the woman I saved in my previous life. At least I was finally able to do something useful by saving her. I vowed to never meekly accept fate anymore and continue to fight so that I could live life as I pleased, on my own terms.
"Let's see what we've got." I said with enthusiasm as once more I directed my attention to the menu. It looked exactly like the character status screen in an RPG game. If this world had similar mechanics to those games then my stats were pretty self-explanatory. Strength and agility correspond to physical brute power and movement speed. While intelligence and constitution were probably going to increase maximum Mana and HP. I was excited to see Mana as that proves that this world has magic in it. The floating orb in the room is probably some form of magic. There also seems to be a Class option which might be associated with my specialty in this world. For now, I have no way to know about it. My level is set to 1, I expect there is some way to earn experience and level up in order to increase my stats. I am intrigued by my two skills. There seems to be a Rank and Level system associated to each. I inspect both of them.
[Rank ??: Defy Fate, Lv. 1]
[Info: The threads of fate hold the world together. Yet, you dare to go against what is preordained. Your actions will shake the order of the universe.]
[Rank SS: Devour, Lv. 1]
[Info: Every time you defeat an enemy, there is a 1% chance of permanently obtaining one of their skills you currently don't have.]
My first skill sounds grand but I am not sure if it will be of any practical use. The rank information is also not available there for some reason. My second skill on the other hand has a very high rank. 1% chance to obtain skills is a very low drop rate but if this world has an abundance of monsters that need to be defeated, it will be very useful. If not, I don't want to be a mass murderer just to obtain some skills. I notice that both of my skills have arisen as a direct consequence of my actions right before death.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps. I glanced upwards and am stunned to see an extremely cute girl standing at the door. The first thing I noticed about her was her beautiful brown hair cascading down on her shoulders. She was of short stature and her large eyes showed an expression of shock and disbelief, probably at my wakefulness. Her cheeks were flushed pink and her chest heaved up and down to match her state of excitement. Before I could find my wits, I was assaulted with a rush of the sweet scent of jasmine and a tender, warm sensation as she jumped straight into my arms.