"Shit! Shit! Shit!" I exclaimed as I snatched the gown and hat from my desk chair, hastily gripping its fabric. With urgency, I dashed out of my dorm room, stumbling to slide my socks and shoes on. Regret filled my mind as I questioned why I had stayed up so late playing video games.
After finally managing to put on my shoes, I forcefully slammed the door shut and sprinted down the hall, paying little heed to my surroundings. Suddenly, a figure emerged from their room, caught off guard by my swift approach. I collided with their shoulder, narrowly avoiding knocking them over.
"HEY!" they exclaimed, their voice filled with irritation, as I continued sprinting down the hall.
"Sorry!" I yelled back, my words barely audible in my haste.
Reaching the stairwell door, I swung it open and swiftly descended the steps, skipping three at a time. Thoughts of my impending confrontation with my parents raced through my mind.
"My parents are gonna whoop my ass."
After reaching the bottom of the stairwell. I rushed out into the street, looking for which way I needed to go.
I rushed down the narrow walkway and up the stairs, towards the stadium looming down the road. The streets today were very busy, with cars and buses bumper to bumper. On the main street of the campus, students in gowns were filing toward the entrance to the stadium.
I carelessly put my arms through the gown and draped it over my back. Then, I quickly adjusted my cap onto my head, the tassel shaking behind me as I sprinted past everyone down the street.
At the end of the sidewalk was a t-intersection where students were waiting to cross the street to get to the stadium.
"Why'd they have to choose me to give the first speech at graduation?" I asked breathlessly.
I continued to race down the road, weaving through the crowds and bumping into some people along the way.
"Watch where you're going!"
"Hey! Apologize, moron, that was my girlfriend that you hit!"
Nearing the intersection, I looked down both ends of the street and didn't see any moving traffic, so I booked it past the crowd waiting for the walking light to come on.
"Hey, the light hasn't tur–"
As I was halfway across the street, I felt a massive blow to the side and got flung a good 20 feet down the road. I landed on the pavement hard, with blood filling my vision.
"Agghh." I groaned through a marred face.
As I lay on my back, I gazed into the bright blue sky with large puffy clouds dotting the atmosphere. All the noise of the traffic and hundreds of students was drowned out by a piercing ringing in my head. My vision started to blur as silhouettes appeared around me. Muffled voices further increased the mind-numbing pain that racked my brain.
Everything started to blur and fade away.
'Fuck. Am I really going to die here? For this stupid speech?'
…
'At least I won't see the disappointed faces of my parents. I'm sorry Mom for not being the respectable adult you wanted me to be.'
My pain faded away and my eyes grew dim. Darkness shrouded my vision.
'I hope I'm going to heaven.'
…
'Don't tell me… Is this what happens when you die?'
A faint glimmer shone in the distance through the dark.
'Wait, what is that?'
'Is that heaven? Did I make it?'
The light got brighter, eventually filling up most of my vision. The light got brighter and brighter until my eyes were hurting.
'Wait… It hurts? Why are my eyes hurting?!'
When I thought the light would blind me, it suddenly faded away. What took its place was a thick forest. I held my hand in front of my eyes to shield them from the glaring sun poking through the trees.
'My hand!'
I turned my hand around, looking at the palm and fingers. Then I noticed the shirt I was wearing. It was a puffy, thin, white collared shirt with sleeves rolled up to my elbows.
[Hello, Lucas Sanders.]
The sudden voice made me jump up from my sitting position.
"Wh– Who's there?" I asked, looking around the empty forest.
[Behind you.]
I quickly spun around, coming face to face with a small windowed screen with a silhouette of a woman on it, hovering in the air.
[My name is Emy.]
"What the hell. What is this thing?" I walked around the window, trying to find what was making it float like that, but it was stuck in the middle of my vision!
[I am an artificial intelligence that will help you navigate your system.]
"System?" I asked. "Wait, before that. What happened to me? The last thing I remember is being hit by something as I was running to the stadium."
[You died.] Emy said with a flat tone like it wasn't anything important.
"WHAT?!?!" My eyes widened. I put my hands to my chest, trying to feel for any injuries. "Am I in heaven?"
[You were reincarnated.]
My movements stopped abruptly and I stared at the floating window.
"Like That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime reincarnated?!"
[Searching database for title… Yes, that kind of reincarnation. But you are not a small blue ball of gelatinous fluid.]
My jaw dropped. My hands went to my face, feeling the soft skin and sharp jawline.
"Heh… Heh… That's… crazy."
In a dazed stupor, I hobbled in a random direction aimlessly.
"Reincarnated… Hehe."
[There is no need to freak out, master.]
"Freak out? Who's freaking out?" I asked. "How am I supposed to be calm? I died and now I'm in a completely different world! Alone!"
[You have me, master.]
"And who the hell are you!?" My breathing sped up and I began to feel nauseous. I held my hand up to my mouth. "I think I'm going to throw up."
[Master, you are hyperventilating, please calm down.]
"I can't do this. I was just a normal college student about to graduate. I was going to live a normal life, with a normal job, with a normal wife, with a normal… normal… normal." I put both hands to the side of my head and sat with my back to a big rock, swaying back and forth.
[Master everything will be alrigh—]
My vision faded and I lost consciousness.
…
When my vision returned, I was underneath an unfamiliar ceiling.
"The unfamiliar ceiling cliche, how wonderful," I mumbled.
I put my palm to my forehead and closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath.
"What am I going to do now?" I asked myself.
I rose from the bed and looked around the room. It was a Victorian-themed room with serval desks and mirrors. A large window to my right with large burlap drapes let in the soft light of the sun. I gazed back over to the large mirror in front of my bed.
Sitting on the bed was a boy with long, dark hair and golden eyes. He had a sharp jawline and a thin frame.
"This is my new body, huh," I said without a shred of emotion. "Sorry to whoever I possessed."
After examining my new body, I got up from the soft bed and walked over to the window. Outside was a courtyard in the center of a large Victorian mansion. There was a gushing fountain in the middle and hedge bushes lining the edges of the concrete walkways.
"I guess this is the time when the butler comes in calling me young master."
As if on cue, the handle to the door of the room jostled and opened. An elderly man with a receding hairline and a black tuxedo was revealed, holding a plate with a glass of water on it.
"You're finally awake, young master," he said as he walked in and placed the cup on the nightstand next to the bed. "What were you thinking going out into the forest alone? The guards had to search everywhere to find you."
"Is this some sort of sick joke?" I said under my breath.
"Young master?" The man asked.
"Ah, sorry about that. I was just looking for something to do. Sorry to bother everyone."
The man smiled. "That's fine. Just tell us when you're leaving next time."
'That's it!? They find me passed out in the forest and he's fine with it?'
"Alright, I'll do that. Thank you." I said.
The man bowed. "I'm just doing my job, sir. With you being the last member of the Raijin family still in the mortal realm, and this close to your 18th birthday, I couldn't help but be worried."
'Huh? The mortal realm? Is all my family dead?'
"Yes, well, I appreciate it. I'm going to retire for the day. Can you bring my dinner here when it's ready?" I asked.
"Very well. I'll be back later then."
The man bowed again and left the room.
I sighed in relief.
"Man, who knew I'd be such a good young master? Thank god my previous self wasn't some prick in the past. Then I'd have to come up with some amnesia story."
I walked back to my bed from the window and sat down, looking into my reflection.
"Emy," I said into thin air.
A small window appeared in front of me with the silhouette of a woman.
[Yes, master.]
"I still need to get used to this." I sighed. "What was the butler talking about with my family?"
[That information is currently unavailable for me to acquire.]
"It was worth a try. What can you tell me, then? You said I have a system, right?"
[Yes.]
The silhouette disappeared and was replaced by a list of information.
…
Name: Kaiser Raijin
Level: 1
XP: 0 / 10
Status:
Health: 100%
Stamina: 100%
Mana: N/A
{Skill Trees}
…
"That's… basic. I was expecting a little more than this."
[The main information page is mostly just for keeping track of your level and status. Most of the system is in the skill trees section.]
"Oh, ok." I tapped the skill trees icon, which I soon came to regret.
Suddenly, the window expanded immensely, covering my entire field of view. Tons and tons of words spewed out, completely jarring my vision.
"Woah! Emy! Shut it off! Shut it off! Too much! Too much!" I said, waving my hands in front of me.
All the text suddenly stopped and collapsed back in on itself. Leaving just four words.
…
{Body}
{Mind}
{Magic Arts}
{Consolidation}
…
[Sorry, master. I forgot to condense the information to be more friendly to the user.]
"Jesus Christ Emy, I almost had a seizure," I said, taking a deep breath and collecting myself. "AND WHY THE HELL ARE THERE SO MANY SKILL TREES!?"