Everything was black, again. But this time, not because of death but because of life. Kato was about to embark on another journey as his previous one was cut short. Not to mention, the way he got isekai'd was not instant and on top of that, it also made him experience excruciating pain.
Kato was a college student who always relished in the thrill of adventure that novels gave him. A bit weird as they all had systems and whatnot, but we're not one to judge. As someone who had a lot of free time delving into reading, he was obviously isolated. By choice, that is. He found his joy in things that only existed within our minds.
However, he was not without luck. He had a loving family and he loved them just as much. Although Kato was not that expressive, he swore in his heart that he would give them a life they deserved. He wanted to repay their love tenfold, which brought him to feel hate, rage, and various emotions as he failed to uphold his promise.
Now, would he find the joy and thrill he's supposed to in this new world? Or...?
"It's pitch black. Again. I can't see anything." Kato thought to himself when suddenly, his senses were assaulted with a variety of unexplainable feelings. It was uncomfortable yet fulfilling to know that it was about to be over as he finally saw a light that was growing bigger. No, it was getting closer to him instead. As if he was blinded, the light in the room pervaded his eyes as he finally reached the end of the light.
"Honey! It's a boy!" The man's wife smiled softly and closed her eyes to rest. Giving birth must have exhausted her greatly. She had blue eyes and a soft face that exuded warmth and beauty. No, she could be an actress in Kato's world!
On the other hand, his father was built. You could see his muscles trying to rip his fit clothes apart, and he had a beard that was not too dense. However, that couldn't hide his handsome features. He exuded the aura of a capable and stern man.
After slowly adjusting to the light and with some effort, he was able to recognize what had just happened. He had been born.
"I really am here... and alive. I'll definitely thank him once I see him again." Not caring whether it was because of him taking care of the cat's mother before, regardless, he would thank the old man or what he appeared to be as 'God'.
With that thought aside, Kato observed his supposed parents and surroundings. He saw that the room he was in had a lot of wood, not just any wood you would expect from poor households, but not from rich ones either. It was fine-grained, resulting in a refined and elegant appearance, fitting for a normal mid-sized house. He also noticed that there were no apparent signs of technological advancement. This made him think that he was born into a world where, as he would have guessed, magic ruled instead of urbanization.
And he noticed that his parents were killers! Their presence was incredibly captivating. They were so appealing to the eye!
Now that he had an inkling of his family's status, he wondered if he could keep up with what's about to come. Although most novels portrayed MCs learning everything effortlessly, Kato was smart but not too smart. The knowledge he possessed from modern times would be a huge advantage, but he was not confident if he could absorb everything like a sponge.
Pushing those doubts aside, he focused on what was in front of him right now. Kato's dad watched his son with both curiosity and worry, as he was quiet. Contrary to the reactions of any 'normal' baby who would cry without fail, Kato made some slight noise and movement with some difficulty as a gesture to not worry them that he's dead, as he'd seen this type of scenario thousands of times in his novels. His mother passed out from exhaustion, and now his father was looking at him with great joy as Kato assured him of his situation. His father's smile reached from ear to ear as if he was born only to see his son.
"Although your mother is fast asleep, we have already talked about who's naming you." "And since you're a boy... I get to name my beloved son!"
Oh boy, I hope it would at least be decent. Kato thought to himself as he made a wry smile. Or rather he tried to, but all that happened was him showing his gums and doing the job of a baby. Being cute.
"OH MY! My son would make countless maidens fall for him!"
Wait... I can understand them. I guess I don't need to worry about learning the language anymore!
Perhaps from his noisy father, his mother woke up and pinched his thigh. "Ow! Ow! Honey! What did I do!"
"Stop teaching my son stupid things at an early age! Maybe I should be the one naming him!" Kato's mother said in an angry tone.
"Haven't we already talked about this?"
"I changed my mind, I will be naming him instead. Hmph!"
Kato's father made a wry smile, which quickly disappeared.
"How about we let him choose?"
Kato's mother shot a questioning look at her husband but eventually agreed.
"Fine, but we both know my adorable son would choose his mother."
"Alright, dear, between mommy and daddy, which one of us do you want?"
"Well, sh*t."
"As much as I'd love to choose both of them... I-"
"Wait, who says I can't choose them both? I'm a baby after all; they won't expect me to be rational!"
Without further ado, I tried to lean forward and reach toward both of them from my crib. They were speechless, as they had not expected this kind of response.
"…I guess we're both naming him, huh, honey?"
Making the same unexpected reaction from her,
"…right."
After talking together for a bit, they finally decided.
"We want you to be strong enough to take care of yourself." "And courageous enough to not falter amidst despair."
"Alright, son, your name will be…"
1 Month Later...
Although he missed his parents from Earth, he swore in his heart that he would live until the day he died only from natural causes. And of course... without regret!
Moving on... it seems that the old man did more than just send him to a world with magic and many other things for him to probably discover as their talk was cut short, depriving him of any further information he had for him.
"Status."
He thought to himself as a window of a game-like interface appeared in front of him.
[Name: Leo Ignacius]
[Race: Human] [?]
[Level: 1] [0/100 Exp]
[Class: —] [Job: —]
[Health: 5/5] [Mana: —] [Aura: —]
[Strength: 2] [Agility: 1] [Stamina: 2] [Intelligence: 6] [Dexterity: 3]
[Stat Points: —] [Complete beginner's quest to unlock.]
A/N: A perfectly healthy and active adult would have about 10 in all stats. Leo's intelligence stat is 6 due to having his memory and knowledge intact. Only about half, but that was still abnormal as his body and physiological state have yet to fully develop.
"In the past month, all I ever did was eat, sleep, poop, repeat."
sigh
"I'm dying to start on magic, but I don't even know where to begin."
Leo stressed out as he initially planned to start training his magic as early as possible, but the lack of information daunted him.
"I wanted to get a good head start among my peers, but I guess not everything will go in my favor."
Without anything to do, all he learned so far about his system was that the world he was in had classes, jobs, and aside from magic...
If Leo's memory served him right, the existence of aura hinted at something about knights and warriors whose combat ability revolved around their physical prowess.
Lying down in the room he was in, it was not too small nor was it too big. Leo also surmised that his family was apparently a double-income family, as they were not around the house a lot and left early in the morning.
Yes, both of them were working, and from the things they wore and carried around with them, Leo assumed that his father was probably part of some military while his mother might be a tutor or a professor of magic.
Kato wanted to jump in joy as that would mean he would gain access to a variety of learning materials for magic. With the absence of his parents, they obviously had a maid who usually tended to his daily needs.
He was unable to learn anything more other than that as he had yet to explore the wonders outside his room.
"Well, it ought to be a hell of studying."