Six years have passed since Molly awoke in this new world that she now knew was called Eridal. Unlike Earth, Eridal granted everyone at ten years old a system that granted classes and abilities.
These classes and abilities determined what jobs you could get, with the level you have in the class also being a notable factor.
Learning this information had brightened Molly's mood considerably and made her think that being stuck in the gross, run-down orphanage was only a small price to pay.
Making her way towards Matron Mary's office, Molly cried out as her foot got stuck in one of the holes in the ground, and she roughly fell face forward onto the ground.
"Owwww!"
Rubbing her aching face, she lifted herself off the dusty floor and sighed as she looked down at her bruised and scraped-up legs. The children in the orphanage often called her 'clumsy' and 'cursed' and tended to keep a distance since her bad luck seemed to rub off on the people around her.
The only one who wasn't scared off by her strange misfortune was Max, but he was hardly around anymore since he became an apprentice farmer three years ago.
Patting herself down, Molly continued towards Matron Mary's office, being extra mindful as she walked, not wanting to get even more bruised up than she already was.
Upon making it to the only door not covered in mold in the building, Molly gave it a light tap.
"Enter!"
Opening the door, Molly scurried inside the room before placing herself in front of the oak desk at the far end of the room where Matron Mary sat behind the desk, looking as stiff and unyielding as always with her stringy brown hair tied tightly behind her head and her cold, sharp brown eyes narrowing as they took in Molly's appearance.
"I told you to come looking your best, why are you covered in dust?"
Gulping a bit nervously, Molly tried to explain, "I'm sorry, Matron Mary, but I tripped in one of the holes on the way here."
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Matron Mary wondered why she even tried getting this girl adopted; she ruined every meeting that had been set up in a variety of ways. One particular incident came to mind when the girl had accidentally fallen and thrown some hot tea on her prospective father's lap.
"Well, take a seat, and under no circumstances are you to move. If they want you to stand, just lie and say you hurt your foot or something."
Molly nodded compliantly before taking a seat. She understood the matron's frustration; young babies were typically very easy to find homes for, but something always seemed to go horribly wrong every time she was given an opportunity for adoption. She cringed a bit as she recalled the time she projectile vomited into the faces of one couple.
Soon a knock came on the door and Matron Mary got to her feet, but before going to the door, she glared at Molly. "Do not under any circumstances move during this meeting!" she hissed out.
She moved and opened the door, ushering in a couple dressed in beautiful clothing. The woman had long, flowing chocolate brown hair and warm brown eyes, while the man was tall and muscular with dirty blond hair and bright green eyes.
"Mr. and Mrs. Barkley, it's a pleasure to meet you," Matron Mary said, escorting them to the moderately well-kept sofa sitting across from Molly.
"This is Molly. She is currently six years old and is very well-tempered."
The couple smiled as they looked at Molly before the woman greeted her, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Molly."
The meeting seemed to be going well; they asked Molly several questions, most of which she answered honestly aside from the ones that Matron Mary had prepared her for earlier with answers she thought would attract the couple's attention.
After an hour, the couple stood and smiled down at Molly. "I think you would make a great addition to our family, Molly," the woman said brightly.
Happy, Molly sprang up, excited that she would have parents of her own. Right as she stood up, the light fixture hanging on the ceiling made a loud cracking noise before plummeting down to the ground right onto the woman.
"Ahhh!!" The woman screamed out as her body crumpled beneath the weight of the light fixture.
"I told you not to stand!" Matron Mary hissed out as she began helping the woman's husband to remove the light fixture.
Tears pricked at Molly's eyes; her heart felt heavy as she realized she had ruined yet another chance at adoption.
After the light fixture was removed, the couple apologized and said they needed to think things through more before running out of the orphanage.
Matron Mary sighed and began rubbing her temples as she poured herself a glass of amber liquid. "I was so close to being rid of the walking disaster!" she cried out, sad that she was likely to be stuck with Molly until she became ten and started working.
Tears ran down her face, Molly ran out of the room, through the building, and out the door until she made it to her favorite spot, a giant tree she and Max would usually relax at together.
Tripping over a branch by the tree, Molly didn't even register the pain as she cried out while lying on the hard ground.
"Molly, are you alright?"
Leaning up from the ground, Molly wiped the tears and snot off her face as she glanced at Max with bleary vision.
"That bad, huh."
Taking in the pathetic state of his adorable little sister, Max made his way over to Molly and took a seat next to her, wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and gave her a light hug.
"Did you trip them and have them fall into mud again?" he asked, wanting her to open up and talk about what had happened, thinking it would make her feel better.
"A-a light f-fixture fell on the woman when I s-stood up," she cried out, her words stammering a bit as she talked.
Max placed a hand on her head and began ruffling her curly blond hair. "Don't be upset, just think of it as something that wasn't meant to happen. Instead, as a consolation, you can just keep being my cute little sister."
Throwing herself in Max's arms, Molly hugged him tightly. "How come things always go horribly when I'm around?" she asked him, even if she already knew the answer.
When talking to the strange voice, it informed her that she would end up cursed in her next life.
"I wouldn't say horribly. I think things are simply more interesting when you're around."
Releasing her hug, Molly stared at Max with eyes full of disbelief. "You once broke your nose because a rock flew in my direction and you pushed me out of the way."
"Like I said, life is never boring when you're around," he laughed.
Boring sounded pretty good to Molly. Her old life was the definition of boring; she went to college, worked part-time, occasionally hung out with friends, and once a month would visit her grandmother's grave. While not overly exciting, it was better than being plagued with bad luck.
Seeing her dissatisfied expression, Max sighed. "You're a smart and beautiful young girl. Once you unlock your system, I'm sure you will learn to make good use of your special.....gift."
Max honestly hoped he was right, though he had struggled on occasion to think of something she could do that she couldn't possibly mess up. "Have you thought about what kind of class you want to get when you turn 10?"
"Not really, nothing I've heard about has caught my interest."
"Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out and be so spectacular at it that you even gain immortality."
Molly shrugged. While immortality sounded nice on paper, it was not something she would want unless she managed to get rid of this stupid curse.
"Well, I think for a second or third class you should get some kind of merchant class. It would work well with that ability of yours."
A person can have a total of three classes, but the ease of experience gain goes down, so it's harder to level a second or third class compared to the first one.
Max had been trying to convince her since she was old enough to speak that she should be a merchant and sell some of the things he grows along with some of the food she can conjure.
While not a bad idea, Molly didn't find the idea interesting and had no passion for it, unlike Max, who was very passionate when it came to farming, and she wanted that for herself. The upside to his idea would be getting to work with him, but that was the only upside in Molly's humble opinion.
The two continued to talk and joke around for a few hours, with Max working his hardest to make Molly feel better until he had to leave to head back to the farm he was apprenticing on.
Feeling better, she made her way back to the orphanage and took care not to trip in one of the holes in the ground until she made it to the shared room that all the female children used.
Molly's straw bed was shoved against the corner of the far end of the room with all the other beds being placed carefully away from hers, unwilling to wake up covered in bats or whatever else occasionally happened around Molly.
Getting herself cleaned up with a dirty rag, Molly wished for the day when she would be able to feel clean. Sighing, she set the rag down and made it to her bed. Getting as comfortable as possible on the straw bed with a rough patchwork blanket, Molly sent a prayer to anyone who would listen that her luck would turn around one day.