I follow a repetitive but simple routine every day: wake up, work out, go to work, and come home to watch shows, read, or game.
It might seem boring since I rarely touch grass, but I've come to enjoy it. Interacting with others isn't hard for me, but it drains my social battery.
One time, I went to a party and saw people smoking zaza, drinking, and chatting. The environment felt a bit overwhelming. I would've much rather been gaming or watching anime. Still, I managed to survive two hours in that suffocating atmosphere.
I'll leave parties to the extroverts and let my introverted self retreat back into my cave…
Yeah… my cave is safe and comfy. The softness of my bed calls to me every day!
Right now, I'm reading a web novel. It's the same repetitive concept—reincarnated, transmigrated, or going back in time. Just like my routine, it's predictable, but I can't stop reading them.
Stories about reincarnation always get my mind turning.
What if I reincarnated? I don't believe in ghosts, but aliens? That's another story.
What if I died and became someone else? Or went back in time? Death is terrifying, but part of me is curious if it *could* happen.
It's not like I want to die, but experiencing it just once? That would be something.
Who am I kidding? if I reincarnated into one of those medieval magic worlds, I'd probably die right away. I'm not a main character—just an extra…
An extra… heh. I've read a few novels about extras too.
Welp, enough goofing around. Time to head to bed. Luckily, tomorrow is Saturday, and I don't have work.
Yawning, I turn off my phone and make sure to plug it in to charge.
Can't have my phone on low battery—that's the worst for an introvert like me!
Rubbing my eyes, I let out one last yawn and close them.
One of the best parts of life is sleeping, especially after a long day at work.
If I had to imagine what heaven feels like, it's probably this.
"Good night," I mutter, nudging my cheek against the pillow before slowly drifting into unconsciousness.
♠️♠️♠️
Beep… Beep… Beep…
Opening my eyes, I could've sworn I heard some kind of beeping noise—like an alarm on a phone.
If I were in the right state of mind, I'd have noticed something odd: I never use alarms since they're way too annoying!
Another thing—it's the weekend. Why wouldn't I sleep in?
Unfortunately, I'd just woken up, so my brain wasn't functioning as intended.
I turned to my right to find my phone. Well, tried to, but all I ended up doing was patting the ground blindly, hoping to find it.
I usually leave my phone on the floor next to my bed, but today, it seemed like luck wasn't on my side. My hand kept "dancing" around, trying to locate the stupid thing.
After about a minute, I realized I couldn't feel it at all.
Frowning, I peeked over the bed to check the floor. Nothing. Not a single trace of my phone on the carpet.
My heart skipped a beat. My phone was gone.
My frowned deepened but I quickly convinced myself it was just an unlucky morning. Whatever. Time to get some sleep…
Beep… Beep… Beep…
Oh, right. That fucking alarm was still going off.
Fully awake now, I noticed the sound wasn't coming from the right—it was coming from my left.
Groaning, I turned to my left and saw… a drawer?
When did I put a drawer there?
Confusion filled my mind as I stared at it. I know I didn't place a drawer there recently.
This morning is getting interesting, but I don't need this right now! I'm tired!
Using my newly acquired brainpower, I mustered up an answer:
I must be in a lucid dream… my first one ever.
Like they say, there's a first time for everything.
Cut the bullshit! I don't know why this drawer is here—I definitely didn't put it there. More importantly, the entire room looks completely different from my usual room.
First off, the room I'm in is *way* too big. It feels like one of those rooms you'd see in an *"Inside One of the Best Mansions in Southern California"* video.
At least, that's what it feels like in the moment. In reality, it's just a normal room you'd see in any house.
To be fair, I've never lived in a house before. I've only lived with my parents in apartments or in a dorm during college.
Based on that alone, I can already conclude this isn't my home. Which means I'm currently somewhere else—with no idea how I got here.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
I felt my heart rate quicken as I came to my conclusion.
I quickly sat up and looked around the room that was supposedly mine.
It's a very nice room, if I had to say so myself—large bed, TV mounted on the wall (a new experience I wholeheartedly welcome), and, of course, the new drawer…
**Beeep… Beeep… Beeep…**
Thinking about the drawer, I completely zoned out the reason this whole situation started.
I reached for my phone and pulled the charger out of it. Holding it in my hand, I could tell it was one of the newer models of Apple phones.
Not that it says much—they're basically replicas of the same phone but with more cameras. Still, I had an iPhone 11 before coming here. I'd planned to get a new phone but, honestly, I'm too lazy for my own good.
Talking about this new life, I've clearly upgraded so far. Am I finally being blessed for all the throwers in my ranked matches?
Joking aside, I turned off the damn alarm and admired my new phone. Ahh, so beautiful!
I gently caressed the phone, a pleasant smile spreading across my face. It was thicker and had a black case on it. Of course, the absurd amount of cameras were there too. Not that it mattered—I barely ever use the camera since I don't take pictures. Ever.
Photogenic? Yeah, that's impossible for me. I've never looked good in pictures, and besides, I have no friends, so nobody's taking selfies with me anyway.
But that's beside the point. Looking at the lock screen on my phone, I see it's 8 AM—slightly later than when I usually wake up on workdays.
More importantly, the wallpaper on the lock screen shows me with what I assume are my parents and some other relatives. I can't say for sure, but they might be siblings or cousins.
That being said, one person stands out in the photo—a brown-haired girl smiling beautifully while leaning on my shoulder.
I'm no expert in relationships, but from common sense, she must be close to me in some way. A girlfriend? Or maybe a close friend?
The reason I don't think she's family is the hair color. Everyone else in the photo has black hair, while hers is brown. I'm not sure how genetics work, but looking at her multiple times, she definitely gives off "lover" vibes.
I could be wrong, though. I've never had a girlfriend before. Hell, I've never even had intercourse in all 23 years I've been alive.
Wait… now that I'm thinking about it, what happened to the previous me? Did I die? Did I just *disappear* from the world? What would my parents do?
Usually, the protagonist dies in some way before they get reincarnated, but I didn't die. I went to bed with a smile on my face, thinking about grinding ranked matches until dawn.
I quite literally went to bed, and now I'm in some other world. Shit, am I lucky or unlucky?
At least it's not some medieval magic world where I'd die instantly. No farming XP for me—I'd be that extra who trips during the first goblin raid. Unless… I got a system….
A system… "System!" I shouted loudly, darting my eyes around the room.
I waited a few moments, staring intensely at the ceiling. Still nothing. Just to be sure, I tried again. "System! Status! Skills! Inventory!" I cycled through every cliché phrase I could think of, but all I accomplished was making myself look like an idiot yelling at empty air.
Sadly, my luck was stuck in tutorial mode, so go figure. Maybe I should slap my forehead to trigger the update.
**Riiiinggg… Riiiinggg… Riiiinggg…**
My phone's ringing snapped me out of my thoughts.
I glanced at the name on the screen—it was my mom.
Oh, great," I muttered. What do I even say? Hey, Mom, I woke up in some random house? Or maybe, guess what, I'm the protagonist of a low-budget web novel?
Feeling a bit hesitant, I watched it ring a few times before finally answering the call.
"Sweetie?" my mom's voice floated through the phone before I could say anything.
"Hey, Mom…" I replied, trying my best to sound normal, even though I had no idea what was going on.
"Did you just wake up?" she asked, clearly amused.
"Yeah, some stupid alarm went off," I groaned, rubbing my eyes.
"You're the one who set that alarm, remember?" she teased.
"I know, but I don't know *why*. I just wanted to sleep in!" I whined.
"Well, you can't sleep your life away, sweetie," she said, laughing. "Alia's coming over soon. Go freshen up for her."
"Alia?" I blinked, confused. "Who's that?"
"Who's that? Quit joking."
"Nah, I'm good," I replied. "But, Mom, I really need some beauty sleep right now. No time for chit-chat."
"Marcus, quit playing with me," she said, deadpan. "Don't you want to hang out with her like old times?"
"I'm good," I responded quickly.
"Ahh," she sighed, "Well, it's your choice. But just so you know, you've got that part-time job later. Don't want to miss it."
"I quit," I said, already annoyed.
Why do I have a part-time job on the weekends?! Those are supposed to be rest days!
"Marcus…" her voice trailed off. "Ahh, I don't know what's up with you this morning, but I'll give you 30 minutes to get up before I come over there and spank you." She sighed dramatically.
"We may be in a different country, but don't think I won't fly back just to teach you a lesson, understood?" she continued, sounding stern.
"Got it… 30 minutes… no problem, Mom," I said, trying to sound chipper to appease her.
"Good, just don't have too much fun at your job," she teased.
"Job and fun? First time I've heard those two words together," I joked.
"Well, your job, according to you, is all about that one blue-haired girl. Just make sure to treat her well!" she replied, sounding way too amused.
"What?"
"You know exactly what I mean. Just be sure to use protection if things get serious," she teased.
"Sex is for the weak. I'm all about the gains," I shot back.
"Yeah, yeah. Just behave yourself," she said dismissively, probably rolling her eyes.
We ended the call with a quick "I love you," and I closed my phone, still processing the conversation that just happened.
I can confidently say that my mom is exactly the same as my other mom, if that makes sense.
The same soft but teasing voice is still there. Not to mention, her happiness is still going strong, which is nice.
I didn't get a chance to talk to my dad, but if he's anything like my other dad, I don't need to worry much.
More importantly, I got some new, interesting, and, honestly, kind of bad news.
First, there's a new girl—Alia—who's now part of the picture. And judging by the Lock Screen photo, she's most likely the girl next to me, smiling all cute and leaning on my shoulder.
As for our relationship, I'm pretty sure we're childhood friends.
You know how those childhood friend stories go, right? They either end up together as soulmates, or one of them gets their heart crushed because someone else swoops in.
I haven't met her yet—well, technically I have, but based on the picture, the closeness between us is pretty obvious.
Second, and this is honestly disgusting, I have a part-time job on the WEEKENDS. Why did I do that to myself? Am I just destined to suffer forever?
Previous me must have been out of his mind because I would never do that.
To be fair, I don't really know how this version of me acts in this world. I was acting differently this morning, but I'll figure it out.
From this morning onward, though, things are changing. I'm not going to be like those main characters who feel the need to act like their old selves. I'll just be me, and eventually, people will get used to it.
But anyway, I'm getting off track. I need more info about myself and this world before I venture outside.