Chapter 1
Not Dead Yet
— — — — —
Where am I...?
No, I know where I am.
I'm dead.
There was... An explosion I think. No, there definitely was, it's the only thing that could have been that bright. There was... also a loud bang? No I can remember it a bit better than that— it sounded like a thousand car crashes at once. Maybe more like a million.
I've been in this abyss for... about an hour? Maybe two or three. It could have been a day, even. It's hard to tell, since the only thing I can see is myself. Is this it, then? Am I stuck here? No pearly gates or eternal torture– just losing my mind?
"No. You won't."
"Wha—?"
A bright spectre of light, almost unbearingly bright in this void, showed itself in front of me. A humanoid figure, same shape and size as me. Was this God? Ah shit.
"You have died, yes. But your end does not lie here."
"What happened? To me, I mean. How… how did I die?"
The figure looked down somberly. "Humanity wiped itself out. Nuclear weapons wiped out almost everybody in hours. Now, only a few thousand people are left, people who are determined to fight amongst themselves. People who don't know how to survive without a world. I predict humanity will die in less than fifty years."
Oh.
Is that why the wifi wasn't working? Did somebody sabotage… the world? Well they're undoubtedly dead now. Is it bad that I feel good about that?
"You said I'm not staying here for very long, right? What's going to happen to everybody?"
"You will be reincarnated." Oh, that's pretty good! "It will simply be in another world. Perhaps you will have an advantage, and perhaps not. This will happen and has happened to every person who has died, and I will give the task to those who are still alive once they too perish."
"If everybody gets reincarnated, what happened to say... Hitler? Did he continue somewhere else?"
The figure shook his head. I could imagine it smiling, but I wasn't able to make it out under their figure, which had slowly become less and less of a strain to see.
"Those who have done such evil have undergone rehabilitation. Such is possible when your limits are simply removed– and such people as the one you spoke of feel great sorrow for the past." He fixed hitler? Wonder what he's like now. Actually, I wonder if I'll get the chance to meet him– maybe he won't be the second worst man to exist after he had some sense knocked into him. I wonder how they did it.
"Perhaps one day in the endless sea of time, you too might end where he once was."
"Well, let's hope not."
"Are you ready?"
Was I..? Did I have anything I wanted to ask him? Maybe a blessing or—
"No! I have— No, sorry. I have one more question– What happened to my parents? Why did they not show up yesterday?"
It sighed. "They attempted to tell you to cancel. They had sudden funeral plans for your Aunt. Speaking of, communication centres were wiped out first. Hence the communication failure. Mind you; it was no alien. I have been asked many times. Now, I will ask again; are you ready to go?"
Yeah. Well, of course I had a few meaningless questions to ask perhaps God, but I'm sure he has other better things to do. Besides, a lot of questions I have were just to sate my curiosity. I'd forget the answers eventually.
"Yeah. Let's go."
Wait I should ask about Jesus—
The next thing I knew, I was alive.
It was bright— brighter than that void, or rather the one I met inside it.
Where was I? This looks like a basket. Don't tell me I'm bread or something, that would be horrible. Heh. Bread.
Through a unique action, a skill has been acquired.
Eh–?! What? Who the hell just–?
Wait, a skill? I'm assuming it's not a life skill. But what was it? I was just looking around. I literally haven't even taken ten breaths yet— I haven't even said my first word?!
Open the skill menu to see the effects.
The skill menu–?
Before me, or well, above me, a see-through neon panel with words I don't even need to read to understand.
'Observe
Activate through several means such as staring for four or more seconds, or thinking of using observe with the intent to seek the lore or more information on an object or liquid.
Current level: 0
Observe?
'Physical Object'
Okay– first at all, not what I wanted to do. Ah great, now I forgot. Anyways, second of all. What. The. Fuck. This is admittedly –from what I've seen– overpowered, and from what I've read, is pretty fun to read about.
And third of all, 'Physical Object'? Yeah, no shit Sherlock, of course it's physical. Well atleast I should be able to level it up over time.
'Anyway, where the hell am I?' I thought God might have told me, or atleast left me with a hint. Alright— I might be on a different planet from Earth. If that—
I'm a baby.
My hands interrupted my thoughts, and an uncontrolled cry came from my mouth, like a baby –which would be accurate– I held my hands in front of my face, still crying unstoppably.
Hunger and thirst are low.
Wha–? But I'm a baby! How am I supposed to get myself food and water?
"Oh dear." A voice spoke. Elderly, mature. A hand picked up the apparent cradle, and softly said "There, there. We have you." We? I looked, and used my observe skill.
Physical Object
Observation skill has ranked up!
Oh goodie. Well I don't even need to use it. The voice was an elderly man, grey balding hair Amber eyes, and wearing a white-blue pattern shirt. "See Sweetie? I can be good with kids sometimes." He yelled back into the house. Speaking of surroundings, I'm pretty sure I was on a doorstep like some kinda Harry Potter baby.
"Of course you can be good with kids, Dad! You raised me!" She sounds energetic, with a slight country accent. I can't put an exact number on the age, but she sounds definitely below thirty.
Through a unique action, a skill has been obtained.
Oh god, this is going to be annoying.
I'd open up the menu right now, but I'd rather pay attention to the current events rather than learning about this new skill. It's probably something to do with listening, too.
+1 WIS
The cradle was picked up and moved inside by the elderly man, although he seemed old he was doing it without struggle. "It's a pity how many children simply show up on your doorstep. It's better than the streets at least." So this was an occurring thing? It was probably like that back on Earth. Something I never cared about. I wonder if this place is like that too; out of sight and out of mind.
"Well, there's no letter with this one. Not even a signature, only the basket. Log him in, he can name himself when he can. Also he's—"
"Hungry, yes, I know, I can hear him." The daughter interrupted. I could hear her walking over, and in a second a bottle of white liquid was shoved into my mouth.
I can't even describe how degrading this is. How can people be into this? I'm on the verge of actual tears instead of these fake needy ones a baby uses when it needs to be fed. Oh god, here it comes.
Hunger is full!
Thirst is full!
Through a unique action, a skill has been obtained.
Through a unique action, a skill has been obtained.
"He drank that rather fast. Poor thing must'a there all night. He had a blanket on him though, at least they got that right."
"Well, haven't had a baby in a while. Maybe we get lucky and he gets adopted before we have to potty train him. Infact, I hope they all get adopted."
Listening skill has ranked up!
The two drifted into idle conversation while bringing me into the orphanage. I heard a few more kids, none of them sounded any older than three, which isn't too impressive. Actually I wonder if this 'system' has my age.
I found out how to open this 'system menu' pretty quickly. I'm honestly still in disbelief that I have this, and that God exists, and that my world really ended in a day. That went off topic fast.
Name: N/A
Age: 0.5
Level: 0
XP: 5/10
HP: 5/5
SP: 8/10
MP: 14.2/14.2
AP: N/A
HNG: 20/20
THR: 20/20
STR: 1
END: 1
CON: 1
CHR: 5
AGI: 3
DEX: 1
INT: 142
WIS: 41
LCK: 10
Woah woah- alright that's some low health. I'll embarrassingly admit to knowing what most of these mean, HP being health, SP being… Perhaps stamina? MP must be magic, and I'm guessing HNG and THR being hunger and thirst respectively, but what the hell is AP? Action points? Ammunition? Why is it locked?
STR, AGI, CON, END –do those two even have a difference?– CHR. AGI, and DEX and LCK are low as expected, but, if I look really carefully, two of these are not like the others.
Though hazarding a guess it'd be because of my past life. I wasn't exactly a perfect student but I picked up a lot from school, and since this is a new baby body I shouldn't be expecting any high 'stats' for a while in things like strength and constitution.
Oh! There's more settings here too. Let's see here… Skill menu?
Observe - level 1
Observe with the intent to seek the lore or more information on an object or liquid. More information per level.
Listening - Level 1
Your ears can tune certain voices farther and clearer the higher the level.
Stomach Capacity (Passive) - level 0
Increases maximum hunger level.
Liver Capacity (Passive) - level 0
Increases maximum thirst level.
That's interesting. Most of these look like things I can 'level up' pretty easily, especially stomach and liver capacity, though I wonder how that works? I also wonder how many more 'skills' there are to be obtained in everyday life.
You have received a quest. Would you like to start?
That almost scared me. Almost.
So this really is like a video game? I wonder if there's a difficulty setting, though if there is I doubt I'm able to access it.
I open the quest, still being carried— no, they've put me down inside of a crib. Oh hey, this is an orphanage! There's a bunch of kids here– Well I'm not really one to talk, huh?
"Calm down, Cherven." The old man said. Cherven? That's a weird name.
I was surrounded by kids, using observe I was able to tell they were ranging from five to twelve, which was literally the only thing it told me. Not even specific ages, just 'physical object' and 'five to twelve years of age'.
"Come on, gramps, we haven't had a basket baby in a year or two." I could see the top of his head from the blanket– crimson colored hair, and two… Bull horns sticking out of his head? Fantasy world confirmed then, but I still have no idea on which of the millions that leaves me in, even if I somehow know it, or hell, if it was even a creation in my world in the first place. God never said it did, so I shouldn't assume– it's just the norm in these… situations? Usually in fiction whenever this happens to somebody in a world we have created, but does the same apply here? Does it really matter, even?
"And if you remember what happened to the last one, you'll do well to not get overly attached. Not all you kids can be adopted by the same person— It's unfortunate, yes, but try to be happy for the kids who do get adopted." The old man said that as if he'd repeated it a thousand times, which he probably would have if the orphanage was passed down child after child.
+5 friendship with Cherven Taurus
85/1000
Taurus? Isn't that a zodiac sign?
"Well then, I'll go get Miss Mornie her food for dinner." The elderly man made to leave through the door, before stopping halfway. "Oh, and he's to decide his own name when he wants to. Or when he gets adopted," He finished, slamming the door shut.
Cherven leaned over the cradle. "Aw, he's not a faunus." Faunus? That sounds… awfully familiar. Very, very familiar. Actually, it's just on the tip of my tongue– some 3D animated show..!
Alright, it's time to try and speak. If he can tell me about the world it'll probably help a ton. However, it's going to be literally impossible to ask anything advanced, especially without teeth or a fully developed voice box.
"Don't be sad if he doesn't end up with a tail, Cherven. Didn't you hear Kon? If he is a faunus I doubt we'll see him grow any features here at Sundown, if it even is faunus."
Oh! I can see the top of her head— Dark hair, and that's really it. I quickly use observe things around me as fast as I can, only taking five 'observes' to level the skill up
Millie Malachite
Age: Child
Level: 5+
-50/1000 Friendship
Millie Malachite? Don't think I've heard that name before. Actually wait– I have! It's on the tip of my tongue, absolutely and utterly ready to come out. I even remember the studio that made it. Rooster Teeth! Though, admittedly, they had a downfall a few years ago.
The show. It was called RWBY! It's all coming back to me now. I used to be a pretty big fan of the show, actually. Well, that was back when I was basically a kid, looking back it wasn't too good.
"Look at it. It's... weird." Her face was fully over the crib, which was padded up with a rather uncomfortable blanket. "His face is so... Childish." Yeah, sure. You think my face is childish? Aren't you like, six years old?
"That's the point." Cherven leaned over. He looked alot like one of the villains, Adam Taurus. They're probably related, but how I wonder? He looked down at me with a friendly smile. "I still remember when you were a baby too, you know?" He looked up at Millie, "You weren't half the size as you are now."
"Oh shut up. Of course I've grown, I was only two at the time. Speaking of, I was hardly a baby. And why are you bringing this up? It's been three years since I came here." She rolled her eyes. They were green, emerald coloured, and her skin was white as snow, but she didn't look like it was because of an illness.
Through manually observing, observe has levelled up.
Oh, that's nice. I imagine that will help exponentially in later life— no, this entire life.
"Oi, Millie! Parajena is on! Come on and watch it with us!" A girl that sounded a year or two older than Millie shouted in. She instantly recoiled from Cherven.
"You watch that show? Always thought you'd be into more… girly stuff." He didn't sound surprised or angry. He's not anything like Adam from the show then? He sounded a bit intrigued actually. "I was in love with the show at one point. When I was your age, that was. I watched every episode, every day. Maybe I'll watch it with you, see how much it's changed over the six or so years." Though I could hear Millie pouting, she left the room with Cherven regardless.
Good. It left me alone to experiment with this system.
You have received a quest. Would you like to start?
That's going to be where I start.
For a minute I thought really hard about opening the quest menu, and to my surprise, it actually worked! The translucent blue screen way above me. This time visible instead of just a… perception of reality? On it, was two quests.
[1] Life Skills
[1] Go, go! Parajena!
With a curious interest, I focused on opening the 'life skills' quest.
Part 1
Life Skills
You have taken an interest in this game-like. It would do you well to find how many skills you can obtain, and what the limits are.
Requirements for completion
10 Skills in total learned
5 Skills are above level 5
1 skill is above level 10
Completion Reward
50 XP
Sprint skill unlocked/Levelled by 5
Jump skill unlocked/Levelled by 5
+25% permanent skill level speed
Requirements for failure
Die or be incapacitated
Fail to acquire 10 or more skills in 5 years
Fail to have 5 or more skills level 5 or above
Fail to have 1 or more skill level 10 or above
Failure Award
-10% Skill levelling speed for 10 years
-25% All stats
Accept?
That's… Something I definitely do not want to accept right now. If I can't acquire ten skills in the first place I'm basically toast. I'll accept it when I'm older, probably when I already have ten skills or so. Let's see the other one.
Part 1
Go, go! Parajena!
You have heard of a show from this world called 'Parajena'. See what you can learn from this world and its culture through this show! But remember to take everything with a grain of salt.
Requirements for completion
Watch 1 episode of Parajena in 5 years or less
Watch 1 season of Parajena in 5 years or less
Watch all 3 seasons of Parajena in 5 years or less
Completion award
1 Episode – 15 xp
1 Season – Obtain Jena–Sword
Watch all 3 seasons – Obtain Para-punch Trainer
+10 friendship with everybody in Sundown Orphanage
Requirements for failure
Fail to watch an episode of Parajena in five years
Die or be incapacitated
Awards for failure
+5 Agi
-10 Friendship with children at Sundown Orphanage
Accept?
That seems… random. It also looks like a good quest. I'll probably take it when they show it to me, I imagine they'll just put me somewhere and leave me with the television, or whatever they used in the show. Wait, didn't they have holograms?
+2 INT
That's interesting. So the bonus point must be because I'm correct then? How advanced was the technology in that series, though? I remember the helicopter-like vehicles and the explosive rounds, oh and the sentient robots. I guess they were pretty far ahead from Earth. Or well, before it got turned inside out.
I drifted along this game-like menu, looking over the stats. There were a lot here, more than most games I played when I was a child. Most games weren't devious enough to add a hunger and thirst system, on top of that, isn't there usually a skill that keeps my sanity? And one that prevents me from 'taking harm' until I die or something?
Passives [Gamer's Mind] and [Gamer's Body] along with [Aura Mastery], [Aura Unlocked] and the skill [Semblance] have been permanently locked due to difficulty being set to [EX-Extreme]
EX-Extreme? What the hell is that? Where is 'Super Duper Hard' mode then? Huh?
Difficulty list
Oh, I didn't mean it, but okay.
EX-EXTREME
HP DOES NOT INCREASE WITH LEVEL UP
MP DOES NOT INCREASE WITH LEVEL UP
SP DOES NOT INCREASE WITH LEVEL UP
90% HP REGENERATION SPEED
INCREASING FRIENDSHIP IS 20% HARDER
CRIT CHANCE PERMANENTLY DECREASED BY 20%
SLEEPING DOES NOT FULLY HEAL
OUTERVERSE SHOP IS 10% MORE EXPENSIVE
I opened the difficulty list. There were many, even a 'super duper hard mode.' I said as a joke. They seemed to be ranked, the top one being the easiest, 'Power Fantasy Trip'. It looks like it just makes everybody weaker and like you more. Meanwhile at the bottom of the list lay 'EX-Legend', which I certainly didn't want.
EX-LEGEND
HP DOES NOT INCREASE WITH LEVEL UP
MP DOES NOT INCREASE WITH LEVEL UP
SP DOES NOT INCREASE WITH LEVEL UP
-99% SKILL PROGRESS
NO PASSIVE HEALTH REGENERATION
NO QUESTS
-350 FRIENDSHIP WITH ALL CREATURES
2 RANDOM PERMANENT DISABILITIES
NO INVENTORY SLOTS
ARMOUR PROTECTS 95% LESS
OUTERVERSE STORE IS PERMANENTLY UNAVAILABLE
Damn. That really is extreme. Looks like I couldn't change the difficulty after birth though, so luckily for me that hell hole of an existence is a long way out for me right now. Wonder if some poor soul is stuck with that.
But what's an outerverse store? Some kind of
Exploring the system, there were a few more menus to use. 'Inventory', which was one slot, another slot every 50 STR, and nothing above what I can carry in total, which would also rise with my strength.
There was also a 'Map'. which increased a metre every 10 INT, though it could only see places I've been to or seen. Right now, I can get a good look of the orphanage, more specifically where I've been. I can also 'Zoom in' but it covers the more specific area compared to a more distanced view, which I assume could be my vision of the surrounding area.
+1 INT
There were also settings, which had a variety of minorly helpful options. I ended up turning off small notifications like the constant INT stat boost I was getting, as well as enabling the system by thinking commands instead of the true feeling of doing them. I think there was a word for that? Call of the Void or something.
Of course, my Hunger and Thirst eventually dropped, and it turned out I started crying when it got below 6 thirst, and 10 hunger,
My crying alerted somebody, or probably a group of people, Though only one came in. Or rather one pair of footsteps that sounded heavy, and coming to such a conclusion made my 'hearing' skill go up to level 2.
"What's wrong? Wanted to watch ParaJena with us, eh?" Oh, it was Cherven. He pulled out a bottle, different or refilled. "I'm sure the old man's gone to get some more baby milk for you, he'll be back in an hour or so. Come on, let's see if the girls will let you watch ParaJena. It'll give you– ah, what the hell am I doing." He picked up the cradle, put me inside of rather comfortable baby clothing, as though he had done it before.
If he had, it was with that last baby he was talking about with the old man. I don't think I caught his name actually. Or if I did, I can't remember. Damn. If I ever have something that remembers people it'llbe an instant grab.
He carried me rather effortlessly, something which hadn't happened in the last… How long? Since before I can remember probably, I don't think I was ever picked up or carried when I was any older than four .
Cherven put me down in one of those high seats, similar to one from Earth. And I can say, it's as uncomfortable as it sounds. He took me in during the middle of an ad break, unknowingly letting me activate the quest.
Quest 'Go! Go! ParaJena' has been started.
"Why did you bring the baby with you? You said you were just going to the toilet." Millie complained. She was on a three piece couch along with two other girls, one blonde with two long cat-like ears along with two human ones, and the one on the other side of Millie had bright ginger hair, and was enveloped in the show. "Whatever. As long as it doesn't cry I guess he can stay. If he has to do something, you're cleaning it up, though." Oh God. That reminds me, I actually have to be maintained. Oh God, if only there was a way to speed up this 'phase' of my life.
"Sure. Not like you helped with the last one anyway." He turned his nose up at her, walking to his red couch settling in before the ParaJena started.
"Of course I didn't! I was like, three!"
"Sure, sure."
Cherven Taurus
Level 10+
Highest Stat: STR
Aura Unlocked