Waking up in your own bed after murdering a crystal wolf in another dimension is... anticlimactic.
The sunlight filtering through my dusty curtains was too warm. Too normal.
I expected strange skies. Weird trees. Another System notification hovering over my face like a passive-aggressive angel.
But there was nothing.
Just peeling wallpaper. My old, too-small ceiling fan spinning lazily. The musty smell of an uncleaned teenage room.
And me.
Still in the same body that shouldn't have been mine.
---
I sat up slowly.
My shirt clung to my chest.
Tight across the muscle.
My legs… long. Solid.
My fingers… no longer pudgy or trembling.
I stood in front of the mirror.
No change.
Still tall. Still lean.
Still me.
Still not the boy my parents raised.
---
A knock echoed at my door.
Not gentle.
> "Yuuya. Breakfast. Get down here. Now."
Dad's voice. Sharp.
Always more command than invitation.
I grabbed the first hoodie that didn't smell like depression and existential dread and walked downstairs.
---
They were already at the table.
My father sipping cheap beer at 8:13 a.m.—a classic sign the day was going to be filled with healthy family bonding.
My mother had a half-eaten piece of toast and her phone in one hand, like always.
I stepped into the kitchen.
And both of them looked up.
---
Silence.
Then—
> "...the hell?"
Dad's voice was low. Disbelieving.
---
I stood still.
Like a criminal caught mid-burglary.
Mom's toast hit the plate.
> "Yuuya?" she whispered.
Her eyes widened.
She blinked like I was a ghost.
Which, in a way, I was.
---
Dad stood.
> "Is this a joke? What… what did you do to yourself?"
He circled the table slowly, eyes narrowed like a detective examining a crime scene.
> "You on something? Is this one of those illegal gym steroids crap? Did you get some back-alley plastic surgery?!"
> "No," I said, too calmly.
"I woke up like this."
Wrong answer.
---
He shoved the chair aside.
> "Don't you lie to me!"
I didn't flinch.
I don't flinch anymore.
Pain is only scary when you don't already live with it.
---
> "Is this some sick rebellion thing?"
"Trying to pretend you're someone else?"
"You think this fixes anything?!"
He grabbed my shoulder.
That's when it happened.
---
A pulse.
A flicker of red light.
A faint chime.
---
> [ Danger Detected. Defensive Skill Charging. ]
A window blinked into the air between us.
Not just visible to me this time.
Dad recoiled.
Stumbled back like he'd seen a ghost.
> "What… what the hell was that?!"
---
I blinked.
The System was visible in the real world.
Even mom gasped.
> "Did you just… is this a hologram? What is that? Augmented reality? What kind of tech are you messing with?"
---
I stepped back. Slowly.
My hands were shaking now—not from fear.
From the weight of it.
This wasn't a dream.
Not a one-time fantasy.
It followed me here.
---
> "I don't know how to explain it," I said honestly.
"It's… not from this world."
Dad scoffed.
> "Don't give me that anime garbage!"
He grabbed his beer can, opened his mouth to yell again—then stopped.
Because the System beeped again.
> [ Emotional Threat Level: Rising. Defensive Countermeasures Recommended. ]
A red glow shimmered around my feet.
I backed away.
> "Don't," I warned.
Not like a threat.
Like a prayer.
---
My mom's voice finally returned.
> "Yuuya… your eyes…"
She reached forward, gently this time.
> "They're… glowing."
---
I didn't answer.
Didn't want to.
---
Dad sat down.
Hard.
> "This isn't real," he muttered. "This isn't normal."
> "You're right," I said.
And that was all I could offer.
---
The room stayed quiet after that.
No yelling.
No accusations.
Just… shock.
For the first time in my life, my parents were speechless.
---
You'd think it would feel good.
Vindicating.
But it didn't.
Because deep down, some stupid, stubborn part of me still wanted them to say:
> "We're glad you're okay."
They didn't.
---
---
I left the house without finishing breakfast.
Didn't need to eat.
The System said my [Hunger] stat was full.
Guess adrenaline counts as protein now.
---
Outside, the world was too bright.
Birds chirped. Kids rode bikes.
Everything was normal.
And I didn't fit in it anymore.
---
> "What did I do to myself?" I muttered.
A rhetorical question.
But the System, ever helpful, chimed in:
> [ Soul Recast Complete. Body restructured to fit inner potential. External appearance now matches core essence. ]
---
Translation?
I turned into who I was always meant to be.
And no one recognizes me anymore.
---
I headed toward school.
My uniform barely fit—had to borrow old pants from a cousin two sizes up.
I probably looked like an older cousin walking his younger self to class.
---
People stared.
Of course they did.
My old neighbors didn't say hello.
One even whispered to his wife, "That boy used to be huge…"
I kept walking.
I'm good at that now.
---
And as I crossed the final corner before the school gates, the System whispered again:
> [ Quest Unlocked: Reintroduce Yourself to the World. ]
> Reward: Unknown.
---
Cute.
---
But I wasn't doing this for rewards.
Not anymore.
I wasn't the monster they imagined.
But I also wasn't here to prove anything.
I'm not their redemption arc.
I'm not anyone's fairy tale.
---
I'm just Yuuya.
And for the first time in my life—
That might be enough.
---
To be continued.