The principal was overjoyed.
Two first-year students reaching Level 10 already?
Unbelievable.
Especially Serina—with skills so terrifying, the principal himself (a veteran Level 350) admitted he'd hesitate to fight her.
He explained:
"Each level increases your base power, mana, speed, and defense by about 10%.
So at Level 10... you're already twice as strong as when you started."
Most students barely reached Level 2 or 3.
Only a few had hit Level 4.
To reward them, the principal made a bold offer.
"You may each choose one item from my personal vaults."
He then revealed four giant safes, each bursting with treasure.
---
Vault 1 – Talismans
Strips of enchanted paper with powerful effects.
But... single-use only.
Vault 2 – Eggs
For those who wanted to become Tamers.
Serina peeked in—
Only to find parasite eggs and attack worms.
"No thanks," she said, shuddering.
"If it was a cat or a dog, maybe..."
Vault 3 – Potions
Powerful brews:
Triple EXP (lasts 5 hours)
Temporary stat boosts
Healing, speed, etc.
But all were one-time use.
Vault 4 – Artifacts
Now this was the real prize.
Powerful tools used in combat or daily life.
Some even had unique, passive effects.
Serina bit her lip.
"So many options... too many."
"Headmaster, can you just show me the three most expensive artifacts?" she asked.
The principal's eyebrow twitched.
"Is she just going to pick the most valuable one?!"
Thinking quickly, he tried to cheat a little.
He pulled out a beautifully woven skirt.
"This skirt cleans itself, changes color and pattern with your will, and—"
"I don't want that," Serina cut him off.
The principal sighed.
"Okay, fine. What kind of artifact do you actually want?"
"Hmm... how about a flying sword I can stand on and ride?"
"Ah!" the principal said, pulling out...
a spoon.
He threw it—
And it grew to the size of a chair.
"This is a Flying Spoon.
More comfortable to sit on during long-distance travel.
Trust me—standing on a sword for hours can hurt your feet.
One wrong squat, and—slice—your butt's gone."
Serina blinked.
"…That makes sense."
She imagined the spoon turning into a full flying vehicle, complete with a roof and cup holder.
"I'll take it!"
Whew, the principal thought.
She didn't choose the most expensive one.
---
Then Leon casually walked over and pointed to a dim, sun-like potion.
The principal paled.
"Wait, that's... the Skill Mutation Elixir!"
"Is that bad?" Leon asked.
"Well... it has a 1% chance of changing one of your skills.
It could become stronger, weaker... or even something completely random.
Also, you can't choose which skill changes."
Leon shrugged.
"Sounds fun."
After receiving their rewards, Serina and Leon went their separate ways.
Leon walked home clutching his strange skill-mutation potion.
Meanwhile, Serina...
flew home.
On a giant spoon.
She sat comfortably, floating across the sky like a magical girl riding a kitchen utensil.
"Man, this world is insane," she muttered,
"but at least I'm rich and have a huge house."
She hadn't even been in this world for a full day before diving straight into a dungeon.
Now, after all that chaos, she laid back on a soft, luxurious bed.
"Ahhh… so comfy… if only Leon were here to cuddle—"
Her eyes snapped open.
> "WHAT?! NO. NOPE.
What kind of cursed thought was THAT?!"
Panic struck.
"I need to confirm my orientation. Right. Social media. Let's go!"
---
She opened the most popular app in the world: YourMedia.
Luckily, she remembered Serina's password and email.
Click.
"…Oh god."
Serina's profile was...
A pink bunny avatar.
Zero posts.
But the follow list?
"WHAT THE—"
It was full of—
Shirtless gym bros
Baby-faced idols
Tattooed bad boys
Bearded hunks
Soft-spoken actors
Over 500 hot guys
"…Serina. What the hell."
"No wonder your feed is full of male thirst traps! This is psychological torture!"
She spent the next 30 minutes unfollowing all of them one by one.
'Sorry, but I live here now. We're cleaning house."
Then... she hesitated.
"…Let's try following some cute girls instead."
Swipe, swipe.
Cosplayers
Dancers
Swimsuit models
Kawaii fashionistas
Serina tilted her head.
"Hmm… nice."
"Weird."
"Okay now THAT'S just showing off—"
"…Pfft, I could do better."
What started as a sexuality test became something else.
A weird competition.
"Wait a minute… why does SHE get 120K likes for just pouting?"
"Look at my face! This body is ten times cuter!"
Determined, she opened her camera app.
"Let's try one selfie."
Snap.
Then another.
After picking her best shots — some cute poses, a wink, and a smug smile — Serina uploaded the photos to YourMedia.
"Alright, time to go viral. With this kind of face? Only a hardcore monk wouldn't like me."
"…Even the monks might waver. I mean, Leon did."
"Wait, why am I thinking about Leon again?! Focus!"
She refreshed the page.
One like.
Two likes.
Then nineteen.
Then BOOM — the numbers started climbing like a rocket.
New comments appeared in rapid-fire:
---
KomodoActor:
"I just discovered a future star. WOW."
ImNotGay:
"So beautiful. I'm in love."
TiandoMan:
"God, let her be my soulmate. Please. If not, just kill me."
Giggig:
"Sorry. God already paired her with me. Bye."
TiandoMan:
"@Giggig I challenge you to a duel. Winner gets the girl!"
---
Serina stared at the chaos in the comments.
"What... what is wrong with these people."
She should be weirded out.
But deep inside...
"…Kinda flattering, not gonna lie."
---
To distract herself, she opened another app — ChatChat.
Only two contacts.
"Mom" and "Dad."
She froze.
"No wonder she had a heart attack…
She was so alone. No friends. Not even classmates in her contacts."
The realization hit her like a truck.
"She didn't just lose her parents.
She had no one left.
Just this giant empty house, full of echoes."
Serina looked around the luxurious room — it suddenly felt cold.
And lonely.
"No wonder her heart gave out."
After seeing the state of her social app, Serina realized something:
"Maybe… I should try making friends."
Not too many.
Just… a few.
Start small.
The next day, she walked into school with a mission.
Her first goal: ask someone for their ChatChat contact.
The problem?
Even in her previous life, Sanjaya never had the guts to ask a girl for her number.
And now that she was a girl?
"Ugh, I'm still nervous. Why is this still hard?"
An inner voice whispered,
"Orientation doesn't change social anxiety, dumbass."
"Shut up."
She spotted Leon, Ken, and Benu sitting at the cafeteria table.
Without thinking, she walked over — and sat right next to Leon.
Ken and Benu blinked.
Leon froze.
"…Serina?"
"Nothing. Just… add me on ChatChat."
"O-oh. Sure."
Ding!
Friend request accepted.
Serina smiled like she just won a lottery.
Then — whoosh! — she ran off like the wind, leaving Leon in stunned silence.
Ken leaned over.
"Bro… what did you do?"
Benu smirked.
"You're so doomed."
Leon wanted to cry.
"These guys dated, like, ten girls each.
I get one friend request, and I'm the joke now?!"
Serina, meanwhile, was on cloud nine.
"Yes! One new contact!
One is enough… for now."
Later, she sent Leon a bunny emoji.
Leon's phone buzzed.
---
The rest of the day passed with lessons — mostly the same as Earth's high school.
Except for a few added subjects:
Skill mastery
Monster ecology
Dungeon survival
Talisman crafting
Alchemy and artifact enhancement
"Yup. Definitely not Earth anymore."
If it was the same, Serina would've happily skipped class and slept all day.
But in this world… strength meant survival. And apparently… popularity.
After class ended, Serina trudged back home with slow, defeated steps.
Her heart? A little shattered.
Not because of schoolwork.
But because…
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
ONLY ONE CONTACT?!"
And that one contact... was Leon.
The real issue?
She didn't even try asking anyone else.
Small talk? Nope.
Making the first move? Absolutely not.
Serina had just realized something tragic:
"Serina… I'm sorry. Turns out… we're both introverts."
---
To heal her wounded pride, Serina decided to do what any self-respecting introvert would:
She went to eat something delicious.
The culinary world here was thriving.
Why? Because monster meat was a delicacy.
From Grilled Fire Wolf, Rock Golem Steak (chewy like concrete), to Electric Slime Sashimi (dubious at best), Serina had her pick.
Thankfully, money wasn't a problem.
---
While munching on crispy fire wolf meat, Serina fell deep into thought.
If she wanted to level up, she'd have to wait three whole months for the school dungeon to reset.
So… she had only one option:
The Wild Forests.
But not just any forest.
In this world, forests were categorized by danger level:
Safe-ish Forests
Dangerous Forests
Very Dangerous Forests
Forbidden Forests
The problem?
"Those labels are probably just to keep civilians calm.
In reality, monsters pop up wherever they want."
Time for a quick checklist:
OP Skills: Unlimited Fireball + Zero Sphere+Super Regeneration
Escape method: Flying Spoon
Problem: Which forest should she choose?
If she was too reckless—death.
Too cautious—snail-paced leveling.
And Serina refused to be that viral pretty girl stuck at level 10 forever.
"Alright. Let's pick something semi-deadly, but not full-on hell."
Tomorrow, she'd start her solo journey.
With a full stomach.
A powerful spoon.
And a heart still mildly broken… but determined.