"What... am I dead?" Gana slowly opened his eyes. He was wearing tattered clothes and lying on the ground.
"Yes, boss. You died."
The voice came from somewhere above his chest.
"Where are we?... Who are you?... What are you?"
Gana blinked against the light filtering through the leaves. His head ached, but he could now tell he was inside a dense forest. Three cute, toy-like creatures were sitting on top of him.
He slowly began to remember what had happened.
Yes... That was it. I was betrayed. And then I died...
In his last life, he never even knew who his parents were. Even the country he worked so hard for had turned its back on him.
"Get down from on top of me!"
Gana yelled at the small, colorful, stuffed-toy-like things clinging to his chest.
"Aahh..."
The headache continued. Memories began flooding back—sharp, vivid, and disorienting, like they were his own.
'So, I'm in a world called Vyuha... and I was some idiot with supernatural powers for the past 17 years. I'm also a prince?'
'A prince who might not inherit the throne... and could be killed if he doesn't.'
'My mother is the queen, I have a younger brother... and a sister, too. My fiancée is cheating on me—no, that memory's not right...'
'Wait, my fiancée was raped in front of me?'
"Aaah!"
'No—I was the one she tried to rape? What kind of memory is this...?'
"So did she get raped, or did I...?"
"Boss! I know, I know!" said the yellow one, raising its tiny hand.
"Oh? What do you know?" Gana asked, blinking in confusion.
"Boss, I know we're on the planet Vyuha, where people have supernatural powers!"
The one who replied was a blue, furry creature about a foot tall.
"Boss, my name is Red," said the red one cheerfully.
"Boss... Boss... we are your system," added the yellow one, puffing up with pride.
"Boss... Boss... don't fall asleep—we have to get out of this forest!"
The yellow one began shaking Gana's head urgently.
"Did I travel into some novel... and get a system?" Gana muttered to himself, still dazed.
He wanted to know more, but there was nobody around to ask. Even though he wasn't afraid of the cute toy-like creatures walking beside him, he was still new to this kind of situation.
"Boss, you can ask us anything," said Red cheerfully.
"We know about everything!" Blue added proudly.
"We are the most powerful, most perfect, most..."
Yellow trailed off, then turned to Red with a pleading look, silently asking him to finish the sentence.
Red rolled his cute eyes. "We are the system that can do anything."
"We are omnipotent!" Yellow declared with a dramatic pose.
"So... take me back to Earth, then. That shouldn't be too hard for you, O Omnipotent One, right?"
Gana asked, raising an eyebrow.
I knew it. How could I go back? I was shot in the head. If I could return, then—
Gana's thoughts came to a sudden halt.
"It's here..."
Gana crouched low, peeking from behind a tree. On the other side stood a small, white foal.
His bullies had brought him to the forest to hunt feral Lali—the magical beasts of Vyuha, commonly known as Lali.
"Wow... it's so beautiful," Gana whispered to himself.
But unfortunately, Lalis have extremely sharp hearing. The white foal didn't even glance his way—it immediately bolted, vanishing into the forest with graceful speed.
"Boss, we can help you!" said Red enthusiastically.
Gana looked at the little cuties. "System... what can you do for me?"
"Yes! We can help you with anything," Blue chimed in.
"But you're too weak to use us properly. Train harder, and you'll be able to use the system more effectively," Red added.
"Uh... isn't the point of a system to make things easier for the host? Was I wrong?" Gana asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Those are all low-class systems. We're the top of the food chain," Red replied, puffing up with pride.
Racism among systems too, huh... Gana thought to himself.
"Now what can you do to help me catch a Lali?" Gana asked, clearly frustrated.
"Ding! Host has shown potential for tricking others.
Charisma: -1," Blue announced cheerfully.
"What was that supposed to be?" Gana snapped.
"That's a system notification," Yellow replied matter-of-factly.
"But shouldn't that be in a pop-up box or something?" Gana asked, confused.
"We're not that low-class," Red said, fuming. "Do we look like cheap RPG systems to you?"
"System, show my panel," Gana said, this time with genuine enthusiasm.
Let's see what I can do at my current level...
"According to our calculations—Ding! Gana, 17 years, 3 months, and 4 days old. Not very intelligent. Recovering slowly. Height: 5'8". Weight: too high for your height. Still a virgin—you ran away. Good amount of muscle. Good eyesight. Extraordinary hearing. Stamina: above average—"**
Red was rattling off nonstop until Gana interrupted.
"Can't you just show it in a panel!?"
"Argh... panels are too lowly," Blue huffed, folding his tiny arms.
"Ding! After analysis, you can return to Earth if you find—" Yellow began, but didn't get to finish.
Without a word, Gana scooped up all three in his arms and started running.
He heard the sound of a group running, shouting something—but it was too far to make out clearly.
It's better to talk with humans than toys, Gana thought.
Besides, he desperately wanted to get out of this damn forest.
But what he saw next was not what he expected.