Standing in front of me was another one of what the System called a Gate Wolf.
"Grrrr..."
The wolf growled, readying itself to pounce. Not giving it the chance to strike first, I break into a sprint towards it, pivoting slightly and delivering a full forced kick to it's side, eliciting a whimper from the creature as the air was knocked out of it's lungs.
Feeling no guilt this time, I give the wolf no time to rest, immediately closing the distance that was made by my kick, and begin my kicking spree, not stopping until the creature stopped moving.
"These things are pretty weak for being monsters..." I muse.
Noticing a lack of a kill notification, and also the very slight breathing coming from the creature, I grab a nearby rock, gather my strength, and slam it down onto the creatures skull, wincing slightly at the noise, and the creature's final whimper.
*Ding!*
[You have killed a Level 1 Gate Wolf]
With another 100 XP procured, I leave the alleyway and continue exploring the city, looking for a coffee shop or a library. My first option would have been a pub, mostly for the aesthetic of 'weary and lost traveler sits in a pub broodingly to gather intel', but also because drunk people are less likely to remember details and more likely to easily give me answers.
Unfortunately, my new body means a pub isn't an option, or at least that's my assumption, based on Earth's society.
Eventually finding a coffee shop, I walk in and find a seat near a window, looking out of the window and pretending as if I'm waiting for someone, while I strain my ears to comb through the ongoing conversations for any useful information.
After sifting through all sorts of useless conversations, my ears perked up when I hear something interesting
"Did you hear? The Scarlet Monarch cleared an A-Tier gate all by herself!"
"That's crazy! Isn't that a world first?!"
"Yeah! Her class is so cool! There's even a video of it on the awakened platform!"
"Ohh! Lemme pull that up!"
I glanced over at the couple discussing among themselves, my curiosity piqued at the mention of gates and an 'awakened platform'.
The man, seemingly an college student in his early 20's, with a hint of reluctance, tore his eyes away from the similarly aged woman sitting across from him, and seemed to space out while staring at the air, different emotions playing across his face as time passed.
Standing up, I walk over to the woman, grabbing a straw on the way. As I approach, I don a friendly and slightly apologetic look, holding the straw out slightly as if it were a microphone.
"Excuse me ma'am, would you mind if I did a mock interview with you for a project my parents gave me?"
The woman looked over and smiled slightly, seemingly entertained by my gesture of using a straw.
"I wouldn't mind at all, go for it."
"Great! For my own entertainment, because I'm bored of doing the same interview my parents tasked me with each time, this time I'm going to pretend to be an alien who knows nothing of this world, my interview will be to gather information on the world. How does that sound?"
"Sounds good to me." She chuckled, glancing over at her boyfriend who seemed to still be lost in whatever he was looking at before looking back towards me.
"Okay, let's start with some basics, shall we! What is the so called 'Awakened Platform' I've heard the humans whisper of since landing here?"
After a playful and fun 'interview', I leave the coffee shop in a good mood, having gathered quite a bit of information.
First, this world is called Earth, all the same countries exist, with at least similar sizes and borders, the most notable difference being sour relations and wars between China and Russia having caused China to have expanded into what used to be Russian territory,
The aforementioned 'Awakened Platform' turns out to be a system-like interface everyone gained access to after the Mana Apocalypse. It functions as an all-purpose social media platform for Awakened. Anyone can view, but only Awakened can post, upload, or stream,
I managed to gather more information from the forums on there, as well as found a way to make some money without needing identification papers.
With enough money I can buy forged identification papers, and with enough power it won't matter to begin with, so I have a solid idea of a plan going forward.
First, get money. Second, illegally obtain forged identification and rely on that until the third point, which is be powerful enough that I can simply reveal the truth and deal with the backlash.
Glancing at my status window, I take note of the changes and reallocate my resources. It's been a few hours since I found myself in that alleyway, which meant some of my stats had gone up due to the system.
[Name: Buford Presley]
[Level: 1]
[XP: 200/1000]
[Age: 15]
[Class: Unawakened] [-] [+] [23:59:59]
[System: Idle Game System]
[Stamina: 6] [-] [+]
[Agility: 6] [-] [+]
[Strength: 6] [-] [+]
[Intelligence: 10] [-] [+]
[Wisdom: 10] [-] [+]
[Energy: 0/1200]
[Mana: 0/2000]
After allocating all of my resources into my class, it begin a 24 hour countdown, meaning I'd have to make due without a class until then.
Playing around with it for a bit, I found that the timer isn't changing as long as I keep 100 of each resource allocated to my class, so I allocate the rest to stamina in hopes I don't end up having to sleep in some alleyway,
I've had more than enough of that for one lifetime, which, now that I think about it probably isn't the phrase to use here, given that this is technically my second lifetime.
Regardless, a second lifetime does not mean I want a repeat of most of the experiences I had in my first. I'll use the knowledge and resourcefulness it gained me, but I'd rather die again here than find myself living that life again.
The realization of how empty and unhappy I had been hit me like a truck, and I found myself feeling simultaneously a little lighter and more hopeful, and also more frightened that I'd blink, or snap out of it, or wake up or something and find myself back there.
Deciding to take a stupid risk, I find a public telephone booth, something I conveniently learned on the awakened platform forums is free in this world due to the necessitation of emergency calls when gates are spotted, and dial a number, letting it ring, and hoping for an answer.
After a few rings, a feminine voice resounds from the other side of the call.
"Hello? This is Julia Grace speaking, if this is a gate reporting inform me immediately and a team will be dispatched for assessment."