"Ha, where am I?"
I woke up and found myself in a small room that looked very old.
I see nothing but some cloth, which I woke up on now.
I feel pain all over my body for no reason.
I examined the room, and I could barely walk in it because of its narrowness and small area.
"Was I kidnapped?"
I saw, in a bowl of water, and I could see a little of my reflection on it.
"What is this—this is not my face!"
I look like a teenage boy.
And after checking, my body was weak and thin.
Also, my clothes look dirty and torn in some spots.
And suddenly a window appeared in the air in front of me.
"Synchronizing..."
"10%"
"20%"
"60%..80%..90%"
"100%"
"Synchronization completed successfully"
"Aaah"
I feel as if my brain is going to explode.
Scenes and memories started flowing into my mind.
It seems this body is for a boy who is 16 years old.
He was an orphan and lived in the slums.
He always used to steal for his daily bread.
And he was always beaten—this is what I can know for now.
My mind is confused because of this rush of memories.
I am now incarnated in the body of a child.
And he is a child from the slums.
In this world that resembles the Middle Ages and has magic.
"Damn."
When I used to read novels and comics that talk about reincarnation in another world,
I thought that would be wonderful.
But this seems extremely real, and I feel pain, and I sense that I might die if I really die here.
This is scary, but I must focus on staying alive.
My name is Adam.
And I recently graduated from an ordinary engineering university at the age of 24.
I was on the verge of applying for a job at a modest game development company.
But while I was sitting at home in front of my computer playing,
my consciousness began to fade slowly and my sight began to become darker and darker.
"What is happening"
And thus I woke up in this body.
A window appeared before me in the air.
"So this is the system"
"Name: Ray
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Skills: (1)
Imagination ----- Level 1"
"Imagination?"
"What is this skill?"
The system window appeared with a clearer interface.
"Imagination ----- Level 1:"
You can imagine any type of magic or change in yourself; the effect lasts 30 minutes; it can be used twice a day and is increaseable with level development."
"Isn't this cheating? I can imagine almost any power I want."
I felt relieved and excited about this skill.
"Let's try treating the bruises from the beating on myself."
And I imagined in my mind green lights that heal me completely.
System:
"Conditions met
Activating the Imagination skill..."
And just as I imagined, small lights appeared moving around my body, and all the injuries disappeared, and I felt energy in my body.
"Good, this is really good."
While I was sitting analyzing my ability, I heard screaming in front of the room's door.
When I opened the door, I found a group of men who looked like adults.
They were gathered around a brown-haired girl.
And they started beating her.
"This is what you deserve, a wretch like you, for thinking you can mess with us."
And she was silent, enduring the beating.
I couldn't bear the scene, and I felt feelings of anger inside me.
Then a glimpse of this body's memories came to me.
This girl's name is Elza.
And she was like the older sister to the child who owns this body, and this explains the feelings of anger that belong to him.
I imagined that a spell would be cast to freeze the men and make them stop moving.
The men stopped moving.
"Are you okay"
She answered in fear,
"Ray, what are you doing—run, I don't want you to be beaten again."
So my name is Ray.
I did not answer her and looked toward the men who had stopped moving.
I imagined that my hands become strong like metal.
And I beat them until they fainted.
"Ray, what did you do"
"The boss will kill you if he finds out you opposed one of his men."
According to this body's memories,
here in the slums,
there is a person named Hugo who rules them.
He is scum; he does nothing but force the residents of these slums to steal and beg for money.
And he forces them to give him the money.
And whoever opposes him is killed.
This child was beaten to death by them, and this explains the pain I felt upon waking.
I began contemplating the place, and it was truly a cramped place with dilapidated wooden buildings and beggars everywhere.
I treated Elza, and she was silent, not uttering a word.
"Are you okay now"
She answered,
"Ray, how did you do this"
"Can you use magic?"
"You must run away from here; I can give you some money that I have saved."
She really cared about me, but my desire to help her grew stronger.
"Don't worry."
"I discovered that I have great power."
"I will go and eliminate Hugo."
She began to raise her voice to convince me to just run away.
"Even if you are strong, you will not be able to defeat him."
"Hugo was a third-rank knight, and his soldiers are delinquent knights."
"You can never do it."
I went toward one of the men who had fainted.
I used the Imagination skill.
I imagined that the men would be healed and restrained.
One of them woke up.
"You brat, I will kill you, I swear to that."
I imagined that he would be hypnotized or something similar and would answer what I would ask.
"Where is Hugo?"
He answered me without hesitation,
"There."
He pointed out one of the large buildings which seemed more luxurious than the crumbling houses here.
It was far, but I imagined that I cast a speed spell on my feet.
And I rushed there, jumping over the buildings at great speed.
I was glimpsing and seeing the children and women all sitting without shelter because of Hugo's dominance over the slums.
I arrived in front of that building that resembled a small castle.
There were many men armed with swords.
Before I entered, a system window appeared in front of me.
"Warning:
5 minutes remain until the effect of the Imagination skill ends"
"Damn, I must finish the matter quickly"
I imagined that all the soldiers lose consciousness and get restrained.
Everyone lost consciousness, and I hurried and climbed the floors.
Until I found a big door made of gold in front of me.
I entered and found a fat, bald man with a massive build.
Sitting, with wine in his hand, and women around him.
The women ran away when they saw me.
Hugo looked at me and began shouting arrogantly,
"Ha—what is a ragamuffin like you doing here at the time of my enjoyment?"
"Where are my soldiers—did you sneak in here?"
I remained silent, and feelings of hatred and anger began to flow into me.
And once again I began witnessing this body's memories.
Hugo killed Ray's family because they hid some money from him.
Well, this explains the reason for the feelings of hatred.
I will avenge you, Ray, so allow me to borrow your body.
I imagined that he chokes.
As he choked, he could not speak because of the breathing.
He took a sword and headed toward me quickly.
His sword was shining blue, and he was attacking me while choking—I had to endure.
He cut off my arm by surprise.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah"
This is painful.
"System:
Warning: 30 seconds remain until the limit of skill use ends"
Quickly I imagined that he would be electrocuted to death.
A strange power began to come out of me, and with one strike he fell dead.
I hurried and attached my arm with the Imagination skill.
"System:
The limit of skill use has ended.
23:59:59 remains until the next use."
I sat down because of exhaustion.
"My body is very frail—this is tiring."
I searched the room and found a cabinet full of thousands of gold coins and jewels.
I went out and summoned my acquaintances from Ray's memories, with Elza at the forefront.
We gathered—I and she and a group of slum residents whom Ray trusted.
"The scum has been eliminated."
"Now you can use this money to build this place and secure the life of each of you."
Everyone looked at me, with the features of joy and tears on their faces.
Well, with this I solved a problem.
After that, I took some share of the money like everyone.
And I headed with Elza to her house.
"Ray, how did you do this"
"Are you really Ray"
It is natural for her to doubt me.
I looked at her as Ray would.
"Haha, do you think I'm a ghost or something like that"
Relief appeared on her face.
"I will leave at dawn; I must discover the world more."
After that, the remaining soldiers of Hugo were dealt with by the people of the neighborhood.
And some hope began to flow into the slums at last.
"Ray, please come back safe."
She was the girl who was like my sister and whom this body consider
"I will certainly return a better person."
"Goodbye."
Even in my life when I was a university student, I had never felt this feeling at all.
And now, let's set off.