A few more days passed in Kael's haunted mansion of misery.
Most of my life had boiled down to one thing: collapsing. Every lesson ended with me face-planting in the dirt, grass, or a table, depending on where Kael decided to torture me. Mana spreading, mana pooling, mana breathing, mana this, mana that—I was basically a human mana battery on the verge of exploding.
The only upside? Kael's cooking had finally upgraded from "orphanage leftovers" to something vaguely edible. No more stale bread and soup that tasted like despair. Now it was… okay. Like "middle-class family that barely seasons their food but at least tries" okay. A massive improvement.
Still, tonight I couldn't sleep. Something felt… off. Like something was tugging at me. Not mana, not hunger, not Kael screaming "get up, worm!" in my nightmares. Something else.
I slipped out of my room and padded into the courtyard, muttering to myself.
"Great idea, Lucian. Go investigate the weird feeling in the middle of the night at the creepy mansion. What's next? Hug the ghost in the attic?"
The night was quiet, the air crisp. Fireflies danced lazily around the yard. And then—
Drip.
I froze. The sound came from near the old well at the edge of the courtyard.
And there it was. Glowing.
The well's stones pulsed faintly with golden light, like someone shoved a lantern down there. I stepped closer, squinting. "Because, of course, glowing wells in haunted mansions are always safe. Let's ignore every horror story ever."
I leaned forward, curious despite myself—then suddenly, something yanked.
"Wha—HEY!"
The force pulled me straight in. I flailed, wind rushing past me, and then—
Flash.
The world spun, and I crashed down onto soft grass. My eyes blinked open.
I was no longer at the mansion.
A glowing pond stretched before me, surrounded by tall, ancient trees. Bioluminescent plants shimmered green and blue, fireflies drifted like floating stars, and in the middle of the pond… stood a man.
Not just any man.
A mountain of muscle.
He was golden. Every vein and bicep gleamed like polished bronze. His muscles pulsed as if they had muscles of their own. He struck a pose—literally flexing in the moonlight, sparkles exploding dramatically around him.
"…What the hell am I looking at."
My brain short-circuited. Was this some kind of divine bodybuilder convention? A magical Mr. Universe pageant? Did I fall into the wrong anime?
The man's glowing eyes landed on me. He smirked. Then, before my sanity could recover, his body melted, shifting like liquid gold—until he stood before me not as Muscle Zeus, but as… me.
Another me.
"Oh, so you are the one who completed the first trial," my golden doppelgänger said, voice smooth, echoing oddly in the still pond air.
I blinked. "First trial? What trial? I tripped and fell into a glowing well!"
He ignored me completely, which was just rude.
"What is your name, boy?"
"…Lucian?" I said cautiously.
His smile widened. "Lucian. Then I shall bestow upon you the reward for completing the second trial."
"SECOND?!" I almost shouted. "Hello? I didn't even know there was a first!"
Still ignoring me, he raised his arm. The golden flesh warped, stretched—then tore.
With a grotesque squelch, he ripped off his own hand.
I gagged. "WHAT THE—?! Dude! That's NOT NORMAL!"
The severed hand melted into shimmering golden jelly, wobbling innocently in his palm. He offered it to me as a gift.
"…What is that?" I asked flatly.
"Your reward," he said, completely serious.
I stared at it. The glowing, gelatinous lump jiggled. It smelled faintly sweet. My stomach turned.
"You want me to… eat that," I deadpanned.
"Yes."
"…This is the dumbest trial ever. Who wrote this? Some drunk god in the sky?"
The slime-me held it closer, expectant.
"EAT."
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Fine. FINE. Let's just get this over with."
I grabbed the jelly. It was warm. Squishy. Jiggly. Like some cursed combination of pudding and hand sanitizer. I hesitated, gagged again, then shoved it into my mouth before I could think.
The taste hit instantly. Sweet. Bitter. Metallic. Wrong.
"Ohhh no. Nope. Nope nope nope."
Then the burn started. Like molten lava rushing through my veins. My chest ignited, my skull rang, and the world blurred—
—and darkness swallowed me whole.
I woke up lying flat in the courtyard. My throat was dry, my head spun. The mansion loomed in the background, still quiet. Still night.
"…Sleepwalking. I must've been sleepwalking."
That was the only explanation. Yep. Perfectly logical. No glowing ponds. No muscle-men slimes. No eating golden jelly hands. Just sleepwalking.
Ding!
A blue prompt appeared in front of my face.
Congratulations! You received ???? as a reward. The reward will be given when required level is achieved.
Congratulations! You have gained +5 LVL!
Congratulations! You have gained +5 Stat Points!
I sat up violently. "HAAAH?!"
My trembling hands opened the status screen.
Status Menu
Name: Lucian Vanheart
Age: 5
Level: 15 (100/2000 EXP)
Title: ???
Stat
HP: 620/620
MP: 340/340
STR: 4
AGL: 4
Mind: 6
Attribute: Fire Magic
Skills: ???
Spell: Fireball [10 MP]
Unallocated Points: 10
I froze.
Then I screamed. "WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!"
I leveled up. In my sleep. By eating slime jelly.
"…This is officially the dumbest system in existence."
I looked at the night sky, deadpan. "Seriously? Am I in one of those trashy isekai anime now? —'I Was Reincarnated with my absurd ability to get random powerups.'"
I flopped back onto the grass, covering my face.
"…I hate this. I love this. No—I hate this. But also, free levels. Ughhhh!"