"Rumble... rumble... crash!"
The clouds in the sky above the city were bursting with thunder, while in a certain building, the sound of fast keyboard typing was ringing in the office.
"Click-clack, click-clack"
A young man with black glasses sat hunched in front of the screen, concentrated, and he typed the last few lines on the screen. His hands relaxed. Finally, he slumped back in his chair with a long sigh of relief, while stretching.
"Sigh.. finally, the work is done, and I don't have to hear chiefs bickering next to my ears tomorrow, that old man really treats juniors like trash, even though he isn't exactly top-qualified himself," Elias muttered.
While muttering in his mouth, he walked to the kitchen, took out a cola and a pizza from yesterday, and went back to his room. As he sat down, his eyes went to the wall adjacent to him.
On which photo frames proudly displayed his achievements: a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering, in Mechanical Engineering and robotics, in Applied Physics, and a bachelor's in biology, computer science, and programming, with Elias Voss written on them.
Although this many degrees sounds really unrealistic for a single man, not even in his 30s, it is possible for him because of a rare trait he was born with called photographic memory.
Elias moved his eyes from the wall back to the computer, while saying, "I guess after my contract finishes with my company, I will look for a more favorable job, well, no use in crying over spilled eggs now."
"Should I play games for a while before sleeping?" He said with a mouthful of pizza, and the computer screen in front of him changed as the words Ascinda came; it was made for players to let their imaginations go wild; they can do anything in the game, from being noble to a tyrant.
But the most catching part is the class creation, which enables players to make a custom-made class like a magic swordsman, with the help of choosing abilities from other classes, creating some of their own, not too gamey-breaking abilities, or combining a class with other abilities.
"Well, let's start with a new character, hmm, I will name it inventor, with some other abilities outside of invention to make a jack of all trades with a focus on inventions, although it will make the gameplay hard, but it will be fun," he said, smiling as he clicked on the create button.
At the same time as he clicked the mouse, thunder rolled outside, and the screen blacked out. Just as Elias was confused and stretched his hands to check the cable at the back, thunder fell outside his office building, startling him.
His shoulders hit the coke can on the table, spilling the coke all over the table and the wires in the back.
Before he could take his hands back, touching the wire, Pain exploded through Elias's body as the current surged into his brain, making his body convulse uncontrollably. After a few seconds of electrocution, he fell on the hard floor with his consciousness rapidly fading.
He wanted to call for help, but his body was temporarily paralyzed from the strong current; he could only move his eyes helplessly as he was dying.
'No... not like this. I haven't even lived my life yet...' He thought.
In his last moment, Elias saw the computer lit up, showing his character panel and class.
The next moment, he opened his heavy eyes. He tried to move, but his body felt extremely weak and confined in a congested space. The surroundings were filled with darkness.
"Uhh, did they find me and bury me in a f**king coffin without even checking?" Elias thought in panic, struggling to move as much as he could. At first, he couldn't move at all, but little by little, he began to struggle free.
Soon, his body started being pushed toward a direction—toward a faint light.
As he felt himself being pushed, the light grew larger, and then, like an explosion, it filled his vision, forcing him to squint. After a few seconds, his eyes adjusted, and when he finally opened them fully, he was stunned by what he saw.
Elias's mind raced like alpacas running across a field, trying to piece together what had happened and where he was. While he was lost in thought, he heard voices—words that sounded partly like English mixed with an unfamiliar language.
Listening carefully to gather information about his current situation, his eyes darted around, taking in four unfamiliar faces: three women—one old and holding him, another quite young lying on a bed, and a teenage girl standing beside her—and one man.
With a little bit of thinking and stimulation from the environment, anyone could think what had happened, let alone him.
"I didn't think something like reincarnation would happen to me. It was good that I read some comics and novels during college for fun." Elias said, but all that came out of his mouth was a child's babble.
Seeing him babble in her arms, the old woman smiled kindly at him and handed him to the woman lying on the bed with a pale but eager expression on her face, holding Elias. Her face with little freckles showed joy as if holding the world's treasure.
"He really goes on you, dear!" the woman holding him said to the man who came beside her watching Elias, "of course, but he also is beautiful just like you, and look how strong he is, he doesn't even cry after being born."
While they were staring at Elias, who was staring at them, thinking, "Hmm, looks like they are my mother and father, and judging from the environment, they most likely are not very rich, maybe in some backwards European village."
Elias's gaze wandered around the dimly lit room, noticing the rough wooden walls and the faint smell of herbs hanging in the air. "So, rural life, huh? At least there's no electricity bill," he thought dryly.
But then, he caught sight of something strange—a faint, glowing symbol etched into the wooden ceiling. It pulsed softly, like a heartbeat.
"Wait... that's definitely not normal. Maybe this isn't just some random medieval village," Elias thought, looking at the symbol emitting faint light.
Elias stared at his new parents, trying to process everything.
"Okay, looks like not a normal world. New life, huh, new opportunities... but uh, where's my starter pack? Magic sword? Cheat skill? At least a tutorial pop-up?"
He wiggled his tiny hands in frustration, which to everyone else just looked adorable.The teen girl beside the bed giggled, "Look! He's so cute! It's like he's trying to cast a spell."
Upon hearing this, everyone laughed, and the father, with a hearty laughter, raised Elias high, saying with a spirited smile, "he looks very smart and calm, so let's name him Elias."
Elias was stunned by hearing his new name, which was still the name he had had before dying.
Everyone started laughing at hearing the girl's words, ignoring the Elias's thinking in babble, the old woman checked his mother a little, then concocted some medicines for her, while telling her that she would be good after a few days, and left.
Leaving his new home on a happy occasion of celebration.