Han Tae-min had a simple philosophy: never die for cats.
Of course, he ignored it.
He dove heroically into the street to save a little gray cat—only for it to sidestep the truck. Tae-min did not.
Pain exploded. His vision blurred. He whispered, I can't believe I died for this furry sociopath…
The cat, utterly unimpressed, began licking its paw.
White. Endless white.
Tae-min bounced in the void, panicking.
No… no no no! I'm gonna get reincarnated! I'll be a hero! A swordsman! A—
"You're… really noisy," a calm voice said.
A goddess appeared on a white marble pedestal. She looked elegant, amused, like she was watching a child try to lift a boulder.
"How… sad," she mused. "You… tried to save a cat. Utterly pointless."
"It's not like it matters anyway," she continued. "Your body would have died of caffeine overdose eventually. But since fate was… impatient, I must relocate your soul. You will be transmigrated—or 'isekai'ed,' as you humans say. You will be born with a gift… and a system to help you. Fufufu."
A blinding flash swallowed him whole.
Tae-min opened his eyes.
He wasn't in a city or a magical meadow. He was in a small, cluttered room, lying in a tiny bed.
"Stop sleeping, kid!" a sharp voice barked.
Tae-min sat up. A tall woman in a long black dress, glasses perched on her nose, a permanent sneer on her face, and a pipe lazily curling smoke from her lips stood over him.
"Wha—" Tae-min sputtered. He looked down at his tiny hands, his high-pitched voice, his five-year-old body. Oh. No.
"You're five," the woman said flatly. "Also, you can't control mana. You've been on Earth too long, so your reserves are practically nonexistent. Welcome to your new life."
"Wait… so I— I'm… your—son?" Tae-min stammered, flailing.
"Yes. And I guess I have to raise you for the next ten years," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Try not to die before then. Or annoy me too much."
The gray cat from before—now a spirit familiar—leapt onto Tae-min's bed, licking its paw smugly.
Of course you're here too, Tae-min muttered.
And so began the utterly humiliating adventures of Han Tae-min, born as the child of a grumpy witch, in a world where magic existed but obeyed no one, and where even a simple nap could be fatal.