A blinding flash exploded across Paulo's vision. As it dissolved into shadows, strange forms swam into focus, unfamiliar, alien. For a heartbeat, he dared to hope: had it all been a dream? A nightmare finally ending?
The last memory burned in his mind, collapsed on icy concrete, breath fading, death closing in, when out of nowhere, a system flickered into existence. But none of that mattered now. He wasn't in his body anymore. Not the one he knew.
His eyes sharpened. A girl with vivid blue hair stood before him, flanked by a young man, his jet-black hair framing a stiff, almost nervous grin aimed straight at Paulo. Then came the shock, he was lying on a wooden bed; his head cradled gently in the girl's lap.
"-----XX-----XXXX"
Words spilled out, foreign and unrecognizable, neither English nor Japanese. It hit him like a thunderclap: he wasn't in his world anymore. This was somewhere else. Somewhen else.
He caught a glimpse of a mirror and froze. Staring back was a newborn. Tiny. Helpless. Him. His soul, his consciousness, had been reborn into an infant's body.
"-XXX---Paulo-----XXXX," the man burst out, voice trembling with excitement, as if they'd just pulled off a miracle.
Paulo didn't understand the language, but he heard it. His name. Clear as a bell.
"-----XX-----XXX"
Another voice, female, young, echoed from beyond his sight. Paulo twisted mentally, straining to rise, to respond.
"Where am I? Who are you?"
Even trapped in a baby's form, his mind stayed sharp. But speech? Impossible. All he could push out was a fragile, "Ah… Ah…"
He couldn't move the body yet, but something felt off. His right hand looked smaller than a boy's should. Lighter. Softer. And the body itself, missing the familiar signs of masculinity. Something deeper had changed. Something fundamental.
So, I've been reborn as a girl. Maybe there's a way to reclaim my original form.
"XXX----XXXX-XX-XXX---XX"
The voice came from someone else, third person, finally piercing through to Paulo's awareness. His eyes focused on her: a woman in a maid's uniform, moving quietly as if tending to be unseen duties.
Around him, voices buzzed in a tongue he couldn't grasp, a swirl of sounds that meant nothing. But that made sense, newborns don't speak, don't understand. They just are.
Then, the wooden bed creaked beneath him as they laid him down and stepped away. One by one, they filed out of the room, strangers with unreadable faces, and sealed the door shut behind them.
A lock clicked into place. His breath caught. Why lock a child in? Why treat a newborn like a prisoner?
There's nothing I can do about this, is there?
One moment he was just sitting in his crib, then, boom, the system flashed back to life, sharper and more within reach than ever. Must've been dying that cracked it wide open. No time to wonder why. The real game-changer?
[════════════════════════════════════════════]
(!)NOTICE
[════════════════════════════════════════════]
[YOU HAVE MET ALL OF THE REQUIREMENTS TO COMPLETE THE SECRET QUEST:
'TRUE REINCARNATOR"]
Reward:
[The System]
[════════════════════════════════════════════]
He suddenly understood that his death was the key, the one essential trigger to unlock this power. Burning with curiosity, he was desperate to test it out, but clueless about how to even begin.
There was no manual, no instruction, just silence. The first flicker of it had come from a subtle, crimson pulse, so faint he almost missed it.
Paulo stood bewildered, and honestly, who wouldn't be? He was like a newborn, thrust into existence barely an hour ago in this very room.
Sure, in theory, activating the system with your mind sounds simple, just think it into action, but mastering it? That's another story. It takes time, instinct, trial. And right now, I just feeling that I can't do it right now but I will try.
Paulo's fingers pressed into his temples, frustration mounting as he wrestled with the mystery of the system.
He knew it was there, meant for him, tied to this second chance, but how do you unlock something that refuses to show itself? What even was it?
In the animes, characters tapped into their powers like flipping a switch. No struggle. No guesswork. But this wasn't fiction. This was life, or whatever came after. And hesitation? That was a luxury he couldn't afford. He needed that system. Now.
Just as his mind locked onto the puzzle, a guttural moan sliced through the silence from inside the house. He froze.
Okay, not ideal timing. But hey, it was their home. Who was he to judge? He'd heard that sound before, back in his old life, before the fall, before the end. Recognition hit fast and awkward.
Seriously? Right now? The woman who just gave birth to him, literally hours ago, is already… going at it? His tiny hands flew to his ears, but the sounds refused to be blocked.
They echoed through the walls, raw and very much unfiltered. Guess some things never change, even in another world. Probably just that time again.
Annoyed and desperate, Paulo doubled down on cracking the system, the supposed prize for surviving death itself, earned after years of pain and one final, fatal leap.
A lightning bolt of agony ripped through his skull. He clutched his head with trembling, infant-sized hands, teeth gritted, when suddenly, everything shifted. It hit like a full-body migraine, sharp and blinding, worse than the moment he plummeted from the rooftop.
His eyes flashed, violet for a split second, before snapping back to their dual hues. He squeezed them shut, fighting the pulse in his brain, but nothing helped.
Suddenly, a glowing purple interface burst to life in front of him, screaming with chaotic chimes and alerts only he could hear. To everyone else, silence. To Paulo? A storm of sound and light, erupting in his mind. The system had arrived. Finally.
This was the mighty menu. I thought it would be a lot bigger in my mind than I thought it would be.
[════════════════════════════════════════════]
STATUS
[════════════════════════════════════════════]
Name: Paulo Satoshi
Level: 0
Title: None
Gender: Female
World: Terra Planet
Health: 100 / 100
Mana: 20 / 20
EXP: 0 / 100
[════════════════════════════════════════════]
ATTRIBUTES [════════════════════════════════════════════]
Strength: 0
Agility: 0
Vitality: 0
Intelligence: 0
Perception: 0
[════════════════════════════════════════════]
MENUS
[════════════════════════════════════════════]
▶ Skills
▶ Inventory
▶ Quests
▶ Shop and Crafting (Locked)
▶ Titles
▶ Skill Tree(Locked)
[════════════════════════════════════════════]
It felt like stepping into a living video game, real, immersive, pulse-pounding, but something was wrong. Him. Or rather, the fact that the system no longer saw him as him. He was supposed to be male, yet the interface flashed female pronouns without hesitation. The world had already rewritten his identity. Resistance to this change was pointless
Fine. If this body defines me now, then so be it. From here on out, it's she. Her. No more denial.
Her eyes flicked to hidden interface tabs, gateways to untapped powers, locked tight behind invisible barriers. Experience. That's what they demanded. She'd have to earn every scrap of access, level up through trial and blood.
Back in the quiet embrace of a secluded compound, night draped over the village like a velvet shroud. Peace wrapped around them, sweet and still, blissfully ignorant of the nightmares clawing at the world just beyond the trees.
Meanwhile, on the scorched rim of one of Terra Planet's four great islands, hell unfolded. A blistering wasteland had stretched endlessly, volcanoes roaring, red lightning fracturing the sky, winds howling like vengeful spirits, each step a war against nature itself.
Through it all, a lone figure pressed forward, cloaked and unyielding. The gales screamed, tearing at fabric and flesh, but he advanced, deliberate, unstoppable.
His grip on the katana was iron, knuckles white, blood trickling from his palm. Loosen his hold for even a second, and the storm would rip the blade from his grasp. The steel gleamed, slick with gore, none of it his. Bodies, human or beast, littered his path. He wasn't just dangerous. He was a warning.
Then, without warning, the earth split. A dragon erupted from the peaks, massive and monstrous, scales blazing like molten rubies, glistening as if dipped in fresh blood. But one look at the cloaked man's face, and the beast recoiled. Turned. Fled.
Because he wasn't just a warrior. He was the vessel, the cursed host, of the God of Darkness, an ancient evil woven into the planet's very soul. Seven curses branded his spirit, and even dragons knew: some beings are not to be challenged. Some inspire terror just by existing.
"Guess it's time, the chosen one is born in over two million years."