'…Huh?'
It all started with late-night internet browsing. Classic mistake.
Daniel White, a professional shut-in, part-time freelance illustrator, and full-time consumer of fantasy novels, manhwa, and questionable fanart, sat hunched over his desk at 3 A.M., his eyes glazed over as he scrolled through yet another fantasy forum.
World-building debates. Overpowered protagonist arguments. Endless discussions about cultivation rankings no one could realistically keep track of. Just another Tuesday… or maybe Wednesday? He lost track.
Bored, sleep-deprived, and slightly buzzed from energy drinks, his cursor hovered over a dumb little link that caught his eye.
"What kind of isekai protagonist are you?"
Daniel chuckled under his breath. His whole browser history was basically fantasy worlds and power fantasies, anyway. What was one more bad decision?
Q1: If you could reincarnate, what species would you be?
He smirked, clicking Goblin. "Start from the bottom and evolve your way to greatness. Classic underdog arc."
Q2: Pick your cheat ability!
The usual overpowered choices scrolled by — Sword God Blessing, Space-Time Manipulation…
Time Stop.
Daniel's cursor hovered there for a moment, his tired brain grinding to a halt.
For just a second, the floodgates of degeneracy creaked open.
The R-18 possibilities.
The utterly shameless, morally questionable, anime-fueled scenarios.
"…No," Daniel muttered to himself, shaking his head. "That's a fast track to villain edits and Twitter drama."
Sketch-Based Reality Manipulation — Bring your art to life!
This one made him pause in a different way. His lips curled into a smirk.
"Roy made it work," Daniel snorted, thinking of Custom Made Demon King. "Guess I could, too." Click.
Q3: Choose your new name!
Easy. Daniel never missed a chance to flex his obsession with the 72 Demons of Solomon's Ars Goetia. Ancient demon names made everything sound cooler.
Seere, Prince of Hidden Treasure and Fast Travel.
"Perfect," he muttered, clicking the box.
Then came the fanart.
It was supposed to be a quick, harmless R-18 commission — some elf warrior and a demon queen, purely tasteful degeneracy. But reaching for a reference book on the top shelf? That was where things went sideways.
Balancing on a busted swivel chair? Bad idea.
The chair tilted.
Gravity did its thing.
His head smacked the desk corner.
Game over.
The next thing Daniel White knew, he was screaming.
Correction — he was being screamed at… and he was covered in slime.
The world around him was dark, damp, and echoing with guttural snarls and raspy, alien growls. The sharp scent of wet earth filled his nose — wait, his nose?
His eyes fluttered open, only to be greeted by total darkness and… a large, green, clawed hand grabbing him by the leg.
"…What the fu—"
His voice came out as a pathetic, newborn gurgle. Panic flared in his chest as he struggled to process what was happening.
The hand yanked him up, dangling him upside down like a wet potato. As his eyes adjusted to the faint glow of torches flickering on the rough stone walls, the realization hit him like a truck.
Literally, it's probably worse than the chair fall that actually killed him.
He wasn't in his dingy apartment anymore. He wasn't human. He wasn't even an adult.
In fact, judging by the weirdly pudgy green limbs and the wiggly goblin babies on the ground nearby, he'd just been born.
The System confirmed it, chiming in with clean, professional precision.
<< Congratulations, Host. You have been reborn in the realm of Veyrath. Species: Goblin. Name: Seere. Welcome to your new life! >>
<< You have been selected as the proud recipient of theArts & Crafts 101 System — your all-in-one reality-bending creative toolkit. Now you too can bring drawn objects and abilities into reality! >>
Daniel's eyes widened.
A small floating pencil materialized next to him, spinning slowly in the air. Beside it hovered simple, clean white text: Arts & Crafts 101 System.
And for the first time in his life, Daniel White — now Seere — felt that thrill of a weeb dream come true.
"…Holy crap… it actually happened."
Other people joked about it, memed about it, filled forums with hypothetical scenarios. But here he was. Reincarnated. Cheat ability. New world.
Seere's tiny goblin heart practically skipped a beat.
"I got isekai'd… I actually got isekai'd… with an art-based cheat… Holy hell, it's happening!"
The Goblin holding him barked something in guttural goblin-speak — sharp teeth glinting in the torchlight. Around them, the den was a mess of sharp rocks, fur pelts, and crude stone tools. Other goblins, ranging from warty elders to snarling, bug-eyed juveniles, milled about.
And, of course, more crying newborns.
Seere's tiny limbs flailed helplessly. He couldn't even form words yet, just pitiful squeaks and snorts.
"This… is exactly how all those web novels start," he thought, oddly giddy.
Another thought hit him.
"Seere…" He mentally grinned. "Right… the name."
Of course, he remembered. His old habit — every username, fantasy character, and edgy OC was ripped from the 72 Demons of Solomon's Ars Goetia. Because ancient demon names made everything sound cooler, and Daniel White was nothing if not consistent.
Seere, Prince of Hidden Treasure and Fast Travel. Sounded badass when he was making OCs.
Now? With a system backing him? Even better.
The Goblin sniffed him, grunted, and, with all the grace of tossing laundry, dropped Seere onto a pile of scratchy animal pelts beside the other newborns.
Seere's tiny limbs wobbled as he tried to sit up, his goblin head lolling like it was three sizes too big.
He stared at his own stubby green arms, flexing his tiny clawed fingers.
"Okay… goblin rebirth and even though i did choose this it still is kind pf a knock-off Re:Monster situation… but at least I have a system… … hell yes."
Then his brain caught up, processing the whole situation.
The gross goblin den. The System. The ugly green baby limbs. It all clicked.
"Oh god… I'm actually living the isekai dream…"
The System beeped softly, as if reading his thoughts.
<< Tutorial Quest Generated: Survive Infancy. Duration: 3 Days. Reward: 100 EXP. Failure: Death. >>
Seere's grin widened, even as he wobbled like a helpless goblin bean.
"Three days to survive? Piece of cake… right?"