When you've read over two thousand isekai novels, you kind of stop asking "how do I get home?"
Which is exactly what I did.
The moment I opened my eyes under a bright blue sky, grass tickling my neck, the scent of wildflowers in the air, I just lay there for a moment and sighed.
"Welp. It finally happened."
Not a truck, though. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to my gacha dailies.
After a few minutes of sulking, I sat up and took stock. The forest looked like every generic fantasy forest ever—tall trees, singing birds, distant roars that were probably monsters, and a breeze so clean I felt like it was cleansing my soul.
Then, the screen popped up in front of me.
[System Initialization Complete]
Name: Ryou
Class: Summoner
Rank: F
Mana: 50/50
I exhaled slowly.
"Of course it's a summoner."
It wasn't like I had a choice. The moment I woke up, the system told me it was assigned based on 'compatibility'—which was a fancy way of saying, "deal with it."
"But hey," I muttered, pulling myself up and dusting off the dirt on my pants,
"at least it's not farming or something."
I've read too many stories to waste time on denial. I knew better than to run around screaming "where am I" like an idiot. The birds wouldn't answer, and if they did, it would be a bigger problem.
I checked my pockets—empty. No phone, no wallet, no emergency chocolate. Figures.
I opened the System Panel again, half expecting it to crash like those scuffed mobile gacha games, but it flickered obediently.
[Quest: Reach the Nearest Town]
Reward: Map Function Unlock
It wasn't even pretending to give me a choice.
"Nearest town it is."
Walking through the forest wasn't as exciting as novels made it out to be. There were no mysterious elves, no slime companions jumping onto my lap. Just mosquitoes the size of my thumb, and every time I swatted them, they vanished in sparkly dust like low-level mobs.
After what felt like an eternity (it was twenty minutes), I reached the forest edge, and there it was, sitting on a plain with rolling hills:
A medieval fantasy town, surrounded by wooden walls and banners with some lion insignia flapping in the wind.
I clenched my fist. This was it. The start of an isekai journey.
And then my stomach growled.
"Okay, now it's an isekai journey."
I walked up to the gates, where two armored guards were chatting. One glanced at me.
"Name and purpose?"
"Uh, Ryou. I'm here to register as an adventurer?"
The other guard snorted.
"You? You look like you'd lose to a rabbit."
Bro, even in another world I get roasted?
Still, they let me in after a quick mana check using a crystal ball that glowed faintly when I touched it.
The town was lively, with cobbled streets, wooden stalls, and a mix of adventurers, merchants, and kids running around. I spotted the Adventurer's Guild immediately, because it had the biggest sign possible, with swords and a shield symbol on it.
Classic.
I pushed open the heavy door, and the scent of old wood, ink, and something frying in the kitchen wafted over. Inside were adventurers of every type: armored warriors, mages in robes, and some people who looked like they were just there for the beer.
The receptionist was a young woman with silver hair tied up, flipping through papers while handling a line of impatient adventurers.
When it was my turn, she glanced up.
"New, aren't you?"
"Is it that obvious?" I tried to smile.
"You look like you're about to faint." She handed me a paper. "Fill this, then place your hand on the registration crystal."
I filled it out with my name, age, and the class I was stuck with.
"Summoner, huh? Good luck with that."
"...Is it that bad?"
She just gave me a pitying smile.
The crystal glowed, and a faint ding confirmed my registration.
[Adventurer Registration Complete]
Rank: F
Class: Summoner
Mana: 50/50
I received a plain wooden guild card with my name etched in tiny letters.
"Alright, newbie. You're registered. If you want to eat, take a quest and come back when you're done."
I wasn't about to starve on day one, so I checked the quest board.
[Subjugate 5 Forest Slimes] - Reward: 3 copper
[Gather 10 Healing Herbs] - Reward: 2 copper
[Escort an old man across the street] - Reward: 1 copper
After five minutes of internal debate, I went with the slime hunt. I needed to test my summoning skill anyway.
Outside town, I found an empty field with low grass, perfect for slimes.
I took a deep breath.
"Okay, Ryou, you've seen this in a million novels. You can do this."
[Summon Initiated]
Consuming 20 Mana…
A small magic circle appeared on the ground, swirling softly with green light.
"Please don't be smelly, please don't be smelly…"
With a poof, something stepped out:
A small, chubby, bright green creature with stubby arms, a leaf sprout on its head, and big, dopey eyes.
[Summon Successful: Leaf Sproutling]
Rank: F
It tilted its head, blinking at me.
"…You're adorable."
I reached out to pat it, and it nuzzled into my hand like a cat.
Then a slime bounced out of the bushes, squelching toward us. The Leaf Sproutling perked up, tiny fists raised like it was ready to throw hands.
"Alright, buddy, let's see what you've got!"
The slime lunged.
The Leaf Sproutling slapped it.
The slime jiggled, wobbled, and popped into sparkly dust, leaving a faint glowing shard.
[Slime defeated. +0.2 EXP to Summon]
[Leaf Sproutling gains 10% of foe's stats]
"Huh?"
I blinked as another screen popped up:
[Hidden Mechanic Activated]
Your summons gain 10% of the defeated enemy's stats, up to their Rank Cap.
Current Cap (F Rank): 40 Total Stats.
The Leaf Sproutling looked at its tiny fists, flexed them, and gave me a thumbs up.
"Wait, so this means…"
My mind raced. I'd read about systems like this before, but this wasn't broken. It was fair.
If the slime had 10 Strength, it gained 1. If I farm enough, it would max out at 40 across all stats, and then I'd need to summon something higher rank.
The system even gave me a mana recharge notification:
[Mana Recovery: +1]
Every time my summon defeated something, I got a tiny bit of mana back, which meant with careful grinding, I could farm mana while leveling up my summon.
The Leaf Sproutling gave me another thumbs up.
"Alright, let's keep going!"
We spent the next hour farming slimes. The Sproutling got faster with each fight, learning to dodge slime bounces and slap them from behind, its eyes sparkling with excitement.
Once, it slipped and fell face-first into a slime, getting slimed all over.
It stood up, dripping, and glared at me as if it was my fault.
"Bro, don't look at me like that, you're the one who tripped!"
It smacked the slime with extra force after that, letting out a tiny "hyaa!" that was so cute I almost died.
After defeating the fifth slime, I picked up the shards and returned to the guild, the Sproutling riding on my shoulder like a triumphant hero.
I turned in the quest, earning my first 3 copper coins.
The receptionist raised an eyebrow at the Sproutling.
"Huh, didn't expect a Summoner to actually…do well."
"Hey, don't underestimate us summoners!"
She gave me a smirk. "We'll see if you can keep that energy up when you fight goblins."
That night, I sat on a bench under the stars, flipping the three copper coins in my hand while the Leaf Sproutling snoozed beside me.
No way home. No cheat skills. No prophecy.
Just a normal summoner, a system everyone else has, and a small, determined summon by my side.
But that was fine.
Because in this world, I would live, earn, and grow stronger—one slime at a time.
And tomorrow, we'd go again.