"The system is basically a guide that helps me with mining, crafting, and progression. It shows me information about materials, tracks my experience, and provides quests for advancement."
"Like a magical interface?" Aria's eyes lit up with interest. "I have heard stories about ancient artifacts that could display information, but they were always incredibly rare and expensive."
"You are telling me you just have one built into your abilities?"
"Something like that." Finn paused, considering how much to reveal. "Pebble here is actually the physical manifestation of the system. He projects the windows and provides guidance."
"Correct," Pebble chimed in. "I am what you might call a system guide, designed specifically to assist SSS-Rank miners in their development and resource acquisition activities."
Aria looked at the small rock with renewed fascination. "That is incredible. So every time I see those notification windows, that is coming from him?"
"Yes, and because we are in a party, you can see some of my system information too. That is how you could view the crafting recipes yesterday." Finn watched her process this information, trying to gauge her reaction.
They walked in silence for a few minutes, the only sounds being their footsteps on the dirt road and the occasional bird call from the surrounding forest. Aria seemed to be thinking deeply about something, her brow furrowed in concentration.
"Finn," she said finally, her voice quieter than before. "When you said your situation involved death and reincarnation, were you being serious?"
Finn stumbled slightly, caught off guard by the direct question. He had mentioned it casually during their first meeting, too distracted by saving her from the Crimson Stalker to think about the implications of revealing such information.
"I should not have said that so carelessly," Finn admitted, stopping in the middle of the road. "But yes, I was being serious."
Aria stopped as well, turning to face him fully. Her brown eyes searched his face, looking for signs of deception or madness. "You died and came back? How is that even possible?"
Finn took a deep breath and made a decision. Aria was his party member, someone he would be trusting with his life in dangerous situations. She deserved to know the truth, at least the important parts.
"I am not from this world," he began, the words feeling strange on his tongue. "I died in my original world and was given a choice by something called the Afterlife Processing Center."
"I could either go to whatever afterlife was waiting for me, or I could accept reincarnation into a new world with a system suited to my skills and interests."
"You chose reincarnation," Aria said softly, not quite a question.
"I did. In my old life, I spent thousands of hours playing mining simulation games. It was basically all I did, to the point where it killed me." Finn looked down at his hands, remembering the cramped fingers and aching wrists.
"I died at my desk after ninety-six straight hours of gaming, trying to mine a legendary ore in a virtual world."
"And they gave you a second chance to do it for real," Aria finished, understanding dawning in her eyes.
"Exactly. The system, Pebble, the SSS-Rank classification, all of it was designed to let me live out what I had only been able to do in games. Actual mining, actual crafting, actual progression with real stakes and real rewards."
Aria processed this information silently, her expression unreadable. Finn felt a knot of anxiety forming in his stomach. This was the moment where she would either accept him as he was or decide he was too strange, too dangerous to associate with.
"That explains a lot," Aria said finally, surprising him with a small smile. "The way you talk about materials like they are treasures, how you can go days focused on nothing but mining, the fact that you had literally no social connections despite having enough wealth to buy a small kingdom."
"You have been treating this world like it is still a game."
"I have been trying not to," Finn protested weakly.
"I know, and you are doing better than you probably realize." Aria started walking again, and Finn hurried to catch up. "But Finn, you need to understand something important."
"If the wrong people find out about your reincarnation, about the system, they will either try to exploit you or destroy you. There are organizations in this world that would do terrible things to study how your abilities work."
"I know. That is why I should not have mentioned it so casually when we first met." Finn glanced at her nervously. "Can I trust you to keep this secret?"
Aria stopped and placed a hand on his shoulder, meeting his eyes with a serious expression. "Finn, you saved my life. You equipped me with gear worth more than my entire workshop."
"You trusted me enough to make me your party member and show me your collection of priceless materials." She squeezed his shoulder gently. "Yes, you can trust me. Your secret is safe."
Relief washed over Finn like a wave. "Thank you. And I promise I will be more careful about what I say in public. No more casual mentions of death and reincarnation."
"Good plan. We can tell people you are a naturally talented miner who got lucky with some exceptional finds. That is not even really a lie." Aria released his shoulder and they continued walking. "As for the system and Pebble, we just say he is a rare magical artifact you found in the deep caves. Plenty of adventurers have unusual equipment."
"I am not an equipment," Pebble grumbled. "I am a sophisticated system guide with feelings and professional pride."
"You are a magical artifact," Aria said with a grin. "A very talkative, sassy magical artifact."
"I like her," Pebble announced to Finn. "She understands my value."
Finn laughed, feeling the tension of the conversation dissolve. They walked in comfortable silence for a while, the road gradually widening as they got closer to civilization. Other travelers began to appear, mostly farmers with carts heading to market and the occasional merchant caravan moving goods between towns.
"So in your old world," Aria said after some time, her tone more curious than serious now. "These mining simulation games you played, were they anything like what you are doing now?"
"Superficially similar but completely different where it matters." Finn considered how to explain. "In the games, you just clicked buttons and watched numbers go up."
"There was no real weight to the pickaxe, no genuine satisfaction from seeing ore fall away from rock. No risk, no real reward, just endless repetition for the sake of progression itself."
"And now?"
"Now every swing matters. Every material I gather has actual value. The equipment I craft will be worn by real people in real combat situations. The stakes are higher, but so is the payoff." Finn smiled. "It is everything I wanted the games to be but better."
"Even the part where you can actually die?" Aria raised an eyebrow.
"Especially that part. Knowing that failure has consequences makes success feel earned." Finn paused. "Though I am definitely trying to avoid dying a second time."
"Once was more than enough."