Chapter 3: Prologue [3]
I woke up with a gasp in my room.
My heart beating fast against my ribs like a trapped bird inside a cage. I jumped up and sat on the bed clutching my chest, my eyes darting wildly.
I look around carefully. That is my room.
I was in my room. I turn my head to look at the table where my computer is placed .
After looking and seeing the things are in places , I sigh with relief.
'Yes it was where I left before on a messy desk exactly as I left it. The smell of stale coffee still lingered in the air of my room.'
"Sure it, that was a dream," I whispered, collapsing back onto my sweaty pillow.
"Just a dream....Jesus, Alex, you need to go outside and relieve your stress....as I don't want to dream such a weird dream again ."
I got up from my bed and went to the washroom.
I first tap water to wash my face first.
I collect the water in hand , smash it in my face with this cold water, as I wash my face my eyes feel relief , and less stress.
Then I look at the mirror, see my clear...non handsome face with a crinkle, as I see my more and more.
I saw the creepy white silhouette smiling at me...
I was taken aback...and I rubbed my face and look again and saw nothing as my reflection. 'It felt real. Too real. The silhouette's smile still burns in my mind.'
I spent the next day in a daze. I went to the publisher's office. I signed the papers for the final royalty distribution. I talked to my editor, who congratulated me on the ending. I nodded, smiled, and shook hands, but my mind was elsewhere.
G̵̨̨͈̺͍͈̞̞̲ͫ͒ͮ̀͒͌̚͢͟͞_͙̩̤ì͔̖͢ͅv̶̧͔̤̣̙ͪ͊̍̀̿͠e͉̖̽̿͋̀͡ m͎e̹̯͐ͨ͗͞ th̶̘̹̟̦̝̍̃̔́͂͋ḛ͙́͐ͭͨ͊ͫͬ̆́_̛͉̼̘̮́̍͂ͣ͊͌͆ͯͬ c͓͖̗͖̖͇͕̈́̽͌̽͋̌ͣ̈ͅo̷̯ͥ̆͆ͬ̆_ͬṕ͈̯͎̖̺̬͂̉̒̍ͣͦ̐̾͋̐͡y̸̵͔̪̱̟͈͉͉͇̥͎̼̙ͬ̓͛ͮ̂͂́ͨ̂̓̀́̚̕͝r̳ͫ̌̏̽̐̇̒̓̋͢͢͡ì̢̭͈̗͇̬͚̱͓͚̩̠͊ͨ̏̑̏ͨͭ̀̇̐͒̉̊͢͞ḡ̗̠̞̬̄ͫh̰̰̤̘̬̋͗̈̍ͭ̍͗͊̀̊̾̓̅͒̆̇ͫ̊̄̐̃͡͝ͅ_ͫt͙͇̀̑.̵̻̩ͣ̂̇̓̈́͒_̦̱̮͈̇̇ͪ͗̔̅͗̋̆̔̆ͬ̕͟͠
Had I sold my soul in a dream?
------------------
Evening came.
I walked out on my way to home, the city lights blurring in my vision. The crosswalk signal turned green. I stepped out.
Honk.
A blinding light.
Chreeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkk
He heard the sound of screeching tires. Then he looked at the road side and saw a huge truck coming toward him. The driver already used the break but the speed of the truck didn't stop.
Alex's whole life was flashing before his eyes at that moment. He knows that this is the end for him, maybe there is still a 1% chance to live but he knows that after this accident he will be in a handicap or in coma . so no less he just wants to die not living any difficulty for his life.
Then the massive truck hit him, a metallic impact.
Alex closes his eyes as soon as the Truck reaches front of him.
He was thrown out of the road to a nearby electric pole , and his head hit the pole, the blood started to flow behind his head.
Pain? No. There was no pain. Just a sudden, violent ejection.
Then, darkness.
The same darkness. The same void.
Ah. Truck-kun....You cliché bastard.
I floated in the nothingness, a disembodied consciousness. I wasn't breathing, but I didn't need to.
So, I'm dead, I thought, a strange calmness washing over me. At least the novel is finished. My only legacy is secure.
DING.
A sound. Crisp, digital, and utterly distinct.
A blue, translucent panel materialized in the darkness before me.
[Wish Granted Author Privilege Confirmed.]
[System Initialization...]
[Binding Host to Omniscient System...]
[Binding Complete.]
I stared at the floating text screen. My heart or whatever I had now skipped a beat.
"It wasn't a dream," I whispered. My voice echoed in the void, just as it had before.
[Ding -Host status: Deceased in Origin World.]
[Transferring to Target World: The God Chosen Hero.]
[Special Authority Granted.]
[Host has been granted Special Authority to customize initial parameters: Birth, Race, Location, Name, Lineage.]
The text scrolled, replaced by a new menu. It looked like a character creation panel screen from an RPG game, but more complex.
[Host, please input your command.]
I looked at the screen. This was it. The entity wasn't lying. I was the Author and now I was going to live in my own world.
"Okay," I said, my voice steadying. "Let's build my race."
[1. Select Race]
A list appeared: human, Elf, Dwarf, Beastkin, Dragon, Vampire, Mermaid...
I hesitated.
Dragons were powerful, naturally S-rank at birth. But they were hunted, arrogant, and slept for centuries. I might become powerful but dragons have to live 100 years in dragon form , so after that they can transform into a demi human .
Too boring.
Elves? High magic affinity, long life. But their society was rigid, isolated, and honestly, kind of racist in my lore.
Beastkin? Strong bodies, but politically marginalized.
Vampires? Sun allergy, Hard pass. who want be hiding from morning and just live in darkness, it not like all vampires hide but there is an evolution period from a normal vampire to Noble vampire and lastly to pureblood vampire . These two are not affected by the sun and don't have to drink blood for survival.
"Human," I said.
It was the secure choice, but in my world, Humans have the highest adaptability and potential to be stronger than other races because humans have no restriction, they have always room for growth . They had no inherent weakness to specific elements, and they dominated the largest, most prosperous continents. If I wanted a comfortable life, humans were the right way to go.
[Race Selected: Human]
[2. Select Birth Kingdom / Continent]
A map appeared , it's my map. I recognized every coastline, every mountain range because it took me nearly 15 days to finalize the draft drawing the map of my novel. At first I didn't think it would have any need but my editor always asked for the map and eventually I drew it before the end of the First Arc.
"Ansalonds Continent," I said immediately. "Avalon Kingdom."
It was the starting location of the novel. The most stable human kingdom with High magic density, advanced infrastructure, and the center of the plot of my novel revolves around in the first arc to the third arc. If I wanted to keep an eye on things without getting involved, this was the place.
[Location Selected: Avalon Kingdom]
[3. Select Name]
"Alex."
Why change it? It was a good name.
[Name Selected: Alex]
[4. Select Family]
This was the big one which will decide my life. next the list of families were written and the first option is the Royal family of Avalon Kingdom. I needed wealth ,status, protection but I didn't want the responsibility of a Crown Prince or the scrutiny of a Royal.
I scrolled through the noble houses of Avalon.
[Starborn?]
Starborn? The Royals...Too much drama...Succession wars, Poisonings, No thanks.
[Stormfang]
Stormfang? Northern barbarians, they are too cold and this family is more passionate about physical training and showing muscles, not enough brains.
[Frostheart]
Frostheart? Mages and Reclusive nature and there home is a creepy castle.
[Cornwall]
Cornwall? They are a wealthy family, but corrupt and in the third arc they were exposed by the protagonist....so, no.
I skip cornwell and scroll down many names appeared, some from count, merchant, viscount and some commoner but one name that my eyes landed on that name.
[Reinhart]
With this name only one character appears in my mind, that was written in my novel.
Duke Garrick Reinhart.
The Sword King and one of the pillars of the kingdom.
In my novel, Duke Garrick was a tragic figure. He was infertile so, he had no heir but later he poured his resources into the protagonist, Ethan, treating him like a son, only for Ethan to essentially use him as a stepping stone and a connection tool to reach his connection to the royal family by backing him up.
Garrick was honorable, immensely powerful (Saint Rank), and wealthy beyond measure. His wife, Duchess Lillian, was a High Elf hybrid—brilliant, kind, and desperate for a child.
If I became their son...my life will be more comfortable as ever and be loved by both parents.
If I was born wouldn't it eventually fix their tragedy. I would inherit a Duchy with the strongest military might in the kingdom. I would have a Saint-rank father and a genius mother and the best part is that the Reinharts were known for being neutral in court politics.
Reinhart were important for defending the borders of the kingdom , so both sides didn't want Reinharts to choose between the crown prince or the Second Prince and for that ,they didn't do any scheme for the Reinhart family and Protagonist to grow outside of the political circle of the kingdom.
So this is the perfect family for me to live a peaceful life. I didn't hesitate, as I told my choice to the system.
"I choose the Reinhart family," I said. "I want to be the only son of Duke Garrick and Duchess Lillian."
With this Alex completes his selection.
The system didn't respond immediately .
[calculating lineage compatibility...]
[Compatibility: High.]
[Family Selected: Reinhart.]
A new window popped up.
[Character Sheet Generated]
[Name: Alex Reinhart]
[Age: 0]
[Race: Human (High Human Variant due to Author Privilege)]
[Potential: ???]
[System Note: The Omniscient System will enter a dormant state upon birth to prevent infantile brain overload and full activation will occur at Age 10, during the Awakening Ceremony.]
"Wait, for ten more years?" I frowned. "I have to be born as a baby and grow slowly for ten years without the system?"
[Correction! To ensure Host survival and 'Overpowered' status, a pre-awakening buff will be applied.]
[Buff Granted: 10x Gain.]
[Description: For the duration of the dormant period (0-10 years), all actions taken by the Host will yield 1000% results in learning, physical training, mana sensitivity, and nutritional intake will be amplified by a factor of 10x.]
I stared at the screen.
Ten times gain.
If I read a book, I'd learn it ten times faster and if I did a pushup, it would count as ten. Even eating... my body would absorb nutrients ten times more efficiently.
This wasn't just a buff , damn this was a real cheat code.... it is like snowball effect by the time I was ten, I wouldn't just be a prodigy like the main cast but I would be a monster among monster....This is what I called overpowered Extra .
"Perfect," I grinned. "Start the transfer."
The blue screen shattered into particles of light. The void swirled, pulling me in.
[Transferring...]
My consciousness faded, replaced by a warm, rhythmic pulsing.
After a quiet period I felt warm and the next second I saw blurry light with my eyes closed.
Now the warm sensation disappeared and was replaced with cold air.
As I was adjusting the sudden shift of atmosphere.
Slassppp
A slap in my butt woke me up and it really hurt and a cry that wasn't my own, yet came from my throat.
" Congratulations , my Lady , the next duke has born"
I was born.
(To be Continued)