Its past 2:00 am when Rin passed by a large poultry farm near the highway on his bicycle going home. The stars twinkled above his head while his sweat dripped slowly in his cheeks. The street was dark for there was no street light and Rin can only depend on the faint light coming from full moon above. his breathing was steady but deep inside he could not help but feel some strange feeling as he watched the blurred horizon flow in his eyes.
"Darn it. I did not expect time to pass so fast while playing dota... I'm sure grandma is waiting with that belt of destruction ready on her side." Rin is nineteen years old and an avid fan of manga, novel and video games. With thick glasses and a formal attire, he obviously belongs in the gang of school nerds who spends their time talking about the new episode of various anime and manga releases. Sometimes he would also share to his close friends about the novels he loves reading and sometimes, they would end up in Internet Cafe where they would magically speed up time through hours of playing.
"I should probably start knowing how to decline Jim's offer when he invite me again next time. I'm just getting nowhere with this life.."
Rin grumbled to himself knowing that there is a good beating waiting for him at home. His face winched in pain after recalling the last time he felt the wrath of his grandmother after failing to come home before midnight.
As loving as she was, sometimes it becomes too much that she has an ability to transform simple household tools into weapons of critical resolution and use it against her hard-headed grandson. Rin is actually adopted by his grandmother after his father abandoned his family due to some family issues.
While his stay at his grandmother was only temporary, it finally became permanent when his mother met another man and finally got another family. Meanwhile his father also found another woman and made another family leaving Rin alone on his grandmother's care.
Rin grew up with hatred from his mother and father who abandoned him. But it was thanks to his grandmother who took care of him that he slowly calmed down. But as Rin grew up, his pent up anger on his family was slowly replaced by his love for anime, manga and games.
As Rin continued pedaling his bicycle, he remembered the last match that they had during their dota game and started reflecting on his mistakes.
"If only I positioned my earth shaker properly and waited for the support's bait, I could have executed that five man slam and let Tadeo wipe the floor with his Phantom Assassin. Too bad I miscalculated my timing and end up dying first and then the game snowballed to a stomping defeat... We could have won that if only I took my Utility role seriously and not getting greedy for kills and maybe I could have change the fate of our game..."
Aside from being a nerd, Rin is also the team captain of their local dota team and after their terrible lose just a few hours ago, he told the team to have some rest and go finally home.
But while Rin was deep into his thoughts about the game, he failed to notice the long body of a reticulated python that was crossing the highway and judging from its belly, it seems it had taken some good chicken dinner. And by the time that Rin noticed the four meter long snake with a middle body as big as his thighs, he quickly tried to stop but still managed to hit the snake.
"Oh crap! oh crap! oh crap!"
The moment Rin's bike made a contact with the snake, it quickly reacted by switching to attack position, coiling its body along with his bike. Rin managed to escape the coil with a breath of hair and with the momentum still on him, he crashed flying towards the middle of the road with his head first flying a few meters away from the snake.
Thankfully, he managed to mitigate the impact by stopping with his hands but the force still managed to shake his entire frame and almost knocking him out.
"Sh*t. I should have brought that helmet...." he mumbled to himself as he tried to shake him self awake. The moment his eyes cleared, the hair on his skin suddenly rose at the sight of the reticulated python slowly inching on him with obvious deadly intention in its glaring eyes.
Rin tried to stand up but only ended up winching in pain as he finally realized his broken leg and arm.
"Argh! Move stupid body!"
The pain nullification coming from adrenaline has finally lifted and Rin finally realized that serious situation that he is actually in. He could never imagine himself dying in the hands of a python. His life flashed in his eyes and regret in his life choices slowly crept in him.
"Move. move. move." with all his force, he tried his best to move away from the python. He felt coldness suddenly covering him as he watched the snake slowly opening its mouth for a the killing strike before choking him for good.
"F*ck! Nooo! Get away snake! Heelp!" He bellowed while blood coming from his head slowly covered his face, making him even more delicious in the eyes of the python like an icing on top of the cake.
Rin tried to move away but it seems like the phyton has no intention of letting the culprit of tonight's 'hit and flyier' away this time.
"AGRGH!"
Rin shouted in pain as he felt the two long fangs of the phyton go for his right leg. Panic surged inside his system as he pushed himself away from the long body that slowly coiled on his body.
"HEELP!" Rin knew that if don't escape now, his fate is sealed in the belly of this forest beast. The searing pain from the bite that keeps on getting tighter every second, reminded him of how weak he actually was against the world.
In the game, can be Lina, powerful fire mage that can wipe a whole squad of enemies using her fire spells. In the game, he can be a tide hunter that can send flip the fate of his enemies with a surging thorn from bellow. In the game, he can be a sharp shooting sniper or a sven that wipes his enemies with a massive sword. And in the game, he has buy back where he can revive quickly when he dies.
As the force of the phyton continued to tighten and making him soffocate with every second, Rin's hand desperately tried to push its massive body away but he realized just how weak he actually was. As a nerd, he has a body that was just average and not even athletic at all.
He wished he had the same power as he had on his game characters. He wish he had the strength to dominate beasts, the magic to burn them or even the opportunity to reset if he ever lost.
Unfortunately for Rin, this is real life. There is no buyback and there is no items that can help him and save him. This time death is real and its getting closer every second.
As his consciousness slowly fade, his life flashed before his eyes and he felt an unexplainable emotion. An emotion that of pain and regret for the things he failed to do. He regret not getting him and saying goodbye to his family and friends. He regret not doing his best. He regret not saying what he was supposed to say. He regret that his time is up. And he regret that no matter how much he tried, he still failed to achieve anything.
As his last breath slowly left his mouth, Rin's last words where for his grandmother:
"sorry... lola. I failed you."
As the coldness of death slowly embraced Rin through the coil of the massive reticulated phyton, he used his last ounce of strength and whispered:
"buyback."
Suddenly, a bright light covered Rin's sight and he thought,
"I see.. so this is death huh..."
However, Rin could still feel the cold grapple of the snake and with each second, not only the light gets brigher, there was also a sound coming a loud car engine,
Rin, with all his strength, opened his eyes and finally saw what was coming towards them in incredible speed.
There, swerving in the middle of the road, a drunk driver is driving every fantasy fan's favorate introductory villain: a white "truck" kun.
Seeing the incoming truck, Rin thought that he was finally about to be saved.
"Y-yes. Finally. my redemption is here!" he thought but with each moment, he realized that Mr. Truck kun has no plans of stopping, only getting closer and taking them together into the loud rolling end.
And Rin's final words where:
"Ouc-."
In the next moment, Rin's eyes opened in a new world as if he was instantly teleported. Rin found himself standing in the middle of a white place covered in white clouds. Suddenly, he heard a loud and energetic voice of a young kid behind him which quickly startled him.
"DOUUBLE KILL!"
He instinctively looked at the source of the loud shout which turns out to be coming from a young little boy wearing loose white dress and looked about seven years old who was playing a video game through a small console in his hands.
Rin looked at the young kid with curiousity. He looked at his surroundings in utter bewilderedment. He then tapped himself to make sure that he is real and not sleeping and true enough, he can feel his solid form despite understanding that he is already dead. Curious, he quickly turned to the kid who seems to be busy playing on his console nearby.
"Hey-"
"Wait. I am almost done."
Rin had so many questions in his mind but he decided to be patient to the yooung man before him. After all, seomthing tells him that the one before him is not an ordinary child. Maybe perhaps its God?
He then aproached the young kid from his back and peeked at the game the kid is playing. His expectation
There, he could see him playing some kind of MOBA genre game where characters are fighting each other. He could see characters holding swords, magicians casting massive fireballs and ice spells and some are moving quickly and runing thru and fro trying to finish their objective.
Seeing the child, Rin was also instinctively attracted. After all, as a nerd, he too is a gamer. The kid did not mind Rin getting closer and watch his game, in fact he seems to have enjoy the new company.
"nice one! Take this fool!" the kid trashed while his moved moved with flawless speed in pressing the buttons. Rin noticed that the kid is using a mage character that had been casting fireball and other elemental skills after its enemies.
After waiting for about an hour, the question in Rin's mind finally boiled and so he was about to open his mouth to ask but the kid got to him first,
"First answer, No. I am not God. I am just a messenger. Second question answer, no I am not Saint Peter. I am just a messenger. An angel if you want to call me. And third question, yes you are dead. Fourth question answer is you are currently standing the in the gateway of Realm of Fantasy. And for your last question is no. You are not going to hell or heaven. Not yet. You are chosen as the lucky soul to be given another chance to experience a new life in another world."
True enough, all of those questions are what was boiling in Rin's mind.
"Hey quick question." The kid suddenly asked while his eyes remained in the screen. Rin quickly peaked his ears and prepare to listen to the kid's query.
"S-sure. What is it?"
"Who do you think would win? Me or that guy?" the kid ask and showed Rin his opponent's character who turns out to be a Blue warrior with a massive long sword. Looking at it, it reminded Rin of the Hero named Sven of Dota 2 while the kid's character is like Lina the Slayer a fire mage ranged magician.
"Hmm." Rin, tried recalling the game mechanics and quickly understood it based on his gaming experience. After a little contemplation, he answered,
"If I am not mistaken, you are using a ranged mage character which usually has high power but low survivavility, basically a glass canon. Meanwhile, your opponent is a mellee which usually has high health but lower burst power compared to the mage. Based on my observation, you can easily defeat that guy if you kept on using your range skill adantage against him. As long as you don't let him get you on melee range and time your controll skills against his charging attacks you and as long as you dont let him stun-lock you, the match is already decided."
"right. But wrong." the kid answered him before putting down the game. His eyes turned to the endless white horizon before them and added,
"You answer is right because it was covered in the basic understanding of their classess. With those, you can already predict their abilities, their movemnt and even their future. And honestly I find that boring."
The kid then looked at Rin in the eyes with a mysterious gaze,
"But hey! What do you think will happen if those classess does not exist?"
Seeing the mysterious glint in the kid's eyes Rin could feel that the angel is unto something. And that something is usually not good.
"Well...it depends. The whole mechanic will change and the real answer to your question will depend on.."
"You."
"what?"
Rin did not connect the kid's answer refering to him.
"What do you mean me?"
"The answer is you. Get it?"
"Me? What do you mean? Are you going to turn me into a game character?" Rin asked, a mix of excitement and curioustity tingled his heart.
"I know! Lets make a deal." the kid suddenly threw the game console up which Rin instinctively caught.
"What deal?" Rin asked while looking at the game characters fighting at the screen while the mage character the kid was controlling was slowly being killed by the Blue hero with a sword.
"If you succeed becoming an emperor in the world that I will send you..."
Rin listened closely with his ears in full attention.
"Then I will send you back in your previous life and be revived. Although you might spend some years recovering in the hospital but still, you will be alive and get to meet your friends, your team and your grandma again. And If you can pull the emperor throne before turning thirty, I might even throw in some magic power as reward upon your revival." The child walked with his hands on his back like an old man and walked towards a small pond of water that appeared near them while the child talked.
"What do you think?" The kid asked with interest.
Rin quickly analyzed the deal given by the child.
Becoming an emperor in the new world seems to be an extremely difficult task. But if his experience reading novels and manga is right, he might get some cheat system that will allow him to cheat his way to the top, then there should be no problem. It won't be a problem but having a system should give him an advantage over every one from that world.
Not to mention, he is probably gonna bring his memory with him and he could use his earthly knowledge to his advantage. Rin might not be an expert in any field but he had graduated his highschool and vocational college in with impressive grades.
Beside reading novel and manga, He loves to read quite a lot of general science, engineering and even books related to agriculture and biolegy. He had studied them and knows how to applied them so he should be doing fine. Rin had read too much books and played many games and he is confident that he can finish this quest. He knows it might take time but if its the only way to get back to his old life, then sure lets take this on.
After a minute, Rin asked, "And what if I fail?"
The kid smirked, "Then you die and will be forgotten by everyone whom you met. Your name, your family, your friends, your lovers, everyone will forget about yo-."
"deal."
The sudden answer of Rin caught the kid unexpectedly,
"Are you sure about that?"
"I know it is hard; and it won't be worth it if its hard."
Rin looked at the small poddle of water in front of him and he could see a tiny blue planet that resembled earth. He instinctively knew this is the world he would be reborn to. Rin looked at the kid and smiled,
"I beleive, meeting my family and friends is worth trying. Not to mention, I am confident that I won't be wasting the second chance to live and meet my family again. I will do my best to become an emperor and..."
He then jeered closer to the kid with a wide grin and said,
"After all, you're gonna give me an OP skill or a cheat system. Right?"
The kid looked at him with dangerous smile. It was the smile of betrayal. Rin's face came closer to the kid and added,
"YOU WILL GIVE ME A CHEAT SYSTEM OR SKILL. RIGHT MR LITTLE BOSS?"
The kid's smile even grew wider before he suddenly grabbed Rin and shoved him into the water puddle which absorbed Rin like a dirt getting sucked by the drain.
UWAAAA!~ UWAA!!~
Rin's eyes opened up and immedietely noticed his tiny baby arms reaching his tiny baby legs. His vision was still blurry because he was just a newborn but his memory about his previous life and the deal with the messenger was still fresh in his mind.
Rin is now in a body of a new born kid with red hair. He has gray eyes and fair smooth skin while he was covered in a soft and warm cotton clothes for baby and he laid energetically inside a royal birthing home.
Outside, Rin could feel the unique scent of the new world that lacks to bad air odor coming from the modern cars and other polution. The presence of mana creates a unique sensation on his skin as if the air was extra dense and made him feel like he is underwater except he was still able to move and breath.
Not to mention, the attire of those surrounding him clearly hints of the royal athmosphere and Rin could not help but be glad with this new start.
UWAAH!~
It was his baby words for 'I am back!"
UWAA-UAAH!~
It was his baby words for 'its show time. Emperor's throne here I come."
Rin could still hear the weird language the people are using around him. Upon his eyes getting a clearer view of his surroundings, he realized that he was reborn in a royal looking household and some weird looking old men in mage clothing are doing some magical stuff on him.
"Jackpot! I am in royalty bloodline! Mwhahaha! Easy early game advantage!" Rin thought triumpanthly.
Rin quickly listened to them and for some reason, although it was clearly unfamiliar, he can feel an unexpected hostile gaze from them. It was as if they are looking at him as if he was a freak. Their eyes revealed panic, some revealed fear while some are even curious.
From his angle, Rin can see the names, level, Title and even the class of the people standing in front of him. He read them all,
***************************************************
Name: Jhorton Thunderspel
Level: 36
Title: Mana Inspector
Class: Expert Mage
***************************************************
then he looked at the woman wearing a knight's armor beside Jhorton and another interface also appeared.
***************************************************
Name: Elese Broomland
Level: 42
Title: The Shield Breaker
Class: Commander Knight
***************************************************
"Wait, so this is a game-like world where people have prompt system?" Rin thought, impressed with the unique world settings he reincarnated into. Rin continued to pan to his surroundings, making sure to glance on them briefly not to reveal his mature thinking inside the newborn infact cause it might cause some trouble for him.
He is prepared to take this world one at a time. After all, thirty years is quite a long time for a mission. Rin continued to scan at his surroundings and tried his best to remember them all.
Some of the people around him where just common royal helpers and butler but the couple that got his attention the most are his 'new parents'. The King who, for some reason, stood a little farther away and looked at him with disdain.
It was a feeling that truly hurts deep inside Rin becuase those eyes reminded him of his parents that had abandoned him.
"this is really weird your magesty..." Jhorton, an expert mage is having a hard time while doing some magical casting on Rin. A couple of maids suddenly entered the room and placed the babies near Rin. Then, Jhorton started casting a spell which allowed some "system" looking frame that contains even more information about the child compared to what he can normally see.
*****************************************************
Name: Miron of House Katana
Level: 0
Title: Baby
Class: Knight
Father: Mirhuval Katana ( Holy Knight Commander)
Mother: Kalise Broomland (Rune Knight)
Potential: 3rd Class Advancement
Golden Phoenix Blood: 0.0045%
Innate Passive Skill:
1. Unyielding Spirit: Stamina and Healing Recovery Increases by 5% every three level
2. Locked
Active Skill:
1. Locked
2. Locked
3. Locked
*****************************************************
The same thing also happened to the other babies and after seeing the spell revealed the details about the rest of the babies, Jhorton came back to Rin only to fail in revealing any information about him.
The King looked extremely bothered while looking at one of the Kingdom's best magician unable to reveal Rin's Divine Frame which is supposed to be present in everyone. Even the animals and rocks has divine frame. But his son has none?
There is only one thing that can explain that and that is the newborn prince is a "freak".
"I have tried it with other babies and I succedded in revealing their Divine Freak but when it comes to the newborn prince, no matter how much I try, it seems like he has no..."
"He has no Divine Frame. I know." The King finished the sentensed the Jhorton could not say out of respect. The latter only nodded to confirm the King's words.
But not wanting to lose hope for his friend, Jhorton swiftly suggested,
"You Majesty, how about we bring the prince to the Mage Kingdom? Maybe the Grand Magus can help us reveal the prince's Divine Frame. Maybe its just because I have yet to ascend to the next level and-"
"Enough. I don't want anyone to hear about this. Just dispose of the child. I don't care what you do with him." the King beckoned without any remorse at the child.
The King looked at the lifeless body of Merina, the baby's mother, and coldly said,
"I never expected to receive a freak coming from this commoner anyway. It is my fault for even getting my hopes up to the weaker bloodlines."
Hearing those words, Jhorton bit his lips in deep anger because the woman who just gave birth to the new prince is actually his good friend whom he actually loved since their childhood. But after finding out that the King had fancied his friend, he decided to let go of his feelings for the better future of Merina.
Although to become one of the King's concubine brings an incredibly good life, it also brings a terrible fate since the King holds the highest purity of the Golden Phoenix's blood which can reach up to 3% - the normal purity level for royalty. Normal people only possess at around 0.0002% while those of noble bloodline where Jhorton came, have a purity of around 0.005% of the Golden Phoenix blood.
Although it saddened him that Merina died after the birth due to the heavy physical and magical burden brought of the royal blood, the best thing he could do now is to support the new prince with all he can. After all, this might also paveway for his future promotion.
Unfortunately, the child that was born had no Divine Frame and is quickly branded as a freak.
The truth is that King Aurelus has around more than 500 plus concubines, but only those from higher purity lines have chance on carrying the power of the Phoenix's blood. In fact, out of the 500 concubines only less than fifteen of them can become pregnant while out of those fifteen only five of them can truly carry the baby until labor.
Unfortunately, the challenge doesnt end there. Out of the five that can reach labor stage, only one of them can survive. But the chance of the mother dying is usually around 90%. In fact, the current prince who are next to the throne are children from the strongest female knight and most powerful female mage of the Kingdom.
It is given, that only those of powerful bloodlines can carry the powerful genes of the king.
Prince Auburn, the first born is currently twelve years old and came from the magical bloodlines while his younger brother, Austar, came from the line of the kingdom's most powerful knights. Out of all the King's woman, less than two percent can only successfully conceive and survive because of the heavy burden brought of the blood of the Holy Beast - the Golden Phoenix.
"Your majesty... what should we do with the child with no Divine Frame?" Jhorton said while the maid looked at Rin with a mix of fear and disdain. The maid and the butler that used to take care of of Rin's mother are also looking down not knowing what will happen to them after this.
"Get rid of it. All of it." He then proceeds to leave the door where his own personal guard and a couple more knights are on standby.
The moment the king left the birthing room, Kurtan, one of his royal aid and a powerful Knight, who also happens to be clad in royal armor came near and whispered,
"Your Majesty, What should we do if word gets out about the unique prince?"
"Wipe them out. Including the maid and butlers. Make sure to silence them all."
"Absolutely. My King." The aid left with a wide smile as if filled with excitement.
Back at the birthing room, Rin has finally understood what was happening and he knows exactly what was going to happen to him after the King left thr room. The mage tried once again and shook his head.
"It's unfortunate. We could have celebrated tommorow since it is extremely difficult to find a woman that is capable of giving birth to the King. I guess those two will be really happy when they find out about this...." Jhorton mumbled with pain in his eyes.
"It's unforunate indeed. but it is what it is." the aid that was given an execution order from the King suddenly came from behind.
"The King's order?" he asked the knight who had his eyes at Rin.
"Get rid of the child."
"I-I see." Jhorton was greatly saddened he and the rest was about to leave but the last words coming from Kurtan sent chills to their spine.
"Including everyone else present here." The night said while revealing his sword covered in bluish light, reflecting in his eyes the killing intent he looked at everyone.
at the same time, Rin is crying out loud after finally fitting the pieces together and understanding the situation. He know after observing the other babies that they have class assignments and even family information - except him.
UWAA-UWAAAAAH!~
it was his baby words for,
"YOU BRATTY ANGEL! I JUST GOT REINCARNATED AND YOU ARE NOW GOING TO LET ME DIE!?
UUUWAAAAH!~
it was his baby words for,
"AND WHERE IS MY GOD DAMN OP SYSTEM!?"