Ramdan, thirty years old, was a Quality Control staff member at a well-known food and beverage company. His life was a labyrinth of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), laboratories, and seemingly endless internal audits. Professional? Of course. But his own life felt incredibly monotonous and stagnant. His career had hit a dead end, and there were no signs of a romantic partner on the horizon.
His days were more often spent with his favorite fantasy novel, "Rian's Adventures in the Land of Nuswantara."
That night, Ramdan had just finished working overtime. His face was weary, and his mind wandered aimlessly on the seat of the motorcycle that was taking him home.
He muttered to himself, "When is my life ever going to change? It feels like it's been the same forever. Career's stalled, and love is nowhere to be found."
Not far from a shady tree on the roadside, Ramdan's gaze caught the figure of an old man lying weakly on the ground. The frail body looked withered and desiccated, as if suffering from severe dehydration. Strangely, the other people passing by seemed completely indifferent, or perhaps… they simply couldn't see the old man's presence. Only Ramdan could clearly witness the mysterious figure.
"Help, son… help this old man…" the man pleaded, his voice barely audible.
"Hang on, Grandpa, one second," Ramdan replied, his tone calm despite the strange aura emanating from the man.
Casually, he turned his motorcycle towards a 24-hour Madura stall not far from there. From a distance, the old man seemed to be watching him with an unreadable expression, full of bewilderment.
"Kang, one isotonic drink. It's for… the imaginary figure near the tree," Ramdan said to the stall keeper, grabbing a bottle with a label that read "Ponari's Sweat."
"Don't be weird this late at night, Bang Ramdan…" asked Kang Soni, the stall keeper, his forehead wrinkled in confusion while goosebumps rose on his skin.
Kang Soni was already familiar with Ramdan. His stall was a frequent hangout spot for the MC after work. Kang Soni was a unique character, witty and prone to latah—a condition of startling easily and mimicking words or actions. He was often the butt of jokes for the workers who stopped by.
"C'mon, Kang, that old man in the white clothes near the tree. You really can't see him?" Ramdan said, pointing in the old man's direction.
A mischievous thought to mess with Kang Soni crossed the MC's mind.
"Good heavens… he's flying this way, get down!!" Ramdan immediately acted, dropping to the ground.
"Ge-get down, everyone!!" Kang Soni, in his latah state, followed Ramdan's movements.
"Hi Ghost, saranghaeyo!!" Ramdan escalated his prank on Kang Soni.
"Hi Ghost, saranghaeyo, I Love you!!" Kang Soni was once again tricked into following Ramdan's silly antics.
"Oh my goodness, Kang Ramdan, really?!! So mischievous, my God…" Kang Soni said, pushing Ramdan's shoulder in annoyance.
From a distance, the old man somehow seemed to understand what was happening and sent a telepathic message into Ramdan's ear.
"It's not right to joke with someone who's trying to make a living, my boy…" the old man's voice whispered.
"Hehehe, uhh, Kang, just kidding, Kang Soni. I'm sorry," Ramdan apologized.
Kang Soni was already in a panic and terrified. Ramdan apologized one more time for his prank and hurried towards the old man, but after this incident, it was the last time the 24-hour stall was ever open 24 hours again.
"Here, Grandpa, have a drink. Don't get dehydrated on the roadside, you'll go viral on some horror TikTok channel, hehe," Ramdan said with his signature casual tone, as if facing an ordinary situation.
The old man looked at him with a piercing gaze.
"Only you can see me. This is fate… I will choose you. I will take you to a world…" Before he could finish, the MC cut him off.
"Shh, don't start rambling, Grandpa. You want me to take you home?" Ramdan interrupted, covering the old man's mouth with two fingers.
The old man could only stare, dumbfounded. "This kid is crazy, an anomaly of a human," the old man thought to himself, a little taken aback by Ramdan's reaction.
However, before Ramdan could do anything else, the old man's wrinkled hand suddenly touched his head. Instantly, Ramdan's vision went completely dark, and he lost consciousness. In a flash, Ramdan and the mysterious old man vanished from the real world, as if swallowed by the darkness of the night.
In a pitch-black void, Ramdan felt like he was dreaming. Then… a transparent blue interface window suddenly appeared before him, emitting a soft glow.
Dingg!!
[Welcome to the world of Nuswantara – a new reality from your favorite (and delusional) novel. You have been chosen to bear a great destiny.]
"Where did that old man take me? But… wait a minute… this is… Nuswantara? Don't tell me I've been isekai'd?"
Ramdan awoke with a violent jolt. He was utterly shocked when he realized his body felt so tiny, weak, and… was being breastfed?
"Damn… this… it's soft, supple, and sweet… Is this breast milk? Sinta's breast milk?" he mumbled internally, trying to process the incredibly bizarre situation.
Sinta Kusuma Dewi. A female Mage famous for her beauty from his favorite martial arts novel. Her husband was Ranjana Segara, a feared and legendary warrior. And their child… was supposed to be Rian, the main character of the story. But now, somehow, it was Ramdan who was in the tiny baby's body.
"Yes! I'm finally the MC, the great warrior Rian!" Ramdan thought to himself, full of confidence and enthusiasm.
Dingg!!
[You are still Ramdan. Your Class: Mage. Your Special Subclass: Quality Controller.]
Ramdan froze solid. "Oh, Lord… is this the fate I must endure? Even after being isekai'd, I'm still a QC staff?" he lamented internally, in disbelief.
Dingg!! [Hahahaha.]
"Damn this stupid system!" Ramdan grumbled to himself, annoyed yet amused by the system's response.
[System is downloading introduction data for the World of Nuswantara… Please wait….]
Dingg!! [The World of Nuswantara is a world filled with exotic natural beauty, various oddities, and abundant magical power. The sky in Nuswantara is always orange, even in the morning, creating a unique landscape. Like most isekai worlds, there are various races here besides humans. There are also many magical creatures known by the locals as 'siluman'. The land of Nuswantara is overflowing with an energy called 'mana', and each mana can uniquely synchronize with a chosen being (known as a mana blessing). Every individual blessed with mana is generally divided into two main classes: Warriors, who rely on physical strength, and Mages, who master magic…]
"Stop the tutorial! This is boring! I'll read the rest later… Besides, I've already read the novel cover to cover and know it all by heart," Ramdan cut in mentally, feeling all too familiar with the ins and outs of his favorite novel's world.
Living in the house was also a female servant named Melati. Beautiful, blonde, and bespectacled, she was, in Ramdan's opinion, the embodiment of the lover he had been searching for. Despite now being in the body of an adorable three-year-old, Ramdan's adult soul couldn't stop himself from launching cheesy, adult-like pick-up lines—which, of course, sounded completely absurd and hilarious coming from a toddler's mouth. He often teased Melati and repeatedly tried to declare his "love." However, his efforts always failed because Melati just considered him a baby babbling cute nonsense.
One day, an idea for a love confession that was truly beyond reason came to his mind as his last resort. And that was…
(To be continued…)