Seven days ago, I died.
I woke up with dirt in my mouth and bugs crawling in my ears.
And that day, I put a pair of panties on my head and declared myself invincible.
It's been a busy week.
The village I ended up in was small — about thirty homes, one well, and more gossip than food.
It didn't have a name anyone bothered to tell me, but I heard someone call it Frostleaf Hamlet.
Sounded poetic.
It was the kind of place where everyone knew everyone else's dogs, debts, and bad habits.
Which made me stand out immediately.
No parents.
No relatives.
No documents.
No assigned family hut.
Just a weird smile and a strong interest in bushes I could sleep behind.
I knew better than to raise alarms.
So I lied.
Calmly.
Believably.
"I'm Lin Fan" I told the old woman who found me snooping near her turnip patch.
"My parents died on the road. Bandits." She narrowed her eyes.
I gave her the "quiet orphan" look.
No tears.
Just hollow, well-practiced sadness.
She sighed, handed me a biscuit, and said, "You're late for the Awakening List."
And that's how I got signed up for the Spirit Awakening Ceremony.
No background.
No home.
No sense.
But I had a spot.
For shelter, I found a half-collapsed goat shed behind a storage barn.
Dragged in some straw.
Reinforced it with planks and guilt.
No one stopped me.
Some even assumed I belonged to someone else.
Good.
The fewer questions, the better.
The days blurred.
Day 1 was my system awakening.
Day 2, I nearly got trampled by a cart trying to steal bread.
Day 3, I pulled a talking frog toy from the gacha that wouldn't shut up until I buried it.
Day 4, everything changed.
[You received: "Uchiha Lineage Fragment – SHARINGAN."]
[Do you wish to fuse this pull into your Martial Soul?]
Yes.
Hell yes.
The moment I fused the Sharingan, my head throbbed like a drill had spun through my retina.
And then... it was there.
One tomoe.
Red and black, glowing faintly beneath the surface of my right eye.
I could feel it pulsing.
Hungry.
Like it wanted to evolve.
But I had no idea how.
So I acted normal.
Covered it up.
Didn't mention it to anyone.
There was no flashy announcement, no floating text screaming "You Are Now OP."
Just a single line in my invisible system screen:
Martial Soul slot: Occupied (Fused: Sharingan)
I didn't tell anyone.
I wasn't stupid.
Now it was the evening of Day 7 — the night before the Awakening Ceremony.
I sat near the edge of South Ridge, feet dangling over a rock ledge, chewing on a tough bread crust I'd bartered for with wild berries.
Down below, the village lights flickered like grounded stars.
Smoke curled lazily from chimneys.
I could hear distant laughter.
A dog barked.
Someone played a flute badly.
It was... peaceful.
Almost enough to make me forget I was a reincarnated nobody with a random-pull system, a Sharingan eyeball, and no plan past tomorrow.
"Lin Fan," I whispered, testing the name.
It fit.
Sort of.
Clean.
Forgettable.
I'd picked it after seeing it scratched onto a broken name plaque outside the village hall.
Probably someone who moved away or died.
No one seemed to miss him.
That made it perfect.
Tomorrow, every six-year-old in the village would gather in the central square.
A Spirit Hall examiner would arrive with a soul power crystal, chant something ritualistic, and poke our foreheads with light until our Martial Souls revealed themselves.
Most kids would get farming tools.
Cooking pans.
Or if they were lucky, maybe a vine or a claw.
Everyone would be hoping for one of two things:
A soul power reading.
A Martial Soul that didn't suck.
Me? I already had mine.
The ceremony wouldn't change that.
But I needed it for appearances.
For records.
And for fun.
If I played it right, I could convince them my Sharingan was just a visual-type Martial Soul — like a spirit eye mutation.
Rare, but not unheard of.
Let them think I'm a poor kid with a trash awakening.
Meanwhile, the truth spins behind my pupil like a loaded revolver.
Tomorrow begins the show.
I don't need applause.
I don't need validation.
I just need time.
Time… and maybe a pull that's not food, cloth, or something I can't use until Chapter 100.
[Daily Pull Available in 6:44:17]
[Martial Soul: Sharingan (1 Tomoe)]
[Inventory: Helmet (Panty-Class, stored), Stick (Lvl 0, discarded), One Wumpa Fruit core, Screaming Frog Box, Spoon(?)]